Technical skill, originality, and style always come into question when considering the best rappers, but the increasingly important live show is sometimes left out of the discussion. A great live show, however, always helps pave the way to stardom, and with music sales down, concerts are important for securing a loyal fan-base, an invaluable means of winning new fans, and a way to make money without selling CDs or MP3s. So from the masters of well-oiled, highly-rehearsed stadium sell-out shows, to the raw, punk energy of a sweaty basement gig, here are the best live performers in rap right now.
Note: This list of best live performers is absolutely not a representation of who we consider to be the best rappers out there (though there is of course some crossover), as live performance and recorded music are two wholly different beasts.
20) A$AP Rocky
19) Macklemore
18) Lil B
17) Nicki Minaj
16) Earl Sweatshirt
15) Death Grips
14) Mac Miller
13) Busta Rhymes
12) Waka Flocka Flame
11)Lil Wayne
10) The Roots
What to expect: Professional musicianship that most live hip-hop shows can't touch
Tour dates: Here
The Roots' inclusion on this list should come as no surprise. While they've been together, with one lineup or another, since 1987, and they've transitioned into being perhaps the best in-house band in the history of late night television as a part of Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, The Roots still run laps around the competition when it comes to showmanship, variety, and live music entertainment. A Roots concert is typically full of surprises: guests, cuts from their extensive and varied discography, and covers all figure prominently into one of the tightest, most exciting stage shows in hip-hop—a set seriously committed to making sure the audience has a hell of a good time. While it might sound tired to go on about how great a Roots concert is, their reputation as one of rap's best live acts is well-deserved and time-tested.
9) Danny Brown
What to expect: To feel like part of the party
Tour dates: Here
Danny Brown has been rapping for a long time, but the 30-year-old Detroit native took things to a new level over the past few years, transitioning from a talented rapper to one of the most exciting presences in hip-hop. He's always had the skills, but he's come into his own as an all-around personality and entertainer. A lot of eccentric rappers rely on their style, charisma, and stage presence to make up for a lack of skills. For Danny Brown, it's the opposite—for Danny Brown his skills are what got him here and the rest is just icing on the cake. Danny's show is wild, interactive, and he's got a knack for making the crowd feel like part of the show (and a lot of the time they are part of the show).
8) Killer Mike
What to expect: A poignant, powerful, politically charged show
Tour schedule: Here
Fans may have been expecting a solid show from Killer Mike at the Pitchfork Music Festival this year. What they got was a damn religious experience. There are plenty of rappers who can rule a stage, but few can lead an audience the way Mike did in Chicago's Union Park that day. Killer Mike took the crowd to church, speaking about the importance of community, the killings in Chicago, the drive to be a good human being. It sounds heavy, and it was—as Killer Mike talked about these issues his voice sounded urgent, cracking under the weight of his words, but as soon as a beat dropped, the entire audience was even more compelled to get their hands up and follow Mike's lead. Rap shows are fun, but when's the last time you left one wanting to be a better person?
6) Chance the Rapper
What to expect: Ceaseless, uncontainable energy, a performer who loves his fans
Tour schedule: Here
Every now and then, you get the feeling that you're watching the next big thing. The weird thing is, it doesn't always feel that exciting. Sometimes it's just like, "Yeah, this guy is going to be a star one day." That's not the case when you're at a Chance the Rapper show. At a Chance show, you get the feeling that you're watching a star in the making, and it feels special. Maybe it's because Chance raps like he can't contain his own excitement. Maybe it's because he talks to the crowd like he really loves his fans. Maybe it's just because seeing him dance around the stage and rap like a pro makes it hard to believe that this guy has neither put out an official album, nor does even have a record deal yet. Chance is currently performing all over the country, doing shows with Mac Miller, Action Bronson, and Earl Sweatshirt.
5) Action Bronson
What to expect: Non-stop rapping, on-stage antics, a lot of pot, possibly some raw meat
Tour schedule: Here
Since first appearing on rap fans' radar with his food-filled, punchline-packed raps, Action Bronson has projected a larger than life figure–one of only a handful still left in a scene that seems often dangerously devoid of characters at the highest level. His live show confirms that there are few as engaging and entertaining as Action. Carrying women on his back, throwing bags of weed into crowds, throwing steak into crowds, rapping while he goes to the bathroom, and generally engaging the audience like no barrier between artist and fan should ever exist, Action has built up a deserved reputation for his on-stage antics that make him an artist to look out for whenever he's in your city.
4) Tyler, The Creator
What to expect: Tons of energy, possibly some blood
Tour schedule: Here
Few rappers can match the raw, kinetic force Tyler, the Creator puts into his shows. Stage diving, climbing balconies, head banging, cursing at the audience, cracking jokes, and typically putting his angular, gangly body into harm's way for the audience's enjoyment, Tyler packs his live sets with the punch of punk performance. Even from early on in his career, he understood that tremendous energy combined with clever pacing and song selection–Odd Future's debut set in New York featured Tyler performing "Bastard" on a chair under a single redlight before fading the track out after a minute and a half and exploding into "French"–form the cornerstones of a show that has audiences coming back in ever greater numbers.
3) Jay Z
What to expect: A faultless, well-oiled performance, an extremely satisfied audience
Tour schedule: Here
There is not another rapper on the planet at the level of Jay Z. As a performer, he's not the most live, the most theatrical, the most skilled—the most anything, really. But no other rapper has the amount of hits that Jay Z has, and when you're at a concert with thousands of other people who know the word to every single song, it's one of the most fun concert experiences rap has to offer. What Jay Z is best at is selling. He gives the people what they want, and when he sells tickets, he always make sure the customers leave satisfied. Throwing your hands up with a room full of people is cool, throwing your hands up with a stadium full of people while "P.S.A." is playing? Fucking great. Plus, if you're looking for a good live rap medley, nobody can touch Hov.
2) Kendrick Lamar
What to expect: To see exactly why Kendrick Lamar is a star
Tour schedule: Here
For many rising rappers, live performance seems to be treated as an afterthought rather than the foundational piece of a lasting career. When you watch Kendrick Lamar perform, it's evident that he treats his live show with the same care and attention to detail as his recorded material. Selecting a setlist that hits proper emotional peaks and valleys (while still including enough visceral highlights), transitioning between songs with freestyles and acapella rhymes, and taking enough time to speak to the audience and properly soak in the moment. Kendrick's performances are fitting extensions of his character: warm and inclusive, while simultaneously sharp—he doesn't miss a beat in his rapping. We wouldn't expect anything less from one of the brightest rising stars in rap.
1) Kanye West
What to expect: The best live show in rap, a performance you'll be telling friends about for years
Tour schedule: Here
By now, Kanye West's live shows have become the stuff of legend. Full of lights, impossibly grandiose stage designs, seemingly endless rants and freestyles, incomparable energy, and an equally incomparable catalog of hits, a Kanye show is an often unpredictable journey into the world of rap's most famous iconoclast. West's dedication to one-upping himself (combined, of course, with a decade spent building one of hip-hop's greatest discographies) has turned him into a perennial festival headliner, the sort of artist whose performances on award shows and at major concerts are appointment viewing whether you're lucky enough to be in attendance or have to scrounge the Internet for the best possible video footage.
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