Unmistakably OT: Favorite Hip Hop MCs
A few days ago there was a thread titled The Ecstasy and the Blueprint 2 in which someone made an excellent suggestion that the MMB use a tune from The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly which was used in a Nike commercial and was sampled by a Jay-Z song on the aforementioned article. I got into a discussion with a gentleman by the name of WillyWill about whether Nas or Jay-Z is better. I hold that Nas is better, as he is one of my favorite artists of all time.
My favorites are Nas, Jay-Z, the Roots, 2Pac, and others. Lately I've been listening to AZ, Ghostface, and some other stuff. Who does everyone here like?
Of course, no discussion of hip hop is complete without mention of this gem by some of Detroit's own hometown heroes.
August 6th, 2009 at 12:07 PM ^
Tim i agree 110% that NaS is is better. He is also my favorite HipHop MC. It's refreshing to finally have someone agree with me. I also favor the game, common, Lupe fiasco, and gangstarr.
August 6th, 2009 at 12:08 PM ^
I wish he would quit acting.
August 6th, 2009 at 12:39 PM ^
I love Mos Def, and think he's the best emcee alive. I actually don't mind him acting though. Saw him in a Broadway show a few years back (Top Dog/Underdog) with Jeffrey Wright, and he was actually very impressive.
As for other emcees, I spent my college days obsessed with Outkast's first three albums. Andre Benjamin (in his pre-Andre 3000 days) was the best.
Does no one else appreciate the greatness of Dr. Octagon (a/k/a Kool Keith)?
Outkast, they're right up there.
August 6th, 2009 at 12:10 PM ^
MF Doom and his multiple personalities
cosigned
August 6th, 2009 at 12:11 PM ^
Rain on your college ass disco dorm!
The Wu, the Wu got something that everybody wants to hear. Cuz I know I've been waiting to hear it.
August 6th, 2009 at 12:12 PM ^
Im real big fan of Drake. His flow if incredible and a breath of fresh air.
August 6th, 2009 at 12:33 PM ^
His flow *was* a breath of fresh air until the 80,000th time I heard "Best I Ever Had" on the radio this summer. Also, Degrassi...
August 6th, 2009 at 12:42 PM ^
Hip hop should not be on the radio (WCBN excepted). If they are on the radio, they are not dropping enough f-bombs, not abstract enough, not political enough, not metaphysical enough, or not talking enough about wanting to to do damage to cops IMHO.
August 6th, 2009 at 12:53 PM ^
'The Winner' is an unreal tune. Also, he blew out his knee on stage a couple weeks ago, he's going in for surgery soon.
August 6th, 2009 at 12:13 PM ^
The Roots
Atmosphere
Sage Francis
Talib Kweli
Common
Lupe Fiasco
August 6th, 2009 at 12:13 PM ^
I much prefer Nas. I've never really gotten into Jay-Z. My personal favorite MC's are Lupe Fiasco, Common, Talib Kweli, Brother Ali, Slug (Atmosphere), and I'm really feelin Wale right now.
August 6th, 2009 at 12:14 PM ^
eric b and rakim
a tribe called quest
nas
the roots
talib kweli
outkast
scarface
jay-z
eminem
August 6th, 2009 at 12:21 PM ^
Too many young bucks on this site. "Old Guy Alert"-Everything was better back in the day. You guys need to get acquainted with the past with some Itunes. Nas couldn't hold Rakim's jock with both hands.
DMC
LL Cool J
Rakim
Chuck D
Check out "Follow the Leader" by Eric B & Rakim.
August 6th, 2009 at 12:26 PM ^
KRS1 is far better than LL. I do agree with your other picks though.
KRS 1 is solid, I think LL is underrated because he went mellow and commercial with the movies and became overproduced. His 1st 2 albumns were very good.
had the MC voice in the 80's-90's. I like the raspy voices. Notorius B.I.G., Rodney O & Joe Cooley, Kurtus Blow. Man I miss the old stuff.
August 6th, 2009 at 12:19 PM ^
RZA
Immortal Technique
RA The Rugged Man
Pharoahe Monch
Killah Priest
Kool Keith
August 6th, 2009 at 12:26 PM ^
started out the superior rapper, but he really fell off with his "Esco 3000" or whatever crap he was calling himself. J has maintained a little better. The best album by either is Nas' 1st, Illmatic. The 2nd best is Jay-Z's Reasonable Doubt.
