CD2's Favorite Ten Rappers

I have two things I must say before I get to the list. First and foremost, Hip-Hop as a music genre gives the most in volume and depth as far as lyrics, and it's not even close. Even when there are great lyrical songs of other genres, they mostly put out about a quarter of the lyrics that you could find in a typical Hip-Hop song (if that). Second, this is not a list of who I think the greatest ten rappers of all-time are. I refuse to get into that debate because music is art, and what we value in art is a total individual, subjective thing. I can argue about one rapper's lyrics compared to another, but I cannot argue with someone about why I think they should or shouldn't like a rapper. But then again, if you tell me that you like Lil' Jon over Jay-Z, I'll probably just sock you in the neck. Remember, this is merely a list of my favorite rappers, or those rappers that I listen to the most at this current stage in my life.

I guess you can say my favorite rappers have certain criteria that I go for. I like production (beats), lyrical content (are you actually saying something), lyrical delivery, and whether or not the rapper is being genuine with him/herself and the consumer, or if it's just a packaged commercialized product to be sold to the masses (a la Chingy...though I'm not hating on Chingy...getcha money mayne).

...See it's a beautiful life/But these bills'll make it ugly/And the beauty of life is when you're forced to make it ugly -Consequence


10

Consequence, or The Cons, caught me with his delivery. He has one of the most charismatic deliveries that I have every heard in Hip-Hop. Being a cousin of Q-Tip, he was heavily featured on A Tribe Called Quest's album, Beats, Rhymes, and Life (a person favorite). I also believe he could make many people's most underrated lists. I like his two albums, Take Em to the Cleaners (though it was sort of a mixtape), and Don't Quit Your Day Job. He made most of his rounds in the mixtape circuit before Kanye West snagged him to his G.O.O.D. Music label. This, in turn, gave Quence more access to great production. And that mixed with his great delivery, word play, and real content, he sneaks into my highly competitive 10 spot on the list.


I'm a muthaf***in' spiteful, delightful, eyefull/The new Ice Cube/Muthaf***as hate to like you/What did I do?/I'm just a kid from the gutta/Makin' dis butta off these bloodsuckas/'Cause I'm a muthaf***in'... -Eminem


9

I never bought for one second those that say Eminem is great only because he is a white rapper. I guess that's why Vanilla Ice, Bubba Sparxxx, and Marky Mark are all time legends (but Bubba was my boy when he was with Beat Club). Maybe more than any other rapper, I can feel Em's pain in his lyrics and voice. Not that I am a fan of pain of suffering, but I am a huge fan of authenticity. In his lyrics and delivery, I can almost feel his pain as if I am him, and I'm a black dude from southern California while he grew up in a trailer park in Detroit's notorious 8 Mile. I don't mean to come off as if I think Em is all raw emotion and no substance. His word play can be among the best in the industry (I say industry rather than game because I'm not the one to know all who's out there in the game that may be as good or better than anyone on my list). While two of his post The Eminem Show albums were not great to me, I thought he wrapped up the Comeback of the Year Award for Recovery. He is also featured in one of my favorite Hip-Hop songs ever, Renegade.

Had tuh watch ma back, ma front, plus ma sides too/When it came to gettin' mine/I ain't tryin' to argue/Sometimes I would'na made it if it wasn't fuh you/Hip-Hip you da love of ma life an dat's true - Black Thought


8


When I listen to The Roots, I tend to ask myself, "gosh, why aren't there more successful Hip-Hop bands?" I love hearing live instruments. It has a certain freshness to it. The Roots are obviously very unique in that they are a hugely successful Hip-Hop band. I get trapped in their sound, but I don't overlook their front man lyricist, Black Thought (Tariq). Act Too (Love of My Life) featuring Common is one of (if not my favorite) Hip-Hop songs ever. His flow gives the impression of a kind of balanced mixture of street and intelligence, which is really a recurring theme with everyone on my list.

...We do this music thing for everybody/Black, white, latino, and Asian we cold raisin'/The stakes of Hip-Hop to new plateau/To bridge gaps in generations for future plantations - A Tribe Called Quest (Q-Tip)


7

I am somewhat embarrassed to have them at number 7 on my list. The Tribe will forever be known as trendsetters or even revolutionaries of the industry. Their production and sound was so distinct for their time in the early 90's. While there was so much jittering and jiving going on in Hip-Hop, The Tribe took the Hip-Hop world by storm with their jazzy, smooth rhyming style that created a new branch of Hip-Hop. I still contend, however, that People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm does not get enough play while I think The Low End Theory is a little overrated. But that is another issue (lol). Nonetheless, I still take in the Tribe nearly 13 years after their final album, The Love Movement, in 1998.

