Top Ten Rap/ Hip Hop artists (5-1)

5) Scarface: The King of the South. Coined the term "the Dirty South" before people like Rick Ross and T. I. learned to go potty by themselves. Deep, deep lyrics, he touched on many social aspects in America, the mistreatment of blacks, gender discrimination, racial stereotypes, etc. He made a lot of people really, really uncomfortable with the way he rapped. Questioned society's perception on the typical black man living in the ghetto, asking them if they really knew what life was like. This man was an intellectual, a deep thinker, and he expressed his thoughts with such an aggressive tone and delivery, it sends shivers down people's spines.
"I've got this killer up inside of me,
I can't talk to my mother so I talk to my diary,
I'm going off in the deep end,
I find myself face to face with myself when I'm sleepin'"
- No Tears, The Diary


4) Eminem: Maybe the most underrated mainstream rapper there ever was. He has done in his small career what many have failed to do in their lives. He remains the holder of the top selling album: The Marshal Mathers LP, his flow rivaled that of Biggie's. His freestyle skill was unmatched, he was so good, at one point he was losing respect from critics because they thought that he had rehearsed all of his freestyles. He never once sugar coated his rhymes, never once did he try and make subtle remarks because he was too scared to say something, if he felt it, he rapped it.
"Sure I got a few screws up in my head loose,
but no different from whats going on in your parents' bedrooms."
- My Name is, The Slim Shady LP


3) Tupac: Biggie's counterpart. This man contained the very short list of items that Biggie did not: themes and messages of lyrics. He was truly a deep man, way ahead of his time. You could tell he rapped from the heart, his songs often horribly true instances of past life experiences that he raps with unbelievable delivery. The West Coast King, shared Hip Hop in the ninety's with Biggie Smalls.
"I see no changes wake up in the morning and ask myself,
is life worth living or should I just blast myself?
I'm tired of being poor and even worse, I'm black,
my stomach hurts so I'm looking for a purse to snatch."
- Changes, Greatest Hits


2) Jay- Z: Many people don't understand who this guy really is. He's been around for a VERY long time, his debut album being released back in '96. Many, many critics have dubbed him the Greatest of all time because of what he has done to Hip Hop. His style is unique, his intelligence allows him to craft lyrics and put verses together that blend together seamlessly. He has swagger, style, he owns the rap market, in the literal sense and in the theoretical sense.
"I sell ice in the winter, I sell fire in Hell,
I am a hustler baby, I sell water to a well."
- You Don't Know, The Blueprint


1) The Notorious B.I.G.: Biggie Smalls, the King of New York, I've mentioned the plethora of names he has before, there is no need to delve into that again. But seriously, what he has done for the game is beyond words. Two albums was all it took to earn himself the "most quoted MC" award. He could make your hair stand up with his cold, ferocious flows, make your eyes water from his deep story telling ability, cause you to lose your voice from laughing so hard at some of the punchlines he throws into his rhymes, all in one verse.
"Silly Cat, wore suede in the rain, swear he put the "G" in game,
had the Gucci frame before Dana Dane, thought he ran with Kane,
I can't recall his name,
you mean that kid that nearly lost half his brain over two bricks of cocaine?"
- You're Nobody Till Somebody Kills You, Life After Death

Biggie's Legacy

Biggie's untimely death did not at all stop his supreme reign over the rap game. He is celebrated as one of the best MCs of all time. He reached #3 on MTV's list of top ten rappers, both of his albums have earned a spot on the 500 Best Albums of All Time. Many influential hip- hop magazines have dubbed him the Greatest of All Time. His name appears on lists of best rappers more times than any other rapper dead or alive, including Tupac, Jay z, and Lil' Wayne (if you consider this guy a rapper). Its not uncommon for speakers to be blasting Biggie's lyrics before a big concert or award show. Biggie is also famous for having his lines quoted by many, many artists. Primarily Jay z, 50 Cent, and Lil' Wayne.


There is ten parts to this video, all of them containing samples of Biggie's lyrics, and then the same lyrics rapped by other artists.

