VH1'S 50 Greatest Hip Hop Artists

[Guest Snappy Nappy Dugout]

50.Sugarhill Gang

 

49.Tone Loc

 

48. Kool Moe Dee

47.

Arrested Development

46.

Eve

45.

Heavy D. & The Boyz

44.

MC Hammer

43.

Coolio

42.

Kurtis Blow

41.

MC Lyte

40.

Gang Starr

39.

Ja Rule

38.

Biz Markie

37.

The Roots

36.

Master P

35.

Big Daddy Kane

34.

Lil Kim

33.

De La Soul

32.

Cypress Hill

31.

Naughty By Nature

30.

Will Smith / DJ Jazzy Jeff & Fresh Prince

29.

Nelly

28.

Busta Rhymes

27.

A Tribe Called Quest

26.

Ice Cube

25.

Snoop Dogg

24.

Queen Latifah

23.

DMX

22.

KRS-One / BDP

21.

OutKast

20.

Eric B & Rakim

19.

Nas

18.

Afrika Bambaattaa

17.

Fugees / Lauryn Hill

16.

Ice T

15.

Missy Elliott

14.

P. Diddy

13.

NWA

12.

Wu-Tang Clan

11.

Beastie Boys

10.

Jay-Z

9.

Salt N Pepa

8.

Grandmaster Flash

7.

Dr. Dre

6.

Eminem

5.

LL Cool J

4.

Notorious BIG

3.

Tupac Shakur

2.

Public Enemy

1.

Run-DMC

 

OK, WHERE THE FUCK IS SLICK RICK! YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THE JA RULE MADE THE LIST, BUT SLICK RICK, THE GUY THAT CHANGE THE HIP-HOP WORLD FOREVER WITH HIS STORYTELLING, AND CLEVER LYRICS, AND MADE CLASSIC SONGS LIKE "HEY YOUNG WORLD", "MONA LISA", "THE RULER'S BACK", "THIS IS THE MOMENT I FEAR", AND "CHILDERN'S STORY" AND INFLUENCE EVERY MOTHERFUCKER THAT'S RAPPING RIGHT NOW DIDN'T MADE THE LIST BUT JA RULE DID?! WHAT THE FUCK HAS JA RULE EVER DONE!?

 

AND WHY IS NAS NUMBER 19?

 

 

Sorry for the caps.

[TheOriginalOrangeGoblin 0]

P.Diddy, Missy Elliot ahead of Nas?

 

Eve on the list?

 

Queen Latifah ahead of Ice Cube?

 

This list BLOWS.

[Guest Eagan469]

Why doesn't Viacom just kill off VH-1 and replace it with MTV2?

[Guest Snappy Nappy Dugout]

Oh Yeah, Where's Foxy Brown?

 

Sure, Chyna Doll Flop, But Her and Lil Kim change the girlie rap and prove girls could spit like guys. And why the Fuck Is EVE on this list(Sorry Papacita)?

 

IMO, Nas Should be were Salt N Pepa is at.

[Guest IDrinkRatsMilk]

Wow, that really isn't very good at all. This doesn't seem like the kind of thing VH1 should be doing anyway.

[Guest evenflowDDT]

Why IS Ja Rule on the list? And why are Sugarhill Gang and Kurtis Blow so low? And why's Master P on the list, let alone above such notables as The Roots, Biz Markie, and the aforementioned criminally low "token historical figure placing" of SG & KB?!

[Guest Incandenza]

Really, are any of you surprised by this?

[Guest evenflowDDT]

Really, are any of you surprised by this?

No. But I'm contractually obligated to bitch about any "Top XX" list ever compiled, regardless of the topic or my personal knowledge of it (e.g. I've never heard any MC Lyte, Kool Moe Dee, or Tone Loc tracks, hence why I didn't bitch about their low placements).

[Guest Youth N Asia]

I don't like rap. But you can count on VH1 to put just about any list together and fuck it up.

[Guest TheArchiteck]

OMG....Master P over the roots??

I hope this is just about money and not talent.

[Guest Crazy Dan]

I had some problems with the list.

 

One how is P-Diddy so high on the list? He is good producer, but he puts himself on everything he produces. He sucks as a rapper. And the only reason he is even known is due to Biggie dying. And this guy basically butchers a lot of good music, including "Every Breathe You Take" and "Let's Dance".

 

Where is Too Short? He is a much better rapper than P-Dunce. And he is Gary Payton's boy, where is the love?

 

Master P sucks. I mean he might have this big rap empire, but "Let me hear you say Ahh"? This guy is a good producer, but as a rapper, I would rather listen to a fork scraping a chalk board.

[Guest kkktookmybabyaway]

KRS is at 22?

 

And I wonder why I don't take these lists seriously...

[Guest Hogan Made Wrestling]

Ja Rule is on this list, but Easy-E isn't? I want to throw up. And how does Puffy make the top 15? Might as well have Suge on the list while you are at it.

[rising up out of the back seat-nuh 0]

outkast should be higher

 

run dmc (bless em) should not be number 1

 

BTW evenflowddt, tone loc did that "funky cold medina" song

[Guest bravesfan]

Outkast should be higher.

 

AMEN. They should be hovering around the top 10, because the entries of Salt N' Pepa, Jay-Z and Wu-Tang should NOT be that high on the list.

