this is kind of the same boat that I was in personally...I mean I never stopped listening to (underground) hip-hop but it really tailed off for me around the same time as your friend when in the late 90s to like 2010 or 2015 it was just about the only music I listened to. I'm not sure what your friend was listening to before falling out of the loop, but I think for me the one album that really made it all click and got me back to listening to and exploring much more hip-hop outside of likes of RTJ, Bronson, Freddie Gibbs+Madlib, Danny Brown, etc... was Benny's Tana Talk 3. while I flirted with Griselda stuff before that a tiny bit that was the album that made it all click for me, so in my opinion I would definitely recommend that as a reentry point for your friend maybe above anything else. if he likes that hit him with Supreme Blientele, and WWCD, and some Roc Marciano, and Boldy James, etc...
yeah, it's definitely overwhelming if you're just taking about Griselda, like I said I really came in at around TT3 and it felt daunting then trying to get through it all, so it's even harder now with even more content to pick from. probably better to not completely over do it for your friend's sake and your own sake as well. probably better to keep it concise and pick a couple of the super bangers from each artist you're looking to introduce to him and then let him figure out himself where to go from there or if he gives you feedback on which tracks were his favorite then steer him on which albums to start tackling first from those artists.
Probably more of a question on top of your question, but how is underground even defined these days? It can’t be artists without a label or even major label, since Chance and Frank kinda blew that outta the water. Is it just a vibe now?
man, I barely even started touching on listening to the non-Griselda scene you referenced. I've seen those names before but outside of Lojii I don't think I've listened to any of them.
......i dont think hes ready for that
Those get the most talk in here but there are a few other big undeground scenes. There is the emo/screamrappers Scarlxrd/$uicideBoy$/Pouya/Bones/ITSOKTOCRY who all do huge streaming numbers. Also the young fun rappers like tobi lou/ Duckwrth/IDK/Guapdad 4000 have large followings. Not to mention the entire Detroit scene with Sada Baby leading the way, and the currently incarcerated west coast rappers still killing it like 03 Greedo and Drakeo the Ruler.
