by Brandon Pickett

Created on: May 18, 2009   Last Updated: May 19, 2009

Who's the best? Everyone wants to crown a king of everything. I personally think calling someone the best is hard because it's all opinion. But being a big fan of hip hop I'll try my best. I think to search for great rappers you first must start in the beginning. One of the greatest rap songs ever "rapper's delight" by the sugar hill gang puts them somewhere up there (lyrics stolen or not). Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five's "the message" is definitely up there too. Dr.Dre has always been a great rapper & producer as well. And his protege Eminem has had some ridiculous rhymes come out of his mouth. I love the consciousness of common & the intelligence of Nas. I love the consistency of Jay-Z & the adversity of his protege Kanye West. I even appreciate the differentness (to be improper) of newcomers Kid Cudi & Asher Roth. The great flows of rivals Canibus & LL Cool J. The style of Big Daddy Kane, The soul from the roots. The comedy and raw uncaring of Ol' Dirty Bastard. The pioneering and great things Run D.M.C did for hip hop, and the gangtsa vibe from Eazy E. I also really liked Bi L & I love the raw street and flavor of Rakim and I also love the pure underground vibe that Talib Kweli & Mos Def express. Ice cube has a very in your face flow, & Lil' Wayne is a great freestyle artist and does what he does the best. Many underground rappers such as Joe Budden & Lloyd banks tears it up with the mix-tapes. And others such as Snoop Dogg & Andre 3000 put an unforgettable twist to their rhymes.Immortal Technique is up there & Jadakiss with his unforgettable laugh, Young Jeezy & Falvor Flav with their amazing energy, & you cant forget the king of the south T.I. All this talk of the greats makes me want to one...get all my records out and play them all day & two not even do this list because its so hard (laughs) But I have made a decision (Deep breaths) I'm going to do it. So with all my obsessive gibberish aside. I tried to base this list on "lyrical content" & "flow" rather than popularity or other stuff. Here's my list.

10.Kanye West

9.Lil' Wayne

8.Talib Kweli

7.Jay-Z

6.Eminem

5.KRS-One

4.Rakim

3.Nas

2.Notorious B.I.G

1.2Pac

Honorable Mentions: Kanye just for his amazing production & other ventures, Dr.Dre & Ice Cube, T.I., Jadakiss, Common, A tribe called quest, Joe Budden, The Game, The Wu-Tang Clan,Outkast,Ludacris & anyone I forgot. I love them all.

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