Soloists:
Aesop Rock
AZ
Nas
Cormega
Guru
Rakim
KRS One
Kool G Rap
Murs
Freddie Foxxx
2Pac
Biggie Smalls
Big L
Grandmaster Caz
Cowboy (of the Furious Five)
Melle Mel
Aceyalone
Mos Def
Talib Kweli
Raekwon
Inspectah Deck
GZA/Genius
Common
Canibus
Big Daddy Kane
Groups/Duos:
Gang Starr
Wu-Tang
Furious Five
Cold Crush Brothers
Public Enemy
Run-DMC
Digable Planets
Organized Konfusion
Freestyle Fellowship
De La Soul
Digable Planets
OutKast
Boogie Down Productions
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony
Eric B. and Rakim
A Tribe Called Quest
The Soul Sonic Force
Aesop Rock
AZ
Nas
Cormega
Guru
Rakim
KRS One
Kool G Rap
Murs
Freddie Foxxx
2Pac
Biggie Smalls
Big L
Grandmaster Caz
Cowboy (of the Furious Five)
Melle Mel
Aceyalone
Mos Def
Talib Kweli
Raekwon
Inspectah Deck
GZA/Genius
Common
Canibus
Big Daddy Kane
Groups/Duos:
Gang Starr
Wu-Tang
Furious Five
Cold Crush Brothers
Public Enemy
Run-DMC
Digable Planets
Organized Konfusion
Freestyle Fellowship
De La Soul
Digable Planets
OutKast
Boogie Down Productions
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony
Eric B. and Rakim
A Tribe Called Quest
The Soul Sonic Force
by Stylus March 10, 2005
In no order:
Nas
Common
Talib Kweli
Q-Tip
Guru
Mos-Def
Binary Star
Rakim
GZA
Raekwon
Inspectah Deck
Big L
Method Man
KRS-One
Jeru the Damaja
C.L. Smooth
Nas
Common
Talib Kweli
Q-Tip
Guru
Mos-Def
Binary Star
Rakim
GZA
Raekwon
Inspectah Deck
Big L
Method Man
KRS-One
Jeru the Damaja
C.L. Smooth
These MCs are an example of real hip-hop music. Listen to KRS-One and not Nelly. Get a Talib Kweli CD to get double the quality and half the price of a Chingy CD.
by 2nd Dopest Flip Ever To Live October 3, 2004
1- Immortal Technique
2- 2Pac
3- Slug (Atmosphere)
4- Biggie
5- Gift of Gab (Blackalicious)
6- Em
7- Wu Tang
8- Nas
9- Tribe Called Quest
10- Royce Da 5'9"
2- 2Pac
3- Slug (Atmosphere)
4- Biggie
5- Gift of Gab (Blackalicious)
6- Em
7- Wu Tang
8- Nas
9- Tribe Called Quest
10- Royce Da 5'9"
by J May 5, 2004
a tribe called quest
de la soul
afrika bambaata
public enemy
krs one
big daddy kane
brand nubian
kmd
grand puba
wu-tang clan and family
biz markie
epmd
notorious b.i.g aka biggy smalls
x clan
lords of the underground
gangstarr
tha alkaholiks
digable planets
dilated peoples
eric b and rakim
ll cool j
das efx
poor righteous teachers
jungle borthers
nwa
run dmc
mc lyte
salt n pepa
pete rock and cl smooth
dj vadim
peanut butter wolf
kid koala
cypress hill
beastie boys
nas
diamond d
del tha funkee homosapien
large professor
masta ace
mf doom
mf grimm
juice crew
hieroglyphics crew
zulunation
souls of mischief
de la soul
afrika bambaata
public enemy
krs one
big daddy kane
brand nubian
kmd
grand puba
wu-tang clan and family
biz markie
epmd
notorious b.i.g aka biggy smalls
x clan
lords of the underground
gangstarr
tha alkaholiks
digable planets
dilated peoples
eric b and rakim
ll cool j
das efx
poor righteous teachers
jungle borthers
nwa
run dmc
mc lyte
salt n pepa
pete rock and cl smooth
dj vadim
peanut butter wolf
kid koala
cypress hill
beastie boys
nas
diamond d
del tha funkee homosapien
large professor
masta ace
mf doom
mf grimm
juice crew
hieroglyphics crew
zulunation
souls of mischief
i may forgot some, sorry. this list DOES NOT include g-unit, 50 cent and all that other MTV pop shit. word world's best rappers list
by zuluskjar December 23, 2006
1. 2Pac (cliche, but true)
