Billboard recently released its Greatest Rappers of All Time List, naming 10 emcees they believe were the best to ever do it.
While the list brought up a couple questions about its inclusion or perhaps more notably who was excluded, it at least got a conversation going.
HipHopDX recently debated the list as DX News Editor Soren Baker sat down with Features Editor Andre Grant and discussed the inclusions, which includes Kendrick Lamar and Lauryn Hill.
“Kendrick Lamar obviously is tremendously talented and makes a lot of great music even way before he signed with Aftermath,” Baker said via a segment of today’s DX Daily. “I’ve been a fan of his before he signed to Aftermath and he’s a tremendous artist. A lot of people think Section .80 is his best album and that was not backed by a major corporation. That being said, I do believe that To Pimp a Butterfly I didn’t care for it as much as a lot of people and I didn’t think it was good basically on any level almost other than a few songs I didn’t care for it.
“I think that we are now in the fast food microwave generation to where everything is like ‘instant classic’ and people bestow greatness on things very quickly rather than taking a step back and giving things time to sit and really evaluate it because everything for us is basically at our fingertips and that’s never been,” Baker continues. “It only keeps accelerating. That hadn’t been the case really at any other time in mankind. I think people are so quick to want to have a leader, to want to have someone that they deem is great. Kendrick, in my opinion, isn’t on that level yet, who may be eventually once his career continues and once he keeps putting out high quality material, maybe he does get to that point.”
Baker also talked about who was excluded from the list and agreed with the notion that Tupac is not a Top 10 rapper.
“The music was secondary to [people] believing in him as a leader, as someone with a voice and as someone who they thought was great and obviously who did a lot of memorable things media-wise toward the end of his life,” he explained. “That doesn’t obscure the face that lyrically he wasn’t on the par with some I would consider one of the best rappers ever.”
Watch the full DX Daily segment below:
I think these discussions in themselves are quite overrated you can’t compare what went before unless you were there in that current time enjoying the hip hop and as far as i’m concerned Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G both had 93 t0 96 on lock down Snoop dog as well were the most popular mcs and the lyrics related to the times and the people name me one mc now who you or me can relate to not a single mc in the charts peace!!!
” Kendrick, in my opinion, isn’t on that level yet, who may be eventually when his career continues if he keeps putting out high quality material.” how the fuck can you say that when biggie…deemed number 1 rapper, has two albums, kendrick has two albums and a grammy…named number 9, and 2pac with 5 fucking studio albums and not even on the list ………i liked hiphop more before i found hiphopdx like 4 years ago
It wasn’t my list, tdac. It was Billboard’s list, which I disagree with, as you can tell.
Whether you agree on the 2pac issue or not, this list is awful. They put Lil Wayne in there but left off Ice Cube and KRS-One. Those 2 are without a doubt 2 of the best ever. Also, saying that 2pac isn’t a top 10 rapper needs to listen to his all his albums up to Makaveli.
Ice Cube definitely isn’t a top 10 in almost everyone’s opinions. KRS-One is undoubtedly better than Wayne, Lamar, Hill or Andre as of now though.
Cube is definitely top 10.
I agree with FlySoFly that KRS-One is better than Lil Wayne, Kendrick Lamar and Lauryn Hill.
How you gon compare krs of the 90s to current wayne. Compare both of them at they primes and then you gon know whose better, compare there best work. Dont say this things like “as of now” like krs is still rapping shit.
His first 3 albums alone put him in the top 10.
Who is eminem? Listen to his lyrics and the thingthings that he talks about. what is so great about him? NOTHING….. WE ARE LIVING IN A WHITE SUPREMACY SOCIETY THE MORE BULLSHIT U TALK ABOUT THE MORE REGOGNITION U GET… THIS IS THE MOST RETARTED SOCIETY EVER… ANYWAYS LONG LIVE TUPAC IN MY HEART TUPAC IS GREATER AND EMINEM JUST A DUPICATE OF BLACK CULTURE.. PEACE
billboard probally name lex luger as the best prod
apollo brown The audible doctor Big k.r.i.t Black milk Blackalcious Blu Braille Brown Bag Allstars Cunninlynguists Czarface Dilated peoples Dizzy Wright Dr.Dre First Division Geto Boys Ghostface Gravediggaz The Grouch and Eligh Guilty Simpson Gza Haslo & Castle J live Jarren Benton Jay rock Joey Badass Jr &ph7 Kendrick Lamar King Magnetic Language arts crew The Left Livesavas Livin Legends Lupe Fiasco Makaveli Malik B and Mr Green Method Man & Redman Mf Doom Nas Phryme Proof Rakim Rapper Big Pooh Ron Contour Royce da 59 Run the Jewels Scarface Sean Price Skyzoo Slaine Slaughterhouse Souls of mischief Typical Cats Your old droog ….just to name a few hah
Dr. Dre never wrote his own rhymes. And you just named every good rapper. Now try to pick 10 of those and put them order. Can’t be done
this if for just the first list
1 blackalicious 2 skyzoo 3 2pac 4 scarface 5 rakim 6 mf doom 7 kendrick lamar 8 skyzoo 9 sean price 10.black milk BONUS
substantial…got really hard after doom
Where Curtis at tho lol?
