The Greatest Rapper of All Time

[Guest TheDon]

I cant believe it has been 8 years since Biggie died. I wonder at times what the music industry would be like today if Biggie and Tupac had never died.

[Guest KOR420]

all the radio rappers wouldnt claim to be down with pac and big,no pac songs with big,no pac songs with 50 cent,nas,or jay-z,or any of those lame pieces of crap

[razazteca 0]

Ja Rule, Shyne, Gorilla Black would not be making videos.

[Giuseppe Zangara 0]

Very few people would care about either one of them now, due to hip hop's notoriously short attention span. Unless you're like Outkast—who constantly reinvent themselves—the shelf life for a rapper is limited.

[Perfxion 0]

Biggie wasn't the greatest, and there would have been songs by all others. Biggie is a hustler that would do a track with just about anyone for cash. Pac would have done stuff with Aftermath, if that would be a label. Jay wouldn't be "retired" at the moment. Diddy wouldn't have needed a girl because Shyne shot up the place. Shyne wouldn't be in jail(atleast for rap shit), and G Unit wouldn't be beefing with the whole rap scene. Also, D-Block would still be on Bad Boy.

 

And for who is the G.O.A.T, Jay-Z or LL depending on which day of the week it is.

[cameron chaos 0]

Biggie wasn't the greatest, and there would have been songs by all others. Biggie is a hustler that would do a track with just about anyone for cash. Pac would have done stuff with Aftermath, if that would be a label.  Jay wouldn't be "retired" at the moment. Diddy wouldn't have needed a girl because Shyne shot up the place. Shyne wouldn't be in jail(atleast for rap shit), and G Unit wouldn't be beefing with the whole rap scene. Also, D-Block would still be on Bad Boy.

 

And for who is the G.O.A.T, Jay-Z or LL depending on which day of the week it is.

You buy their hype as much as they do. Jay may claim to be the best rapper alive, but he knows who was the best ever. Have you not listened to "A Dream" from Blueprint 2?

 

LL as the greatest of all time? Bullshit. Just because he named an album that, a shit album at that, doesn't make it so. In fact, he should probably get slapped for giving that abomination that title. Canibus killed him and he isn't even one the best out there, even though he too acknowledges Biggie was the best, in the same song no less (hence the title of this thread).

 

LOX were on Bad Boy, D Block is the LOX plus Jae Hood, Hood was never on Bad Boy. Plus LOX were repping RR as a crew before they got scooped up and signed by Puff. Jadakiss spoke about it after the label move in XXL I believe.

 

Pac hated Dre after he walked out on Death Row, haven't you ever listened to "Toss It Up"?

No longer Dre Day, arrivederci

Blown and forgotten, rotten for plottin Child's Play

Check your sexuality, as fruity as this Alize

Quick to jump ship, punk trick, what a dumb move

Cross Death Row, now who you gon' run to?

Lookin for suckers cause you similar

Pretendin to be hard, oh my God, check your temperature

Screamin Compton, but you can't return, you ain't heard

Brothers pissed cause you switched and escaped to the burbs

 

You seem to hardly have a clue what you are talking about.

 

If Big hadn't died, maybe we wouldn't have had to deal with all those eighties remix rap songs Puff put out and launched his career off while Biggie's body was still cooling.

 

If Pac were alive, maybe we'd get new material rather than remixes of old stuff and hatchetjobs with old acappellas.

[razazteca 0]

If Tupac was alive he would be doing the Will Smith thing of making soundtracks for movies but with "street cred".

[Guest Shadow]

If Tupac were alive, He'd be acting and making the rare album and basically leaving the rap scene almost for good.

 

Biggie and combs would have had a spilt and a rights war would have broken out where Biggie tries to buy the rights to his work but Diddy owned it all and held it hostage and made money off it. Biggie would've aligned with Jay Z and done Roc A Fella with him to get back at sean combs. Faith and Biggie would have an on again/off again relationship along the lines of Tommy/Pamala and likely just as choatic and weird but no video.

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

Did someone honestly nominate LL?

 

*shudders*

 

I'd have to say Biggie personally, but I'm not that knowledgable in hip hop/rap. I know enough to know that the answer sure as hell ain't LL.

