Artists like Saul Williams

The Coup is an American hip-hop band from Oakland, California. Their music is an amalgamation of influences, including funk, punk, hip-hop, and soul. Frontman Boots Riley's revolutionarily-charged lyrics rank The Coup as a renowned political hip-hop band aligned to radical music groups such as Crass, Dead Prez and Rage Against the Machine.

Shabazz Palaces is an Seattle-based hip hop group led by Ishmael Butler a.k.a. Palaceer Lazaro.

Camae Ayewa, better known by her stage name Moor Mother, is an American poet, musician, and activist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is one half of the collective Black Quantum Futurism, along with Rasheedah Phillips, and co-leads the groups Irreversible Entanglements and 700 Bliss.

Kae Tempest, formerly Kate Tempest, is an English spoken word performer, poet, recording artist, novelist, and playwright. As of 2026 he has released seven studio albums and many singles, as well as many collections of poetry, several plays, two novels, and one work of non-fiction. He has performed around the world, on tours and at festivals. Tempest came out as non-binary in 2020, then as a trans man in 2025.

Dr. Octagon is a persona created and used by American rapper Keith Matthew Thornton, better known as Kool Keith. Thornton performed and released four studio albums under the alias. Having introduced the character in 1993 on the unreleased Ultramagnetic MC's demo "Smoking Dust", Thornton's first full-length recording as Dr. Octagon was on his 1996 debut solo album, Dr. Octagonecologyst.

Handsome Boy Modeling School is an American collaborative project between hip-hop producers Dan the Automator and Prince Paul. The collaboration originally lasted from 1999 to 2006 and resulted in two albums, featuring a vast cast of guest rappers, singers, comedians and DJs. In February 2018, the duo played a concert in New York City.

Blackalicious was an American hip-hop duo from Sacramento, California, made up of rapper Gift of Gab and DJ/producer Chief Xcel. They are noted for Gift of Gab's often tongue-twisting, multisyllabic, complex rhymes and Chief Xcel's soulful production. The duo released four full-length albums: Nia in 1999, Blazing Arrow in 2002, The Craft in 2005, and Imani Vol. 1 in 2015. Gift of Gab died in June 2021.

Clipping is an American experimental hip-hop group from Los Angeles, California. The group consists of rapper Daveed Diggs and producers William Hutson and Jonathan Snipes.

Bernard Dolan is an American rapper, spoken word artist, activist, screenwriter, and composer based in Providence, Rhode Island.

Teren Delvon Jones, better known by his stage name Del the Funky Homosapien or Sir DZL, is an American rapper.

Talib Kweli Greene is an American rapper. He is one half of the hip-hop duo Black Star, which he formed in 1997 with fellow Brooklyn rapper Mos Def. Their 1998 single, "Definition", entered the Billboard Hot 100 and preceded their eponymous debut album (1998), which entered the Billboard 200. The duo then began pursuing solo careers, although one further Black Star album — No Fear of Time (2022) — was released thereafter.

Tsutomu William "Tom" Shimura, better known by his stage name Lyrics Born, is a Japanese-American rapper, singer, and producer. He is one half of the duo Latyrx with Lateef the Truthspeaker.

Billy Woods, stylized billy woods, is an American rapper based in New York. He is the founder of the record label Backwoodz Studioz, and has been a member of Armand Hammer, Super Chron Flight Brothers, and the Reavers. Woods consistently obscures his face in publicity photos.

Kamaal Ibn John Fareed, better known by his stage name Q-Tip, is an American rapper and record producer. Nicknamed the Abstract, he is often considered one of the most acclaimed figures in hip hop. Noted for his innovative jazz-influenced style of hip hop production and his philosophical and introspective lyrical themes, AllMusic dubbed him "the best rapper/producer in hip-hop history", and stated that he led a "jazz-based hip-hop revolution during the '90s". Several publications have ranked him amongst the greatest rappers and hip hop producers of all time, with Billboard ranking him the sixth greatest hip hop producer. In 2024, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as a member of A Tribe Called Quest.

Cage is an American heavy metal band from San Diego, California. Over their career, the band has released seven studio albums and played shows with Great White, Manowar, Metallica, and Judas Priest.

Victor Vazquez, also known by his stage name Kool A.D., is an American rapper, record producer, author, and artist. He is from the San Francisco Bay Area of California. Vazquez is best known for being a member of the New York-based rap group Das Racist, though he has also been a member of the bands Boy Crisis and Party Animal. Vazquez has also released his own solo material, including numerous mixtapes. Mother Jones magazine described his work as "a thoughtful effort to deconstruct and rearrange cultural objects in ways that challenge our deepest assumptions about society and cultural products".

Public Enemy is an American hip-hop group formed in Roosevelt, New York, in 1985 by Chuck D and Flavor Flav. The group rose to prominence for their political messages including subjects such as American racism and the American media. Their debut album, Yo! Bum Rush the Show, was released in 1987 to critical acclaim, and their second album, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (1988), was the first hip-hop album to top The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop critics' poll. Their next three albums, Fear of a Black Planet (1990), Apocalypse 91... The Enemy Strikes Black (1991), and Muse Sick-n-Hour Mess Age (1994), were also well received. The group has since released eleven more studio albums, including the soundtrack to the 1998 sports-drama film He Got Game and a collaborative album with Paris, Rebirth of a Nation (2006). Their most recent album, Black Sky Over the Projects: Apartment 2025, was released in 2025.

Hieroglyphics, also known as the Hieroglyphics Crew and Hiero, is an American underground hip hop collective based in Oakland, California. The group includes founder Del the Funky Homosapien, fellow rappers Casual, Pep Love, and all four members of the group Souls of Mischief—Phesto, A-Plus, Opio, and Tajai—as well as DJ Toure and producer/manager Domino.