What do you poptarts think of this list?
faux_rillz
14,343 Posts
I thought this feature was surprisingly thoughtful and well-done--I assume it coincided with some kind of a broadcast this past week.
http://www.mtv.com/bands/h/hip_hop_week/2006/emcees/index.jhtml
10. LL Cool J
9. Eminem
8. Ice Cube
7. Big Daddy Kane
6. KRS-ONE
5. Nas
4. Rakim
3. Biggie
2. 2Pac
1. Jay-Z
Honorable Mentions: Andre 3000, Big Pun, Black Thought (snicker), Common, Ghostface, Lauryn Hill, Kool G. Rap, Scarface, Snoop
10. LL Cool J
9. Eminem
8. Ice Cube
7. Big Daddy Kane
6. KRS-ONE
5. Nas
4. Rakim
3. Biggie
2. 2Pac
1. Jay-Z
Honorable Mentions: Andre 3000, Big Pun, Black Thought (snicker), Common, Ghostface, Lauryn Hill, Kool G. Rap, Scarface, Snoop
Comments
1. rakim
2. nas
3. biggie
4. krs one
5. big daddy kane
6. ice cube
7. ll cool j
8. jay z
9. 2pac
10. eminem
LL is a legend, but i don't know if he was ever that dope as an MC, plus i thought he has ghostwriters?
Slick Rick should get some kinda award for having the most impact based off of one album (that sold).
Yeah, after almost three decades of recorded rap music, it's difficult to find much to argue about in any list of the ten greatest MCs--there are now just too many artists like Rakim, LL and Jay-Z that you would be remiss not to include (although I do think putting Eminem in there is absurd), so there really only begins to be room for argument when you expand the list to 20 or so. I mean, my instinct is to say that the real pioneering MCs like Kool Moe Dee, Grandmaster Caz and Melle Mel belong in any top ten, but then looking over that list, I'm not sure who besides Eminem I would strike.
I'm not sure how Black Thought always makes his way into these discussions--I don't know how anybody that's listened to much rap could be impressed with such a one dimensional artist. Common, too, who I don't think ever made the leap from very good to great, although at one time (when I was about 18) I was certain he would be a rapper that we would look back upon as being a giant.
Another one never made a good record. Eminem
That should factor them off of the list IMO.
I don't understand that at all--it clearly comes out of a desire to include a female artist, but to me that discussion should begin and end with MC Lyte.
Going back and listening to that 2nd Fugees album--the album that her reputation as an MC springs from--she's really not impressive, and benefited greatly from rhyming alongside two of the worst dudes to ever pick up a mic.
But, man, LL--I don't know how you can listen to Radio and tell me that for a minute there he wasn't the greatest MC in the world.
By "record," you mean "album"?
We're talking about rap here, you rockist.
buggin'
Guru? Really? He always sounded good over Primo's production but I never thought of him as a "Great" MC. Last time I saw Gangstarr live, he was so drunk it was difficult for him to get through the songs. He screwed up all the lyrics. Then he went through the crowd and wanted to fight everyone!
For real, I've never heard anything about this ghostwriter stuff too, has this come up in more recent years?
Do you think Queen Latifa or Roxanne Shante could take consideration ahead of either Lauryn Hill or MC Lyte?
This dude is an embarassment. I wish he would disappear and quite tarnishing Gangstarr's legacy.
Guru was a popular MC, and he still is. Well, maybe not that second part.
Also, I think a portion of Black Thought's success comes from his connection to a hip hop group that has always stood out in the collective mind of the media. OMG, they play their own instruments. If critics judged him solely on his own merits, I think it'd be a different story.
until ten years later when he got
nobody could rap about the solar system like canibus. where is that dude?
These lists are so suspect.
MTV =
The BIZ!!! GET THE HELL OUUTA HERE. KANE wrote his classics anyway.
Yes. I'm a jazz snob.
I been listening to the (non-Illmatic/non-guest MC) Nasir Jones catalog lately. While It Was Written is decent, it's truly amazing how hard he fell off in terms of making albums on par with Illmatic.
I mean Illmatic is on par with Kind of Blue or A Love Supreme. But to think he had only one great album in him sort argues against greatestness.
At the same time, I realize albums are less important in rap. That's why this list sprang from the greatest albums list. Right? ok.
In a private place indulging in silver body paint
For real, I never understood why anyone sweated this dude. Using big words is only impressive if you know what they mean, and he rather clearly didn't.
KOOL KEITH pioneered this shit.
He should have retired years ago, but when he was making good music with Primo, he was making good music. Would he have had known such success without Primo? I don't know. But he's the most recognizable mc that Primo worked with, he was the voice of Gangstarr & he appears on 3/4 albums that are widely considered classics.
That whole honorable mention list feels mad diplomatic, an attempt at assuaging hurt asses from different cliques. Like, Black Thought and Common shouldn't be there. Period. If you insist on including a "conscious" rapper, there's a lot better choices, whether you're talking Chuck D, Boots, Posdnuos, etc.
Lauryn over MC Lyte? Only if you started to listened to hip-hop post 1996.
Big Pun? Big L maybe.
I have no problems with Ghost, G. Rap, Scarface and Snoop.
And where's E-40 at?
GURU is not top 10, simple and plain.
He has never had an album that didn't have a substantial amount of good material on it (except for that recent double-terd, Street's Disciple)... even Nastradamus, which most people regard as his low point was very strong lyrically and was just sabotaged by bad production.
Listen to this tape, where DHNY rehabilitates a lot of slept on verses by putting them over classic beats and tell me you don't agree:
I know! NO FUCKIN' WAY!!!!!!! LOL. Guru would be living in a car in Boston if it was not for Primo. Primo WAS Gangstarr.
Not top ten, honorable mention. If Black Though, Common, & Lauyrn Hill can get one, so should Q Tip, Guru & Biz.