These rappers, hip-hoppers are in it for more than bling

Definitive Jux Presents, Vol. 3

Various Artists

Definitive Jux Records

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Definitive Jux Presents, Vol. 3

Various Artists

Definitive Jux Records

Recommended if you like: Aesop Rock; El-P.

The most important part of rap is its evolution. From Sugarhill Gang to N.W.A., from Erik B. and Rakim to P. Diddy, from LL Cool J to Eminem — almost everything about rap has been put through a meat processor and has come out with different results each time. Take Snoop Dogg, for example. Hailing from Long Beach, Calif., he got his start with Dr. Dre. Now he’s coaching his kid’s peewee football team and recently starred in “Starsky and Hutch.”

The evolution of rap is continuing to something more sensitive.

Definitive Jux Records has come out with its third compilation, Definitive Jux Presents, Vol. 3, and it’s definitely one of the best compilations of the year.

A lot of the artists on the label are getting some press from Rolling Stone and Spin, but none of it seems to have gone to any of their heads. A lot of them are still down to Earth, common-man types, rapping about bad jobs they had while trying to make it as a rapper.

And from the sounds of it, they don’t seem to do it for the money — or the little they make.

This is genuine music. Some is about living in a bad neighborhood, some of it is about sexism, but not much of it is about sex, and none of it is about money — unless it’s about not having any.

Some of these guys are remarkably well-read, too. One even quotes Shakespeare on the track “Throw caution to the wind.” And you thought Run-D.M.C. was old-school.

But the whole reason why this is good is because the album and the music as a whole are great. The beats are easy on the ears, and the rappers have a general sense of what’s too much for their song and what’s not.

There’s a lot of mix in this and a lot of reasons to like it.