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1 - Notorious BIG
2 - Big Pun
3 - Big L
4 - Whole wu-tang
5 - Nas


Can you argue with that list?

the whole of wu tang is cheating a little...........
surely KRS has to be in any list

in order

Ghostface Killah
Nas
Notorious BIG
Jay Z
Raekwon da Chef

i like the east coast

2pac (more lyrical than people give him credit for and more passionate than anyone else)
Nas (lyrics, concepts, lyrics)
Andre 3000 (creativity is incredible)
Krayzie Bone (untouchable delivery)
Skinnyman (lyrics, flow, passion - got it all)

^^^ this list changes all the time though

Not in order...

El-p/Big Jus (they absolutely destroyed on the Co-Flo Funcrusherplus album)
RZA
GZA
Reakwon
Ghost Face
Method Man
ODB
Red Man
Aceyalone
The Hieroglyphics crew (Casual, Opio, Domino, Del, Tajai, Phesto)
Nas

Ok not five, but couldn't limit myself.

As far as raw skills go

1 Tash
2 Ras Kass
3 Louis Logic
4 Buck 65
5 Tonedeff

Ras Kass sorta fell off hard, but whatever. Louis Logic is disgustingly underrated.

deezer wrote:the whole of wu tang is cheating a little...........
surely KRS has to be in any list

KRS-One's lyrical skills are weak and his flow is inconsistent. I still remember that diss track towards Nelly and his lines were pathetic. Really amateur.

This is the hardest thread on this forum...

1. Kurupt
2. The Notorious B.I.G.
3. Nas
4. Talib Kweli
5. Raekwon

Samuel Sifter wrote:This is the hardest thread on this forum...

1. Kurupt

His best verses rank among some of the best verses ever, but he passed his prime not long after he spit them.

Ghostface
Jehst
Sick Jacken
ODB
Gza Genius
Chuck D!!

forgot Big L and Finesse also MF DOOM and Vinnie Paz

Capital North wrote:Xzibit

I would say up to and not including 'Restless'. Even then, he'd do some pretty good shit here and there, like 'Down for the Count' by Reflection Eternal and he was good in Strong Arm Steady (but nothing like back when he was with Likwit). He put Rah Digga and Talib Kweli to shame, which I mean, isn't much of an accomplishment (never got the big deal about Kweli, his stuff on that album and the Black Star record is incredible, but not because of his rhyming skills.. he's not bad and some of his lyrics are great, but like most rappers, he's passed his peak not long after he got some critical acclaim) but it still shows how he was ahead of a lot of highly rated peers of his. He was one of the best in the world for a couple of years, longer than most rappers can claim to be.

It really sucks that hip-hop has gotten so much about the rapper. Like Ishkur's Guide to Electronic Music says, after a while rappers thought they were more important than the music and then, more important than anything else in the world. Rappers half ass most of their verses after their first smell of success because they know their ego will for ever be masturbated by people who buy their records and see their shows. I wish more people would take a look at the likes of Prefuse73 or Dälek who treat rapping as just another instrument. It not only makes the rapping better, but more importantly, it makes hip-hop music production a lot more interesting as well.

The same also happens with producers, though. Madlib was fucking great until he got alterna rock approval and acclaim. When that started happening, the number of Madlib releases went up and the quality control went down.

Hip-hop needs to get rid of the fucking ego attached to the name.

Im not a big hiphop fan but Dr Doom and Mac Dre blow me away with the ways they have words.

I'm pretty sure this has comeup before - I think we should give a best example of why you think who is good. So, in no particular order...

