DJ Kool Herc, one of Hip Hop culture’s pioneers was recently asked by The Combat Jack Show to name his five greatest emcees and his answer may come as a surprise to some. While two of his selections helped develop what modern Hip Hop emceeing has become, a couple of others raised eyebrows.
“Melle Mel, Krs-One,” the founding DJ said. “Lil Wayne, he’s very witty. Kanye West, he’s witty; more technical than Weezy. I listen, man. And Breezy, Chris Brown, I dance.” He explained that Weezy creates hits and that everything he does garners attention: “I knew Wayne was going to be he who he is before he did…Every record he touched that he was on, they were hits!”
Another interesting tidbit from Combat and Herc’s conversation came when Kool Herc likened Dr. Martin Luther King’s message to Hip Hop culture’s intended beginnings.
“[Hip Hop] aint no black thing. It’s a we thing!” he explained. “It was no Puerto Rican thing, no white thing, no black thing. You come to the party, behave yourself, do your thing and you catch a coup and I got you. And this is the frontrunner of Martin Luther King’s dream, [it] came in the form of Hip Hop.”
In 2014, Herc, Queensbridge great Marley Marl and the Universal Zulu Nation joined forces for the month-long “31 Days of Non Stop Hip Hop.” The event was an opportunity for younger fans of Hip Hop to meet some of the culture’s forefathers and learn about Hip Hop’s early days.
Listen to the full interview below:
Meanwhile Chris Brown probably don’t even know who Kool Herc is …
cb? lil wayne????………..This nigga done lost his mind, prolly alzheimers kickin in.
Wayne better than Kanye.
Kanye a clown.
chris brown a top 5 mc? LOLOLOLOL
Well…there goes all his credibility. If he would have at least named a RAPPER, then it could be overlooked because of his resume. But let’s face it…nobody has ever considered him a great DJ or an artist, he was just at the right place at the right time. He’s like Fab Five Freddy, or Grandmaster Flash…they didn’t really have any skills of any kind, they just played records. They were ‘toasters’ more than they were DJs.
co-sign. They characters more than anything
Grandmaster Flash has no skills? You clearly need to do some more research and check his resume.
Nah man, you’re wrong, Flash was named the technician, taking what Grand Wizard Theodore discovered (scratching for those that don’t know) and taking it to whole ‘nother level. At that time it was revolutionary. Listen to “Grandmaster Flash on The Wheels of Steel” for some proof. He wasn’t no toaster at all.
I disagree with that homie.
Chris Brown? The old man has become senile
Fucking pathetic– back to Jamaica asswipe, and take mushmowf Comat Jack with you.
lmao
KOOL HERC GOT DIMENTIA!!!!
DON’T HATE ON MY OPINION!!!!
Things people will say to avoid being labeled a “hater”
I don’t get why people like Lil Wayne…I’m not saying I hate him or anything, but he’s clearly a below average rapper. I think maybe when he was on his “best rapper alive” campaign and putting out those average Carter albums, it brainwashed people into thinking he’s better than he actually is. That’s the only explanation I can think of. I definitely think Wayne has grown since his first album, but he hasn’t grown enough to be in someone’s top 5, that makes no sense at all. I’m not impressed
Nah, you sleep. I can admit Wayne right now isn’t that amazing, but he’s at least average. He’s always been at least average.
I personally feel like Lil Wayne is one of the best of this generation, the Carter albums were good, not necessarily great but definitely above average. You must’ve been sleeping when he was killing the hottest rappers on their own shit consistently, him having the best verse on almost any song he was featured on, or his mixtapes filled with songs that were better than the respected originals. If you listen to…hmm, say Dedication 2 and you’re not impressed or still think he’s “below average”, you just don’t know good rap.
I think he is definitely a good rapper – he provides content, he used to just record songs and put it out and they were all well received. I think all the rappers people say are not necessarily the ‘best’ – as you truly only become most well-known by making popular hip-hop, rather than just straight hip hop.
Anyway, I think he deserves credit for his bodies of work that he has released and he does have some very good songs.
I don’t know how to hate.
^ Nice jokes. You’re just gonna forget about all of the mediocre trash Wayne has released? Lol Wayne was never a great rapper.
UHHHH
*Stewie Griffin voice* Say whaaaaat?
DJ kool herc wilding
WTF??! The nigga that created hip hop naming Lil Wayne as one of his top emcees of all time, No Rakim, Big Daddy Kane??
Yeah it makes one wonder. Is he broke? In debt? Maybe just needs to pay rent. “The rent is too damn high!!”
ONE WORD CRACK
crack is whack
and like others have said, Herc is a third rate DJ by Bronx or Jamaica standards, just got lucky he was the one some folks noticed– and they, thankfully, took it much further.
chris brown is a funny choice, but Im surprised he knows he exists. wayne is a legit choice. not in my top 5, but he has credentials.
what people like to forget is that true hip hop rap was closer to trap than what people think of as hardcore hip hop now ( which wasn’t for years after).
