mostly word of mouth,nothing beats that.you hear hella ppl talkin about it or a couple ppl you know says it dope.other than that i look at the record label or any other affiliations to somebody i might know cause that in a way vouches for that artist and gives him automatic respect in a way...this is mostly for a new artist though,same applies to a well known artist but just not reliant on all the other factors,just want to know if its dope or not