Lil' Wayne dropped his new album "Tha Carter III" this week and it set off some alarms in the Pet Rock office. Adam "Weezie" Abramson professed his adoration for the rapper and all things dirty dirty.
While I acknowledge the effect the Dirty South has had on the rap game, I feel it's my job to educate the junior Pet Rocker and all those out there who believe Weezie is the best rapper of all time.
He's not even close. That's not a dig at him at all, so don't misunderstand. He's got skills (I still recite his verse on "Bling Bling" when need be -- usually once a week), but the five seminal voices of rap came when rocking the bling was called flossing and when there were only old R&B and soul albums to sample from.
In what I believe to be the most entertaining conversation among those raised in the hip -hop generations, I will proudly list my top 5 rap MCs of all time. What the heck, it is Top 5 Thursday anyway, so it makes even more sense.
I stand firmly behind all five, in the order listed, but fully respect everyone's opinion on the matter. Comment instructions are below the list, as are my honorable mentions and a video playlist. Understand that on Top 5 Thursday, we only have room for five (hence the name, so don't overreact to those missing. Rather, make your case in the comments. This is not about who made the biggest-selling songs or the best club-bangers. This isn't voting for the all-star game. This is voting for the Hall of Fame.
5) Guru
Do we begin with "Lemonade was a popular drink and it still is, I get more props and stunts than Bruce Willis?" Or should we start with "Don't wanna play the field because I got lovin' at home base?" Or maybe "Furthermore, I implore, that as a soldier of war, I go in only to win, and be the holder of more . . . trophies and titles and triumphs." Backed by DJ Premier, the greatest beat creator ever, Guru was authoritative on the mic and owns a somewhat raspy voice that no one can come close to replicating. Perhaps not the biggest name in terms of mass appeal, true rap heads take it personal when Guru gets slighted by so many.
4) Tupac
Joke all you want about how he put out more albums after his death almost 12 years ago than while he was alive: Tupac controlled the microphone as good as anyone on this list. He was controversial, but I believe that was more of a state of the times in the early 1990s and the public's backlash toward gangsta rap. Tupac had more range in his raps than he gets credit for. In the Biggie vs. Tupac battle -- musically speaking, that is -- Tupac wins.
3) KRS-One
The teacher. The philosopher. The rapper. The freestyler. KRS-One had the bravado and the presence to back it up. On Funkmaster Flex's 1995 CD "60 Minutes of Funk, Vol. I," KRS-One closed it out with a freestyle.
He proclaimed:
"I bet they'll mention me
In the next century
'KRS-One innovator in early rap poetry'
Simultaneously, you will be forgotten
In the year 2000, 'Criminal Minded' will still be rockin'."
Well, in the year 2008 and every year afterward, "Criminal Minded" will still be rockin'. The song was released in 1987.
2) Chuck D
Arguably the most powerful voice to ever rock the mic, Chuck D can still shake the foundation. Not many rappers can produce socially conscious music and classic hits in the same song. Chuck D could. Every time I hear him on "Welcome to the Terrordome," "Fight the Power," "You're Gonna Get Yours" and "Brothers Gonna Work It Out," I wish I had seen Public Enemy in concert during its heyday.
1) Rakim
Anyone who argues against Rakim as the greatest microphone fiend of all-time should be forced to have his or her jaw wired for 12 years. Need proof? "Paid in Full" is one freakin' verse, and it's a gold standard for rap music.
Need more proof? OK, here goes:
• "It's been a long time, I shouldn't have left you with a dope beat to step to."
• "Thought I was a donut, you tried to glaze me."
• "Thinkin' of a master plan, there ain't nothin but sweat inside my hand."
• "I'll take 7 emcees, put 'em in a line. And add 7 more brothers who think they can rhyme. Well, it'll take another 7 before I go for mine, now that's 21 emcees ate up at the same time."
Below is a video playlist of some of these rappers' work. (Note: I scoured YouTube late into the night to find as many clean edits as possible. In some cases, the original version is used because the song is integral to the artist, so this is our parental-advisory warning sticker.)
Pet Rock also welcomes your comments on this list, as well as your top 5 lists. Let's hear your case for them, too. I always love this conversation, so let's get it going and no hating allowed.
Honorable Mention (listed alphabetically): Big Daddy Kane, LL Cool J, MC Lyte, Nas, Notorious B.I.G., Q-Tip.
- La Monica
Comments (20)
Chuck D at #2. He didn't have the versatility. His best song- Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos.
And, as you know, I'm far from a Tupac fan. A combination of pop and bluster. Cotton Swab was the first rapper (other than the novelty act Beastie Boys) to be successful with a terrible rap voice. Now, it's hard to find a successful rapper with a good rap voice.
