Top 3-5-10 rappers of all time?

[kingfish]

Suck it up and make a list. You can make 3, 5, or 10. Whatever you're most comfortable with. Heres mine

 

1. Tupac

2. Eminem

3. Notorious

4. Jay-z

5. Idk, maybe Kanye?

 

Your turn.

[Warren2ThaG]

Tupac

Biggie/Nas

Eminem

Jay Z/Ice Cube

Edited December 31, 2010 by Warren2ThaG

[ballorama]

Pac

Biggie

Nas

Eminem

Jay-Z

[The Artesticle]

1. Dylan

2. Dylan

3. Dylan

4. Dylan

5. Dylan

 

ok i finally did it

[kingfish]

Nas isnt better then Eminem guys cut it out.

[deestillballin]

Pac

Biggie

Eminem

Jay-Z

Nas

[Big Penny]

1. Tupac Shakur

2. Big L

3. Nas

4. KRS-One

5. Notorious B.I.G

6. Rakim

7. Guru

8. C.L. Smooth

9. Immortal Technique

10. Big Pun

Edited January 26, 2011 by Big Penny

[Makaveli]

1.Pac

2.Big

3.Big L

4.Eminem

5.Nas

6.Jay-Z

7. KRS-One

8. Snoop

9. Ice Cube

10. Eazy-E

 

Honorable mentions: Gang Starr, Busta Rhymes, Rakim, LL Cool J, DMX.... i can keep on naming.

[Guru]

Nas isnt better then Eminem guys cut it out.

Nas is better than Eminem.

[La Bomba]

1. Nas

2. Raekwon

3. Method Man

4. Big L

5. Rakim (how has no one had Rakim yet?)

6. Biggie

7. Eminem

8. KRS-One

9. Kayne West

10. Andre 3000

[Guru]

1. Nas

2. Raekwon

3. Method Man

4. Big L

5. Rakim (how has no one had Rakim yet?)

6. Biggie

7. Eminem

8. KRS-One

9. Kayne West

10. Andre 3000

2 & 3 =

[The Truth]

1. Tupac

2. Eminem

3. Nas

4. Biggie

5. Jay-Z

[Nitro]

1. Nas

2. Big L

3. Eminem

4. Immortal Technique

5. Big Pun

6. 2Pac

7. Rakim

8. AZ

9. Biggie

10. Canibus

[La Bomba]

2 & 3 =

Those are the second and third rappers I enjoy listening to the most.

[Big Penny]

Those are the second and third rappers I enjoy listening to the most.

Is your list your favourite or is it the best? Because, for me atleast, my Favrouite 5 looks very different to my top-5. B.I.G for example, I can acknowledge as a top-5 rapper, but I don't particularly like his music.

[La Bomba]

I kind of half read the title. Those are the rappers I enjoy listening to the most. My opinion of who are the best doesn't change much though.

 

1. Nas

2. Biggie

3. Big L

4. KRS-One

5. Rakim (how has no one had Rakim yet?)

6. Tupac

7. Eminem

8. Chuck D

9. Jay-Z

10. Andre 3000

[AboveLegit]

The first spot is really a toss up. I'm generally more biased towards Nas, so I always list him #1, but that's not a knock on Pac. I've made these lists before in the past, and I always find myself switching things up, so I guess it all depends on my preference.

 

1. Nas

2. Pac

3. Big L

4. Biggie

5. Rakim

6. Jay Z

7. Eminem

8. KRS One

9. Big Pun

10. Andre 3000

 

My favorites are probably:

 

1. Nas

2. Kanye

3. Pac

4. Lupe

5. Mos Def

6. Eric B. & Rakim

7. AZ

8. Jay Z

9. Eminem

10. Fashawn

[JYD]

My top 5

 

1. Jay-Z

2. BIG

3. Nas

4. Eminem

5. Pac

 

 

Ya'll are just silly for not having Jay in you're top 5. I find it pretty funny, actually.

[Nitro]

My top 5

 

1. Jay-Z

2. BIG

3. Nas

4. Eminem

5. Pac

 

 

Ya'll are just silly for not having Jay in you're top 5. I find it pretty funny, actually.

 

Jay is a very good rapper, but lyrically he isn't on the level of the all-time greats IMO. From a lyrical standpoint he isn't on the level of Nas, Big L, Em, Immortal Technique, Biggie, Canibus, Rakim, Pac, AZ, Mos Def, etc...

[JYD]

Jay is a very good rapper, but lyrically he isn't on the level of the all-time greats IMO. From a lyrical standpoint he isn't on the level of Nas, Big L, Em, Immortal Technique, Biggie, Canibus, Rakim, Pac, AZ, Mos Def, etc...

Jay's wordplay is just as good as any of those guys, he has a way better discog then all of them, is pretty much the only one of them that can put out a radio hit and keep it real with sick lyrical ability and talk about moving weight.

 

Sorry, but that's just retarded. If you don't think he's number 1, alright, but he's definitely top 5. It's not even a debate. That's why I hate these threads. So many here know nothing about rap music.

[Big Penny]

Big L > Jay Z.

[Nitro]

Jay's wordplay is just as good as any of those guys, he has a way better discog then all of them, is pretty much the only one of them that can put out a radio hit and keep it real with sick lyrical ability and talk about moving weight.

