God’s Favorite Rap Lyricists of All Time

In my earlier post entitled, “Greatest R&B Songwriters. NEVER been done before..” I broke down the true understanding of the best R&B music songwriters ever and embedded my favorite examples of their work.  I thought it would be fun to do the same regarding Rap music.

In all honesty, my understanding of R&B music greats is at 100%. My understanding of Rap is at 90%, but I know I can break down the top, most undeniably awesome lyricists that are also my personal favorites.

The following Rap greats will be listed in reverse order –>ending at #1 (My favorite Rap lyricist).  I listen to mainstream Rap artists as well as independent Rap artists.  I will express my thoughts about the lyricists who made the list, state what side of the country they represented and also embed my favorite song displaying their lyrical skill.  The criteria on which this list is based includes only the breadth of their body of work, lyrical creativity, intellect/depth, rhythm manipulation, energy delivery, and intensity. The criteria will responsibly disregard level of fame, quality of beats used and swag….common distractions that too often convolute the average hip-hop listener’s ability to discern a rapper’s true talent.

Enjoy.

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#11 Nicki Minaj (East-Side)

-A highly creative, clever, liberated, charismatic lyricist and, like a few other prominent female rappers I’ve heard, can successfully outcompete a number of prominent male rappers in the hip-hop industry (I say this because male rappers have dominated the hip-hop industry since its inception over forty years ago).  As a straight, male hip-hop fan, I appreciate Nicki’s generous display of dainty, girly behavior while juxtaposed to her substantial lyrical prowess. By the way, she also sings pretty decently on a bunch of her hooks.  As a famed beauty, singer and actress brilliantly said in one of her famous quotes: “I don’t mind living in a man’s world, as long as I can be a woman in it.” ~ Marilyn Monroe

I wanted to place Nicki Minaj’s huge ‘2010’ hit “Moment 4 Life” feat. Drake on this list–since I enjoy it considerably– but, I didn’t want her to have to share the rapping spotlight on a song of hers…on this list.  I didn’t plan for anyone else on this list to do so either.  Most of my favorite lyrics I’ve heard from her were on tracks on which she featured other artists or on which she, herself, was featured.  So, I was fortunate to find a version of “Moment 4 Life” with only Nicki Minaj on it.

#10 Snoop Dogg (West Side)

-I dig his smooth layback flow as well as his dynamic lyrical creativity.

#9 Method Man (East-Side)

-I love his flow and propensity for ruggedly lyrical depth.

#8 DMX (East-Side)

 -Another rapper with great, unique flow.  He possesses arguably the most intense delivery on this list.

#7 Tupac Shakur (East-Side/ West-Side)

-I love when a rapper is saying something. Tupac was a very smart but also very reckless thinker, but perhaps most importantly–a legend.

#6 50 Cent (East-Side)

-A clever lyricist.  Great flow.  Some melodic capacity.   As I type this, Rap is in its late thirties.  During its teens (the 90’s) Rap was the most aggressive and violent it had ever been. A lot of recklessly immature decisions were made in the industry..even leading to the famous murders of the two most popular rappers of that time..Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur.  And since Rap was first cultivated in the tough streets of the New York inner cities, having a tough character, appearance, past and/or lyrical delivery has always sustained it’s value as a desired and conditionally respectable component of ones image/identity in the Rap game.  50 Cent never really knew or actually met his father, lost his mother to a violent death as a boy, had been a drug dealer, had been shot nine times at once, died briefly, came back to life, rehabilitated himself, got himself a record deal with one of top rapper/producer legends in Hip-Hop History (Dr.Dre) and with arguably the best lyricist in the rap industry at the time (Eminem),  then he went from the pudgy guy he was to having the best physique ever in the rap game (see 50 Cent’s music videos entitled “In da Club” and “Amusement Park”) and becoming its biggest sex symbol/gangsta in his official debut–in my opinion, even better then LL Cool J during that time…(although LL has a more handsome face). –But, I digress.  All that being said, without question I proclaim that 50 Cent has had the “best” image of any rapper who ever became famous.

#5 Nas (East-Side)

-A particularly pensive lyricist.  I became a fan because I liked his necessary combination of cool and intellect.

#4 Eminem (North-Side)

-A very impressive and quirky lyricist. His manipulation of verbal timing with the rhythm is arguably the best ever heard in the rap game.

