TRshady's Top 25 Emcees Of All Time (Final List - UPDATED)

[CrashBand]

I don't hate you at all 12characters

Oh okay. You're actually one of my favorite people on this board, but this argument is killing my soul so I'm going to go somewhere else.

U thinking I h8 u killed my soul.

[12characters]

I don't hate you at all 12characters

Oh okay. You're actually one of my favorite people on this board, but this argument is killing my soul so I'm going to go somewhere else.

U thinking I h8 u killed my soul.

I'm sorry m8 I always felt like I just pissed you off. You can listen to Southsiders on Pandora though, so that might help your soul.

[CrashBand]

Haven't rly liked the tracks from southsiders so far.

[Amadeo]

Xzibit wouldn't make my top 25 emcees of all time list, but he'd make my top 25 deliveries of all time list.

That guy's got a cool rap voice. So does Ludacris.

[12characters]

Haven't rly liked the tracks from southsiders so far.

Yeah, then you won't like the album then. I always love hearing what Slug has to say though.

[CrashBand]

Xzibit would definitely be a contender for best delivery in rap

Ghostface, Masta Ace, Method Man, Royce are also great.

evn prime em tbh. his features illustrate how gr8 his rap delivery was. like on forgot about dre or what's the beat.

[CrashBand]

I imagine most people that put Xzibit in their list didn't listen to his albums. (Although I have no idea how many lists their were).

[CrashBand]

na m8. he aint. we should be talking top 10s as well lol.

and of course. fanboys lol. but he's in there cos they fan boys. but all g.

--

side point. the format is biased towards ignorant listeners. people should be submitting their top 25s. or it should be a top 10 list.

imo.

[CrashBand]

and the point system's flawed af i reckon. (if that's how u did it).

[CrashBand]

staywideawake, are u one of these "it's rapperzzzz not hip hop artists" as well?

all that shit is so ridiculous.

[classthe_king]

yikes


trying to differentiate "rappers" from "artists" and judging people based on their "rap skilz" rather than their music is so fucking stupid. It makes no sense. You're not listening to rappers freestyle in a corner cypher, you're listening to their music so their skills as an emcee is pointless if it can't translate into quality material. It's like trying to argue Brandon Jennings is better than Tim Duncan because he has more basketball skills and can show off more in a one on one game. It doesn't translate into what matters. Kanye is a better rapper than Big Pun because he has three albums that are better than either of Big Pun's albums. End of story.

And Xzibit shouldn't be anywhere near a top 25 list but he does have a dope delivery.

[classthe_king]

So you are telling me that we can't objectively rank rappers by skill set? Rap in itself is an art form and it does take skills.

No, but the ability to translate rapping abilities into good music is the most important skill that a rapper can have and ignoring that is stupid because no amount of technical ability matters if your albums suck.

One can be a sub-par rapper and still make great music (as in Kanye's case) nobody is saying any different. If we were to rank artists based on consistency of their discography, then it becomes subjective.

Kanye is no where near a sub-par rapper.

What part about that are you having a hard time understanding?

The part where you're deciding what is a rap skill and what isn't.

[yoda you can call me]

Music is subjective. Not everyone thinks Kanye's albums are good. Big Pun shits on Kanye as far as technical abilities are concerned

[classthe_king]

good thing technical abilities are only one part of rap

[classthe_king]

And are you seriously denying that things like flow, structuring verses, the use of multis, and delivery aren't special skills that can't be recognized?

No, but uniqueness, personality, creativity, mic presence and most importantly lyricism are all abilities too and to just disregard all the other aspects of rapper besides technical ability is such a narrow and ignorant view of music.

Once you say things like "translate rapping abilities into good music", the argument becomes subjective.

It's already subjective. I think Eyedea has more skill than any rapper ever and he's not even on the list so trying to act like you're ranking objectively is naive.

does not make sense.

One of the most important skills there is

Kanye West because he makes sense, but there isn't anything special about him as an emcee.

He has three classics, there are certainly many special things about him as an emcee.