20 Alternative Hip-Hop Artists Who Are Making Things Interesting

Unlike other acts that pay homage to hip-hop's past, Clipping. offer a genuinely compelling spin on nostalgia. Challenging, with piercing walls of harsh noise and obtuse samples, their eclectic production is as heavily indebted to West Coast classics as it is to musique concrète. It's not particularly inviting stuff at first, but Daveed Diggs' rapping grounds the entire project.

Technically gifted in a traditional sense, his impressive flurry of words are quite often satirical, smart, and thought-provoking. The rapping is what will reel you in, but the production is what will keep you around. Daring yet paying tribute to the norms of hip-hop, Clipping. appeal to both extremes of the spectrum, refusing to compromise in any regard.

Danny Brown’s father was a house DJ in Detroit and he was 16 years old when he had Danny. "He was still young," Danny explained in an interview with Esquire, "so he was still up on the same shit I was up on when I was in middle school. He bought me my first Wu-Tang CD." Digging deeper than rap, Danny started going to raves as a teenager and developed an appreciation for electronic music—he was listening to stuff that most aspiring rappers aren't up on. That at least partially explains his eclectic taste in production, which ranges from the traditional to the futuristic, but there's no explaining Danny's wild delivery and style.

These days, Danny may be seen as an outsider, but it's funny when you think about it. This is a guy who, at the age of 13, started dealing crack in Detroit. This is a guy who led the life that other rappers pretend to live, and he ends up being the one who, at 31 years old, is on some new shit that most of them can't comprehend.

"The whole ‘make it rain’ thing comes from Atlanta, right? Started from Big Meech, right? He’s a Detroit nigga," Danny told Complex. "Where do you think he learned that from? That was some Detroit shit! We didn’t have nowhere else to spend our money. Detroit is a fucked-up place. It’s not like you could go get a Ferrari or some shit. You could throw $20,000 to $30,000 in the club. All them niggas are mimicking Detroit drug dealers. It’s rap music. Everybody has to have their gimmick and their character, but it’s fake."

There's nothing fake about Danny. The fact that new rappers are still rapping about what Danny was doing over a decade ago is a telling indicator, and probably part of the reason why Danny Brown makes a lot of these other dudes look basic.

If anyone were to be crowned the kings of experimental hip-hop right now, it'd probably be Sacramento's Death Grips. The industrial-tinged trio aren't fans of record labels, but they are fans of making an awful lot of noise. Since the Exmilitary mixtape in 2011, the group have been recklessly shuffling around from sound to sound. The glitchy and barren soundscapes of Government Plates, the severe distortion of Exmilitary, the cold desolation of NO LOVE DEEP WEB; there's no telling where they're headed next, but there's always the guarantee that it'll be batshit insane.

But it's not just the intense production that makes Death Grips such important figures in outré hip-hop. MC Ride's guttural yelps are Death Grips strongest asset, and with the exception of Government Plates, their music takes full advantage of this. It's not all about the music, though—there's the album cover with a dick, the leaking of their own album, the sudden collaborations with Icelandic sweetheart Björk. It's all a bit much really, which is kind of Death Grips' thing.

The mixtape that got Lucki Eck$ buzzing was called Alternative Trap, but it probably should have been called Alternative TO Trap. Lucki is a teenager from Chicago, but his music couldn't be any more far removed from the sounds of Chief Keef, King L, and Lil Durk. Lucki Eck$ opts for hypnotic production and sedated deliveries, and while 1,000 other rappers try to get you to turn up, Lucki's music induces a zone-out.

From their earliest videos to their DIY aesthetic and the punk energy of their shows, Odd Future are a shining example of success for creative young people everywhere. Their commitment to creativity across mediums has put them in an enviable position—they have incredibly loyal fans who will buy their music, go to their shows, proudly wear their clothing, and be sure to watch their Adult Swim TV series, Loiter Squad. 

OF have turned an online following into a real, tangible movement, and it doesn't hurt that they have a fantastically talented young rapper, an incredible R&B singer, and a genuinely magnetic leader in their ranks.

If you thought Death Grips were extreme, then you just haven't heard Blackie yet. He's the guy who the cooler-than-you people knew way before you were talking about how wild Death Grips are.

Bringing new meaning to extreme rap, the Texas-based artist's ultra-bombastic music pushes hip-hop as far as it can go. Punk in both sound and ethos, he makes anti-headphone music. This is the type of shit you'd blast in your room when your parents were pissed at you, but only if you were really as badass as you thought you were when you were 15. It's not for everyone—and if it was, it wouldn't be nearly as interesting.

