Everyone's been talking about Kendrick Lamar and his much lauded debut album, good kid, m.A.A.d city, but we decided to give a little more attention to his collective. Black Hippy epitomizes what a hip-hop collective should be: a group of rappers who can flow together as a group and still maintain a strong individual presence. They've taken the hip hop world by storm, each member having released individual albums. For the sake of relevancy, we've only included songs from TDE members Schoolboy Q, Ab-Soul, and Jay Rock. Here’s our tracklist for the 20 Best Black Hippy Songs.
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1. “niggahs.already.know.davers.flow”,Schoolboy Q, Habits & Contradictions
Only Q can make a song like this. He literallytakes the words “niggahs already know” from the title, puts it as the firstwords of every line and then spits viciously about what people may or may notknow about him. This allows the listener to get Q’s perspective on his own lifewhile he tells you about his life. Genius.
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2. . “What's the Word (feat. Jay Rock and Ab-Soul)” Schoolboy Q, Setbacks
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3. “Elbows” Jay Rock, Follow Me Home
Yetanother catchy beat combined with a hook that stays in your brain, all it needsis a dance on a music video for it to become a classic. It sounds like itbelongs in the ’90’s with Rock’s hoarse, deep verses and that slow drum clap.
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4. “Book of Soul” Ab-Soul, Control System
Ab-Soul is known for rapping about conspiracytheories, societal problems, weed, women, and everything in between, but herarely delves into his own personal life. On this track, we get to know the manbehind the glasses and he doesn’t hold back. Get to know arguably the bestrapper in the Black Hippy crew.
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5. .“Hustle Man (feat. Ab-Soul)” Jay Rock, Black Friday
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6. “More of an Euphoria (feat.Alori Joh)” Ab-Soul, Long Term:Mentality
Ab-Soul makes the listener (and maybe society)reflect on themselves through his clever verses. Proclaiming an end to theworld, Soul calls on society to live for today, as there might not be atomorrow.
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7. “Druggys with Hoes (feat.Ab-Soul)” Schoolboy Q, Habits &Contradictions
Q and Soul are clearly having fun on this songas they both spit verses proclaiming their love for weed and women. BlackHippy’s brotherhood and closeness is never more evident than on this track withboth rappers showering each other with adulations.
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8. .“Real Thinkers” Ab-Soul, Long Term: Mentality
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9. . “No Joke (feat. Ab-Soul)” Jay Rock, Follow Me Home
Another track that illuminates Rock’s underratedgangster flow as he spits abut his ‘hood, his city, and his struggles. JayRock’s powerful verses hit you hard over this intricate piano-heavy beat.
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10. “Nightmare On Figg St.”Schoolboy Q, Habits & Contradictions
Backed by a dark beat to add to the ominoustheme of the song, Q lets his listeners into the world of Figueroa Street. Withtwo simple verses, he has some advice for Hova and Yeezy while remindingeveryone where he came from. Dope track.
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11.
Oxy Music” Schoolboy Q, Habits & Contradictions
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12. . “Hell Yeah (feat. Schoolboy Q)” Ab-Soul, Long Term Mentality
Another track to prove that Ab-Soul might justbe the most underrated rapper around. With a tight beat, a societalconsciousness hook and a fantastic verse from Q, the song has all the elementsof a hit. Add Ab-Souls two strong verses sandwiching Q’s and you’ll findyourself listening to this track on repeat.
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13. “Gangsta in Designer (NoConcept)” Schoolboy Q, Habits &Contradictions
The song doesn’t seem to fit the theme of thealbum, hence the “No Concept” in the title of the song, but that doesn’t stopit from being superb. With a catchy hook and beat to back him up, Q seemsrelaxed with his flow to spit about anything and everything. From talking abouthis latest clothes to how many girls he wants to fuck, Q seems to just have funon this track and that’s why it’s just so damn good.
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14. .“Code Red” Jay Rock, Follow Me Home
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15. “Gone Insane” Ab-Soul, Long Term: Mentality
Easily the best song to exemplify Ab-Soul’swordplay and his wit (wait for that third verse), he flows about havingsimilarities with other artists, all famously dead. Another clever,conspiracy-filled track from Ab-Soul. You won’t be disappointed.
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16. “Terrorist Threats (feat.Danny Brown & Jhene Aiko)” Ab-Soul, ControlSystem
Conspiracy theories are Ab-Souls forte and it’sno different on this track where he spits about the similarities between theghettos and suburbs. With help from Danny Brown, he goes on to state thatpeople are equally as powerful as governments. Another thoughtful track fromthe TDE emcee.
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17. . “Birds & The Beez (feat. Kendrick Lamar)” Schoolboy Q, Setbacks
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18. . “Pineal Gland” Ab-Soul, ControlSystem
Ab-Soul at his very, very best. Clever wordplay,constant wit, and his unique high-pitched flow, Ab-Soul gives us an insightinto one of his many hallucinations. Whether he’s high on DMT, marijuana, acid,it doesn’t matter, because Soul puts all his experiences together into asublime track.
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19. . “Hands on the Wheel (feat. A$AP Rocky)” Schoolboy Q, Habits & Contradictions
If you’ve been fortunate enough to see this songlive, you understand why it’s so high up on this list. Remixing Kid Cudi’s“Pursuit of Happyness”, Schoolboy Q has two of his strongest verses on thetrack but even he can’t keep up with Rocky absolutely destroying his verse onthe track. A track perfect for any mood, turn the speakers up, because thissong is catchy as fuck.
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20. .“Say Wassup (feat. Ab-Soul, Kendrick Lamar, & Schoolboy Q)” Jay Rock, Follow Me Home