Facewon wrote:

It is interesting that people are going for vocal tone almost instead of content in some cases. I absolutely agree tone and voice is a must, just like singing, but when you're talking ALL TIME, I think I just have to go for content as well. I find that once you include the content caveat, and maybe think about career length, relevance and maybe number of good albums/songs/verses, the field gets whittled VERY quickly, IMO. Which may be as much a problem with the nature of Hip Hop albums/releases as anything. There's a heck of a lot of verses that are just kind of out there in the ether with no context. There's plenty of albums that are out there with the same raft of producers and same Blueprint.

Which is why the only answer is not just Chuck D, but Public Enemy and The Bomb Squad. You just can't break them down into separate parts. The beats, the rhymes, the message, the attitude, the look.
They were and still are the full package. Simply untouchable. Nobody else ever came close. 

everybody else? Suckas.

g.man

A for o, yo.

g.man wrote:

Facewon wrote:

It is interesting that people are going for vocal tone almost instead of content in some cases. I absolutely agree tone and voice is a must, just like singing, but when you're talking ALL TIME, I think I just have to go for content as well. I find that once you include the content caveat, and maybe think about career length, relevance and maybe number of good albums/songs/verses, the field gets whittled VERY quickly, IMO. Which may be as much a problem with the nature of Hip Hop albums/releases as anything. There's a heck of a lot of verses that are just kind of out there in the ether with no context. There's plenty of albums that are out there with the same raft of producers and same Blueprint.

Which is why the only answer is not just Chuck D, but Public Enemy and The Bomb Squad. You just can't break them down into separate parts. The beats, the rhymes, the message, the attitude, the look.
They were and still are the full package. Simply untouchable. Nobody else ever came close. 

everybody else? Suckas.

g.man

YES. PE are up there with my all time favourites in any genre. Mista Chuck is pretty much unbeatable in my opinion - he's excluded from my list cos it goes without saying really. Night train is the reason I got into hip hop, after many years of being exclusively into metal. That you can hear him breathing in between lines and just going for it is one of the reasons he's my GOAT. Content, delivery and the best beats of any group.

Another vote for Dose One as possibly the most unique and innovative MC around, Dizzee Rascal for the awesome Boy in Da Corner, not to mention Showtime which was properly good as well (apart from Happy Talk), and the Streets for Original Pirate Material which is as close as I've ever come to hearing my life (at that time) being put to music.

I'm also amazed we're on the third page and no-one's mentioned Missy Elliott yet.

Not sure who I'd pick as a fifth. Cannibal Ox is made up of two MCs, but the Cold Vein is just incredible, possibly the finest hip hop album ever recorded. Their producer on that, El-P has produced some amazing moments himself (Stepfather Factory will be added to a B&B playlist when I find an excuse for it). For vocal tone; Del tha Funkee Homosapien and Blurum 13 are both artists I could listen to forever, but probably aren't quite well-rounded enough to make the list. Sole and Pedestrian both deserve honourable mentions as well.

Holy shit someone else who has The Cold Vein. Phenomenal album.

So I'll go with these:

Gift of Gab (Blackalicious)
Kool Keith (Ultramagnetic MCs)
Black Thought (The Roots)
Guru (Gangstarr)
Chali 2na (Jurassic 5)

But any of these would also do:
Rakim, Master Ace, KRS ONE, Talib Kweli, Evidence (Dilated Peoples), Lord Finesse

And I must've forgotten a whole load of others.

Eminem is making a late push for the top 5.

I got a lot of love for Big Daddy Kane and Kool G Rap, I'll grant you slick rick did some cool stuff, but I'm not sure he's aged particularly well. 

2 Live Crew have been and always will be fucking rubbish.

I'd give Lauryn Hill a shout for her stuff on the Score, her first solo and the couple of killer verses on Unplugged. 

I'd give Jean Grae props for being pretty awesome.

Lady of rage for one verse on Doggystyle.

Missy for excellent entertaining commercial stuff. 

Not sure after that.

daviedigi wrote:

no big daddy kane, biz markie, slick rick, 2 live crew etc?

I was going to mention Slick Rick, then forgot when it came to it. Here's a thing:

Sometimes. He's got real skills and some great early work, but he's also done some proper shit.

I've just caught up on this (I avoided clicking because it seems I'm not cool enough to think of rappers as MCs, and assumed this would be a old-skool jungle thread).  

I tend to like rappers with speed, and I often find that smarts, specifically through wit, go a long way with me.  Some of the comments on tone are interesting - for example, Chali 2na has penned some decidedly average lyrics over the years, but his voice just slays me.  His verse on A Day at the Races is a good example of how his tone can eclipse equally competent lyricists.   

A list of my favourites would probably look something like this:

Lyrics Born
Gift of the Gab
Chali 2na
Aesop Rock
Abdominal
Buck 65
Black Thought
Brother Ali
Mr. Lif
Del Tha Funkee Homosapien

I'm also an unashamedly huge fan of Bonethugs-n-Harmony, and I like Scroobius Pip, but find some of his lyrics a bit heavy handed.  

I've discussed this topic online before, and apparently that list, or the majority of it, makes me a 'backpacker'.  I'm sure I'm forgetting a major artist or two, and haven't mentioned plenty I like, but I'm pretty sure I've listed the cream of the crop for me.  Nicki Minaj is insanely talented but I'm close to giving up hope that she'll release a masterpiece of her own.  

Two examples of stuff that does it for me, both feat. Lyrics Born:

Worst rapper you say?




painful

g.man

JonB wrote:

Sometimes. He's got real skills and some great early work, but he's also done some proper shit.

yeah, and I've always thought he actually struggles to come up with lyrics that fit what he's aiming to do. Some dudes who are aiming to rhyme fast manage to sneak in some awesome lyrics, he sounds too much like he has just whipped out the thesaurus.

Still, that first album is a cracker, and he's done some awesome cameos.

What is this 'backpacker'?