10 Greatest Rap/Hip-Hop Bands...

[Dallas22]

You must be kidding.

I don't mind 2 Pac that much and I'm not knocking him but a "lyrical genius"?
No.

Lyrical genius would be Redman, Gza, Mad Skillz, Plug One, Kwali... IMO, just to name a few.
There aren't many West Coast lyricists.
2Pac, Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, etc. All West Coast. All have some good music. But hardly "lyricists".

I listened to hip hop and rap since the early 80's, which is basically ALL I've ever listened to. I agree that MOST of the rap out there today is worthless. I must DISAGREE though when it comes to the likes of 2Pac and Biggie.

2Pac wasn't the greatest lyricist, but he was one of the greats of HIP HOP, for sure. His raps are urban poetry (he was a poetic genius) and his emotions when he rapped was untouched by any other rapper! Biggie, to me, is the GREATEST RAPPER OF ALL TIME... he had unbelievable flow, great storyteller, powerful lyrics and I think really linked OLD-SCHOOL hiphop with newer rap/hiphop. Also, I must mention that Big Pun, although he lacked the flow, was one of the greatest pure lyricists of ALL TIME.

Rakim, KRS-One, Public Enemy are all up there... The impact that 2Pac, Biggie, Big Pun and some others from the late 80's into the early 90's really brought rap and hip hop into the 21st century as the MOST popular music... unfortunatly, MOST of the rappers nowadays just plain SUCK... no flow, no substance... just want to talk about all the money they have and women they've had and the bling-bling - sickening!

GO COWBOYS!!!

Dallas22

 

[Yeagermeister]

I listened to hip hop and rap since the early 80's, which is basically ALL I've ever listened to. I agree that MOST of the rap out there today is worthless. I must DISAGREE though when it comes to the likes of 2Pac and Biggie.

2Pac wasn't the greatest lyricist, but he was one of the greats of HIP HOP, for sure. His raps are urban poetry (he was a poetic genius) and his emotions when he rapped was untouched by any other rapper! Biggie, to me, is the GREATEST RAPPER OF ALL TIME... he had unbelievable flow, great storyteller, powerful lyrics and I think really linked OLD-SCHOOL hiphop with newer rap/hiphop. Also, I must mention that Big Pun, although he lacked the flow, was one of the greatest pure lyricists of ALL TIME.

Rakim, KRS-One, Public Enemy are all up there... The impact that 2Pac, Biggie, Big Pun and some others from the late 80's into the early 90's really brought rap and hip hop into the 21st century as the MOST popular music... unfortunatly, MOST of the rappers nowadays just plain SUCK... no flow, no substance... just want to talk about all the money they have and women they've had and the bling-bling - sickening!

GO COWBOYS!!!

Dallas22

IMO the reason Rakim, or PE or KRS One are considered as great now is because they didn't have the luxury of being promoted like Hip Hop is now. You would have never seen any of them in a Diet Pepsi commercial. The marketing of artists and MTV drives who is considered popular now....and I don't just mean in hip hop. All of the music nowdays is so marketing driven it's crazy and everyone sounds and looks the same. 99% of the music I hear nowdays I couldn't tell you who it is because they all sound the same which is why I choose not to listen to it.

Everyone has their own opinions and obviously I respect that right.

 

[SupermanXx]

"Nemesis rocks the house, drop the bass, Nemesis rocks the house, drop-drop-drop the bass..."

wow... what intense and well-thought out lyrics there...

 

[Kangaroo]

Let me show my age here

LL Cool J
Umm yea the Fat Boys yea yea thats the ticket

Run DMC and the err err Bestie Boys yea yea

and and 3rd Bass :dance2:

Ok I showed my age and my great following of Rap

Um I forgot honerable mention Skywalker

:flipflop:

Ok i am out like a nerd in a pick up line contest

 

[jbsg02]

Northern State anyone?

 

[CF74]

tupac

 

[WoodysGirl]

IMO the reason Rakim, or PE or KRS One are considered as great now is because they didn't have the luxury of being promoted like Hip Hop is now. You would have never seen any of them in a Diet Pepsi commercial. The marketing of artists and MTV drives who is considered popular now....and I don't just mean in hip hop. All of the music nowdays is so marketing driven it's crazy and everyone sounds and looks the same. 99% of the music I hear nowdays I couldn't tell you who it is because they all sound the same which is why I choose not to listen to it.

Everyone has their own opinions and obviously I respect that right.

Yeager, I'm proud to give you one of these...



