Best rappers of all time

After finding God, Rev. His lyrical intensity and fearless aggression are battle-tested, as he sparred with the likes of 50 Cent and Beanie Sigel in the s before single-handedly dismantling Dipset in a Verzuz battle.

Our editorial content is not influenced by any commissions we receive. Complex is proud to present the Best Rapper Alive, Every Year Since , a comprehensive look back at every year of rap and which MC moved the crowd the most. Rap fans tend to get into arguments with other rap fans, and it doesn't take much more than someone declaring their Favorite Rapper. Your favorite rapper is a personal preference, one that requires the most subjective defenses. The choice is yours.

Best rappers of all time

The ranking was created to celebrate the 50th anniversary of hip hop music 's inception and was compiled by the magazines' respective editorial boards. To determine the rankings, the boards created a list of criteria based on a rapper's artistry, achievements, and cultural influence. It received criticism due to its exclusion of rappers who are not based in North America , as well as the omission of dancehall and reggaeton artists. Billboard and Vibe presented the first set of rappers on January 11, , and ten more rappers were announced over the course of three weeks. The top rankings were unveiled on February 8, , which crowned Jay-Z the greatest rapper of all time and Nicki Minaj the greatest female rapper of all time. It sparked multiple debates within the hip hop industry, many of whom criticized the publications and artists featured in the premier positions. Billboard initially created a list of the 10 greatest rappers of all time in November , with the top position held by The Notorious B. The updated list, published in stages between January 11 and February 8, , expanded their reach to include the top 50 rappers of all time, instead of The rankings were based on the votes of ten journalists who were apart of Billboard and Vibe 's editorial boards , and was led by Datwon Thomas, the editor-in-chief of Vibe. To "keep [the] pool of nominees a little more focused," the journalists chose to exclude dancehall and reggaeton artists and only center on rappers based in North America , regardless of merit. The editorial boards then ranked the qualifying rappers based on the following criteria: [2]. Acknowledging that lists tend to "draw their share of criticism and praise from industry pundits and the public alike," the rankings were heavily discussed and deliberated amongst the editorial boards in order to rationalize a "well-thought-out, authentic, list that reflects hip hop's foundational pioneers, evolutionary trailblazers, and contemporary mainstays. Curtis Roberts of We Got This Covered believed that it was a mistake of Billboard and Vibe to create the "head-scratching" list due to the publications prioritizing a rapper's popularity over their content.

Most divisive: Rakim. The album outsold 50's Curtis by a wide margin and not only proved Kanye was a cultural force but one who wasn't willing to settle. The 6ix God ascended to Mount Olympus.

If you want the intelligentsia up in arms about aesthetics and the merits of conscious rap, broach the subject over dinner. You want to hear a Harlem barbershop hella vociferous with avowed expertise, mention some list compiled by a music mag. That was me over a few days in April as I prepared my list of the five all-time greatest rappers. Rap music was born in the Bronx. Many of its pioneers were former members of crews or gangs and used battling as an alternative to actual violence as well as a way to foster esteem. Rap has remained the most competitive music genre, one whose artists tout themselves as the biggest, best, greatest.

Any list of the greatest rappers of all time is going to be divisive. Everybody has an artist they think of as their favorite or think they know who has the best skills on the mic when compared to everyone else. MC skills, flow, linguistics, vocabulary, rhyme schemes, speed, personas, themes, and even the era they came up in can all play a part in how a rapper is viewed. For our list, we took into account all of those skills but also added weight to the commercial success a rap artist was able to achieve and how big of an influence they became in the hip hop landscape. Lil Uzi Vert is one of the best and brightest rappers in the emo rap and SoundCloud rap communities. Each of his releases has added layered complexity and subtle shifts in tone, becoming enigmatic of the modern-day rapper. Wiz Khalifa was one of the most prominent rappers of the s, releasing a long string of hit songs that resonated with both the urban hip hop and pop music communities. His studio debut single Black And Yellow was an instant hit and rose to the top of the Hot , with plenty more following it up. A smooth flow and detailed imagery characterize his raps and turn him into one of the most sampled artists and most influential rappers in the history of music. Vividly painted narratives drove his work and inspired a generation of rap artists like Snoop Dogg, Nas, and Jay-Z to add layers to their own work.

Best rappers of all time

Thanks to their hard-nosed demeanor and gruff wordplay, Brooklyn duo M. Proud descendants of the Black cultural and human experience, Brooklynites Mos Def and Talib Kweli stood as inheritors of the grand hip-hop tradition. They were also representative of artists rejecting the overt violence characterizing the Notorious B. A follow-up album finally arrived in — but even if their output was limited to just that first, singular document, Black Star deserves its place in the pantheon.

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Since his debut, Cole has evolved into a lyrical titan and a guiding force within the rap community. The boundaries of the genre were pushed to their logical breaking point. The rapper was signed to Kanye's G. Throughout his career, Common has never been afraid to evolve and adapt to the changing landscape of hip hop. Still, in he released some of his most streamlined projects to date. He was, in his own right, an excellent rapper. Or lyrics that are better read on computer screens than recited back to you by rabid fans. Still, it felt like this was happening right under our noses. Over the course of his storied career, he has sold over 35 million albums worldwide, making him one of the best-selling hip-hop artists of all time. LL spent his entire career at Def Jam, becoming their jack-of-all-trades — a hitmaker for the ladies and a multi platform trailblazer for artists to cross over into such other fields as TV and philanthropy. Hailing from Detroit, this groundbreaking artist shattered barriers and defied expectations with his unparalleled technical skills, clever wordplay, and controversial subject matter. He was a viable, competent artist in multiple arenas, and he had the discipline to incorporate his varied and conflicted missions into a single mantra.

Finally, a definitive list of the best rappers of all time, ranked by fans all over the world.

Often tackling themes of identity, race, and mental health, his reflective approach to songwriting has resonated deeply with fans and critics alike, earning him multiple Grammy nominations and multiple platinum-selling albums. Will K-Dot's reign on top be shorter than leprechauns? When it comes to the illest MCs to ever bless a mic, Nasty Nas stands tallest amongst the best rappers of all time. History's Greatest Rap Duos, Ranked. More Drake. So obviously, Billboard is more leaning toward guys that made records, compared to guys like myself that put in all the time in hip hop. Even more remarkable was that Kendrick seemingly conceded very little—if anything—creatively to make this album which also debuted at number one work. Whatever his rhymes may have lacked in complexity they more than made up for with heaping portions of b-boy bravado. By the end of the distance between him and every other rapper was dramatic and evident, as contenders like 2Pac and Nas reinvented themselves as ridahs and dons in reaction. As the critical praise poured in and K-Dot fans supported their artist—a music-biz mantra that's more often said than followed—a mainstream audience slowly started to appreciate this West Coast rapper with left-field sensibilities to the point where hip-hop as a whole started looking at him differently.