Looking for some down-tempo, dark, catchy hip-hop like A$AP Rocky's "Hell." While some southern rappers have the production I'm going after, usually it's a bit too silly or, well, Southern. When I say "dark" i mean production wise, not lyrically.

Salem's "trapdoor" has the kind of production I'm after.

I always though Low End Theory by A Tribe Called Quest was nice and mellow. It's also one of my favorite hip hop albums.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFA_stcnyns

I'm not well versed in hip-hop but check out Lord Infamous. He is very dark sounding.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpKtVMAzs8E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjN6QYlJYf8

Definitely Daydreams by Cage and Alot of songs off Atmosphere's Overcast are very dark in beats too.

Hmm, as for the Lord Infamous rec and cage/atmospheren they're way too "horror" rappy and not really what I'm after. I guess I should clarify.

I'm after much more "trappy," slow, bassy beats, with washy/sustained keys. Another example (although the rapping if atrocious) would be Salem's "Trapdoor." Really would actually prefer if the lyrical content wasn't of the "horror" rap niche (Necro, early three 6, etc).

sounds RnB/dub to me.
have you youtubed anyone on the LastFM similars list?
http://www.last.fm/music/A$AP+Rocky/+similar

You're looking for some good Memphis, TN rap. Back in the 1990's I feel like that city specialized in this kind of dark, gritty rap.





EDIT: Sorry, didn't read the "no southern rap" part. But TW3 is awesome.

A lot of witch house has this kind of production and is generally derivative of Salem so you might want to check this genre.

If you want the darkest of rap production you need to check out the 97-2001 siccmade albums produced by brotha lynch hung and phonk beta. Start with loaded by brotha lynch hung. The lyrics may be too much tho as they are pretty vulgar

The Roots' album "Undun" has some pretty damn dark moments. Check it out:

How is no one mentioning Wu-Tang, Black Moon, Mobb Deep, Dr. Octagon, Company Flow, Cannibal Ox, or Clipse?

I second Cannibal Ox. Gritty rap production that is pretty dark at times as well as lyrics that match.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrUkzK0s_sc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsqOqqDhQ74
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmDDEXlzTM8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bwr1QKQ4J9w

Also check out Death Grips. They have an industrial/electronica/almost noise influence in them and they sample heavily. But their production is totally on point and can be really dark, down tempo'd and catchy as a mahfucker.

The Money Store the second album.
http://www.mediafire.com/download/e5ks9 ... PLATES.rar Their latest album is probably your best bet, its free to download too (another reason why Death Grips is so awesome.)

If you like The Cold Vein you should definitely check out Comany Flow's [Funcrusher Plus album. It's more minimal and traditional '90s style than Cann Ox, but both were produced mostly by El-P. El-P's solo albums also have excellent production, but Funcrusher and Cold Vein are probably the darkest.

Brotha Lynch Hung is of the horror variety which the op mentioned he wasn't after. The term 'horrorcore' gets used to describe this style.

You may check out Juggaknots - loosifa

lovage is not hiphop actually but has a dark atmosphere in some songs like "anger management", or "archie & veronica"

cheers
Benjamin

horrorcore is the only hip hop worth a shit. check out these cats.

kreepy x
reverend fang gory
bob e nite
dark half
komatose
rukus
twiztid
mental ward
the jokerr
troubled mindz

Blahh no.... most horrorcore rap is fucking stupid and immature. Not all of it, but most. Geto Boys, Big L, Gravediggaz, and Kool Keith (as Dr. Octagon & Dr. Dooom) are about all I fuck with.
There's plenty of dark hip-hop with brutal lyrics without limiting oneself to the most childish sub-style of that genre.

SpaceGhost Purrp?? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSqZlfvFmXU

Three 6 Mafia - Mystic Stylez essential, kickstarted dark southern production, Memphis style
Three 6 Mafia - Underground Vol. 1 1991-1994 see above, but even rawer
Koopsta Knicca - The Devil's Playground T6M member/associate, some cool beats
Graveyard Productions - The Havoc raw as fuck old Memphis rap with DJ Paul beats
Evil Pimp - The Exorcist Greatest Hits Vol. 1 kept the old school Memphis sound alive during the big gap from early T6M to Raider Klan
Lil Ugly Mane - Mista Thug Isolation modern day classic, old school memphis influence with other varied influences, dark and hard and sometimes downtempo, raider klan
Dylan Ross - Dripped Out Jesus similar to raider klan but repping some different crew but similar stuff, some very good beats
Air Tycoon - Fuck Everything I'm God instrumental tape, deep
Squadda B - I Smoke Because I Don't Care About Death cloud rap classic, first beat on track 2012 is to die for
Blue Sky Black Death & Nacho Picasso - Lord of the Fly the best album they did together, production is dark, downtempo and cool for sure
Grandmilly - Bvndvnvz Bvlck Mvgic raider klan, underrated tape, different hip hop influences
Key Nyata - Tha Phonkilation more raider klan
Clams Casino - Rainforest amazing instrumental ep, not so dark but might still feature the mood you're looking for
Clams Casino - Instrumentals 1 & 2 more instrumental cloudy goodness
Young L - Enigma Theory some great beats and hooks
Triad God - NXB strange somewhat experimental cloudy hip hop tape with some japanese spoken word lyrics, worth trying, I really like it
Giggs - Best of Giggs Vol. 4 UK shit, maybe too hype idk, but Giggs has a low sombre voice and some of the beats grind slowly
Yung Lean - Unknown Death 2002 most will find the vocals annoying (16 year old swedish kid, but way more self-aware and quite frankly genius than people give him credit for) but the beats should suit you well
Deniro Farrar - The Patriarch another cool cloud tape
Viper - You'll Cowards Don't Even Smoke Crack weird as hell, proto-cloud, can't even explain it just hear it
Western Tink - Chillin Like a Civilian another good tape with some solid cloudy beats

few youtube tracks, could only find radio rips for a few unfortunately so bump it up when the DJ shuts up

Big H - Mark of the Beast http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bCe2XFvxJo,%20kkkkkk
Cas - Play http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NA63TBPe9h8
Big H - Violate (feat. Meridian Dan & Bossman) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2k8oGBdgdaw

Shabazz Palaces http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXEWj9N8gVg
Paris http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RH5r4sLomOI