 

I'm still trying to figure out a specific song by Biggie, I've heard it many times but don't know the name. David Terrell used it at UFC 51, for those of you who may have seen it.

[B. Brian Brunzell 0]

Damn, this thread title was misleading. For a second, I thought that Rakim had died.

[TheOriginalOrangeGoblin 0]

BIG's good but not the greatest in any sense of the word.

 

And Canibus didn't kill LL. That's a huge misconception. If anything it was a draw cause Canibus never did top:

 

"Ask Canibus, he aint understandin this, Cause 99% of his fans odn't exist."

 

And LL is nowhere near the greatest.

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

I now believe that Hulk Hogan is the greatest, based on the sig above.

[AboveAverage484 0]

Damn, this thread title was misleading. For a second, I thought that Rakim had died.

Yeah, no shit, I was thinking the same thing

[Guest Shadow]

Also, now that it's been 8 years, we can effectively kill off any of those stupid "7 Year theory" idiots.

[cameron chaos 0]

"Ask Canibus, he aint understandin this, Cause 99% of his fans odn't exist."

And if you really want to show off, we can get it on

Live in front of the cameras on your own sitcom

I'll let you kick a verse, fuck it, I'll let you kick em all

I'll even wait for the studio audience to applaud

Now watch me rip the tat from your arm

Kick you in the groin, stick you for your Vanguard award

In front of your mom your 1st, 2nd and 3rd born

 

That slays anything on LL's "Can-I-Bus" track. And as for Canibus coming back with something better, what about Rip The Jacker where he jacked LL's old beat?

 

You married a slut and had kids with her to cover up your hustle

You and your man Russell made a better couple

Your probably mad as fuck, wondering where I got the information from

Your being watched even when you take a dump

Its impossible to front, you can't hide

The chairs at your label got ears and the walls got eyes

Your living one big lie the world just don't know

You take a polygraph test that shit would probably explode

The truth is mr. smith you got a fucked up attitude

God knows that I pitty your fans for backing you

Yo, this be the realest shit I ever wrote

You should change your muthafuckin' name from G.O.A.T. to G.L.O.A.T.

The Greatest Liar Of All Time that cannot rhyme

That cannot shine as long as I'm alive

Your prime ended 8 months before '99

And that microphone on your arm will always be mine

Nigga you're dead

 

Rakim is definitely one of the greatest, he changed the whole game at the time he came through with his style. Shame the Dre deal went sour.

 

Shadow, we gotta wait until September 13th til we're clear of them, sadly.

[Jorge Gorgeous 0]

Very few people would care about either one of them now, due to hip hop's notoriously short attention span. Unless you're like Outkast—who constantly reinvent themselves—the shelf life for a rapper is limited.

Damn you're wrong.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Biggie is so not the fucking best rapper ever. Neither is Jay-Z, for that matter, not even close. Same goes for LL.

 

Westside 4 life.

[UZI Suicide 0]

How is LL even in this argument? Here's how I'd rank them

 

1. 2Pac

2. Rakim

3. Nas

4. BIG

5. Ras Kass

[Ripper 0]

If they were alive, they would have done a albumtogether eventually squashing the fakest beef in a long time, we wouldn't have to put up with those dumbass "this is what happens when rap gets serious" crap, seeing as Pac stomping Orlando Anderson had absoloutely nothing to do with rap, Jay-Z and Big would have mad songs together, Shyne and Gurella Black would have never gotten deals and The Lox would still be on Bad Boy.

 

And for the love of GOD could people stop saying A: LL is one of the best rappers of all time and B: that he can close to even drawing even with Canibus in their battle.

 

 

LL raps like a Dr. Suess Book and Canibus destoryed his ass in that "battle". That was one of the most one sided shits this side of Eminem/Benzino.

[Perfxion 0]

First off, anyone who puts Biggy has to stop and think(how many albums did he make) He only made 2, so off of two albums(which one sold because he was dead) is kind of Jaded. No doubt he was hot, but not hot enough to be the best.

