Favorite rap groups?

Public Enemy
Beastie Boys
Pop Will Eat Itself
Run DMC
Consolidated

Rap/Hip Hop isn't really my thing but I really like Shabazz Palaces if they count, particularly the first album.

It's not really a genre for me, but I do latch onto songs.

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Norf Norf

basically all of the best rap is from the 1990's as i was a teen from late 1992 through most of 1999 and i listened to nothing but rap music til about my mid-20's (which basically means til about 2005(late 2005 i would have been 26 years old)) as no other music really did it for me as i tried to listen to other music once in a while back prior to the mid-2000's but it never stuck (as it just did nothing for me) and i always found myself listening to nothing but rap but i know one of the first things i remember liking outside of rap was Evanescence's 'Call Me When You're Sober' from 'Evanescence - The Open Door (2006)' as i stumbled into the music video on MTV/VH1 when i occasionally turned in and noticed i actually was liking something outside of rap. but anyways, back to more of the topic...

the first rap CD i got was basically... 'Dr Dre - The Chronic (1992)' (which i want to say i got roughly early 1993) as i got that primarily for the song 'Dre Day' (i first took notice of that from the music video) which is when i first got into music in general which had to be roughly late 1992 or early 1993 as i still got a recording on a blank cassette tape of Snoop Dogg's 'What's My Name' song which i first recorded off the radio on Oct 22nd 1993 (i just turned 14 years old a couple days before that) as 'Snoop Doggy Dogg - Doggystyle (1993)' was a great CD to. then you got the 2-Pac days as i remember when he died etc (as it effected me a bit) and then 'Bone Thugs-n-Harmony - Art of War (1997)' was definitely that groups overall peak along with 'Krayzie Bone - Thug Mentality 1999 (1999)' which was another great album as those two albums are easily the best tied to Bone Thugs-n-Harmony.

but with that said... i think rap's overall peak for me was back with No-Limit Records (Master P's company) with 'C-Murder - Life or Death (1998)' which would have to be my overall favorite album from No-Limit records as a good portion of their CD's from 1998 and older are solid but after that they largely fell off. basically after the 1990's rap just was not as good with maybe a little exception once in a while into the early 2000's a bit.

but basically around 2005 is when i finally started to like other types of music and now i don't listen to rap nearly at all as when i do it's always something from the old days for me which pretty much means what i grew up with in the 1990's as it's nice to listen to here and there for old times sake and it's still enjoyable enough.

but just to give you a list of some of the best rap CD's i got (IN NO ORDER)...

-Dr Dre - The Chronic (1992) (this is what got me started on rap(and music in general). i would have been 12-13 years old (probably more towards 13) at this time (i was born late 1979). i believe i first took notice of this from a music video which i would assume was likely MTV back in those days.)

-Snoop Doggy Dogg - Doggystyle (1993) (the 'What's My Name' song was one of the best for me in the early days of listening to rap for me as i remember the music video etc.)

-Bone Thugs-n-Harmony - The Art of War (1997) (easily the groups overall peak in my mind as after this, in terms of the group albums, they fell off.)

-Krayzie Bone - Thug Mentality (1999) (he's from Bone Thugs-n-Harmony if anyone is wondering. he was always my favorite of the group.)

-C-Murder - Life or Death (1998) (and fair amount of other CD's from No-Limit records from the year 1998 and older. but if i am only naming one CD as the overall best from them it's this one and it's really C-Murder's only stand out CD as after this his CD's were never the same level of all around quality as the CD after this one (C-Murder - Bossalinie(1999)) was okay-ish but after that he basically dropped off a cliff. but only Life or Death left a lasting impression on me)

-2-Pac - All Eyez on Me (1995-1996) (this would likely be my all around favorite 2-Pac CD if i had to name only one)

-Makaveli - The 7 Day Theory (1996) (i.e. 2-Pac) (basically just about any CD's from 2-pac from 1996 and older are hard to complain about as they are all quality pretty much but i think the two i listed in this topic are pretty much the all around best. i would say this is probably my 2nd favorite 2-pac CD overall)

there is quite a bit more i could list but i think those are basically amongst the best for me in the long run and i would say nearly all of those i listed are pretty well known to (C-Murder is obviously the least known of the bunch though on a mainstream level but still nothing obscure either) as i would say, on a mainstream scale, 2-pac is probably THE rapper a lot of people know as when people think of rap his name surely had to be amongst the top as he's not going to be forgotten.

p.s. i still basically have all of those CD's along with many more. if anyone wants a copy i can easily make you some quality MP3's for free (with a proper MP3 encoder (i.e. LAME v3.99.5 @ v2 mode which averages 190kbps)) since i got the original audio CD's of all of those and then some which i bought back when they where new (or very close to new(within a year)).

side note: i noticed some listing Beastie Boys but i never got into them at all as they just don't sound good as their voice tone and general beats/style does nothing for me as i find them more negative than positive. but i realize these guys seem to be one of those rap groups people always kiss up to from the earlier days of rap.

Black Sheep, EPMD, Cypress Hill, Gravediggaz, Dalek, PE, X-Ecutioners, Beasties, Viktor Vaughn