2. Aesop Rock
3. The Notorious B.I.G.
4. Eminem
5. Mos Def
6. Nas
7. Sonny Cheeba (of Camp Lo)
8. Copywrite
9. Kanye West
10. Tonedeff
11. DMX
12. Deacon the Villain (of the Cunninglynguists)
13. Jay-Z
14. 50 Cent
Dishonorable mentions:
Puff Daddy (he keeps making money off Biggie’s work)
Nelly (just sucks. Plain sucks.)
Cash Money Millionaires (I don’t have much cash or money, nor am I a millionaire, so I can’t relate.)
Benzino (haha)
Ja Rule (cliché, but true.)
Fabolous (he just spells his name in every song; and his name is spelled wrong)
Snoop Doggy Dogg (his early stuff was really good… but then it went all downhill)
Juvenile (boo!)
Jay-Z (he’s good and all, but he keeps biting off of Biggie, plus he took 2Pac’s song “Me and My Girlfriend”, even though 2Pac dissed him.)
(Basically any rapper who has no substance in his lyrics; if it’s all about ass-shaking and diamonds and crap most people can’t afford, then it sucks. He’s basically saying, “My life’s better than yours! Nyah!”)
Also: Dr. Dre isn’t really a rapper; he’s just a good producer.
2. Aesop Rock
3. The Notorious B.I.G.
4. Eminem
5. Mos Def
6. Nas
7. Sonny Cheeba (of Camp Lo)
8. Copywrite
9. Kanye West
10. Tonedeff
11. DMX
12. Deacon the Villain (of the Cunninglynguists)
13. Jay-Z
14. 50 Cent
Dishonorable mentions:
Puff Daddy (he keeps making money off Biggie’s work)
Nelly (just sucks. Plain sucks.)
Cash Money Millionaires (I don’t have much cash or money, nor am I a millionaire, so I can’t relate.)
Benzino (haha)
Ja Rule (cliché, but true.)
Fabolous (he just spells his name in every song; and his name is spelled wrong)
Snoop Doggy Dogg (his early stuff was really good… but then it went all downhill)
Juvenile (boo!)
Jay-Z (he’s good and all, but he keeps biting off of Biggie, plus he took 2Pac’s song “Me and My Girlfriend”, even though 2Pac dissed him.)
(Basically any rapper who has no substance in his lyrics; if it’s all about ass-shaking and diamonds and crap most people can’t afford, then it sucks. He’s basically saying, “My life’s better than yours! Nyah!”)
Also: Dr. Dre isn’t really a rapper; he’s just a good producer.
by g-franc July 2, 2004
Here a Resonable list( no order)
Best Rappers:
-Imortal Technique (Best alive)
-Jeru The Damaja
-Jester Sham
-Big L
-Tupac Shakur
-Raekwon
-Gangstarr
-Jus Allah
-GZA
-Mr. Lif
Best Groups:
-Company Flow
-Wu Tang Clan
-Jedi Mind Tricks
-Outerspace
-Non Phixion
-Black Moon
-Dead prez
Worst Rappers:
50 Cent (2nd Worst)
Lil Flip
Chingy (Worst Alive)
Nelly
Kanye West
Young Buck
Lil Scrappy
Bone Crusher
All Southern-Commercial Rap
SELL-OUTS(use 2 be mad good but then gave it up 4 money):
Fat Joe
Jay-Z
Method Man
CamRon
Eminem
Game
Ma$e
Cassidy
Best Rappers:
-Imortal Technique (Best alive)
-Jeru The Damaja
-Jester Sham
-Big L
-Tupac Shakur
-Raekwon
-Gangstarr
-Jus Allah
-GZA
-Mr. Lif
Best Groups:
-Company Flow
-Wu Tang Clan
-Jedi Mind Tricks
-Outerspace
-Non Phixion
-Black Moon
-Dead prez
Worst Rappers:
50 Cent (2nd Worst)
Lil Flip
Chingy (Worst Alive)
Nelly
Kanye West
Young Buck
Lil Scrappy
Bone Crusher
All Southern-Commercial Rap
SELL-OUTS(use 2 be mad good but then gave it up 4 money):
Fat Joe
Jay-Z
Method Man
CamRon
Eminem
Game
Ma$e
Cassidy
by depz24550 March 1, 2005
Well, I'm not as qualified as many to write what I think should be a somewhat definitive list. I was only hardcore into rap from 1988 to 1994, so anybody whose work was totally or mostly after 1994, I leave off the list due to ignorance (people, I'm sure, like Notorious B.I.G., Jay-Z, Common, Eminem, 50 cent, whomever...) Also, notice how it's "World's" Best Rappers List, and we're probably almost exclusively talking about American rappers.
