Greatest Rappers?
 

Thoughts? Lists?...

g.

Flip Kowlier has skills, yo

Not disrespecting Serge...

Biggie

I’m still holding out for the Nurse With Wound rap album:



Bun B.

Tricky

Kendrick Lamar, Jay-Z and 2Pac for me.

I don't really want to be involved in this discussion, because I don't care so much about rap.

But:
Grandmaster Flash
without him there would have been no rapping at all.
Fun fact: my sister had the 12" of the Message, she was 15 when this was released, I was 10.
she's no rapper either, she was a disco blondie :D

Public Enemy
love those voices
Beastie Boys
ditto

Here's a list made by The Source magazine back in 2012, ranking rappers according to their superpowers as lyricists. There's a lot to disagree with, but in general it's an interesting read.

https://genius.com/discussions/8591-...magazine-scans

Lauryn Hill

definitely deservedly up there

"Great" is a subjective measure, so I will go with my faves between 1981-2000 when I stopped hip hoppin and then the past 5 years when I have been hittin the trap hard.

Slick Rick Da Ruler
Special Ed
Rakim
Guru
Chuck D
Q-Tip
Posdnous
Scarface


Young Thug
Future

for me



Notorious BIG
Method Man
Nas

YAH BUT what about MC Hammer?

1. Belle Delphine
2. Nas
3. Insane Clown Posse

In that order.

Not exactly a seasoned Hip-Hop connoisseur, but I've been slowly getting into it for a while now. That out of the way, no mention of Viktor Vaughn/Madvillain/MF Doom yet?



Early Wu-Tang as a whole, really. But since I haven't seen him mentioned here either: GZA's great on his own too.

^That madvillain mf doom thing is nice. However when I fancy some rap crap I always gan for Liquid Swords or Cuban Linx. Every other rap album in the history of the genre is shit in comparison.

The very musical nature of rap is monotone though innit? Like a very shit Ian Curtis. My girlfriend hates it, but more importantly Morrissey hates it too. It's hard to get over the fact that rhymes are fundamentally nursery rhymes and nursery rhymes are for kids, like Ol Dirty Bastid sez. Further, delinquent gang culture is delinquent gang culture innit. So, in conclusion: confusion.

I don't know; I'm not a hip-hop expert either, but Public Enemy and the Beastie Boys rapped with a LOT of nuances and changes in speed and inflection - a repertoire far more extense than what many "singers" have. And they weren't gangsta. :cool:

Nas

Danny Brown

I'll go a step further and even argue that Danny is the only one in the game that's even really worth paying attention to right now.

Him, A$AP Rocky, and Vince Staples are all chill. Big Sean too

Rap bores the fuck outta me tbh these days so im biased

A$AP Rocky is a great listen. Tyler, The Creator for me is the most innovative of rap artists right now. His career is a fascinating listen.

Danny is absolutely God-tier. Even with all the acclaim he gets somehow he stays criminally underrated. Best ear for beats, hardest/wittiest bars, multiple voice inflections, plus he's a man of substance and actually says something. On top of that, he's pretty wholesome and unproblematic, pretty impossible to dislike.

I love how his last 2 albums came with amazing cover art, music videos and photoshoots that were not only original but also maintained the same aesthetic/color scheme, even the way he dressed (had a unique look for each rollout). Plus not even one bad track on either album.

Vince is basically on that level too. Big Fish Theory and Prima Donna EP were fucking awesome. FM! was cool.

How does one own a voice like Danny Brown?!

Doseone
Missy Elliott

Danny Brown is indeed a great one.

It's part of his style. Dude's normal rapping voice is far lower in pitch. He actually bounces between 'em in plenty songs.

Here's him just talking, if you're curious:

https://youtu.be/S-WDC080IBw

Missy is the greatest female rapper of all time for me.

Tierra Whack is really good. I'm very interested to see how her career pans out.

I love Moor Mother. Stylistically, she's in a different galaxy compared to the rappers mentioned here, though her own description mentions rap a couple of times: "Low fi/dark rap/chill step/blk girl blues/witch rap/coffee shop riot gurl songs/southern girl dittys/black ghost songs/".

Accurate.

You know who else enjoys high pitched noises? Dogs! That's right; you're all a bunch of filthy animals

I must have been bit
By a spider
When I was very small,
Because now I'm grown up
I spend five days a week
Going up the fucking wall.

I must have been fenced
Into a long straight road
When I was nine or ten.
Because now I'm grown up
I spend five days a week
Going round the fucking bend oh...

I must have had sex
With a prostitute
When i was aged thirteen,
Because now i see
Sexual advances
In every woman i meet.

In my late teens i think
Someone spiked my drinks,
I have craved all types of drug
And alcohol ever since.

Are there any queers
In the theater tonight
Get em up against the wall.
There is one on the spotlight
He don't look right to me
Get em up against the wall.

That one looks jewish
And that one's a coon,
Who let all this riffraff Into the room
There's one smoking a joint
And another with spots
If I had my way
I'd have all of you shot

*drops mic wins thread wins life dies happy puts kettle on

I remember early in his career when some people weren't used to his voice yet, Danny said in response that rap music isn't phone sex. :D

Instead of him contriving baseless comparisons he should just own it and be accepting of his tone being severe-ear grating-death-wank so we can all move on to crucifying him for stealing B-Real's gimmick.

Listen to Quasimoto they said, classic stuff! and just like phone sex I lasted 10 seconds

Why is there so much negativity in you, little man? Is it the fear of opening up and getting into new artists? B-Real himself would tell you Danny is the shit, he was featured on his masterpiece Atrocity Exhibition after all. Madlib AKA Quasimoto wouldn't deny it either.

Wait you like these lyrics? Disgusting.

he's quoting Pink Floyd, just in case you didn't know
Pink was the greatest rapper that ever lived of course.




thread closed.

Lolzzzzzzz

Oh lol. Very different perspective.

We need to clarify.

Is a great rapper someone who is a GREAT MC? If so, that leaves out a TON of hip hop people.

Is a great rapper someone who writes rhymes and makes them clever and double-triple meanings? That knocks out a whole shit ton of fucks too.

I would posit that a truly GREAT rapper must be everything, an MC, keeping the crowd hype, a lyricist, using language to make actual street poetry, not just prison yard "freestyle", a musician making sure his rhymes and flow stay fresh and make the ear dance.

You guys are listing a lot of guys who write well, but rap boring, or who are emotive rappers, but dont write SHIT.


Greatest all-around Rapper? KRS-One

I can dig him. Wasn't too keen on him when he and his posse beat the P.M. Dawn guy off the stage, though.