 

A pretty gutless move to put both Biggie and Shakur that high. Tupac, I could understand, there's no reason why B.I.G. should be placed above a Dr. Dre, or someone else of that caliber.

 

run dmc (bless em) should not be number 1

 

In your opinion, who goes above them?

 

----

 

It's a fucking travesty that groups like Outkast, NWA and the Beasties are stuck behind a freakin' comedy act in Salt N' Pepa. OH MY BAD... they paved the way for the millions of "talented" female hip-hoppers - excuse me while I try to recall even ONE.

[Guest Midnight Express83]

WELL....

 

Sugar Hill Gang and Kurtis Blow didn't have more than one hit. So that hurts them.

 

DMC has been out for 20 years and are darlings to every major rap fan.

 

Chuck D rules and so does Public Ememy.

 

P-Diddy, like him or hate him, is one of the most KNOWN rappers of all time. He is more known than most rock stars. Weather good or bad, someone knows and says something about him. All that does is help his sells and gasp...I like his music.

 

Hear Illmatic and then ask why Nas is high.

 

KRS should be higher, biggie should be lower. Ja-Rule should be off the list. Slick Rick should be on this list....

 

Ah hell this list fucking blows.

[Guest IDrinkRatsMilk]

By the way, I'd have put Public Enemy and NWA at 1 and 2, though I'm not sure which would be which.

[Guest Anorak]

De La Soul and Tribe Called Quest should be a lot higher as well as far as overall talent and classic albums are concerned.

[Guest Choken One]

Quickie Top Five

 

1. N.W.A

2. Public Enemy

3. Tupac Shakur

4. Dr. Dre

5. Run DMC

[Mecha Mummy 0]

Um... Coolio and Ja Rule are ahead of Sugarhill Gang? God, I hate these countdowns. The only good one was the One-Hit Wonders one.

[Guest goodhelmet]

(e.g. I've never heard any MC Lyte, Kool Moe Dee, or Tone Loc tracks, hence why I didn't bitch about their low placements).

dude, you have heard tone loc.

 

wild thing

"that's what happens when bodies start slappin' from doing the wild thing"

 

funky cold medina,

 

 

the cop in ace ventura.

[Guest razazteca]

Ja Rule does not belong on the list period, Xzibit should be on there at Ja Rules spot. Ja Rule has not done shit for hip-hop all he is a average "thug" with a raspy voice with knowledgable producers putting out beats. Shit Ja Rule is not the best of the raspy voice rappers out there today! Mystikal and Busta Rhymes are better at it hell Petey Pablo is better than Ja Rule. Ja is a cookie cutter mass produced puppet of a studio trying to be 2Pac. Xzibit is a rapper that has gone against the norms of basic hardcore gangster/thug BS rap by using more than just the usual over sampled tired James Brown or George Clinton beats and utilitized a symphony for the background music or samples. Xzibit may not of been the 1st to use symphony in his rap but he does it very well and should be recognized for his style.

 

WTF is the prerequisites to be on this list? Billboard chart rankings or soundscan sales or big market heavy rotation, personal bias by "insiders"?

[Guest Midnight Express83]

As good as Sugar Hill Gang were, they only had one hit. One good hit that everyone knows but still one hit. Kurtis Blow is the first rapper to go Gold, but one hit. His first hit was before Run DMC started. Hell, he RETIRED from rap before Run DMC got big.

 

Also, my top 5

 

1: Run DMC

2: Tupac

3: Public Enemy

4: Wu-Tang Clan

5: NWA

 

With

6: LL

7: Jay-Z

8: Snoop Dogg

9: OutKast

10: Eminem

[Guest razazteca]

1. NWA

2. RUN DMC

3. Grand Master Flash & Furious 5

4. Public Enemy

5. Beastie Boys

6. 2Pac

7. Fugees

8. The Roots

9. Missy Elliot & Timbaland

10. Outkast

11. 2 Live Crew

[TheOriginalOrangeGoblin 0]

Itv can't be based on moeny or sales since Public enemy wouldn't be number 2.

[Guest Still Fly]

Quikie Top 5

 

1. Biggy Smalls

2. 2Pac

3.Run DMC

4. Public Enemy

5. The Roots

[Guest IDrinkRatsMilk]

11. 2 Live Crew

2 Live Crew?

 

I realize they were influential as far censorship and pushing the envelope and what not, but talentwise they were just mediocre at best. Pretty high on your list in my opinion.

[Guest Still Fly]

I agree with IDRM. Your Top 10 was alright but 2 Live Crew? They really did do anything of note as rappers. And dont really deserve to be on a Top 10 list.

[Guest razazteca]

11. 2 Live Crew

2 Live Crew?

 

I realize they were influential as far censorship and pushing the envelope and what not, but talentwise they were just mediocre at best. Pretty high on your list in my opinion.

They were high in my opinion because they brought something new into hip-hop this group gave birth to the Booty Bass Miami sound plus got alot of attention with the censorship issue. Luke's fetish for the booty and freaky sex rap has influenced hip hop for the worst and you could see his influence has spread throughtout the South from one hit wonders to Cash Money.

[Guest hardyz1]

Tone Loc ownz.

 

:::contributes nothing:::