Bronze Nazareth
Melanin 9
GZA/Genius
Raekwon
Ghostface Killah

just to give you an example -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILtbhyKhvXU

I'm a king with no rings, but we can box in one
I'm toxic, spun off the marksmen epiglottis
Ex-robbers, vile toting, swinging totem pole
Cobra ex flow, ****** spinning jacks slow
Government remote control, my brain power
Rain shower, man and gods, what's the odds
Even if i'm wrong, I'm still right, get large
Seven Wise, hitman, hit squad, dip bars
In golden jars, I speak a sunshine flow
Throw a drumline slow, like gumbo
Aiyo, my music testifies, and if it's not 5 mics
It's at least ten dimes,
Throw a rope up to God, maybe you'll climb this high
In the tree house, I'm tree'd out, speak about
Something, to think about a bleed out
Flee to my house, hold a tree to my mouth, inhale it's
Brain tsunami, hope your chain and all your property
Is enough to keep you, on top of the water
Shallow ****** sink deep, and there's sharks in the water
Who run the soundboards, from here to abroad
While ya'll ****** sleep as if the Lord had called, uh

(must go and resurrect that lyrical lords thread...)

MAC DRE - Feelin' myself




Hmm... what.... hmm... what... hmm... what....hmmm... what


Im outta this world, notcha run o tha mill n'
My name is furl im the owner of buildin,
I',m a stoner and i'm chillin wit 2 bitches like jack
I pimps and i mack drive a benz notta 'lac
Man i been in the back with the groupies and tha stars
I been out front with the thugs in the cars,
I been on the yard with the mexican mafia
And i only run with ****** that'll kill and die for ya.
I'm popular, i'm a rap star but i live like a rock star
Runnin from the cop car
I drop bars on slaps that knock hard
And i charge for this dick extra large
I'm sicker than SARS higher than mars
And i treat my bitch like an ATM card

(CHORUS)
I'm in tha buildin and i'm feelin myself
Man,I'm in tha buildin and i'm feelin myself
Man, I'm in tha buildin and i'm feelin myself
Man,I'm in tha buildin and i'm feelin myself


She's in the buildin and she's feeling herself,
She's looking bad but i'm willing to help.
Stop it baby your killing yourself, C'mon baby,
I gotcha back we can chill in my delph.
I'm feelin myself too, man just imagine some of the things we could do.
You under me, Me under you then we can catch the liquor store before 2.
We can hit my ****** go get some shrooms
And if u still wanna kick it we can go getta room.
It won't cost you much I'm a good buy,
Dick on discount, Bitch Good bye.
Who do i look like Mr. Frank-Fuck-For-Free?
Ya no dough ho, you can't fuck wit me.
Get the fuck out bitch, you stealin my dough?
You full of shit and I'm feelin myself

(Chorus)
I'm in tha buildin and i'm feelin myself
Man,I'm in tha buildin and i'm feelin myself
Man,I'm in tha buildin and i'm feelin myself
Man,I'm in tha buildin and i'm feelin myself

Aceyalone number 1 by a country mile.

Kool G Rap
Schoolly D
Big Daddy Kane


And Skinnyman coming up the rear.

to this day my favorite is still Jungle Brothers

Straight Out the Jungle

It's like God to me

Madlib's still a recluse, but ever since albums with the 'Madlib Invazion' sticker became Pitchfork approved, he's just releasing so much subpar stuff because he can get away with it. I mean, I get Madlib, he's really fucking productive, but I'd prefer a couple of solid releases over a ton of mediocre ones.

Don't get me wrong, I've been down with Madlib for a long time. 'The Unseen' is one of my favorite records ever, but when he became critically and commercially more acclaimed, he just released so much stuff he wouldn't have released before.

But yeah, hip-hop as a whole is just boring. Mainstream rappers think they're awesome and underground ones criticize mainstream ones and rap over beats that sound like mainstream rap beats with worse production value. It's really gotten stale these past few years.

I mean, Dälek does it well, Buck 65 does it fucking great too, stuff like that, they keep doing cool stuff. Hell, Louis Logic's doing some crazy surf-rock meets hip-hop type stuff. They get that while being rappers they get the most attention, they're not all there is to the music and give the other musicians involved more room to breathe. I dig that.

no wait swap André 3000 or AZ for Raekwon da Chef in my top five lol

Genevieve wrote:Madlib... releasing so much subpar stuff... hip-hop as a whole is just boring... Dälek does it well, Buck 65 does it fucking great too

lol