BTW, for those that don't know. QD has a major east coast bias. Being from the South, before some of them got popular recently, I've had to appreciate music from alot of regions...And while rap may have been born on the east, the quality of lyricists aren't limited to the east.

I'm a big fan of West Coast and East Coast music. Southern hip-hop may be popular right now, but it's only a few I think should have longevity outside of the current run.

 

[Qwickdraw]

hmmm...

East Coast bias?

Or good taste?

Think of your top 10 "lyricists".

Be honest.

I'll bet 8 of them (at least) are East Coast.


And I'll give some of my favorite West Coast emcees/groups right here.

Katastrophe (The Alkaholiks)
Zion I
Souls of Mischeif (Heiroglyphics)


I think Killa Priest said it best when he said, "There's too many gangstas on the West Coast tryin to be rappers. There's too many rappers on the East Coast tryin to be gangstas."

 

[zagnut]

Rakim, KRS-One, Public Enemy are all up there... The impact that 2Pac, Biggie, Big Pun and some others from the late 80's into the early 90's really brought rap and hip hop into the 21st century as the MOST popular music... unfortunatly, MOST of the rappers nowadays just plain SUCK... no flow, no substance... just want to talk about all the money they have and women they've had and the bling-bling - sickening!

GO COWBOYS!!!

Dallas22

Not laying it all at their feet, but the rappers that suck today are pretty closely tied to the likes of Biggie, 2Pac, and Big Pun. Maybe 2Pac was a little deeper sometimes, but Biggie, Big Pun and others (Snoop, Dre, Master P) pretty much only rapped about money, women, and partying.

Most of the interesting lyricists in rap today seem more directly tied to folks like Rakim, KRS, and PE. I'd also put Afrika Bambaataa with that group, though his influence was in other areas.

There's more great rap today than there's ever been, and more terrible rap as well. It just goes with how much the music has grown over the last 25ish years.

 

[jterrell]

Not laying it all at their feet, but the rappers that suck today are pretty closely tied to the likes of Biggie, 2Pac, and Big Pun. Maybe 2Pac was a little deeper sometimes, but Biggie, Big Pun and others (Snoop, Dre, Master P) pretty much only rapped about money, women, and partying.

Most of the interesting lyricists in rap today seem more directly tied to folks like Rakim, KRS, and PE. I'd also put Afrika Bambaataa with that group, though his influence was in other areas.

There's more great rap today than there's ever been, and more terrible rap as well. It just goes with how much the music has grown over the last 25ish years.

If you remove women from the equation then there is effectively no Rolling Stones. Remove drugs and women and there are no Beatles.

Honestly thats a common attack but also a weak one imo.

People that have rap skills can rap about anything and make it entertaining it just so happens chicks and drugs are what entertains the masses.

If I had 1 major complaint it would be the Hollywoodification of the rap stars like 50 who had great lyrical content with his underground stuff and now just screams GGGGGGGG-Unit or a poppy hook 50 times. Same with Eminem who freely admits he hates 5 or 6 songs he puts out on each cd.

These guys get signed up to labels and end up with limited control over what they put out so it becomes all about making money for a big record label.

 

[AmericasTeam31]

1. Tupac
1. Biggie
1. Jay-Z
4. Nas
5. Method Man
6. Dr. Dre
7. Scarface
8. Fugees
9. Eminem
10. add your favourite here...

You can't really argue against any of the top three being #1. They were/are all the greatest of all time.....

 

[Concord]

K-Fed...It all starts and stops there!
















uke:

 

[C-BoysFaninMIA]

Oh yeah, this is my forte:
1. Run-DMC
2. Public Enemy
3.Outkast
4.Sugar Hill Gang
5.Eric B & Rakim
6. Wu Tang Clan
7.The Pharcyde
8.Beastie Boys
9. De La Soul
10.A Tribe Called Quest

This the best 10 baby. U cannot beat this.
Honorable Mentions:
The Roots
Naughty By Nature
N.W.A.
Digital Underground
abnd props to all trhe ones i forgot

 

[Yeagermeister]

Oh yeah, this is my forte:
1. Run-DMC
2. Public Enemy
3.Outkast
4.Sugar Hill Gang
5.Eric B & Rakim
6. Wu Tang Clan
7.The Pharcyde
8.Beastie Boys
9. De La Soul
10.A Tribe Called Quest

This the best 10 baby. U cannot beat this.
Honorable Mentions:
The Roots
Naughty By Nature
N.W.A.
Digital Underground
abnd props to all trhe ones i forgot

That's a list I can agree with