I personally think that the greatest 3 rappers in terms of flow, technique, and skill, not taking into account people who never sold all that much (e.g. the great Grandaddy I.U.), from mid 80s to mid 90s would be, in no particular order:
Rakim
Big Daddy Kane
Nas
Additionally, in terms of overall skill and/or cultural/political significance, I would add the following, who began in the mid 80s and did most of their good stuff by the mid 90s, in no particular order:
LL Cool J
KRS-One
EPMD
Roxanne Shante' (only a select few songs were really good, but overall she is very significant)
Antoinette (possibly the closest thing, at least until the mid 90s, to a female Rakim or Kane)
Latifah
Lyte
(I mean, why ain't the females bein' represented?)
Nikki D (one of the best rap albums ever, totally overlooked, totally phat skillz)
Salt-N-Pepa (specifically Salt b/c of her phat skills and before anyone jumps on me, listen to "Swift" from Black's magic, also to see how much better she was than Pepa, compare their various, respective "Solo Power" songs on the "Salt With A Deadly Pepa" album)
Public Enemy (specifically Chuck D)
King Sun
K-Solo
D.O.C.
Lakim Shabazz (possibly, don't remember him that well)
Cookie Crew
Monie Love
probably 2 or 3 NWA-associated people (Dre, Eazy, Cube)
Yo-Yo
Kool G. Rap (can't believe I went ths long w/o mentioning him)
Grandaddy I.U.
Snoop Dog (perhaps)
That's all I can think of now from mid 80s to mid 90s. Note that I did not cover early 80s b/c I don't know enough about it. I'm sure I'd say Grandmaster Flash, Melle Mel, Grandmaster Caz, Africa Bambataa, Kurtis Blow...people like that.
I personally think that the greatest 3 rappers in terms of flow, technique, and skill, not taking into account people who never sold all that much (e.g. the great Grandaddy I.U.), from mid 80s to mid 90s would be, in no particular order:
Rakim
Big Daddy Kane
Nas
Additionally, in terms of overall skill and/or cultural/political significance, I would add the following, who began in the mid 80s and did most of their good stuff by the mid 90s, in no particular order:
LL Cool J
KRS-One
EPMD
Roxanne Shante' (only a select few songs were really good, but overall she is very significant)
Antoinette (possibly the closest thing, at least until the mid 90s, to a female Rakim or Kane)
Latifah
Lyte
(I mean, why ain't the females bein' represented?)
Nikki D (one of the best rap albums ever, totally overlooked, totally phat skillz)
Salt-N-Pepa (specifically Salt b/c of her phat skills and before anyone jumps on me, listen to "Swift" from Black's magic, also to see how much better she was than Pepa, compare their various, respective "Solo Power" songs on the "Salt With A Deadly Pepa" album)
Public Enemy (specifically Chuck D)
King Sun
K-Solo
D.O.C.
Lakim Shabazz (possibly, don't remember him that well)
Cookie Crew
Monie Love
probably 2 or 3 NWA-associated people (Dre, Eazy, Cube)
Yo-Yo
Kool G. Rap (can't believe I went ths long w/o mentioning him)
Grandaddy I.U.
Snoop Dog (perhaps)
That's all I can think of now from mid 80s to mid 90s. Note that I did not cover early 80s b/c I don't know enough about it. I'm sure I'd say Grandmaster Flash, Melle Mel, Grandmaster Caz, Africa Bambataa, Kurtis Blow...people like that.
Above is my World's Best Rappers List.
by William Noel August 16, 2006