The Balogun's 10 Greatest Rappers Of All Time

[DrRapid]

http://www.epinions.com/content_4793081988

Real shit ^ a full essay for each artist was done, he did a good job. It is very long but you know, you can skip just to see each artist. Very interesting stuff he's written, oh yes indeed.

[mcZu]

Propzz for this; it's a good read. Rakim deserves to be called the G.O.A.T
The guy really put some though in selecting this list, I tend to agree with him

[James R.]

LL fucking Cool J is above Eminem Biggie AND Pac? Fuckin retarded.

[mcZu]

LL fucking Cool J is above Eminem Biggie AND Pac? Fuckin retarded.

It sounds retarded, but you should check out why he put him above them. LL is a legend no doubt about that, and that dude -I think he's a dude- does backup his statements with solid arguments.

[James R.]

I read everything he had to say. And it's completely his opinion vs mine, but just because LL is a Legend, so are Em, Pac, and Big. L should DEFINITELY be on there, just not above people who outshine him in just about every way. But again, it's my opinion vs his

[mcZu]

Yeah I do understand your point, but LL did have a way of bringin hiphop out there and he was the first (If I'm not mistaken) to emrbace the whole 'love' song concept in rap. Big L was just one-dimensional in his work, far from versatile. Whereas Pac had a better impact on the people, LL took the ladies by far next to the respect he got from hiphop fans. Eminem is no doubt one of the greatest, but number 10 suits him fine, I mean you can put him first but that would be just 'cause your a fan an like him, pur out of opinion. But to look to his work and comapring that to other artists and taking into consideration the whole hiphop growth, that list does hit the spot. LL isn't better then Pac, Big L nor Eminem, but what he did for hiphop and how he broadend the target group of rap (yes eminem did that aswell) is something that earns him to be in that list, above those three artists? Well that has to do with opinion again, but I do tend to agree with that list.

[DrRapid]

Yeah, the LL Cool J part I was a bit unsure about but I agree with a lot of things he had to say about each artist.

LL Cool J might have deserved a spot but yeah, over 2Pac, Biggie or Eminem, a dunno. He did do things that were good but this list is not just about the skill but other things as well so I guess that's why he's on.

[James R.]

Yeah I do understand your point, but LL did have a way of bringin hiphop out there and he was the first (If I'm not mistaken) to emrbace the whole 'love' song concept in rap. Big L was just one-dimensional in his work, far from versatile. Whereas Pac had a better impact on the people, LL took the ladies by far next to the respect he got from hiphop fans. Eminem is no doubt one of the greatest, but number 10 suits him fine, I mean you can put him first but that would be just 'cause your a fan an like him, pur out of opinion. But to look to his work and comapring that to other artists and taking into consideration the whole hiphop growth, that list does hit the spot. LL isn't better then Pac, Big L nor Eminem, but what he did for hiphop and how he broadend the target group of rap (yes eminem did that aswell) is something that earns him to be in that list, above those three artists? Well that has to do with opinion again, but I do tend to agree with that list.

I meant to put LL not L. Big L doesn't have any right on this list.

And the whole impact LL had on rap was just commercializing. All he did was make rap "more listenable" for women, but with that I have to say that women have always been into rap. If you can dance to it then you have a female audience. Run DMC, KRS One, NWA, Public Enemy, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane, and all those artists had female fans so it's not like LL made it ok for women to grab a rap album.

Eminem on the other hand did bring a lot of white people into rap because honestly, it's hard to relate to someone you have nothing in common with. While I can relate just fine to Jay-Z, little Scott from down the way might have a pill popping mom and relate more readily and easily to Eminem and then through that become more susceptible to liking other rappers who he doesn't have as much in common with. Again it's not like no white people listened to rap, but Em made it easier for them to get into hardcore shit. And anyways I'm not saying Em should be number one. I never even somewhat almost implied that. He just shouldn't be behind LL Cool J.

Now Pac brought rap back onto the critical good side. He was about more than the West Coast gun toting, gang banging, flag hanging, bitch fucking shit that NWA and Ice T made so popular. He brought an intellectual aspect back to rap which is something no one had really done at that point past KRS and Rakim, and NO ONE had done it anywhere near as successfully.

Biggie gave NYC legs again. He was so diverse with his subject matter and lyrics he could fit into any category. He was literally Brooklyn's spokesperson. Not to mention he really established flow as a necessary component in rap music. Before and since only a couple people have been able to really match his smoothness with his delivery.