I love the Wu, Biggie, Nas, Jay-Z.
August 6th, 2009 at 12:26 PM ^
T.I. currently. Historically, Pac, Jay, Biggie, Nas, Tribe (in that order).
August 6th, 2009 at 12:29 PM ^
Vanilla Ice
In 1990 I saw Vanilla Ice (Rob Van Winkle) open up for MC Hammer at McNichols Arena in Denver. Then over Christmas (2008), he was the half time performer at the Pepsi Center in Denver for the Nuggets vs. Hornets game.
I was with the same person at both events!
I will always have a soft spot for RVW!
August 6th, 2009 at 12:29 PM ^
UGK 4 life
August 6th, 2009 at 12:31 PM ^
Wu tang- raekwons new stuff is gonna bring us back to 94
Rakim
Krs 1
Tribe
old nas- illmatic is classic
Doom
Aceyalone- a book of human language- you don't got it get it.
August 6th, 2009 at 12:39 PM ^
new album was supposed to bring us back to Cuban Linx. Have you heard any of it yet yourself?
Drop date is September 9th.
GZA, Ghost, and Rae all had fantastic solo albums, but I liked Rae's the best.
August 6th, 2009 at 12:34 PM ^
Ghostface
Camu Tao
Doc Waffles
Tame One
Count Bass D
August 6th, 2009 at 12:36 PM ^
Black Thought from The Roots is the greatest of all time IMO. He hasn't ever spit a bad verse. But my favorite rapper right now is Blu. He is insane.
August 6th, 2009 at 12:38 PM ^
no one has mentioned Coner yet. This is just like that time everyone forgot about Dre.
Hahahaha!! If I could give you plus 1 for this, I would.
August 6th, 2009 at 12:47 PM ^
Fuck y'all. Y'all don't like me, blow me. -Dr. Dre, philosopher
August 6th, 2009 at 12:49 PM ^
Wale
Immortal Technique
Common Market
TI
Nas
Slim Thug
August 6th, 2009 at 12:52 PM ^
Love the shout out to Wale.
Me: T.I., Jay-Z, Wale.
then Maino, then all the rest.
Been a huge fan ever since I heard Mixtape About Nothing last year.
This summer is the first I've spent time in the DC area, and people really do wear Nike boots! And the chicken at Yums might really be cat! (oblique reference to Wale's professed abstention from cunnilingus)
I listened to some stuff by Common Market, and I liked what I heard. What's a good album to start with?
They only have one real album, Tobacco Road. It's fantastic. They also have an EP called Black Patch War. It's also good, but short. It also repeats some songs on the LP.
August 6th, 2009 at 12:57 PM ^
hands down.
that you are the first one to mention L...He is an absolute beast on the mic.
Big L and Jay-Z freestyle. NSFW
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRp6iiXvzQk
August 6th, 2009 at 12:58 PM ^
+ 1 thousand billion for embedding "It's so cowwwwwdddd in da d"
The G.O.A.T of Story telling.
For being one of the first to use a live band.
The Knux are definitely worth listening to.
Nas - understand, to me he's like a step below the Beatles
Jay-Z is 2nd
Fugees! I especially love Lauren Hill, includingthe R&B stuff.
Talib, Black Star
2Pac
Roots
Jurassic 5
Dead Prez, even though I deplore the messages of their songs
Ghostface
Common
Mobb Deep
Dr. Dre
Gay fish (aka Kanye West)
I'm trying to find more guys to listen to. I still have to get 36 Chambers and probably all the other Wu-Tang solo albums. I used to like Outkast a bit more but I think I got a little tired of them. Although Ms. Fat Booty is one of my favorite songs, I'm not so much into Mos Def.
Do you like fishsticks?
Great list. Replace Kanye with Del and it would be perfect.
The best IME, in rough order, are Supreme Clientele, OBfCL, Iron Man, Liquid Swords, and Fishscale.
Note that I haven't really ever listened all the way through to the 36 Chambers, or that might be up there too. A case might be made for some of the Bobby Dig albums, especially the first, but I'm not really into the whole self-serious 5%er thing