BDK, on your honorable mention list deserves much higher praise. He's one of the few rappers, other than Rakim, to build rhymes with analogies and rhyme in the middle of bars, rather than always at the end.
As the king of bragadoccio, I will let his own words speak for themselves:
You see, the name Kane is superior to many people,
It means King Asiatic, Nobody's Equal.
I hate to brag, but damn I'm good
And if mics were a gun, I'd be Clint Eastwood.
And if rap was a game, Id be MVP
Most Valuable Poet on the m-i-c
Or if rap was a school, I'd be the principal
Aw fnck it, the Kane is invincible
He also wrote for other artists. He wrote nearly all of Roxanne Shante's work. He penned The Vapors and Pickin' Boogers for the Clown Prince of Rap, Bizmarkie. Kane was the formula for Jay-Z. A speed rhymer, but with a good voice, and oh yeah, rhyme skills.
And, MC Ricky D needs to be on the honorable mention list.
Most underrated- EPMD (but only when together), Grand Puba, Black Moon, Biz Markie.
I should also mention that on Mr. Cee's Biggie Mix Tape, on what has been proclaimed the greatest multi-artist live freestyle of all time, which has frequently been edited down to just Tupac and Biggie for the sake of commercialism, also featured are The Little Daddy Shane (BDK's younger brother) and Shaheim, and the anchor and best verse is done by BDK himself, which gets the crowd in an uproar over several lines.
Kool Mo Dee's book, "There's a God on the Mic," ranks Kane #4 of all-time, behind only Melle Mel, Rakim, and KRS-ONE. KMD wrote, "The best in the business at delivering the metaphor punch line. Perfect inflection."
The aforementioned, greatest freestyle ever, edited for a family friendly website:
Just cause you rap don't meant that you're catchin wreck with me
Step to this I'll give your mic a vasectomy
I only know one brotha that can come next to me
No, that's a tattle, cause I can't count my own shadow
A battle, I gots to have it, 'lest you're gonna rob me
like they did, Whittaker when he fought Chavez
Cause when it comes to goin against Kane rappin
That's like a pimp trying to pull a nun, ain't nuttin happenin
Non resistable, non compatible
I'm not saying I'm the best, I'm just saying I'm freakin incredible
And let's just get one more thing understood
If I fart on a record, trust me brotha, that sheet gon' sound good
What if the question wasn't the top 5 MCs, but the top 5 Percenter MCs?
1. Rakim
2. Big Daddy Kane
3. Guru
4. Nas
5 Method Man
As a top 5 list overall I doubt too many people would complain. Honorable mention to Grand Puba, CL Smooth, Kook G Rap, Buckshot from Black Moon, and Daddy-O from the Stet.
Could the decline in rap be directly traced to the decline in the Nation of Islam?
The five greatest rappers of all time:
5. Dylan
4. Dylan
3. Dylan
2. Dylan
and
1. Dylan
Only one MC stands alone at the top in my opinion and that's Tricky. No one has a voice or style like him and the rhymes and beats he comes up with are totally unique. I also think Missy Elliott should be near the top. That woman has great hooks and clever, funny lyrics.
I think Big Daddy Kane should have been there instead of Chuck D. Much love to Chuck D though.
I like the list, still I think it is somewhat lacking. A number of rappers have spit bars that make you do a double take. Listen to older Mobb Deep records and you'd come away thinking with nothing but awe at Prodigy. Thus I think to make such a list you have to not only consider the rhymes these guys laid down but their overall effect on rap culture. So you look at rhymes, at sound, at influence, and to a small extent at commercial success (but only the commercial success of unanimously agreed on critical darlings because we can't be including Hammer and Will Smith and 50 Cent). Maybe that's even an effective argument for putting in Chuck D (or Public Enemy as a whole) versus Big Daddy Kane.
Thus I salute Guru as one half of Gang Starr but DJ Premier equals Hip Hop and is the enduring legacy. I could chip a little bit at almost everyone on the list, but only chip -- a testament to how good this list really is. I'd say by my criteria Tupac should be higher.
Props to the brain trust, and someone please educate that Glenn Gamboa dude,
Tommy, good points.
Chuck D is probably the most controversial selection on here, but when I listened to some old public enemy a few months ago, i was shocked Chuck D wasn't already in my top 5.
those few days bumped BDK from 5 to 6 on my list and Biggie from 6 to 7.
Knock out Chuck D and put in Nas and i agree with the top 5
No way Nas should be ahead of Chuck D. I agree Chuck may be the most controversial pick but you can't deny the man's talented voice mixed with political rhymes. No one was rapping about the things Chuck D and Public Enemy were rapping about in those days, no one. And they were the first to do a colaboration with a heavy metal group (Anthrax) in 1991.