Life is a game, I heard the homie say/But I came tuh win so I'm not here tuh play - Mos Def


6

With Cee-Lo not making my list, Mos Definately wins the award for most eccentric on my list. Case and point, who knows about his album True Magic? Exactly. Not a bad album, it was basically secretly released in late 2006. There was no hoopla or promotion. The case the CD came in was clear with no labeling or anything *laughing*. He can also put out some very unconventional Hip-Hop songs, such as Modern Marvel or The Boogie Man Song. Nonetheless, he can put it down lyrically at will, such as his role as one half of Black Star. Ghetto Rock is one of my must-play-at-max-volume songs. And who doesn't love Ms. Fat Booty? Coming from the projects in Brooklyn, his heart speaks from the street perspective, and yet he maintains to carry himself in a way that doesn't glorify some of the bad things he grew up around.

It's a paradox we call reality/Keepin' it real will make you a casualty of abnormal-normality - Talib Kweli


5

Talib saves himself, for me, from being one of those rappers that is all about being against "The Man." He has the ability to be great in rapping about social issues and political issues while still having the ability to keep it fun, casual, and just a tad bit swaggadotious. He is the other half of Black Star, half of Reflection Eternal (though I contend that any Reflection Eternal album is a Talib Kweli album...just with all the tracks produced by Hi-Tek), and he has his own stuff, in which The Beautiful Struggle is one of my favorite albums of any genre. I do wish his delivery would be a little slower at times, but at this point I am just splitting hairs. To me, one of the best in this generation, easily.

It's all love where we come from/In the hood love is what we were told to run from/That same hood where the gun sung/We holla 'love' hopin' it become one... - Common


4

Again we have a man who is familiar with the streets, but, as he says, "it's a reality I touch, but for me it's hard to keep." As a pure lyricist, Common, one of the chief members of G.O.O.D. Music, is one of the greats, but he may not get as much love in that regard because of his personality and the kind of [nice] guy he is. His distinctive calm, smooth delivery can lull you to sleep [on what he is saying], which can make you miss some great lines. One of my favorites is, "in the hood, under the FuBu is a guru," as to say that intelligence comes in all forms whether or not someone is educated or not. The hood is full of gurus, but many of them do not get a chance to showcase it in the mainstream world because "they hadn't been past downtown," their life circumstances hinders them. He is responsible for one of my favorite Hip-Hop songs of all time (while also being featured on another one of my favorite Hip-Hop songs of all-time) The Corner. That song is ridiculous, and I am not sure if it gets consideration for being an all-time Hip-Hop record.

I love my city, hope that God really bless it/Have ma mind movin faster than that Hog in the Hedges/Welcome all of yall to ma dark recesses/This is where ah keep da bars like bathtub edges...      - Lupe Fiasco


3


Some may think I'm exaggerating when I say this, but I think Lupe is somewhat of a combination of Jay-Z, Eminem, and Nas. Hear me out. He has the complex flow and sick ability to reference some of the most obscure things just like Jay-Z. Jay-Z says, "To Drake, here's how they go come at chu/Wit silly rap feuds tryin tuh distract you/In disguise in the form of a favor/The Barzini Meetin', watch fo da traitors." If you don't know what he's talking about, go [re]watch The Godfather. Lupe says, "..Dat means anutha July inside ma endless summer/That was just the eye of the Unger/Felix cuz he is the cleanest amongst da/Younga outstandin' acheivin' up and commahs." Felix Unger...The Odd Couple (smh). He has the word play, word manipulation, and alliteration of Eminem and the storytelling ability of Nas. I'm not saying he's better [or worse] than any of them, but I sense those three elements in his flow.  He also wins major points for mentioning String Theory in his rhymes. As an astronomy/science nut, of course I find that awesome. He does Hip-Hop in his own way without conforming to the "norm"and all the commercial interests. He will continue to "Kick, Push" while "dumbin' down nuthin'."

