Music Top 10 Rap Artists

If you take away Kanye's production skills, and judge him purely as a rapper, he'd probably struggle to get in my top 50, let alone the top 10!
 
Not the best, just my top 5 favourites, in no particular order.

Ghostface
Nas
MF DOOM
Killer Mike
dälek

It would probably get a bit muddled after that to round it off to a top 10. Too many to name that would I'd probably swap and change daily; El-P, Immortal Technique, Method Man, Inspectah Deck, Earl Sweatshirt, Chali 2na, Abdominal, Esoteric, P.O.S., RA The Rugged Man, Guru, Raekwon, Tyler the Creator, KRS-One, Erik B and Rakim, off the top of my head.
 
Unranked, but this is probably my 10:

Nas
Pac
Akala
Mic Righteous
Lowkey
Em
Royce
P.O.S
Big
Drizzy (hehe)
 
Salt Bailly said:
Take a moment and realise that you just argued that Kanye West is the best rapper of all time.

Kanye West.

(I love Kanye btw, but this is egregious.)
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To be fair the topic says best rap artist and not best rapper.

If this is a list of most influential artists in the genre of rap then Kanye should definitely make every top 5. That list would then probably include Tupac, Biggie, Nas, Jay-Z, Kanye.
If it's instead about the people that are best with flow and lyricism, then yeah, Kanye would be nowhere near.

But Kanye's influence and position in the 00s and early 10s was insane for the reasons that he listed. Kanye was a monumental artist until he suddenly got seen as hip hop's Justin Bieber, so as a figure that everyone is sick of reading or hearing about.
 
my favourites

Nas is number 1, the rest in no particular order..

Q-Tip
GZA
Ghostface
Raekwon
Guru
Biggie
KRS One
Pac
Big L

I almost put Treach in there he's a bit of a guilty pleasure
 
1. Rakim
Kool Moe Dee
Guru
Nas
Eminem
KRS One
Wu Tang Clan
Digable Planets
Mobb Deep
Xclan
Run DMC
 
I’ve literally stumbled across this thread & am going from first that come to mind; I’ve undoubtedly missed a few I’d place in a Top 10. No particular order.

MF Doom
Phife Dawg
Big L
Murs
Andree 3000
Q-Tip
Busts Rhymes
Lewis Parker
Skinnyman
Nipsey Hussle

Honourable mention, Drake - hate it or love it the man does numbers; he’s a top 10 artist in my book but I cba with a snob off.

Edit: I’m seeing lots of groups, if we’re doing groups the list changes completely.
 
No particular order.

Jay-Z
Redman
Big L
Tupac
Eminem
BIG
Rakim
Kanye West
Nas
Talib Kweli
Mos Def

There’s 11 but what you gonna do about it?

There are a lot of duos that I love too.

SmithNWessun
Das EFX
Heltah Skeltah
Mobb Deep
Outcast
 
Lyricist said:
To be fair the topic says best rap artist and not best rapper.

If this is a list of most influential artists in the genre of rap then Kanye should definitely make every top 5. That list would then probably include Tupac, Biggie, Nas, Jay-Z, Kanye.
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I'd say the most influential would be
Kool Moe Dee for pioneering freestyle
Rakim for his complex flows
KRS One for evolving consciousness rapping
Nas for the street style
And Eminem for his influence on all of the above on post-2000 rappers
 
VorZakone said:
2pac is rap's GOAT for me. His music just hits different if you know what I mean.
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He could spit fire though. That opening verse of ‘If I die 2 nite’ is certainly something.
 
I forgotten Big Daddy Kane. I feel like top 10 list is way to small. There are dozens of rap artist whom have a shout for GOAT status.

But no, Drake or Drizzle or whatever the feck he calls himself is not there. He’s an abomination.
 
In terms of overall package Tupac is ahead of the pack, you can listen to AEOM and couldn't tell it was recorded 25 years ago, his music is pretty much timeless.

Nas is my number 2, great body of work and another who was a pretty good all round rapper.

The rest make my list in no particular order

Ice Cube
The Game
Lupe Fiasco
BIG
Guru
Eminem (early version)
DJ Quick
Kendrick
J Cole

Probably a few more depending on the mood.
 
