Unsung: 10 Artists That Deserve A Feature On TVOne [Photos]

Unsung: 10 Artists That Deserve A Feature On TVOne [Photos]

Recently TVOne shed some light on Big Daddy Kane on the hit series Unsung.

For those too young to remember Kane as the man who once competed for the throne of top emcee, the program was educational as well as entertaining.

With Kane’s rhyme style, his upscale wardrobe and his willingness to introduce rappers like Jay-Z, the hour-long special gave some relevance to the Brooklyn rap veteran.

Unsung usually features R&B and Soul singers that had tragic ends or just simply didn’t get the props they deserved.

In Hip-Hop there are some acts who definitely could use some mainstream love, a documentary or their story told so today’s generation might appreciate what they added to the game.

Check out who else needs a Michael Rapaport film or a TVOne feature.

Public Enemy

Flavor Flav may have reinvented himself to this reality television generation but he broke into hip-hop as the world’s greatest hypeman backing up Chuck D’s political content with kooky dances, wild antics and a voice that was all his own.

Public Enemy was a group constructed to combine the hard edge of RunDMC with social commentary. Their relationship with Louis Farrakhan, and some controversy over anti-Semitic statements landed the group in hot water in the 90’s.

Although “Fight The Power” was a massive hit, they still remain Unsung.

Kool G. Rap

Before the Kool Genius of Rap came along, rappers had flows that were somewhat elementary.

Of course there was Rakim and Kane adding a twist to the styles that came before them, but G. Rap was the unspoken spitter that put rhyming words back to back with content that wasn’t the typical “I’m better than you” bravado.

Kool G. Rap was from Corona, Queens and his music repped his surroundings. The lisp, the speedy delivery, the wit and the gangster stories made G one of a kind and an influence on Big Pun, Nas, Jay-Z and plenty of emcees to follow.

EPMD

Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith were racking up plaques when fans didn’t care about record sales. Their music was consistently hard, they never strayed from their core audience and EPMD was responsible for introducing a new artist with every album.

They brought us K-Solo, Redman, Das EFX and even though they disbanded, had financial beef and Wendy Williams’ rumors they got back together to give people more classics in the latter years. Folks need to know more about the ups and downs of one of rap’s greatest duos.

Slick Rick

Storytelling in rhyme form became the trademark for Richard Walters. The Grammy-nominated emcee used his British accent, his ability to paint pictures with narratives and a truck load of jewelry to carve his own niche.

Some legal issues sidelined Slick Rick but today he is still regarded as a pioneer and legend in the booth.

MC Lyte
MC Lyte kept herself in the spotlight since she put the mic down but for those that know Lyte when she was rhyming with Milk and Giz remember her as a beast.

Lyte paved the way for the female rapper matching sex appeal with lyrical skill. Her voice was strong, she rapped about real life and she held her own when it was time to battle.

Although she’s doing her thing in Hollywood and is never off the scene, as a rapper, MC Lyte could always use a little more…light that is.

Dogg Pound

Daz and Kurupt  made up the rap group known as The Dogg Pound. The duo was an unlikely pair with Kurupt being a Cali-transport from Philly and Daz Dillinger being from Long Beach.

The Pound worked well together and their debut album on Death Row was classic. They threw sharp darts with powerful production and a sound that had the West Coast winning in the mid 90’s.

But Daz and Kurupt had problems with Bone Thugs, they left Death Row and Daz himself returned to work with Suge at one point making a great recipe for an in-depth look at the group behind the scenes.

De La Soul
De La Soul may actually be Michael Rapaport’s next project for a documentary.

What De La Soul brought to hip-hop in terms of originality, marketing and music is unmatched.

Their 3 Feet High and Rising LP infused comedy, societal dilemmas and wordplay that was unheard of at the time. De La managed to stick together through rough patches of record sale lulls in an era where numbers rule.

A Tribe Called Quest might be the most popular out of the Native Tongues collective, but De La Soul opened up doors for a lot of the music heard today.

Lord Finesse
Lord Finesse is the most unknown on this list but his credentials and influence run deep.

The Uptown/Harlem sound that lives today in the entire Diplomat crew began with Lord Finesse and AG. Although he was from The Bronx, Finesse was admired by Big L, Cam’ron and Mason Betha.

His slow delivery caused him to pay attention to detail and his punchlines were potent and vivid. Finesse may never get the credit he deserves for spawning a whole style of emcees that spit slick metaphors and similes but if someone did their homework they would discover a true forefather.

Brand Nubian

Brand Nubian is rocking stages today with classic material but there’s still a gap between today’s listener and the ones that grew up bumping their debut, One For All.

Grand Puba, Sadat X, Lord Jamar and DJ Alamo made it ok to be positive and thug at the same time. Their names alone showed enlightenment, their videos were deep, and the messages didn’t beat you in the head.

Over the years the group had fall outs, members leaving, retirement and reconnecting, wouldn’t you like to know more about Brand Nubian?

Twista

The fast flowing rhymesayer known as Twista started out as Tung Twista and held the title of world’s fastest rapper according to Guinness World Records in 1992, being able to pronounce 11.2 syllables per second.

Even when Twista slowed down he was still ahead of everyone else putting words on top of words yet still making perfect sense while being audible.

Twista’s short stint with a Roc-a-Fella Records cosign seemed to be the time for him to shed the “unsung” label.

Kanye West was collaborating with him, he was topping the charts and finally the Chicago emcee that had been dominating under the radar for years was getting a look.

Today Twista is still the man you call when you want your record to go up a notch and he gets radio burn and hood love. For some reason there is a level of stardom and respect that escapes one of the best lyricists ever to write words down.

Though I’m sure he’s not complaining, I’ll do it for him.

Who would you like to see on Unsung?