At 8:00pm on Friday April 18th, VH1 aired a 2 hour special dedicated to their picks of the best hip-hop artists of all-time. The program was hosted by P.Diddy and featured interviews from Afrika Bambaataa, Chuck D, KRS One, Grandmaster Flash, MC Hammer, Snoop Dogg, OutKast, Busta Rhymes, Eve, and Nelly offering their perspectives and inspirations in hip-hop.

The list was 50 spots deep, although it included more artists than that as entire groups counted (ie. Wu-Tang) as one artist. The list, which was really on point one minute, had some shocking blunders the next. For one, the three emcees that defined the modern emcee (KRS, Rakim and Big Daddy Kane) all being very low. Milk carton…Common, Marley Marl, Kool Keith…

1. Run-DMC

2. Public Enemy

3. Tupac Shakur

4. Notorious B.I.G.

5. LL Cool J

6. Eminem

7. Dr. Dre

8. Grandmaster Flash

9. Salt-N-Pepa

10. Jay-Z

11. Beastie Boys

12. P. Diddy

13. N.W.A.

14. Missy Elliott

15. Wu-Tang Clan

16. Ice-T

17. The Fugees & Lauryn Hill

18. Afrika Bambaataa

19. Nas

20. Eric B. & Rakim

21. KRS-One

22. DMX

23. OutKast

24. Queen Latifah

25. Snoop Dogg

26. Ice Cube

27. A Tribe Called Quest

28. Busta Rhymes

29. Nelly

30. Will Smith & DJ Jazzy Jeff

31. Naughty By Nature

32. Cypress Hill

33. De La Soul

34. Lil’ Kim

35. Big Daddy Kane

36. Master P

37. The Roots

38. Biz Markie

39. Ja Rule

40. Gang Starr

41. MC Lyte

42. Kurtis Blow

43. Coolio

44. MC Hammer

45. Heavy D & The Boyz

46. Eve

47. Arrested Development

48. Kool Moe Dee

49. Tone Loc

50. Sugarhill Gang