Biggie's style of rapping will always be remembered and it will always remain original. He had a husky, powerful tone that he would use alongside his ability to overlap many rhymes in one verse to stun his listeners. He rapped in many styles, he would sometimes even sing in a falsetto tone like in his songs, "Playa Hater", and "Come On." He was featured with the group "Bone- Thugs and Harmony" who are famous for their extremely rapid style of rapping, and Biggie rapped to that style better than they did, according to most people. Biggie's beats were mostly simple repetitive beats that really captured the mood of the content of the song. Sometimes he would have a few seconds at the beginning of a song in order to get the listeners in the mood.

Biggie was also respected greatly for his diversity in the themes of his rap. In Ready to Die, he portrayed himself as a common hustler, doing whatever it took to get to the top and how he finally reached the top. In Life After Death, Biggie portrayed himself as a ferocious drug lord, a mafia leader. He wrote romance, comedy, drug dealings, autobiographical stories, everything. But perhaps the area where he was most renowned, was his story telling ability. A very large portion of his songs were stories of his past, back when he dealt drugs, and would commit petty crimes to get money. Famous titles include, "Warning", "Somebody's Gotta Die", and "Niggas Bleed." He could put a story into rap better than any other MC could ever come close to, and everyone knows it.

This guy was a beast.

King of New York

Christopher George Latore Wallace, AKA Biggie Smalls, the Notorious B.I.G., Big Poppa, Frank White, the King of New York.

If you don't know who this is, you should get your life reassessed. He was only the greatest rapper of all time. Greatest lyricist, best flow, best rhymes, best delivery, just the greatest of all time, or GOAT as you might see him referred to as.

Biggie was born in 1972, right in the heart of Brooklyn, NY. He had the stereotypical childhood and early years of every rapper, his dad left him to be raised by his mom, dropped out of school at an early age even though he excelled at school, he was a natural at poetry and public speaking. Well maybe not the stereotypical life of EVERY rapper, I doubt some of them these days even know how to read... After he dropped out of school, he joined the crack game and would rap with all of his friends on street corners. Eventually he got caught by the cops and sent to a penitentiary, all the money he collected from dealing drugs, was used for bail.

A few years later, he got discovered by the infamous P. Diddy, who signed him to Bad Boy Records, where Biggie started working on his debut album, Ready to Die.. This album was released in 1994, and it was a HIT. It went 4x Platinum, which is a very, very big deal if you don't know. It featured many classics including, "Big Poppa", "Juicy", and "Warning." This album was received extremely positively by the rest of the world, and it instantly set new scales for rappers. Immediately, rappers started quoting his genius lines in their own songs, featuring him in songs, and lots more got jealous and started feuds with him.

Which brings us to the next important event in Biggie's life, his ridiculous, pointless beef with none other than his lifelong friend, Tupac Shakur. Supposedly the beef (this is just another word for feud)started when Tupac accused Biggie of being involved in the robbery of 'Pac's jewelry, if you don't know, rappers really value their "bling". Tupac then started to make really insane, outrageous diss songs toward Biggie, and the notorious East vs. West beef started, that ultimately led to the death of both of these legends. Biggie did not openly say anything about Tupac, instead he would use his metaphorical, subliminal style of rap to attack Tupac. Many say this was "cowardly" on his part, but in many interviews Biggie stated that he didn't want to increase this beef between the east and west coasts. Which was sincere, because he had enough lyrical skill to grind Tupac into dust if he wanted to, and everyone knows it.

In 1997, Biggie released his second, and last, studio album, Life After Death. This album was a lot different than his first one, which had a more light hearted, funny theme to it. Life After Death was darker, more serious, and dealt with much more serious topics. He rapped about many things that dealt with mafioso stories of his past, robberies he's committed, and he also released several titles that were all subliminal diss songs toward other rappers that quite frankly, shut them up. A good example of a song like this is "Kick in the Door." Biggie had a paranoia problem, by the time he released Life After Death, he pretty much thought that the world was out to get him. He released very dark titles such as, "You're Nobody 'Till Somebody Kills You", and "My Downfall." But even though these songs showed that he was suffering from lots of problems in his life, they failed to do anything else but show this man's lyrical ability and profound rapping skill that remains unmatched.