Just A Little List…

One of my favorite subjects to talk about is hip-hop. I love the culture, I love the music…I love it. I could spend hours and hours arguing, debating, dissecting it all day. Recently my boy at work said to me, “B-Rett, you like that REAL hip-hop shit…not that gangsta shit Wayne be spittin’…” My response is “And?” I constantly am arguing the merits and value that Lil Wayne brings to hip-hop. But this blog isn’t about Wayne. I have neither the time, effort or energy to get into that one right now. Maybe one day….

But for right now I would like to give you a list of my favorite MC’s. For the sake of fairness I am not going to rank them in any particular order AND I’m going to leave Biggie and Pac (R.I.P.) out of the list but I will tell you who I think is the better of the two. In this list I will also include songs or verses that I feel justify why these people make my list.

So before I get into this list I just want to give the disclaier that this list is just my opinion (that I will be sticking by) but please dont feel that my say is the end all, be all voice of reason. On that note, “Let’s get to the proceedings, proceedin’ this evenin’…” (5 points to whoever can tell me who said that)

Andre 3000- There are very few times where I feel like I was ahead of the curve when it comes to singing somebody’s praises but I have been preaching the word of Andre 3000 for years. I kinda feel like it’s “cool” for people to but him on a Top list now. He is so smart with his lyrics and is so comfortable with who he is when he raps. He doesn’t compromise himself and his metaphors are dope. A lot of people sleep on Outkast in general but “3 Stacks” as he goes by is pure genius in my opinion.

Joe Budden- He is on my Top 5 list because he is hands down the most underrated rapper alive. Surprisingly very few people have heard of Joe Budden and the few people who do have some sort of grasp of who he is only know of him through that “Pump It Up” song. He only has one official album release but his mixtape body of work is second to none. If you have an opportunity you need to listen to all three installments of Mood Muzik. Homeboy’s punch lines and metaphors are on point. Now normally I don’t really co-sign when people hop on the “I Have a Problem with Jay-Z” bandwagon but this was dope:

Jadakiss- Dude is just nice. His delivery is so smooth and the raspy voice is just ill to me. His punch lines always tend to be very clever. Though I don’t think that he gets the credit he deserves. My man puts in work. To make my point I give you Jada’s verse from Nas’ “Made You Look”:

Black Thought (from The Roots): So whenever people think about The Roots everybody always think about ?uestlove (the drummer with the ‘fro) but the guy who actually raps puts in work, Pure MC, not flashy, not gonna shoot you, not slangin; rock on the corner, Just spittin’ “real hip-hop” as my boy BJ would say. If you need proof of my man’s lyrical prowess, I present to you “Thought @ Work”…then tell me he’s more than the guy in the band on the Jummy Fallon Show:

Redman- Reggie Noble, also known as Redman is one of my favorite MC’s of all time. He’s grimey, he can rap his ass off, he’s funny and he’s a little off but talented as hell. Most remember him from either his classic MTV Cribs episode (wow!) or the stoner classic movie “How High”. Here’s one of the reasons I am putting him on my list:

Nas- Yup, as an avid Jay-Z this selection may confuse people. Nas is an MC’s, MC. He is so deep and tends to be over the average listener’s head but he made a son backwards, BACKWARDS!!! I mean when him and Jay weer battling he got in Jay-Z’s ass (pause). To me Nas embodies what hip-hop is and stands for. He was able to declare at a time when rap music sucked in 2006 that “Hip-Hop is Dead”. In some ways this still remains true when you have guys the the New Boyz or Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em relevant in rap culture (just my opinion) this is why he is on my list:

Eminem- With you I feel that I don’t have to argue this one, but whenever I mention Eminem in a Top 5 category, a lot of hip-hop heads act like I’ve lost my mind. Eminem is a lyrical beast. What’s funny is that people get caught up in his annoying goofy single and kind of write him off, not realizing that dude goes to work when he hits the booth. Case in point his verse on “Renegade”. Nas said it best when he told Jay, “Eminem murdered you own your shit…” The Marshall Mathers LP is definitely a classic but The Eminem Show is just as good if not better.

Jay-Z- Hands down the “Best Rapper Alive”…sorry Lil Wayne, get your weight up! Like Jay said himself, “What more can I say?” Hate him or love him…he’s your favorite rappers favortie rapper. He can go all across the board with his music. He can give you something to dance to, he can spit rapper threats with the best of them, or he can get introspective. Don’t get me started on homeboys’ punch lines! He said it himself he is a “monster of the double entendre”. Just a quick one liner from Jay I always get a kick out of….”Niggas don’t get the PICTURE til the weapons DRAWN!” Damn! It’s funny that two of the worst Jay-Z albums, “Blueprint 2” and “Kingdom Come” are still better than some rappers BEST albums. Again Jay-Z is that dude.

Now here is my whole look on the Biggie/Tupac issue. The Notorious B.I.G. is my favorite rapper. Even more so than Jay-Z due to the fact that Jay-Z quotes Biggies lines every chance he can get. To me Biggie was a lot more lyrical than ‘Pac ever was. He was hands down a better rapper than 2Pac would have ever been. But don’t get me wrong, I love 2Pac too…I just think that 2Pac was a bigger ICON than biggie. Due to the fact that he was a revolutionary in some respects as well as an accomplished actor…Juice s still one of my favorite movies. The big issue that I have with 2Pac as a rapper is that he tended to be repetitive in the latter years of his career. I don’t know if it was the paranoia or what but he seemed to be saying the same thing over and over. As for Biggie, to me he wasn’t in the rap game long enough to hit a “slump” so it’s kinda unfair that dude had two classic albums. But again like Big said himself, “Biggie Smalls is the illest…”