Yeah, main ones are : Tupac, Bone thugs n Harmony, 50 Cent, Eminem, Fort Minor. But I don't listen to it as much anymore, and I know these are "Mainstream" but I did listen to a few underground rappers too.
I used to listen to mainstream rap, now I listen to The Herd and they are the only rap group I like nowadays.
I've said this before, and I'll probably say it again in the future, but...I love all kinds of music genres. Rap is certainly included in that list. However, some genres come with more annoying baggage than others. Rap is one of those, for me. Just like with other genres, there is always going to be someone singing about sex, drugs, girls, murder, other shallow shit, etc. The problem I have is not necessarily that they are singing about these things...it's how they present it. Vulgar lyrics are the quickest way to turn me off to one's music. I don't give a shit how good the beat is, other anything else....if you can't express your point without resorting to ugly language...I don't want to hear it. And sadly, some rappers just can't. But don't think for a second that it makes me any less fierce when I've got my jam on.
Ok I like rap where there's a girl singing and a guy rapping in the backround https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NTxt7rERzm8 kinda like this.
Also...This is fantastic. Annnd, I failed to mention how much I LOVE non-American rap. There is one rapper in particular who I think you should check out. If you love rap, great. If you love Korean music, great. If you love both....AWESOME. And even if you don't understand what is being said...please at least sit through the 2nd verse. This guy has serious skill. I present to you: Alone - Outsider.
Personally, I love rap music, my favorite rapper being MF DOOM. I'll listen to pretty much any kind of rap except for a lot of newer stuff and trap music which I cannot stand. Quality lyricism seems to be a thing of the past for the most part, so I'll tend to stick to the oldies.
Bone Thugs was never really super mainstream, they were popular but didn't get sustained radioplay world wide. I doubt they were even played in Canada, I love them haha. They're really ridiculous though, they just sound awesome. Good music to get drunk to too haha My favourite of theirs is First of the Month, haha , it is literally the furthest removed from me though, it's about cashing in your government cheques and spending it. It's just a good story to listen too [youtube]bpBP9dALcWw[/youtube]