Nadmit.com Top Ten: Rappers

Nadmit.com Top Ten: Rappers
By: Dan Hood
This is a list made with careful consideration and we tried to stray away from many popular polls already taken about the all-time great MCs. We have a top ten list with five runner-ups.

1.) Jay-Z – The Brooklyn MC is one of the few to be able to bring his A game to a track and still be a tremendously commercial recording artist. Although his best album to date is his debut “Reasonable Doubt”, He has always found a way to make many of his cds “classics”. He has been on cuts with some of the biggest artisits in the game and held his own on more than one account. For many years the debate was who was bigger, Biggie or 2pac. Jay-Z’s name was mentioned here and there but scarcely ever had his name ever been put above them. Now, he is enduringly in a class all his own. Hov, Hova, Jigga, or even Sean Carter. Each and every you may call him; we may all hail him the G.O.A.T.

Key Albums

Reasonable Doubt, The Blueprint, & The Black Album

2.) The Notorious B.I.G. – Biggie in just two records during his time on Earth changed the outright rap game. From a flow standpoint, he is un-matched. No other rapper will ever grace the mic has he once did. The unique and free flowing delivery was by far one of the most contagious parts of his sound. The latter, his voice. No wonder why he is the most quoted MC in the world, 10 plus years after he has already passed away. One of the greatest to ever grace the mic and one of the most, if not most, beloved rappers of all-time.

Key Albums

Life After Death & Ready to Die: The Remaster

3.) Tupac Shakur – Just as Biggie did, during his time he completely changed the game. Biggie did it with his flow and voice while Tupac did it with his heart. He had two sides of his heart. One was the heart of a lion. Ready to take on anyone who would stand in his way. The other was a lover. His trials and tribulations could be heard in the strain in his voice and his poetry in music and just written could bring one to tears. While we all hope he rests in Thug Mansion, his music still holds merit to even today’s sickest truths.

Key Albums

2Pacalypse Now & All Eyez on Me

4.) Nas – The second coming of Rakim in many aspects of the hip-hop romp. UN like his predecessor, he had much more critical and commercial success. His debut album “Illmatic” changed East Coast hip-hop forever. He is also one of the few MCs, if not the only one, to take it straight to our number one, Jay-Z, and win battles on more than one occasion. A true poet and someone, like Tupac, who brings attention to the fact the women and children are just as important, if not more, as cars and chains.

Key Albums

Illmatic & Hip Hop Is Dead

5.) Rakim – If there was no album from Eric B and Rakim, there would not be 75% of the rappers we have to this day. Rakim brought a flow to the table that had never been apprehended antecedently. Proportional to this day, if you bring forward some of his tracks and pin them up adjacent to a number of the greats of today, he would come out victorious. A true legend, and is currently working on his next masterpiece.

Key Albums

Paid in Full & Follow the Leader

6.) Ice Cube – The Oakland Raiders cap wearing, curled lip, mean mugging, thug of the group N.W.A. Original Gangster, Not only did he look the part he sounded the part. His contributions to N.W.A. along with the release of his solo album change the landscape of the gangster rap scene. But he isn’t just on the list for that; he is on the list because he is a hell of a rapper. I consider him to be Chuck D 2.0. Which is a hell of a compliment, but not that he needs it. His work does all the justice he needs to be number six on this list.

Key Albums

Straight Outta Compton(NWA) & AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted

7.) LL Cool J – Ladies Love Coooool J. He was known for romantic ballads. The ladies definitely had a thing for LL, but it was when he switched up to a hard style of flow and became one of the greats. “Mama Said Knock You Out” was a huge change of pace and set him up for huge commercial success. He has been in this for a very very long time. The self-proclaimed G.O.A.T., he has had many battles and none that I can think of that he has lost. Still with such accolades he still doesn’t break the top five for our list.

Key Albums

Mama Said Knock You Out

8.) KRS-One – The greatest underground rapper of all-time. There is no one who comes close. He is one of the original master MCs. There aren’t many who can create an entire LP with no hooks and just lyrics. Before Jay-Z. KRS was the first MC to create a Blueprint cd. He is a living legend. We can all give thanks, and many MCs already have, for the ground that KRS-One laid for us and the entire hip-hop community.

Key Albums

Ghetto Music: The Blueprint of Hip Hop

9.) Eminem – Time will tell if he will ever break into the top 5 arguments, but as the highest selling hip-hop artist ever, he deserves to be on this list. Not only has Eminem sold a lot of records (Like Michael Jackson Status), but he has done it with legitimate skill on the mic. His lyrics and unorthodox rhyme scheme is un-matched and often over looked. He is a mad genius and he still has much more in store for us.

Key Albums

The Slim Shady LP & The Eminem Show

10.) Andre 3000 – Part of the greatest hip-hop group of all-time. Although he has not had any solo success yet outside of Outkast, his work to date is enough to put him on this list. Admit tingly, he is one of my favorite MCs EVER, but his out of the box thinking and extremely unique flow puts him in a class of his own. And lifts him to this class of his peers, the Greats.

Key Albums

ATLiens & Aquemini(Outkast Releases)

Here is the runner-up list.
11.) Black Thought of the Roots 12.) Common 13.) Chuck D of Public Enemy 14.) Method Man 15.) Slick Rick

Filed Under: Top Ten

Tags: Andre 3000, Biggie, Eminem, Featured, Hip-Hop, Ice Cube, Jay-Z, KRS-One, LL Cool J, Nas, Outkast, Rakim, Reviews, Tupac