for the people who say kendrick shouldnt be on the list …”Until Kendrick Lamar came along. From triple and quadruple-time rhythms, his layered adlibs, and his multiple-personality voices, the Compton rapper is arguably the greatest rap craftsman to emerge this millennium”…how is that not describing one of the best mcs ever
Because that claim is not accurate, tdac. Other rappers had done those things before. The rhythms part had been done before by Big Daddy Kane, Twista, Bone thugs-n-harmony and dozens of others before Kendrick Lamar did it. Multiple-personality voices had been done before by Slick Rick, Dana Dane, 2Pac, DMX and dozens of others before Kendrick Lamar did it.
ok i get you, but i still think kendrick lamar is more lyrically advanced than people give him credit for. hes a writer and a good one
I dont know about that I never liked Krs One I would put like Cormega or Az instead of Krs just cause I never likes his voice much or his flow for that matter
Nas, Eminem, KRS-One, Rakim, Ice Cube, LL Cool J, Big Daddy Kane, Jay-Z, MC Lyte, Kendrick
krs one is boring nas is one dimensional ice cube shouldnt be there …
and eminem hah
Top 5 doa
1 biggie
2 big l
3 prodigy
4 Lloyd banks
5 Eminem
i can’t believe they forgot about dre
You think Dre is a top 10 rapper??? Really tho??? Get the fuck outta here clown. Don’t comment on shit you know nothing about.
Objectionally speaking, Pharoahe Monch is the best lyricist. The main proof comes in the catalogue and in the live shows. His meticulous nature and versatility see him always take risks and still not produce a single poor verse. I agree Kendrick has much to do, Biggie’s catalogue isn’t deep enough for consideration. I’ve got Nas at 2 and Black Thought and Yasiin closely behind on my Mount Rushmore of lyricists.
I think the editor was high on crack man hahahaa a rap list without Makaveli the great … Hahahaa man I think the editor should go back to school all the people in that list including Biggie learnt from PAC the Don hands down so this list is garbage
This is one of those debates that will never have a consensus because it’s all based on opinion. I think the closest we can get to a consensus is if you divide it by category:
Top 10 by region (east, west, south, midwest)
Top 10 by era (80s, 90s, 00s, 10s)
Top 10 by style (lyricists, story tellers, gangster rappers)
As soon as i saw Nas at 5 the list was disqalified
You’re right he (Nas) should’ve been no lower than #3!!
Any all time rap greats list that doesn’t start Rakim or KRS one at number one and number two is whack
Lil wayne is on the list on Pac is not? Also where are the pioneers like Kool G. Rap and Rakim?? No mention of Bigpun and he is easily better than 3/4 of the entire list. I’m not buying it.
Yup stupid list
Rakim is on the list. He’s #4 or #5 IIRC.
Rap is more then being a lyricist. Its what you say, how you say it, content, impact, influence, originality and a bunch of other shit. When “some” ppl exclude Tupac from these GOAT list, they always try to use his lack of being a lyricist as an excuse. Its more to the art then just that. Sorry. Shit I can probably name you 25 better lyricist then Tupac Shakur. But if you’re going by the total package…the COMPLETE total package….2Pac P.B.P in my opinion. Niggaz still hating on that man after almost 20 years. Damn.