Besides, Chuck D and Nas are two totally different rappers. Chuck D is a power rapper with probably the most powerful and distinctive voice ever in rap. There is absolutely no mistaking a Chuck D song. When his songs come on the radio you KNOW it's him. Or even if he was just doing a guest appearance on a radio show and you were flipping through the dial, without them saying his name, as soon as he talked you would KNOW it was him.
The same can't be said for Nas. While I agree he is definitley talented and has great rhymes, he looses points in my book because he gets lost among the dozens of other rappers with a similar voice, and style.
Chuck D is an original. Original rhymes, original voice. That gets him at least the 5 slot in my book.
NC,
thanks for the Chuck D support!
Blastmaster,
CL was indeed Smooth. it's a shame he didn't last longer. "TROY" is a top 5 rap song of all-time.
He didn't last so long b/c many of his songs were ghostwritten by Grand Puba.
Agree on TROY being great. I'd make my top 20, but not top 5.
Oh, and another underrated rapper- Special Ed. Forgot him in my earlier post.
great list.... better than the most of the ones ive heard... especially lately... here is my opinion
1. 2Pac - Displayed great versatility... held his own with slower, meaningful songs and still was able to spit on a hardcore rap song (which is a thin line)
2. Rakim - he set the precedent to what a lyrical MC is
3. Biggie - his short work has had a lasting effect on hip hop
4. Slick Rick - the best storyteller of all time... who needs videos when a man can paint pictures with his words?
5. Nas - also a good story teller himself (Undying Love is like a movie)... "street poet".... touches subject matters MC's have neglected
Honorable Mentions: Jay-Z (his lyrical wit and variety of flows); Big Pun (raw, quick hitting lyrics); Big L (ahead of his time, never got the chance to blow up); Ghostface (incredible consistency throughout the years with good Hip Hop albums, edgy lyrics); Scarface (the best ever from the South, incredibly respected)....
YuNg, i love your inclusion of Slick Rick. I toyed with putting him in the honorable mention list. If I hadn't listened to LL's "Radio" album recently, I might have put Slick in there instead.
Big L was pretty good. My boy Rob G used to pump that tape when we were in college. Yes, I said tape.
Pun, decent. Not a big fan of Ghostface on solo projects, but that's just me. I'd take Meth first if I needed a Wu-Gambino.
Wrong, wrong, wrong
Top 5 in no particular order:
Biggie
Nas
Big Daddy Kane (his absence is criminal!)
Jay Z (not on the list!!!)
Rakim - only one everyone should agree on..
Honorable mentions:
Tupac
LL Cool J - people might hate him now as a sell-out but he has had arguably the most successful, and longest rap/entertainer career of anyone. And anybody who can get away with the line "Forget oreo's eat Cool J cookies, I'm Bad!" deserves some consideration.
KRS One and Chuck D should be lauded for their social commentary but do not fit the bill of top "skilled" MC's.
Next list needs to be top rap "groups" of all time.
I agree with all of you who said Big Daddy Kane should have been there. Rakim is in the right spot though. I get tired of Jay Z, all of his stuff sounds the same. If you pay attention, you can spot a Jay Z song before he opens his mouth. The greatest rappers of all time are the ones like Rakim and Big Daddy Kame who paved the way for Jay Z and Biggie etc.
Let us not forget EPMD, Special Ed, Run DMC etc
Jay-Z is garbage. the only reason people think he's great is because he was the best of rap music's worst era.
someone could be the best garbage man in america but guess what, that person is still a garbage man.
nas had illmatic. after that, he's average at best.
biggie was good but not top 5. definitely top 8.
Wrong Wrong Wrong,
I disagree with your top 5, but that's the beauty of this debate. there really is no right or wrong - except for Rakim.
as for the next list being best rap groups of all-time. give me some time to really ponder that one aside from just throwing out the first five that come to mind.
i'll do it for top 5 thursday on june 26.
Cool list. I do think Tupac should be at least top 2. In every industry there is always a person that will "Bridge the Gap" between generations: Takes what they've learned from old school and makes it new school. It's the same thing that Michael Jordan did for basketball and Ali did for boxing. The truth is, the way these ppl lived there lives makes us understand them more than the music alone ever could. Rakim is an amazing MC, but i always felt like he just showed up for the ride. With the talent he has, he should've taken a more active role in the community like Chuck D. & Tupac. Rakim should be like Jay-Z, but i guess he made some poor decisions. Hopefully his comeback can re-establish his impact he has made on the hip-hop culture.