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Been discussing this with some old mates lately and its one that we can't put down, thought I'd open it up to the STW floor. Here's my current ten favourite MCs of all time, although not necessarily in order as I just can't decide which order to put them in. In fact my top ten constantly changes.
Rakim
Big Daddy Kane
Kool G Rap
KRS One
Chuck D
Talib Kweli
Vast Aire
MF Doom
Nas (Pre-massively over-inflated ego)
Ice Cube
What ya got?!
In order
Gza
Big Daddy kane
Doom
Jeru
Lord finesse Edit possibly method man. Tough one
Not 10 i realise!
Kendrick lamar is best of the recent bunch
10 NOT IN ORDER:
Young MC
Eminem
Rakim
Common
MC Solaar
Guru
Chuck D
Erick Sermon
Jay-Z
Talib Kweli
DoseOne
Daveed Diggs
Doom
Danny Brown
Aesop Rock
Slug
Busdriver
Jeremiah Jae
Mike Ladd
Mos Def
Top 3 are probably in order
Kinda hard to name a top ten as they're all so different but these chaps show up in my playlists a lot.
Immortal Technique
Lowkey
Vinnie Paz
Ill Bill
Skinnyman
Guru
Yeah Guru would've been there if it was a top 12 or so 🙂
Yeah I've got loads I would have liked to include in my top ten - Guru, Erick Sermon, Masta Ace, Aesop Rock, Pharoah Monche, Mos Def. I wouldn't even have Slug in my top 20 though, much as I love Atmosphere.
I'm pretty old skool in style. In no particular order.
Gift Of Gab
Guru
B Dolan
Brother Ali
Phil Most Chill
Del The Funkee Homosapien
Boots Riley
Aesop Rock
Chali 2na - just for that bass tone
Talib Kweli
Not in any order
Rakim
Dr Octagon/Kool Keith
KRS 1
Charli 2na
Chuck D
Guru
QnC (i know it's 2)
Sadat X
Pete Rock
Big Daddy Kane
I don't know any HipHop MC's so my top ten would be:
Erm.....
Aaah....
Weeeel.....
Hmmmm, now then....
Errr.....
Is...?
Oh, really? Can't count her then....
Perhaps.....?
Oh...
Doh...
I hasten to add this is my problem, I'm more of a folk person really
10? There are so many...
KRS-One
Big Daddy Kane
Africa Bambaataa
Ol' Dirty Bastard
Slick Rick
Jay-Z
Mos Def
Chuck D
Ice Cube
Chali 2na - just for that bass tone
And Q-tip for the other end of the scale
Guru
Jeru the damaja
Krs one
Del...
Omg, I'm stuck in the 90's!
[i]Omg, I'm stuck in the 90's![/i]
You're not the only one 😆
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I hasten to add this is my problem, I'm more of a folk person really
Yep love folk music too. Actually i like most things with a story in the lyrics, which I think applies to a lot of hip hop and a lot of folk music.
the more I thought about who I really liked the more my mind went blank.
in no particular order:
Doom / Quasimoto / Madlib
Charli 2na
Braintax
Phat Lip (Pharcyde)
Guru
RZA
Buck 65
Saul Williams
Rodney P
Reggie Watts
Reggie Watts-good call. Man's an eccentric comedy genius.
Brian Harvey
Outside its raining but inside is wet...
Genius
The Wee Papa Girl Rappers
Salt from Salt N Pepa
Pepa from Salt N Pepa
Macklemore
John Barnes
Nicki Minaj
Vanilla Ice
MC Hammer
Pitbull
Soulja Boy
Just 10? Here goes.
Doom (in any of his guises)
Buck 65
Kool Keith
Chuck D
Aesop Rock
KRS-One
Q-Tip
Mos Def
Diamond D
Lyrics Born
Sole in goals.
Seriously though
Doom
MF Grimm
Guru
GZA
RZA
Andre 3000
B-Real
Chuck D
Talib Kweli
Nas
Royce da 5'9"
Must check out some of BoardinBob's list. FIRST LIST! 😆
Early 90's were gold for hiphop, no shouts for Erick and Parrish? No Jonwayne?
