But Shad, I'm new to Hip-Hop and don't know where to start!?
Don't worry bud, I GOT YOU!
http://goo.gl/LGgm4U <- Classic Essentials
http://goo.gl/w9J1mA <- Modern Essentials
Look at some of that shit first! You can probably just look up the albums on Youtube and listen to that shit.
Hell, I still use this to see if I'm missing anything big (it's always nice to find something you never knew about before and enjoy it)
So I'm gonna further elaborate on Oxymoron because I feel like it matters and it's recent.
Q killed that gangsta rap vibe shit. Fuck LA, Gravy and Yay Yay are my jams. I love Man of the Year too. I notice a lot of these songs kind of have a 'depressed', kind of dark sort of instrumentation, and I've been into that shit for a while. I dunno why but I REALLY like that sound. Also been digging Lupe's The Cool a ton too. Probably need to get more of Lupe's shit and I've been meaning too but I just haven't found it compiled in a neat enough way.