#3 Notorious B.I.G. (East-Side)

-Another rapper with an impressive sense of rhythm.  B.I.G. was a dynamic lyricist.  Memorably creative, he is the most prolific lyricist gymnast of all time–pulling together rhymes remarkably with the thought stream going upside-down, round-about, inside-out, backwards etc.  His thinking process was far from linear.

#2 Lil’ Wayne (South-Side)

-Mr. Metaphor.  Lil’ Wayne has obviously had a clear mental connection to the universal ether.  This is the only way I had been able to explain the endlessly fluid stream of perfectly clever metaphors he’s come up with throughout his solo career.  It’s very impressive to me.

#1 Canibus (East-Side)

-The most intensely intellectual lyricist and battle rapper anyone’s ever heard.  Yes, I’m TELLING you he’s the best you’ve ever heard in those two regards.  Was signed and poised to become the sickest lyricist in the game until his propensity to lyrically destroy EVERYONE and EVERYTHING in his path ejected him out of the industry.  [NOTE: If you are not familiar with the story..  Commercial Rap Legend LL Cool J gave Canibus a big shot at commercial music industry success when he invited him to do a verse on the 1997 hit rap collaboration track “4,3,2,1”.  It starred three rap artists on this very list: Method Man, DMX  and Canibus. –Redman and Master P are also on the track (Don’t ask me what Master P is even doing there..smh).  On the recording,  Canibus said something LL construed as offensive.  So LL changed his own original verse to one that would be an aggressive “clap back” to the younger commercial rookie, Canibus'(who was actually already a better rapper than LL) and kept Canibus’s verse on the record so listeners could be clear on who LL’s verse was about and why).  That newer LL verse was on the officially released “4,3,2,1” single.  This was the beginning of one of the most famous rap/lyrical feuds in rap history…which I feel Canibus won..for LL’s rapping has never been impressive to me, in any regard, other than being the most successful, commercial and prolific female-friendly rap artist/lyricist ever(LL Cool J actually stands for “Ladies Love Cool James”), yet respected for his tough image at the same time..as well as his rap-pioneer status.  I attribute LL’s rap success mostly to the aforementioned.  LL continued to have commercial success with later hits before his major, commercial rap music-making success started to wane years later.]  Nonetheless, Canibus never stopped writing, performing and releasing music after his ejection.  He then proceeded to become the greatest underground lyricist of all time.  He’s done many songs with other great underground rap lyricists (I’ve heard a number of them) and he still murdered all of them on each track.  His body of work is intense as fuck.  His freestyles are the most impressive I’ve ever heard.  His stage name knowingly asks, “Can-I-Bus?” and the crowd aptly replies “Yes U Can!”

***All of the rappers above truly caught my ear lyrically in these songs and met my criteria.  And after finishing my list I realized that the east-side, west-side, south-side AND north-side were all represented.  I’m very happy and proud about that. Thanks for listening!

NOTATIONS:

*No, Jay-Z did not make the list.  I’ve listened to a lot of his music in attempts to understand why he was so highly regarded but he never connected with me, his beats were often on point, but his lyricism and energy delivery never impressed me.  The latter, in fact, always repelled me.

*No, Drake didn’t make the list. Most of his songs are cool to vibe wit, but his style of delivery and intellect/depth (which happen to be the most important criterion to me) does not impress me; ..only a few times if at all.  According to what I desire to feel and hear…it’s not enough breadth of value for me compared to the Rap Artists who made the list.

*One more is Fabolous. He’s not usually mentioned in the Top 5 or 10 Rap Artist lists.  Instead you’ll more likely hear/see him mentioned in a Top 20 list.  But when you put aside the traditional Hip-Hop/Rap social and numbers-success politics that so often influence the rankings and inclusions on these lists, Fabolous can certainly be considered a valid choice for the Top 10 lists.  Fabolous is another respectably consistent rap artist.  Along with Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj and Drake, Fabolous is among the most desired rappers to be featured on another artist’s single, for he is virtually guaranteed to deliver at least a Hot 16 bars every time.  This rap artist is not one particularly known for his depth, but rather for his flows and solid rhyming skills.  I felt he was worth the mention.

Here’s Fabolous’ debut single he entered the rap game with:

**And If I was to identify the best versatile hip-hop artists (rapping and singing), they would be:

#1 Lauryn Hill (East-Side)

Beautiful Voice and Profound Lyricist

and..

#2 Drake (Canada) featuring: Lil Wayne

(Not an very impressive singer, but it works for his overall music style )

~God