How many ladies in the house?/How many ladies in da house witout a spouse?/Sumpthin in ya blouse got me feelin' so aroused/What chu about?/On dat independent sheee*t/Trade it all fo uh husband and some keeeids/You evuh wonder what it all really means?/You wonder if you'll evah find yo dreams?...     - Kanye West


2


'Ye caps off what I could call my most relatable rappers, along with Common and Lupe. I relate to them the most because they all grew up in and around the hood, but are not necessarily of  the hood. They acknowledge that they are close to the hood, but at the same time they do not glorify the hood. Though I am more fond of the classic Ye' rap and production, he makes number 2 on the list due to his flow, production, and the fact that I can relate to him personally more than any other rapper, with Lupe and Common right behind him. Though I hated 808's Heartbreak, I respect his willingness to takes chances in taking Hip-Hop to new heights. Over the years, he has formed his own brand of Hip-Hop. He also wins points in another way. I did not realize this until my colleague, G-Money, told me this after I asked her what she thought of his Runaway short video/film (whatever it is). She says she thinks he did wonders for Hip-Hop because he brought his own kind of swagger, which in turn opened the door for more like him to be successful in Hip-Hop. If you remember the last track on College Dropout, Last Call, he says that while playing some beats and some of his songs for A&Rs, he was telling them how he could rap in addition to producing and making beats. "'yo but I rap too.' Hey, I guess they was lookin' at me crazy cuz you know...cuz ah didn't have a jersey on or whatever" (you all remember when that gratuitous fad of Throwback jerseys had its moment in the early 2000s). Kayne said f**k it, I'm going to be Kanye and not what everybody else is.  My colleague was saying how now we are seeing personalities prosper in Hip-Hop that do not fit the traditional mold of Hip-Hop culture, such as a Drake or Lupe to name a couple. I bought into a lot of her theory about Kanye. Kanye, along with the next person on the list, could possibly go down as the most transcendent Hip-Hop star ever.

Momma forgive me we should be thinkin' bout Harvard/But that's too far away/N***as is starvin'/Nutin' wrong wit da aim/But gotta change the target - Jay-Z 


1

There are just so many lines that I could put up there, but I'd be here forever trying to narrow it down to one. I simply ran with the first one that came to mind. Hov, who proclaims himself God of the rap game and not the real God, is at number one on my list not because I relate to him the most, but he is the best lyrically that I have ever heard. The complexity of his flow is mixed with his charisma which gives him huge popularity with hardcore rap fans and pop culture. In one of Bill Simmons' podcasts, The B.S. Report, he had a conversation with [I guess you can call him a fellow] podcaster, Dave Dameshek. They discussed whether or not Jay-Z is this generation's Frank Sinatra. Bill thinks he is, while Dameshek both agrees and disagrees with Bill. It's a great discussion, and you should try to find it on ESPN.com when you have nothing to do (I'm too lazy to post the link...maybe I will someday). We have seen Jay's evolution from essentially being a hustler in which crack and heroin became rap. You heard that in his flow. Once you get to about the Blueprint, a classic to me, he has almost completely let go of the hustler and starting forming into the Don of the rap industry that you see today. He was blatantly a drug dealer from the projects. Through his rhymes, he told the story of that part of his life. Most importantly, he just told the story of his life and rise without necessarily saying that it was something to be proud of, though there are something he should be and is proud of. It's as if he's letting us into that part of his life. He sums up his position in those days with, "...nuttin' wrong wit da aim/But gotta change the target." Some call him a biter or plagiarist, which is funny. He's "...not a biter, but a writer/fo maself an othas/I say a B.I.G. verse/I'm only biggin' up ma brutha/Biggin' up my borough/I'm big enough to do it/I'm that thorough/Plus I know my own flow is foolish." Greatest [lyricist] of all time in my book.

There you go. Not saying these are the 10 greatest of all time (barring the one), but these are my current favorites. Here are some other considerable artists.

Those I wanted to put on the list, but just couldn't get them on:

Notorious B.I.G. (it was a hard decision between he and Consequense...and of course B.I.G is better and legendary)
Ms. Jade (somewhat of a token as my favorite female rapper)
Nas (another possible legend...but not in my currently rotation)
Cannibus (just couldn't get his career going full-speed and not a fan of his production)

Honorable Mentions (listen to often, but not considered for my list):

Rhymefest
T.I.
Mobb Deep
Ludacris
Bubba Sparxxx (the Beat Club version)
Fabolous

Notable Omissions:

Tupac (never moved me as much as everyone else apprently...obviously mad respect for him though and do like some his stuff)
Snoop (catchy at times, never moved me lyrically, though his delivery can lull me in)
Lil' Wayne (respect of course, but does nothing for me)
Drake (time will make or break him...though I'm not a huge believer in his upside)
Wale (time will make or break him)