Okay,I'm relatively new here so excuse me if this thread's been done before.But here's my list... 1.KRS-One 2.Notorious B.I.G 3.Slick Rick 4.Erik B. & Rakim 5.A Tribe Called Quest 6.N.W.A 7.Tupac Shakur 8.Wu-Tang Clan 9.Outkast 10.Jay-Z
I'll go............ I don't give extra credit for being dead. I don't give extra credit because you are constantly talked about highly by others including radio stations etc. This is based purely on impact on rap. 1. Run DMC 2. Dr. Dre 3. Snoop 4. NWA 5. Wu-Tang 6. Public Enemy 7. Busta Rhymes 8. LL Cool J 9. Queen Latifah 10. Tribe Called Quest
What's Jay-Z doing in your list? Reasonable doubt was a great cd, but he's turn way too commercial and poppy since then. I can't rank rappers of all time cause I'm pretty ignorant on the 80's and late 70's scene, so I'll list my faves. 1) Mos Def 2) A tribe Called Quest 3) KRS - One 4) NWA 5) Talib Kweli 6) Rakim 7) Ghostface Killah 8) Aesop Rock 9) NAS 10) DMX | 13) Outkast | 15) Noreaga - Love the guy, but his lyrics are way too stupid to be on the top 10.
Right on, Biggie is nowhere near as good as people make him out to be, IMO. His early stuff showed a lot of promise but the puffy influence on his later stuff killed it all, Once again IMO.
1) KRS One 2) Eric B and Rakim 3) Poor Righteous Teachers 4) Jeru the Damaja 5) De La Soul 6) Mantronix 7) 3rd Bass 8) LL Cool J 9) Run DMC 10) Special Ed
I agree. There is no hip hop/rap of today without Public Enemy. Though I guess a Top 10 list would depend on what you're looking for. If you're looking for pioneers then you'd have to include Granmaster Flash, Sugar Hill Gang, Kool Herc, Run DMC, Public Enemy and NWA (I know I'm forgetting a few 70s/80s acts). They didn't last long but people forget that Digable Planets was a transition point from the Native Tongues of the late 80s to the alterna-hip hop/soul of the 90s. For lyricism, you can't beat Rakim. For production, Dr. Dre, DJ Premier and to a lesser extent, Rza and Mark the 45 King. For flow, Notorious B.I.G. and Eminem (I know, I know, they're both mainstream they did/do have flow). Of course, the greatest MC of all time is Del Tha Funkeehomosapien. Absolutely no question about it.
Yeah, personal opinion, not top 10 list, even for him. I am far from an expert. Far. As a case in point of my ignorance, I have heard very little of KRS-One which everyone has been ranked in the other two top 10s. I hate to admit that because they are ranked 1 and 3 which makes me think that I am missing out on something. I just put out my list because I felt that old school rap wasn't given enough credit in the first list, and that I needed to say that I am not a big Tupac, B.I.G., Jay-Z fan overall. Tupac had some good songs, BIG had a couple of really good songs early, Jay-Z is given too much credit and pub in my mind for being an ok artist who had some very successful pop songs. But I will always love Bounce with Me.
I have to give Jay-Z his credit for making hit after hit,it's not his fault for being popular and it's not like he can't flow either.His lyrics are better than anything Nas has come with lately.Nas has been talking about the same stuff since Illmatic,everything fell apart for him after I am and Nastradamus.I'm not a big fan of Jay's stuff either but he's making a big impact on the rap industry.
It is hard to look at rap in scope of all time greats because most of it has virtually no staying power. Perhaps no other form of music is as much about being current and new. The immense amount of slang (that changes virtually overnight) makes older albums almost meaningless to people who weren't around then or they are outdated (no matter how good the music is) because of terminology employed. Of all the people I know that really love rap, most of them listen to an album for a while and that's all it gets. Public Enemy is the major exception to that from what I've seen. I haven't seen anybody lately listening to LL Cool J's "Radio" album or Kool Mo Dee's "Wild Wild West" or even anything by the Sugar Hill Gang. Look how bowled over everyone was by Onyx, MC Hammer, Digital Underground, Naughty by Nature, 2 Live Crew, etc at the time. Besides LL Cool J, we haven't heard anything from these people in ages.