 

Pac was great, but he has alot of hacked together craps for ablums(almost all after his death). It is cool that his mom released his entire collection(or whored it) but still, not alot of good albums.

 

As for why I said LL is one of the greatest, because he made a style and stuck with it giving him a long ass 21 year career. Not many other rappers STAYED IN the public for this long. The only other group close to this is Run DMC and for most of the mid 90s they were not in the public. I don't think any other rapper out right now will have a 21 year career. Oh, and "the Ripper Returns" killed Canibus.

 

As for Rakim, he is one of the greatest in terms of lyrics, but in terms of hits, what his his last major album, and what was his last major hit? Hits matter as much as lyrics and freestyles.

 

As for Jay-Z, since BIG died, he became the king of NY, which is pretty much on top of the rap game. Almost all of his CDs were good, and he keeps the hits as long as the "street cred" songs.

 

As for anyone who puts BIG or Pac above them, well that is bullshit, and that is whoring those two to sell a record. If these people had the balls, they will call themselves the greatest. Rap seems to have this attitude that they don't want to let dead people DIE.

[Ripper 0]

First off, anyone who puts Biggy has to stop and think(how many albums did he make) He only made 2, so off of two albums(which one sold because he was dead) is kind of Jaded. No doubt he was hot, but not hot enough to be the best.

 

Yes but the two albums he made were basically flawless and arguably perfect and seeing as one was a double album, he basically released 3 widely considered flawless albums. ANd to say the second only sold because he died is pure nonsense. What had the first one sold, 8 million? He was going to sell anyway and his death just made people buy it quicker. Its not like his first album was a flop.

 

 

Pac was great, but he has alot of hacked together craps for ablums(almost all after his death). It is cool that his mom released his entire collection(or whored it) but still, not alot of good albums.

 

Not alot of good albums? He had 5 albums before his death, once again, 5 VERY good albums. EXTREMELY good albums before his death. Plus alot of the stuff that came out after his death that he deemed not good enough for his albums were still very good...better than anything LL ever put out. Speaking of which...

 

As for why I said LL is one of the greatest, because he made a style and stuck with it giving him a long ass 21 year career. Not many other rappers STAYED IN the public for this long. The only other group close to this is Run DMC and for most of the mid 90s they were not in the public. I don't think any other rapper out right now will have a 21 year career. Oh, and "the Ripper Returns" killed Canibus.

 

Um, LL sucked for 17 years and lived off sex appeal. To equate this to something else, this is like saying that Madonna has one of the greatest singing voices of all time because she is a singer and been around this long. And I think we can all agree that is ridiculous. LL has made lyrically pathetic songs for a LONG time but has charisma and selling power. That does not equate greatness...that equates good marketing. I will take it a step further and say LL is not a good rap artist at all mostly due to the fact it sounds like a 5 year old wrote his stuff. Lil John is more lyrically complicated. And since this is a lyrical based artform, him sucking at it automatically disqualifies him. PLUS, after what you said about Pac, he still has more good albums than LL who even his fans have to admit, 14 shots to the dome(even with Pink Cookies in a Plastic Bag and Backseat of My Jeep it sucked) and everything afterwards has been down right BAD music. Plus you negate everything you said when you said "The Ripper Strikes Back" destroyed Canibus. There was nothing remotely close about that battle. Hell, LL in another album had the lyric in which he was posing questions to himself:

 

"whats up with that kid Canibus? Son played you out

and why you didn't answer back correctly? What the fuck was that all about?

 

So when the dude himself says he got murdered in that battle, I think you have to concede that he lost too.

 

As for Rakim, he is one of the greatest in terms of lyrics, but in terms of hits, what his his last major album, and what was his last major hit? Hits matter as much as lyrics and freestyles.

 

Dude.....dude...really......dude..

 

 

As for anyone who puts BIG or Pac above them, well that is bullshit, and that is whoring those two to sell a record. If these people had the balls, they will call themselves the greatest. Rap seems to have this attitude that they don't want to let dead people DIE.

 

Or it could be that they are right. They recognize when someone was better at it than them. The only person quick to call themselves the greatest is LL, and thats laughable. And people often name other rappers besides BIggie and Pac. KRS-1 and Rakim get named often. I still like how Eminem mentioned Redman at the top, someone who is high on my list as well. And music doesn't let the great ones die and that goes for evey genre.