 

Sorry, but that's just retarded. If you don't think he's number 1, alright, but he's definitely top 5. It's not even a debate. That's why I hate these threads. So many here know nothing about rap music.

 

He has a way better discography than any of those guys...WHAT?!? IMO, Illmatic, It Was Written, Stillmatic, Capital Punishment, Revolutionary Volume 2, Slim Shady/Marshall Mathers LP, The Eminem Show, All Eyez On Me, Ready to Die, Black on Both Sides, Doe or Die, Lifestylez Ov Da Poor & Dangerous, The Big Picture, and Paid In Full are ALL better than any album Jay-Z has made (his best being Reasonable Doubt IMO). Jay does have a longer discography than most of them, mainly because 4 of them are dead, and a few of them are underground or haven't put out many albums. But, at their best they were/are all better than Jay-Z IMO.

 

Jay does have great wordplay, but not better wordplay than Em, Big L, Biggie, Big Pun or AZ, and it's not even close. He doesn't come close to the rhyming abilities of those guys, Nas, Immortal Technique, Rakim or Canibus. His songs don't have as much deepness as Nas, Rakim, Canibus, Em, Mos Def or Immortal Technique. He doesn't have the flow of Biggie, Pun, Em, L or AZ. He doesn't have the creativeness of Nas or Em. He doesn't have any strong political idealogies like Mos Def or Technique. He doesn't have the punchlines that Technique, L or 'Bis do. He doesn't have as complex of a flow as most of those guys do.

 

I never got the fascination with Jay-Z. I always really, really liked him, but he does nothing in particular that's so great which sets him apart from the pack like those guys do.

[The Truth]

do you guys actually listen to Rakim and KRS-One or do you just throw them on the list because they're pioneers? I personally was never able to get into '80's hip-hop. the sound just doesn't do it for me. I could listen to '90's stuff all day, but the '80's sound is way different and just not appealing imo. I notice Rakim and KRS-One and groups like Public Enemy and Run DMC getting a lot of love, but I think it's mostly because they're some of the first to popularize mainstream hip-hop. if it wasn't for that, they'd probably get no recognition. I don't listen to any '80's hip-hop; being one of the first doesn't make you one of the best.

 

B.I.G for example, I can acknowledge as a top-5 rapper, but I don't particularly like his music.

how could you think he's one of the five best when you don't even like his music?

 

Jay is a very good rapper, but lyrically he isn't on the level of the all-time greats IMO. From a lyrical standpoint he isn't on the level of Nas, Big L, Em, Immortal Technique, Biggie, Canibus, Rakim, Pac, AZ, Mos Def, etc...

lol @ Canibus.

 

I never got the fascination with Jay-Z. I always really, really liked him, but he does nothing in particular that's so great which sets him apart from the pack like those guys do.

well, much of his popularity comes from his early work. BIG really made hip-hop popular in New York and they wanted another hometown hero after his passing. Jay and Nas became the popular east coast rappers of the late 90's and they carried it into the 21st century. I still think their beef was planned so they could increase record sales. for me, it's all about 'Reasonable Doubt.' without that album, Jay wouldn't even be in my top 25, but since nearly every song on that album was a classic, I have to put him in my top five. that was one of the first hip-hop albums I ever heard and it's still one of my all-time favorites.

[La Bomba]

Personally, I love 80's hip-hop. I could just as easily listen to just as much Rakim or Public Enemy as I do Nas or others.

[Nitro]

do you guys actually listen to Rakim and KRS-One or do you just throw them on the list because they're pioneers? I personally was never able to get into '80's hip-hop. the sound just doesn't do it for me. I could listen to '90's stuff all day, but the '80's sound is way different and just not appealing imo. I notice Rakim and KRS-One and groups like Public Enemy and Run DMC getting a lot of love, but I think it's mostly because they're some of the first to popularize mainstream hip-hop. if it wasn't for that, they'd probably get no recognition. I don't listen to any '80's hip-hop; being one of the first doesn't make you one of the best.

 

I love Rakim. Never was a big fan of KRS-One, always thought his rhyme scheme was too simple and his actually songs aren't very good. Rakim was a genius, though.

 

lol @ Canibus.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3rPeVvte0U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JdvMypE6bw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWJLXU1rxSo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwUxHH1G6Do

 

Listen to those. He may not have the swagger that Jay-Z has or the kind of music people can dance to, but lyrically he is absolutely unbelievable. His vocabulary, knowledge, flow, and metaphores is out of this world.

 

well, much of his popularity comes from his early work. BIG really made hip-hop popular in New York and they wanted another hometown hero after his passing. Jay and Nas became the popular east coast rappers of the late 90's and they carried it into the 21st century. I still think their beef was planned so they could increase record sales. for me, it's all about 'Reasonable Doubt.' without that album, Jay wouldn't even be in my top 25, but since nearly every song on that album was a classic, I have to put him in my top five. that was one of the first hip-hop albums I ever heard and it's still one of my all-time favorites.

 

I agree that Reasonable Doubt was a GREAT album, but as I said in my previous post, those other albums by those other rappers I listed are all better IMO (and all noted as classics, besides maybe Revolutionary Pt II because Technique is underground). I just think Jay doesn't have the raw talent to be considered a top 5 all-time rapper, and to me R.D isn't good enough to push him into that position.

Edited January 1, 2011 by Nitro