Anglo-Saxon appreciation of hip-hop is always going to be problematic, especially for people far removed from African-American culture. Your average whiteboy in Detroit or Houston may live only a few bus-stops from the ‘hood, but an Aussie, Kiwi, or Canadian is likely to have got no closer than Boyz ‘n the Hood.

I had an argument with a friend several years ago in which I used this to support my argument for why I didn’t like hip-hop. He responded that I wasn’t working class and from the north of England, so how could I claim to relate to Pulp? I’m still not sure it’s a valid comparison, but it certainly got me thinking.

In the last few years, I’ve pursued the standard hipster path into hip-hop, via the indie journalist’s approved canon of Jay-Z, MF Doom, Def Jux, Anticon and Native Tongues. It’s been a slow process and there’s a lot of resistance on my part to overcome. The cultural barrier is high—neither selling crack nor overcoming prejudice is really within my experience. And in the end I affirm a lot of music because I feel like I should rather than because I actually dig it.

Yet there are some artists and tracks that have really engaged me and found their way into my musical pantheon. With this in mind, I present a few tracks that eased me into my current relationship with the genre—they’re at the more “indie” end, which goes someway towards explaining their immediacy to my untrained ears.

Common – “The Light”

I don’t like Common as a rule. There’s something very contrived about his beanie-wearing hippy pretensions and the whole “conscious” rap shtick, especially when his early lyrics feature dashes of the usual gangsta misogyny and homophobia. And his flow, while strong, doesn’t really set him apart from his peers.

Yet this track is irresistible in its sweetness, humour and melodicism. While Jay Dee’s top-shelf production, including the sampled-and-trampled Bobby Caldwell hook, probably deserves a more outstanding MC, it isn’t done any harm by Comm’s verses. He’s actually quite sweet for a rapper, telling his laydee just how much she means to him, and his casual, almost lazy, flow perfectly suits the smooth hi-hat groove.

The Roots – “100% Dundee”

Unfortunately for me, I didn’t “get” the Roots’ Things Fall Apart when I first heard it—maybe it was the defiantly jazzy textures and portentous spoken-word interludes that I hadn’t expected. My experience has been that Roots albums open up on repeat listens, something I’m not normally willing to do in these days of Soulseeking instant gratification. The only reason it made it to the crucial third spin was Rahzel’s percussive beatboxing that opens “100% Dundee.”

There’s much more to the song, obviously. Black Thought is a compelling MC and far more primal and charismatic than his chosen name would suggest. While his rhymes feature allusions to Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe (something you’ll probably never get from Fiddy Cent or The Game), his vocals aren’t simply to move neurons but booties as well.

De La Soul – “He Comes”

True survivors of the scene, De La managed to drop one of their best albums after over 15 years of recording. Having hot producers and stellar guests certainly helped The Grind Date rise above the masses of hip-hop releases, but the core trio are still going strong enough for their boasts about longevity to sound legitimate rather than defensive.

This song, built around a disco-flavoured sample and a free-association verse from Wu-Tang’s Ghostface, is my personal stand-out from a consistent album. It’s funky, witty, and strident all at once.

So, as someone extraordinarily un-hip-hop once said, “you better get this party started.”

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