[Guest Deadbolt]

First off, anyone who puts Biggy has to stop and think(how many albums did he make) He only made 2, so off of two albums(which one sold because he was dead) is kind of Jaded. No doubt he was hot, but not hot enough to be the best.

 

And they were also two of the greatest rap albums ever. Actually he had three solo albums, one of them was made after he died. Plus there was songs on Puff Daddy's album "Forever", the Junior MAFIA, his work with Lil' Cease, Lil' Kim, and Jay-Z. Show some respect. People were saying Nas was better than Rakim after he made Illmatic and Nas hasn't lived up to that album ever since, does that make his career jaded? Absolutely not.

[B. Brian Brunzell 0]

As for Rakim, he is one of the greatest in terms of lyrics, but in terms of hits, what his his last major album, and what was his last major hit? Hits matter as much as lyrics and freestyles.

Hits matter if you want to make shitloads of money. As far as lyrical prowess and delivery goes, hits don't matter, and no one touches Rakim on those fronts. KRS-One is the same way. He hasn't had a hit in a long time, but he still drops albums and is recognized as one of the greatest and respected by just about everyone in Hip-Hop.

 

You don't need a ton of hits to be great, hell you don't need any. Big L was fucking INSANE on the mic, yet how many hits did he have? None, really. Yet he's still revered in the game, as is The Gift of Gab.

[lomasmoney 0]

Big L would have blown up..... he was just sick amazing flow its just sad he would be what not even 30 years old yet.

[nogoodnick 0]

I'm pretty sure KRS One proved you don't need a single hit to be cosidered one of the greatest. And LL hasn't made anything worth a damn in years. Longevity doesn't necessarily make you great.

[UZI Suicide 0]

Pac was great, but he has alot of hacked together craps for ablums(almost all after his death). It is cool that his mom released his entire collection(or whored it) but still, not alot of good albums.

 

Before his death he had what I would call 4 classic albums(Makaveli, All Eyez On Me, Me Against the World and Thug Life Vol. 1). The stuff released after his death should not matter at all.

 

 

As for why I said LL is one of the greatest, because he made a style and stuck with it giving him a long ass 21 year career. Not many other rappers STAYED IN the public for this long. The only other group close to this is Run DMC and for most of the mid 90s they were not in the public. I don't think any other rapper out right now will have a 21 year career. Oh, and "the Ripper Returns" killed Canibus.

 

As someone has said, it's because of his sex appeal to women. He has not had much quality music at all during those 21 years.

 

As for Rakim, he is one of the greatest in terms of lyrics, but in terms of hits, what his his last major album, and what was his last major hit? Hits matter as much as lyrics and freestyles.

 

....

 

 

As for Jay-Z, since BIG died, he became the king of NY, which is pretty much on top of the rap game. Almost all of his CDs were good, and he keeps the hits as long as the "street cred" songs.

 

Ever since Nas destroyed him you can't say he's the King of NY. His albums haven't been all that great anyway. The only great albums he's ever had are Reasonable Doubt and The Blueprint. The Black Album was OK too I guess.

[Guest Coffey]

Five Greatest Rappers of All-Time:

 

1. Dylan

2. Dylan

3. Dylan

4. Dylan

5. Dylan

 

 

HE SPITS HOT FIRE!

[Nighthawk 0]

This is a silly discussion. Rap is music, regardless of what the white man says. I recognize where it comes from, but you can't say "These are the greatest rappers" anymore than you can say it about bands in other musical genres. Rap, despite what you may have heard, does not have a tangible measurement of quality.

 

You know who I think the greatest rapper is? Shock fucking G.

 

LL, by the way, had two excellent albums, one pretty good one (all three very much in the past), and a bunch of average to crappy ones. Not much else to be said.

[The Czech Republic 0]

"This is such a ripoff of that Puff Daddy song."

[razazteca 0]

You know who I think the greatest rapper is? Shock fucking G.

The Humpty Dance, Same Song, Nose Job, Sex Packets are indeed great tracks.