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