If he'd stopped after 2 albums Eminem would be on the list but pretty much everything after that was just awful
I can appreciate what a good lyricist Eminem is but I've just never been able to bring myself to like his music for some reason.
LOVE boardinbobs first list 😀
If we're mentioning pants rappers - Puff Daddy - he is terrible when he has a stab at MCing
Rakim is No1 for me straight up the boss.
Q-Tip
Guru
Missy Elliot
Beastie Boys (okay not one person, but the way they rhyme as a unit is ace)
Chuck D
Gift Of Gab
Roots Manuva
Eminem
Jay-Z
Lil Wayne
Drake
Two chainz
Rick Ross
Afro man
*Runs and hides*
If we're allowed to have groups of MC's can I nominate
Poor Righteous Teachers
Ugly Ducking
Jurassic 5
Language Arts Crew
Cunning Linguists
Beastie Boys
Yeah lets have groups too..
Das EFX
Fu-schnickens
I never 'got' Guru. Did see him in Coventry a long time ago.
My top ten...
Rakim
Kool Keith
Percee P (your favourite rappers favourite rapper)
Mc Shan
Schoolly D
Roxanne Shante
Blade (cuz he's my mate and I love him)
Chuck D
Phill most Chill
Double K
Bands shouldn't be allowed!
Sage Francis if nobody has mentioned him
If we're having groups then:
Run DMC
De La Soul
Individually none of them would make my list but as a unit they're in.
Also I'll swap out Erick Sermon for EPMD if we're doing groups too.
Well, if we're doing groups/collectives...
Wu Tang
Hieroglyphics
Native Tongues
MC Tunes
MC Hammer
MC Moonter
Sean Price
Conway The Machine
Biggie Smalls
Jay Z
Chester P Hackenbush
RA the Rugged Man
Junior Disprol
CASisDead
GZA
Immortal Technique
Kool G Rap is too good to appear on any list. The GOAT
Groups then is
Wu tang
DITC
Company Flow
Special guests... D and D allstars
Derek B, the Crown Prince of poetry.
Redhead Kingpin
Rakim
Big Daddy Kane
Kool G Rap
Mos Def
Chuck D
GZA
Ice Cube
Kool G rap
Nas
Jigga
Nobody gets close to BDK or Ra. Nobody.
Big shouts to chali tuna, that style.....Q tip, BIG, RUN, black thought.
In terms of delivery, always loved the power of dre, the rasp of MCA, the tilt of snoop, the dexterity of Busta.
Shame it all died.
1. Rakim
2. Kool Keith
3. Mc search
4. Chuck d
5. Big daddy Kane
6. MC Ran
7. Eazy E
8. Sweet Tee
9. Guru
10. Derek B .....
Ice cube
Method Man/Early Wu-Tang
Beastie Boys
Aceyalone (check out Book of human language)
Kool Keith
Pete Rock
Aesop Rock
Guru
Del the funky homosapien
My hip hop taste is fairly narrow but so good to see some of my favourites represented.
Chuck D
Mos Def
Rakim
Boardinbob superb!
Chuck D: No one else comes close IMO.
Not in order
For the power/voice
Chuck D
Guru
Gza
Method Man
Ice Cube
Lyrics
Ghost Face Killa
Ice T
Eminem
Rakim
Pharcyde
For a 1 off track, Schooly D - am I black enough for you, worked great in the King of New York
Chuck has the greatest voice IMO but I think if you took that away there'd be a lot less elft than some of these other guys have. But, since he could make ordering wallpaper sound like a call to rebellion, he wins the overall.
But, since he could make ordering wallpaper sound like a call to rebellion, he wins the overall.
Well, you can get some rather confrontational feature walls. 🙂
Chuck D
Tuna fish
Akala
Skinnyman
Scroobius Pip
MCA
Q-tip
Roots Manuva
Guru
Mc Escher
Mos/Talib
Klashnekoff
Fliptrix
Task Force
Phi Life Cypher
Capone n Noreaga
Probably not my top ten, but I listen to those the most.