And talking about making a difference in rap and all that where's Run DMC? Lyrically they were the shit, they pretty much invented the rap that we listen to today instead of that disco knock off shit like you hear on Rapper's Delight.

And where's Ice T? He's responsible for gangsta rap more or less. When you leave out other huge impacts like those and then put LL up there in front of people who've made huge impacts and are just flat out WAY more talented than he is I just have a hard time believing it. If LL was 10 and everyone else moved up accordingly the list would be smtn I could go for.

[mcZu]

And the whole impact LL had on rap was just commercializing. All he did was make rap "more listenable" for women, but with that I have to say that women have always been into rap. If you can dance to it then you have a female audience. Run DMC, KRS One, NWA, Public Enemy, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane, and all those artists had female fans so it's not like LL made it ok for women to grab a rap album.

I'm not saying he made it ok for women to listen to rap, but he did reinovate a certain aspect of rap, which is love songs. You gotta gove him credit for that besides his normal work.

Eminem on the other hand did bring a lot of white people into rap because honestly, it's hard to relate to someone you have nothing in common with. While I can relate just fine to Jay-Z, little Scott from down the way might have a pill popping mom and relate more readily and easily to Eminem and then through that become more susceptible to liking other rappers who he doesn't have as much in common with. Again it's not like no white people listened to rap, but Em made it easier for them to get into hardcore shit. And anyways I'm not saying Em should be number one. I never even somewhat almost implied that. He just shouldn't be behind LL Cool J.

True, true and true. Eminem did introduce rap to alot of white suburban kids and even to other countries were rap wasn't as big as it is now, but to put him above LL is questionable. I mean I prefer Em over LL any day of the week, but LL is just a different cup of tea if you undertand what I'm saying. I mean LL was during his time something new, big and did help hiphop to get the attention it should be getting -ofcourse you could say that is were hiphop started dying, commercial shit, but it did catapult it into new heights aswell.

Now Pac brought rap back onto the critical good side. He was about more than the West Coast gun toting, gang banging, flag hanging, bitch fucking shit that NWA and Ice T made so popular. He brought an intellectual aspect back to rap which is something no one had really done at that point past KRS and Rakim, and NO ONE had done it anywhere near as successfully.

True, now complaints about that. I perfeclty agree with you on that.

Biggie gave NYC legs again. He was so diverse with his subject matter and lyrics he could fit into any category. He was literally Brooklyn's spokesperson. Not to mention he really established flow as a necessary component in rap music. Before and since only a couple people have been able to really match his smoothness with his delivery.

Rakim...Smoother and already had invented the 'flow' we know it nowadays before biggie even grabbed a mic. Ofcourse Biggie did bring NY back to the map, gotta agree with that. But Rakim is the one he got it from, and Rakim is the one who established the 'flow' as a necessary component in rap.

And talking about making a difference in rap and all that where's Run DMC? Lyrically they were the shit, they pretty much invented the rap that we listen to today instead of that disco knock off shit like you hear on Rapper's Delight.

True, Run DMC should have been up there somewhere. But to say they invented the rap we listen to nowadays? Nahh that's to much, Rakim is were it all started. He Started multie-syllable rhyming, internal rhyming, he brought similes and methaphors to a whole new level and he is the first one who sped up his rhymes i na certain faster flow.

And where's Ice T? He's responsible for gangsta rap more or less. When you leave out other huge impacts like those and then put LL up there in front of people who've made huge impacts and are just flat out WAY more talented than he is I just have a hard time believing it. If LL was 10 and everyone else moved up accordingly the list would be smtn I could go for.

Ice T should have been up there yes, but that's one of the reasons I really hate lists. There are just to many good artists to be making a top ten list. But this list is actually one of the better ones I have seen, yes it has its flaws, but even does flaws are understandable.

But overall I understand why you would have put LL on ten, but at the same time I understand why that Balogun dude put him on seven.

[mcZu]

1. Em
2. Nas
3. 2pac

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Then everyone else.

Honestly if you think Eminem is the best rapper ever, then your just statin your opinion. Eminem can't compete with Rakim, and how can you put Eminem above Nas and Tupac? That's just pure your opinion, I respect that, but as a hiphop fan you can't be serious. As an Eminem fan I understand where your coming from, but to put him on number 1? Nahh.