Upon first listen, the most obvious thing that makes Antwon so unique is his beat selection. Working with a sound that relies heavily on '80s and '90s goth and synth-pop, there's a wide set of influences buried deep within each of the instrumentals he goes in over. But, it rests deeper than that. The hardcore days of his past are evident in his delivery, as well as his sometimes clouded lyrics. Pungently direct, yet shrouded in intermittent poeticism, his endearing character carried his early releases, but has just become a part of the stellar package with Heavy Hearted in Doldrums.

Experimenting with sounds both pretty and austere, he's something of a rap chameleon with an appreciation for all sorts of music.

Combining disparate genres isn't always a good idea, but when it really works the results can be pretty goddamn special. Cities Aviv takes the worlds of hip-hop and post-punk and twists them together so tightly that it's tempting to give his music a new tag altogether. His work has been slowly progressing over the years, but by the time Black Pleasure rolled around, it was clear that he had found his niche.

Come to Life is one of the most fascinating releases of the year so far, and is further proof that being experimental in hip-hop doesn't always have to mean being abrasive. Although if you've ever been to a live show, you know Cities Aviv is very capable of being abrasive when he wants to be.

Enough great boom bap hip-hop has already been made to last a lifetime of listening, so coming with something unique gets more and more necessary to stand out from the crowd. Blue Daisy may be British (he's from London), but listening to a song like "Angels & Demons," you wouldn't exactly pin him as a "British rapper." With manipulated vocals, a croaky spoken delivery, and apocalyptic production, his sound falls somewhere between poetry, rap, and experimental electronics.

Blue Daisy will follow his Psychotic Love EP with another release on 37 Adventures, coming soon. For the meantime, download "Angels & Demons" below.

Listening to Run the Jewels, it's kind of weird to think that El-P's music was once considered challenging. That's not to say his production or rapping has lost its edge—if anything he's progressed—but all these "noise rap" acts people are so into these days owe a lot more to Fantastic Damage than you'd initially think. Summarizing the gritty underbelly of New York City in a cacophonous swirl of clunking production and obtuse lyricism, his beginnings as a solo artist merely act as an almost impenetrable, albeit incredibly rewarding start to an immensely fruitful career.

Since his daring entry into the hip-hop world as a solo artist in 2002, he's reinvented himself with the dystopian fist of I'll Sleep When You're Dead, challenged himself with the soulful backing to Killer Mike's R.A.P. Music, and just plain shown off with the hottest duo in hip-hop right now in the form of Run the Jewels. To say he's not interested in repeating himself is putting it lightly.

Though the early portion of DOOM's career as a member of KMD threatened, at one point, to make the now underground legend a mere footnote, the metal-faced villain would be born in a career second act far more influential and bizarre than his first. In KMD, the rapper born Daniel Dumile was Zev Luv X, a goofy, proto-conscious rapper; as MF Doom (and later DOOM), Dumile would become a mythical supervillain, building a complex mythology across songs and characters, most of whom were played by him. Atop shifting and high-minded conceptual aims, DOOM introduced a slippery, smooth style chock full of occasionally impenetrable metaphors, off-kilter references, clever one-liners, and a sense of individuality that has likely inspired 90% of rappers operating outside the mainstream.

Often imitated, rarely duplicated, DOOM is a titan in the weird-rap landscape.

Very few Tumblr-born rappers actually manage to provide an interesting sound outside of their artsy aesthetics, but Bones is a general exception. His otherworldly production and multiple cadences accentuate the moody VHS aesthetic that dominates his work. His music sounds like Three 6 Mafia for the internet born generation, or the aural equivalent of Harmony Korine's unsettling style.

Outside of his dedicated fanbase, it seems that he's now gaining wider traction. With three releases this year already, it's starting to look like Bones might just be a notable figure in the underground in the next few years.

Back when Definitive Jux and Anticon were ruling underground hip-hop, there was a place for rapper oddballs who liked using big words, unorthodox flows, and abrasive production. Things have changed since then. Those kinds of rappers still exist, but there's not a scene like there used to be, and most of the artists who helped define underground hip-hop in the early 2000s couldn't evolve with the times. What sounded futuristic back then now sounds dated.

Then there is Aesop Rock.

He doesn't sound like the past or the present—he sounds like a rap alien, and even after about a dozen albums and EPs since 1997, he's still making some of his most interesting and unique music ever. Just listen to his most recent project with Kimya Dawson, The Uncluded.

THE 15 BEST AESOP ROCK SONGS

Seattle-based collective Shabazz Palaces grabbed a whole lot of attention with the release of Black Up. Their debut record landed on Sub Pop of all places, but it didn't feel like an odd fit. Ishamael Butler's recondite rapping and Tendai Maraire's cavernously forward-thinking production falls in line with the label's legacy. Just like Nirvana and many more before them, Shabazz Palaces subvert the traditions of their respective genres, but still manage to keep things accessible.

