Grown Folks Hip Hop
Your thoughts on MTV's Top 10 MCs of all time:
1. Jay-Z
2. Tupac
3. Notorious B.I.G.
4. Rakim
5. Nas
6. KRS-ONE
7. Big Daddy Kane
8. Ice Cube
9. Eminem
10. LL Cool J
My own top 10 MCs of all time:
1. Jay-Z
2. KRS-ONE (it's a very close 2nd, too)
3. Tupac
4. B.I.G.
5. Rakim
6. Nas
7. LL Cool J.
8. Big Daddy Kane
9. Ice Cube
10. Run (or Run-DMC)
I personally feel that any MC list that doesn't include KRS-ONE is bootleg.
April 17, 2006
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5 comments:
Kool G Rap was one of the honorable mention MC's along with such greats as Slick Rick and Big Pun. Curiously Andre 3000 was listed but not Big Boi. Ghostface was listed but not Method Man (or Redman for that matter). Lauren Hill, but no Latifah or MC Lyte. I saw the roundtable discussion on the first five MCs. You can go to mtv.com to see how they came up with the list. Now that i think of it, Slick Rick should've been in the top ten. He influenced everyone on the list from Jay to Snoop to Nas to Ghost.
The only reason KRS isn't in my number one slot is because Jay-Z had a longer and more prolific career. If all these cats in the top ten had a battle, I believe if KRS wasn't the victor, he'd be one of the last 2 MCs standing. One other thing to back up my choice of Jay-Z as the G.O.A.T., Jay-Z can probably rhyme like a lot of MCs out here today, but there aren't too many, if any, that can do what he does. To put it in simple terms: Jay has NEVER fallen off. Can anybody else in the top ten say that? Jay's wackest album still included: Streets is Watchin', Face Off, Imaginary Player, Where I'm From, Rap Game/Crack Game, Friend or Foe, Pt.2, etc. Plus how many MCs can say that there 1st and last albums were equally hot. Some even say the Black Album was better than Reasonable Doubt. That's the definition of consistancy.
@ Sceeznice - I feel you on the Chuck D choice. I think when the list of top ten groups on all time is compiled, PE HAS TO be #1 or #2 on ANYBODY's list. The other group in question of course being Run DMC. I think Puba would probably fall into that category as well. Puba was great with 2 groups (and he was the Mariano Rivera of the posse cut), but his impact didn't seem to resonate too much outside of the tri-state area. I think Pac gets by a lot on the impact he had, other than lyrics. I think Mcs like KRS, Jay, Big L, Nas, Rakim, etc. would've crushed Pac. In my opinion, there are more than 10 MCs better than Pac lyrically, but in 5 years, 10 years, cats will still be playing Pac--religiously.
Drama - I love Nas, but Hov broke his whole career with the "Takeover" which arguably was the best diss song of all time (I rank "The Bridge is Over"
and "Hit 'Em Up" right before the "Takeover"). To be perfectly honest, Jay put the battery in Nas' back after Nas had a little lull in his career. Initially it didn;t turn out too well for Jay, but I'd say he's recovered quite nicely from the bomb that was "Ether."
Big Daddy Kane, KRS ONE and Redman may be the most underrated hip-hop artists of all time. Kane was Jay-Z during the "Right On" and "Word Up" Magazine. Anybody who has ever seen KRS live couldn't possible rate him outside of the top five. As for Redman, I was at the Apollo when he performed with the Hit Squad. Them NY cats cheered him like a champion. All of his first 3 albums were classic. Listen to "FunkoRama" or that "Muddy Waters" album. As for the music from the South there are lyricists from the south that I like: The fellas from Outkast, T.I., Scarface, Ludacris, even Lil Wayne. I think Laffy Taffy and some of the other types of music I hear should be put in the same category as the Rappin Duke, Weird Al Yankovich, The AfroMan, etc. I think hip hop fans get upset when you don't get a chance to hear anything on the radio other than the 20 or 30 songs they rotate during the Djs 4 hour blocks. The sad thing is you hear the same songs in the club. I would pay the DJ to hear "The Bridge is Over". I think fans of hip-hop over 25 yrs. old miss artists with real talent and not someone who will have a hot song over the summer or a particular record that wrecks theclub, but then we never hear from them again. We miss the Tribe, Pete Rock and CL, De La crew just as much as we miss the Rakim, BDK, Kool G crew. Even the cats that flash in and out quick made me nod my head. If you threw on "Where My Homies" by Ill Al Scratch right now, people would lose their minds.
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