get 2 mics: one condenser, and one dynamic. Since you are doing hip hop, look into mics that are tailored mainly to vocals. I use the rode nt1a, and the electrovoice RE20. If you can afford it one day, get a Neumann u87. No matter what anybody argues, I haven't heard better vocals on other mics. My old band rented one for their new album, and it sounded so beautiful. (might have been the engineer, too) Whats your budget for microphones? You should look into getting a good mic preamp, as that will increase the quality of your recordings. if you're on a budget, try the M-Audio DMP-3. otherwise look into the presonus firepod.

Don't forget about monitors, as that plays a big difference in your mixdowns. I've found that the KRK rockit series are good for a budget hiphop studio. Also get insulated cables to connect everything, as that will eliminate unwanted noise in your recordings.

On top of everything, get a dj in your group that has serrato, because that is the best way to get your music in the clubs. Good luck.

if you wanna spend the $1000 on just one mic.. id go for for the akg 414. very nice for hip hop/ r and b vocals. among other uses!!!

btw, what kind of computer are you using?

What's wrong with the quality of your recordings now and how do you expect a "better" mic to change this?

Often recordings get better through active listening and practice. Gear can help but is not a solution to any problem.

what I would do is get a decent mic like a Rode NT1A and spend the rest on a nice mic preamp (ie focusrite voicemaster pro)

hueseph wrote: What's wrong with the quality of your recordings now and how do you expect a "better" mic to change this?

Often recordings get better through active listening and practice. Gear can help but is not a solution to any problem.

huseph, thats's so right on to the problem at hand. If you have hip hop talent to record, set up one or two good mics in the concert hall and place them as if they were your ears or M/S config. The sound will take care of itself. If it's there. If your going to do overdubs to get there, then it's time to get down to try it, and try it, and try something else, ect. The equipment at this point will not matter as much as the implementation of what you already have. Keep after it and you will get there!

If you suddendly get rich, ask any pro what to buy for a gazillion bucks and they will glad to tell you: Got Talent? Or more likely, How much $ you got, if they are hungry enough.
Sorry to be blunt, but sometimetimes, that's exactly what you need to hear. Having said that, never give up a dream you believe in; there's no substitute for desire to get you motivated to acheive great things.

sorry for the discourse, I'm on the road and a little pissed at the world for the f'd up course of things.
Keep
at it and you'll get it---hopefully the way you want it to sound!

Hmm...I dunno. Better gear helps when you're at the low end of the cash scale, so long as:
A) your existing gear sucks (ie, I use onboard audio which is noisy as hell)
B) you get the right stuff (ie, I need an interface to improve on onboard audio)
C) you don't expect magic to happen just because of that one piece of kit

But once you get going, talent is more important. Forgive my arrogance but I'd say I can get a pretty good sound out of a $1000 16channel mixer and some PG58s/AT BrandX's.

you know, all of these answers are good. everybody is just giving the bit of knowledge that they think would help you. Just take the advice, apply what you can, research, experiment, and see what you like.The whole reason you do this is to get better at your craft. Listen to recordings that you want to sound like, and try your best to emulate that sound. I hope that you find what you need out of this, but I do stick by what I said about hooking up with a dj with serrato- that is the best way to get your music played in clubs, and events without playing everything live.