Good question; 10 is quite hard! Not in order, some of my most-listened would include:
Rakim
El-P
MF Doom
Ghostface
Nas
Guru
Q-tip
Roots Manuva
Kool Keith
Pharaoh Monch
[i]Shame it all died.[/i]
What died? All the old stuff that people can't move away from? It hasn't died, its changed, stayed interesting rather than stagnating and looking to the past all the ****ing time.
No it's died. There are a couple of half decent artists around, nobody with a straight face can say that Wicky flocky or drake or lemur are any good, because they aren't. They are a blight on the history of hip hop and the quicker they disappear and the real artists stand up, the more credibility it will have in music. It's nothing but a joke at present.
It ain't dead, it's just that the good artists don't get the airtime as it's not the saccharine easy to digest shit that the uninformed seem so eager to consume.
Its not that the consumer is stupid. Just lazy.
Its rap idol (or rap factor). No talent ass clowns fronting the 'me too' sounds of today.
But, no it ain't dead. There's loads of creative, skillfull and barrier pushing artists out there. You don't even have too look hard to find them.
Chester P
Kay lash yer arseclart neck off
Killer Mike
Bollocks wrecker, utter balls. Its you who can't be arsed to look for the decent new stuff.
Even Drake has got some fantastic tracks in his catalogue, but there's a hell of a lot more out there, some of it is mind blowing. Don't blame the music for your loss of interest in it.
RZA
Biz Markie
Thes One
Slick Rick
Guru
No genre "dies". Just because the radio or tv isn't pushing something doesn't mean it's gone. Look at all the (mostly crap) "heavy" metal that was being used in loads of films after The Matrix. It got lots of airtime, cos it sold. Then a decade later metal comes back from the dead. No it didn't, it was always there, it was just marketable again, and worse for it.
I like hip hop and I love death metal and personally I'm happier when they're not popular so trendy w-----s who are now "metallers" for a month because Linkin Park is in the charts don't think I'm into what they are. I'm just a bloke who loves moshing.
Anyone saying hip hop is dead has never checked any of the amazing stuff coming out of Buffalo right now.
Griselda records X Fashion Rebels is THE label for hardcore, easy coast Reagen era hip hop. As good as anything Ghostface has ever done.
WestSideGunn
Conway the Machine
Mach Homie
Check out all of the following and thank me later
Flygod
Hitler wore Hermes 1, 2, 3
Hall and Nash
Devils reject 1 + 2
Griselda Ghost
Don't be Scared
50 round drum
There is God and Flygod, Praise both.
They killed Pookie
It's all on YouTube and is the best, rawest hip hop in years. Producers recently seem to have forgotten about drums, Daringer has single handedly bought drums back.
Even Drake has got some fantastic tracks in his catalogue
And you pull [i]me[/i] up for talking bollocks? 😐
Yep!
Makes two of us then doesn't it?
Ooh, i tell ya what son, music ain't as good as it used to be. Love clichés me.
Saul Williams
Chuck D
Mos Def
Mistah Bohze
Q-Tip
Loki (Glasgow)
Mog
Del(tron3030)
The thing about clichés is, sometimes they are accurate. I will give the stuff jmatlock has recommended a crack but I won't be listening to drake at any point in the future.
I'll throw in a couple more from a UK angle:
Skorzayzee
Life MC
and......
.....MC Pitman? 😉
I don't really know the names of the vocalists, but I like Dead Prez, Jedi Mind Tricks, Immortal Technique (I think that's a person). Oh, and Dirty North, from Manchester, if they're still going.
Monie Love
Kool Keith
Queen Latifah
Q-Tip
Chuck D
KRS-One
Roxanne Shante
Bambaata
Groups:-
UTFO
Ultramagnetic MCs
BDP
Ugly Duckling
De La Soul
Run DMC
EPMD
I've been watching The Get Down on Netflix recently. Think I'll have to get my old vinyl out.