Their dense sound is that of the collective challenging themselves. Where they're interested in going is besides the point, as the journey is what makes them so interesting to follow.

Judging by the response to Young Thug, it seems that the knee-jerk reaction to this Atlanta oddball is all too often a dismissal as another mindless trap rapper. That's crazy. His name or tendency to stick to trap-flavored beats may throw people off, but Thug is overflowing with a strange charisma that manifests itself through off-the-wall flows, language bending, and unhinged, off-key vocals that flirt with the ridiculous.

Self-proclaimed weirdo Gucci Mane opened up a lot of doors for Atlanta rappers, and he proved that it's not always what you say, but how you say it. Take a look at some of Gucci's more out-there lines and it's evident that while he may frequently visit the same topics—money, drugs, women, threats—he articulates his thoughts in ways that only Gucci could. Thug takes this a step (or a few steps) further, and with an energy that we haven't seen since Lil Wayne at his peak.

Look, we understand if you're mad that we include Young Thug as an "alternative" or "experimental" rapper, because he doesn't fit in with your typical cast of forward-thinking hip-hop artists. But that's the thing—Thug stands out no matter who you compare him to. Isn't that the point of being alternative?

When the identity of Captain Murphy was revealed to be none other than Flying Lotus all the way back in 2012, it wasn't a total surprise. What was surprising, however, was how of a talented rapper he was. Bringing in his appreciation of obscure rock music from distant lands and all sorts of jazz, FlyLo's stab at an all-out hip-hop project takes the blueprint of Madlib's sound and douses it with a spiked beverage of unknown origin.

The cartoonish aesthetic acts as a logical extension of his ridiculous lyrics, and the constantly changing vocal effects make it hard to keep up with the feverish feel. But if you give it time, Captain Murphy will dig his claws into your consciousness and refuse to let go.

Ratking isn't just a punch to the face, it's the sound of dirty pavement hitting your temple. Immediate yet worthy of multiple listens, their thick whirlwind of sound is cemented by abstract storytelling. It's a battering of sound, but there's far more to it than just the beating. Sure, there are elements of typically gritty New York hip-hop, but you'd be hard-pressed to find anything that sounds exactly like Ratking.

If Gucci Mane had a penchant for psychedelic drugs, a love of vampires, and an encycopledic knowledge of pop culture, he might sound something like Seattle's dead-panning Nacho Picasso. With a wicked, pitch black sense of humor and a gothic sensibility uncommon in rap (the covers of his albums For the Glory and Lord of the Fly feature pieces by celebrated painter and comic book artist Frank Frazetta), Picasso tweaks flows you might expect with phrases and images you won't, like a narcotic-gobbling, sex-obsessed, weed-smoking, rapping X-Files character.

THE OTHER “OTHERSIDE”: SEATTLE’S UNDERGROUND RAP SCENE

To listen to a Young Fathers song is to be slung through a gamut of genres, ideas, and often regions of the world, a sort of breathing sociological creation that democratically blends sounds into inventive combinations that manage to be neither pretentious (as description might suggest) nor overdone. Certainly, the UK-based trio lives up to the legacy of their label Anticon, creating music sure to alienate some with its jagged edges, obtuse lyrics, and unexpected twists and turns. A Young Fathers song is as likely to dip into gospel or psychedelic pop bliss as it is into industrial textures, spoken word, or what we know as traditional hip-hop.

The group's sonic landscape is one of modern rap's most fascinating and excitingly mercurial, a meritocracy of unusual musical ideas. Read our interview with the group here.

Tech N9ne isn't scared of doing things differently, and he never has been. What might stand out at first is his unusual look (face paint and masks are a staple of his videos and live performances) or his rapping style, fast-paced and packed with different rhyme schemes, but it goes deeper than that. The content of Tech N9ne's music is also far from standard rap fare, sometimes touching on the realities and struggles of everyday life and sometimes veering into hardcore or even horrorcore territory, but there's more to him than that. He's also never afraid of collaborating inside and outside of hip-hop, having worked with T-Pain, Serj Tankian, ¡Mayday!, Cee Lo Green, and Kendrick Lamar, all on 2013's Something Else.

What makes Tech N9ne stand out most, however, is his staunch commitment to being an independent artist. Over the course of 14 studio albums and numerous other releases, the Midwest rapper has sold over 1 million records independently, and will probably hit the two million mark in the not too distant future. Tech has also co-run a label, Strange Music, since 1999, which, alongside his own and other artist's music, makes just shy of $7 million per year in sales of merch, according to a 2013 Billboard story.

Overall, Tech is a shining example of when dong things differently, and not giving up, works out extremely well. Keep doing you Tech N9ne.