Not really in any order: Public Enemy Run-DMC A Tribe Called Quest Eric B & Rakim Boogie Down Productions Beastie Boys Gang Starr Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five De La Soul NWA (i.e. the group as well as Ice Cube and Dre's individual work)
Here's mine: PE Eric B and Rakim Tribe Called Quest De La Soul BDP Guru more so than GangStarr (simply cuz Jazzmatazz I was arguably one of the most influential albums aside from It Takes A Nation...) Wu-Tang 3rd Bass (still to me the best white rap artists, they were the bomb back in the day when credibility for white rappers, one of them being Jewish in racially charged NYC, was non-existant, and peeps would go nuts when their hits were on) Special Ed doesn't belong on my list, but he was fun to listen to.
Grandmaster Flash Kool Moe Dee Run DMC PE Tribe 3rd Bass LL Cool J Beastie Boys BDP NWA Too $hort The Last Poets X-Clan Yeah, it's over 10 - sue me.
- LL Cool J - Run DMC - Big Daddy Kane - Jungle Brothers - Public Enemy - Kool Moe Dee - Ice Cube - KRS-One/BDP - Tribe Called Quest - Salt N' Pepa
Um...no. Low End Theory, 1991. Reachin', 1993. DP followed Tribe, and Tribe did it better. My list, in no order: Public Enemy NWA KRS-One/BDP Run DMC Afrika Bambaataa (for "Planet Rock" alone) LL Cool J Tribe Called Quest (JBs were first, but ATCQ was best) Eric B and Rakim Wu Tang Clan Outkast Honorable Mention to Salt 'n Pepa, Queen Latifah, De La Soul, Beasties, Gangstarr, EPMD, Notorious BIG, and too many more to mention.
Say what you will, but nobody's left PE off their list since since I rang out Chuck D's bell. Call it yo bully pulpit.
I think 3rd Bass are a couple of the only white rappers who don't get dissed now that they're not big anymore. My Ten (In no particular order) 1) Tribe 2) PE 3) NWA 4) Gangstarr 5) KRS-One 6) Run DMC 7) De La Soul 8) Erik B and Rakim 9) Beastie Boys 10) Afrika Bambaataa
Wow! I don't think I've ever heard anyone give that kind of credit to Guru. The general consensus (which I've always pretty much agreed in) is that Primo essentially carries that duo.
In no particular order: Big Daddy Kane, got the ladies hot whenever they came over. Too Short, every man's dream to live like this guy. NWA Ice Cube, Americas most wanted still a great album even today. X-Clan, To the east blackwards, was a great album Wu Tang, 36 chambers was the joint when it came out, still is. EPMD DOC 3rd Bass, take the piss out of me all you want, they put white rap on the map. BDP PE
How could I forget the B I G D A double D Y K A N E? Warm it up Kane used get me pumped. The beats and production were great, but lyrical skills is Guru's specialty.
"Catch wreck on your dome like a deranged fuckin' barber!" Make money money -- GO SHOPPIN! Take money money -- GO SHOPPIN! No matter what the weather, winter spring or fall We'll be doin it... "at the mall" I don't know much about his "lyrical skills". I'd have to say that, "it's mostly the voice."
Not in any particular order: DJ Premier Grandmaster Flash Rakim KRS One/Boogie Down Productions Chuck D NWA Del Beastie Boys Afrika Bambaataa A Tribe Called Quest --- Honorable mention: Sugar Hill Gang, Kool Herc, Run DMC, Notorious B.I.G., Wu Tang Clan, 2Pac, DJ Shadow..... and Kool Keith aka Black Elvis
I still listen to older stuff, especially No Need For Alarm but I think Del is on another level with Deltron 3030. For my money Del and Dan the Automator are a nasty combo. Their other collaberations are good as well.
I chant eenee meenee minee mo I pimp the mic like a pimp pimps hoes. Sure, lyrics suck, sucks so much that MC Solaar teamed up with Guru when he could have done that with anyone, I suppose. But I guess that doesn't count either. Whatever, people disagree.