Pac is like the God of Hip Hop he was much more than just a rapper he is the most legendary, he killed everybody who he got beef with and I mean literally killed them but at the same time he was only reason why the same rappers he dissed got recognized BECAUSE the biggest rapper of the 90s which PAC was whithout any doubt was TALKING about THEM so they got famous tis goes from Biggiet,Jay-Z.Mobb Deep all the way to Nas. By the way his lyrics are more a poetry so dumb people dont get it his flow and voice was simply amazing and catchy he was like the full package of Ultimate Rapper that makes you feel what he was talking about another rappers was just spittin a dumb shit about how big they are and stuff which was just rhyming but he can tell you the whole story that completely makes sense and it rhymes too which is much harder and it was proved he wrote songs in less than 5 minutes and then go record all of them there are even videos of that on YouTube. If I judge him as the whole package Flow,Lyrics,Rhyming,Storytelling,Work ethic etc. he is without a doubt the Ultimate GOAT to me as he is for almost any rapper you ask they can say somebody else tho but they all got inspired by Pac anyway from Biggie (Who got his whole career started by Pac, Pac even bought him his first Rolex watches and helped him with the verses which is also why Pac was mad at Biggie after the shooting because Biggie turns his back at Pac and was fake for him.) to Eminem.
FUCKING RIGHTS WHERE TEH FUCK IS TUPAC FUCK BILLBOARDS
I’m fucking sick of Scarface being left off these list too! Literally the only dude from the 80’s putting out consistently GOOD music. Just dropped “Deeply Rooted” and its dope. Hasn’t fallen off, seems to actually get better. Whether solo or in a group..holding his own IF not out spitting with Beans and Jay (Nas too)…Facemob been giving us that hard, dark, deep, real spiritual, classic shit for decades. Let me repeat that..DECADES. That boy Brad is top 5 fuck what you heard!
As years continue to go by, I witness more disrespect to 2Pac. Soren Baker is a fucking clown along with the idiots who made the Billboards list.
Thank you for checking the story, Brother Rarouq. Obviously we disagree, but I do think 2Pac was a great artist. I just don’t think he was a Top 10 rapper.
But you think Lil Wayne is a great lyricist…..really???
Its billboard’s list and its probably based on chart history and chart achievements.
If so, who cares?
This list is whack Tupac should be no. 1 . Ghost Face hasn’t achieved nothing.
2pac is the greatest rapper of all time!!!He rapped with meaning,with heart and real life situations that toutched peoples lives,to the point where i listen to his music and can still come close to tears because his music relates to everyday life especially for the people that are in that situation where everyday is a battle just to stay alive!!!What the hell do the modern day rappers give us??all they do is talk bout woman and money and how ‘Gangster’ they are,when 99% of them have never shot a gun or been to prison!!Music of today has no damn substance,a bunch of fakes that only got to where they are by selling themselves to the industry…Take away the voice enhancements and corny ass beats and you left with a fake, with no talent,just a flashy car and a big ego!!2pac will live on forever for many generations…Can we say that about these new so called rappers whose crappy music we forget within a month???They all learned from the best and still will never come close with their weak as ”punch lines”. So to the people who made up this list, go put on a 2Pac cd,and if you dont feel moved,Hip Hop music was never meant for you!!…Peace
Aggressive pac is the best his soft side wasnt perfect
1. Nas 2. Eminem 3. Jayz 4. Biggie 5. Pac
Nas, Eminem, KRS-One, Rakim, Ice Cube (Putting Big and Pac on a list is so cliche. There are so many that were better than them.)
No disrespect to lil Wayne or Kendrick Lamar but they are not better or have the body of work like AZ, Fab, Jadakiss or even TI.
Lol wayne has more material and even better quality of material than all those guyz . He has over 10studio albums and several of those albums have been critically acclaimed . I cannot say the same those guyz you mentioned
Which of Wayne’s albums are acclaimed outside of Carter 2 and 3?
Yeah and someone else wrote most of them
2pac is overrated there are many rappers who are better then 2pac like: kool g rap, big pun, big l, biggie, big daddy kane, rakim, scarface etc. Get over it you fucking stans. Before MATW 2pac was just an average rapper nothing special. AEOM is nice but to much filler. None of you guys were there in the 90’s. Stans start calling him the GOAT after his death while they called Biggie the GOAT when he was alive! To be honest i dont think you can have a top 5 or top 10 there so many rappers who are dope.