2mufc0 said:
In terms of overall package Tupac is ahead of the pack, you can listen to AEOM and couldn't tell it was recorded 25 years ago, his music is pretty much timeless.

Nas is my number 2, great body of work and another who was a pretty good all round rapper.

The rest make my list in no particular order

Ice Cube
The Game
Lupe Fiasco
BIG
Guru
Eminem (early version)
DJ Quick
Kendrick
J Cole

Probably a few more depending on the mood.
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Lupe is a good shout. Mural is unreal.
 
OnlyTwoDaSilvas said:
Not the best, just my top 5 favourites, in no particular order.

Ghostface
Nas
MF DOOM
Killer Mike
dälek

It would probably get a bit muddled after that to round it off to a top 10. Too many to name that would I'd probably swap and change daily; El-P, Immortal Technique, Method Man, Inspectah Deck, Earl Sweatshirt, Chali 2na, Abdominal, Esoteric, P.O.S., RA The Rugged Man, Guru, Raekwon, Tyler the Creator, KRS-One, Erik B and Rakim, off the top of my head.
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Great mention.

Hadn’t heard much of him until I read this thread last night.

Really like him. similar to Method Man in places.
 
My personal top 10 (highly subjective):

Nas
2Pac
Eminem
Jay Z
Rakim
Kendrick Lamar
Biggie
Kanye West
Lupe Fiasco
J Cole
 
Good list.

Mine would be something like -

2pac
Eminem
Jay Z
Nas
Andre 3000
Joey Badass
Notorious
Method Man
LL Cool J
Lupe

I'm sure some would be questioned and there will be some missing that are dead certs for some but tried to do it based on what I listen to most rather than trying to analyse who's best.
 
It can't be in order, way too subjective for that, but my top 10 (not favourite):
  1. Nas
  2. Biggie
  3. Jay Z
  4. Pac
  5. Andre 3000
  6. Kendrick
  7. Cole
  8. Eminem
  9. Snoop
  10. You could honestly have so many here... Black Thought, Method Man, Ghostface Killah, MF DOOM the list is endless.
You could also easily have one of KRS-One, Big Daddy Kane, LL Cool J or Rakim in this list but they were before my time.

If we're talking rappers, I don't think Kanye/Drake should be here. If you're going to have a top 10 each one of them should be able to SPIT.
 
Been on a binge listen for past few months. If you discount nostalgia, then this is what I ended up with:

1. Eminem
2. 2Pac
3. Jay-Z
4. Kendrick Lamar
5. Nas
6. Biggie
7. Rakin
8. Lil Wayne
9. Kanye West
10. Snoop

And honestly, Eminem is just so far ahead with his rhyme scheme that it's not even comparable. Probably the best lyricist and wordsmith of the lot. The tone of Lose Yourself, the scene of Stan, the just don't give a f*ck of The Way I am...it's just beyond compare.
 
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With his last few albums Nas has managed to do what so few rappers do well and that's age gracefully. Instead of chasing hits in the latest style he's stripped it back to good beats and great thought provoking rhymes. A child prodigy who's always put out great music but perhaps been eclipsed by whatever flavour of the month here and there at points during his career but he's never been out of the top handful since he started. Maybe there's cultural touchstones that people will continue to place over him (I grew up obsessed with Pac and will always champion him) but for me Nas is now No.1 in the all time list

Beyond him Snoop regularly places lower on these lists than he should and Em regularly places higher than he should. Both solid top 10s who are epitomised by their liquid flows with razor sharp wit (em) and great turn of phrase (snoop) but for me both have early career classics propped up with later albums of 80% filler with the odd great track here and there.

Kendrick for me is currently the best doing it and his discography is extraordinary, GKMC, TPAB and MM are all excellent. Anything he turns up on as a guest he immediately puts everyone else to shame, he's an all timer already and could very well take Nas spot one day - if he keeps at it.

BIG is an interesting one. Whenever these lists come about he always features heavily and regularly towards the top. There is of course no doubting his talent but what do we really have of him? RTD is a classic, LAD is a bit bloated and could lose a couple of tracks but still excellent. BA has at best half a dozen average verses and the rest is sub par guest spots and stuff we've already heard. As time goes on and other artists build bigger and more varied catalogs maybe his place has to come under threat. Not his fault he died of course!
 
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