Exactly this…^^
True without a doubt. Whodini’s “I’m A Ho” is an example of that.
Uh, no. True hip-hop/rap was nothing like trap.
@ TriPAUD The young generation and also 90’s generation of rap don’t know that Hip Hop in the 80’s was Electro Funk or Electro Hop. Rap songs production was made with 808 beats. Rap songs from 78-81 was influenced by Funk and disco music. Then came Afrika Bambaataa with Planet Rock in 1982 and Melle Mel ft Duke Bootee with The Message the same year. So 1982-1987 that was the true Hip Hop period with a recognizable hip hop production made with instruments like the Roland-TR piano and 808. Miami Bass is the genre derived from Electro Hip hop and made popular by Amos Larkins and 2 Live Crew that helped define the sound of the south which is dirty south. Dj Paul and Juicy J with Mc Lord Infamous from Three 6 Mafia created a new sound that is crunk from That Miami Bass sound and also G-Funk, techno and house influences. Nowadays the Trap sound is very popular not solely in the south but throughout the globe and even in Senegal where I’m from. This new genre that evolves from crunk is made from 808 beats like Electro Hip Hop. The only difference is that Electro Funk is more melodious and has all key elements of Funk and Hip Hop and use vocoder whereas Trap and Drill (a Chicago subgenre of Trap) incorporate gangsta themes and the use of autotune which is the countepart of the vocoder sound (used with a piano). As far I’m concerned I prefer the Electro Funk because its themes follow the legacy of Hip Hop and include the other aspects of Hip hop like breaking, Pop Locking, graffitti.
I don’t know why during the late 80’s and the 90’s east coast and west coast rap acts chose to let down electro production and kept focusing on sampling 60’s, 70’s and even 80’s music like Jazz, soul, funk, rock… I think late 70’s to mid 1980’s hip hop was original but there was an innovation with the venue of golden age rap artists and the use of sample. For me the real golden age was the period 1982-1985 instead of 1988-1996 which was the second golden age involving Jazz Rap, Hardcore Rap, Conscient rap and G-Funk.
I feel a new revival of Hip Hop because in my teenage years during the 2000’s especially 2005-2008, I thought hip hop was dying, I didn’t like the crunk sound. But now I’ve got my mind made up.
This old ninja is senile.
And there goes another one! Falling off like dead leaves. Im telling ya, they must be putting something in the water. No, i know what it is. Mofos aint got no more intuition, save for the automatic reclamation that happens monthly. yeah, my nigga going senile. sad story. Lil Wayne and Chris Brown top 5 emcees? wow. thats like me jumping up and saying Bush was the best president of all time. People need to start calling these mofos out. Kids, if you’re listening, pay attention. There are many snakes in the grass, wolves in sheep clothing. “And The Pharaohs disappeared in the sea…” Means that they disappeared in the sea of people. but don’t fret. if you’re wise as a serpent, you can spot them pretty easily. the true character always comes out. The hate you give little infants, fucks everyone! The beast is to be laughed at but its serious shit. watch out for these niggaz, they walking you off a cliff.
True, indeed…
How the fuck does KRS feel to have Wayne and Chris Brown in the Top 5 with him? This is a slap in the face of hip hop.
Sorry but as of now you are just called Herc. You just lost your Kool.
Wayne is bad enough. I’d be mad just seeing his name in a top 5. But Chris Brown??? B…. please! That’s a credibility and reputation killer right there. That’s insulting to the whole game.
That’s a pretty weak list.
Top 5 dead or alive: 1. Drake 2. Nas 3. Big Pun 4. Rakim 5. Ghostface Killah
Drake a great MC?? No hater, I think the man makes good, catchy music, but by no length is a top 5 MC. There’s a ton of better rappers out there, both old & new school.
I agree with all except Drake. lol He shouldn’t be in your top 100. You must be young.
I’m not feeling his list but I respect it because its diverse and he’s an OG and an architect of hip hop.
And one more thing, how can give props to the new cats and shit on their predecessors?
wow..im losing respect for the pioneers for dick riding lil wayne..I never saw the hype over Wayne, he’s a preschool rapper..he only made like 2 good songs…LOL..
There’s exactly 1596 songs that Wayne has appeared on(counting features too), so it’s not even possible he has only 2 good songs.
Has Kool Herc been tested for Alzheimer’s?
He’s spot on with Melle Mel & KRS , should also mention Rakim , LL Kool Moe Dee ,GM Caz and a few more . But people should not disagree beacuse its his opinion and people should respect it. Doesn’t mean your opinion is right either