You are not real hip hop fan just shut up…the people who usually say pacs overrated dont even know his music…heard one or two songs and talking shit….half of the rappers you idolize tupac was their favorite rapper you clown
I’ve listened to almost every pac album. At least tried to. And though I do respect what he means to hip hop. And i think all the stuff he said and did outside of rap is great, i do feel as far as rapping goes, he is overrated. Dude barely had any punchlines, wordplay, metaphors, or anything like that. He was a poet, but rarely excited me. Like I can’t listen to more than 3 pac songs without getting bored. Artists like B.I.G. and Em were way more entertaining to me. And I’m from LA. I liked him most on Dr. Dre beats and that’s mainly because of the beats. And I don’t think people would put him on the top of many lists if he didn’t die. But anyone born after 1990 who says tupac is the best is fraudand only says that cuz everyone does. You were at most 6 when he was killed so I doubt his music actually resonated with you.
Your entire comment is one big lie.
What part of L.A. you from? Brentwood? Get the fucc outta here. If you from the REAL L.A. or anywhere in Cali you’d know better.
How the hell Andre 3000, Lauren Hill, lil wayne are included in this list? I haven’t heard an Andre and Lauren verse or song in years. No respect for brothers who paid the way like Kane, G rap, Krs, LL cool J, Chuck D, Kool Moe Dee, Melle Mell.
Hip hop didn’t start in the 2000’s
Alot of people beleive wayne is the Goat or top5 dead or alive . Even at one point Charlamagne tha god called wayne the goat ahead of pace and big on vladtv
Wayne realeased his first studio album in the 90s man.
only 7 hip hop albums went Diamond.. and tupac Has 2 of those 7!.. this site is clearly a joke after today. not to mention that he also IS THE G.O.A.T!
White boi talking about hip hop lol and y tip av didn’t make the list smh. You can’t resonate with something if you didn’t go through that’s y u didn’t understand Tupac
White boi talking about hip hop lol and y Tupac didn’t make the list smh. You can’t resonate with something if you didn’t go through that’s y u didn’t understand Tupac. No offense to white people but how can you relate to a person that was raised by a black panther who entire family was black activist and was rebels. Also, who was raised in poverty while trying to better himself by attending a fine art school. Tupac symbolizes the struggles of a black male where part of you wants to be this brother who empowers the cultural and go to school while trying to maintain that I’ll never change no matter how much money I make attitude surround by the struggles of not having a silver spoon. Tupac covered all forms of being a rap artist lyrically intact, story telling, knowledge, political issues, poverty, violence , peace and tranquility , contradictions, spiritual and emotional all displayed in his lyrics of what he experienced and seen. MY LIST
Tupac , Nas, Jay-z ,biggie, outkast, scarface, Eric B&Rakim emniem, tribe call quest, Icecube, with Tupac being 1
Lil Wayne, Kendrick Lamar and Lauryn Hill should not be on this list and fuck Eminem too. How the fuck is Kool G Rap not on this list??? He is a top 10 rapper, maybe even top 5. Fuck a list.
Cornball … Please dont lump this guy in with us white people
This muthafucker said “lyrically he wasn’t on the par with some I would consider one of the best rappers ever.” Go back and listen songs like Hail Mary, So Many Tears, Troublesome, I Wonder If Heaven Got a Ghetto, Letter To My Unborn Child, this dude out of his mind.
Pac was left out, I can bliv dis shit.let’s pick dem one after de other, who does it better than Pac.only one greatest n datz Pac. Jay z …I ain’t got shit to say.how u leave someone out who all these mufkaz compare too.dis shit is wack datz y dey make dat rock fun (white boy) talk dat shit
bro fuck this list yo tupac is the 2nd selling hip hop artist of all time…
Jimi Hendrix isn’t on par with Steve Vai, Yet Hendrix still tops these lists almost everytime. The Beatles weren’t exactly the best instrumentalists, but the are generally considered the best band every. Tupac, though not the best lyricists(though he was a lot better that some of these ignorant fools give him credit for), Is always atop these lists for the same reason Hendrix and the Beatles top their respective lists, because they changed the face of music. Also, a good rapper has more than just a few similies and punchlines in their repertoire, they can tell you an incredible story that transports you to another place.
BILLBOARD SEND YOU HIS APOLOGIES FOR HIS TERRIBLE MISTAKES AND SEND US THE REAL LIST OF THE 10 TOP BEST LYRICISTS OF ALL TIME:
1-KRS ONE
2-RAHIM
3-GURU
4-BUCKSHOT
5-MF DOOM
6-2 PAC
7-CANIBUS
8-MASTA ACE
9-GZA
10-STICKY FINGAZ