When considering who the best rapper of all time is......

[bacardimayne]

People I consider to be "in the discussion":

Ice Cube

Dr. Dre

Eazy-E

Tupac

Jay-Z

Eminem

Probably one or two I'm forgetting (no, Biggie is not one of them), but yeah.

[dalsh327]

It's hard to pick a favorite when they all have their own style, flow, and rhyme.

[sweetness]

Probably one or two I'm forgetting (no, Biggie is not one of them), but yeah.

why is it so cool to act like Biggie didn't exist?

Yeah, I get that him and Tupac have been discussed to death but if we're going to talk about "greatest rappers of all time" and you're going to have a list that includes Dr. Dre but not Biggie I'm gunna have to call cupcake

[bacardimayne]

Probably one or two I'm forgetting (no, Biggie is not one of them), but yeah.

why is it so cool to act like Biggie didn't exist?

Yeah, I get that him and Tupac have been discussed to death but if we're going to talk about "greatest rappers of all time" and you're going to have a list that includes Dr. Dre but not Biggie I'm gunna have to call cupcake

I'm not acting like he didn't exist, I just don't think he's one of the best rappers of all time. He was good, don't get me wrong. Great even, just not all-time great. Dre on my list is more personal bias, but he did make The Chronic, which is probably my favorite rap album ever.

Edited October 20, 2013 by bacardimayne

[magisme]

Probably one or two I'm forgetting (no, Biggie is not one of them), but yeah.

why is it so cool to act like Biggie didn't exist?

Yeah, I get that him and Tupac have been discussed to death but if we're going to talk about "greatest rappers of all time" and you're going to have a list that includes Dr. Dre but not Biggie I'm gunna have to call cupcake

I'm not acting like he didn't exist, I just don't think he's one of the best rappers of all time. He was good, don't get me wrong. Great even, just not all-time great. Dre on my list is more personal bias, but he did make The Chronic, which is probably my favorite rap album ever.

With Dre, though, aren't you confusing rapper with overall hip-hop artist? Surely you don't think Dre is one of the greatest rappers ever. Unless you're just fanboying him, in which case I understand cuz I have artists I feel that way about too.

[sweetness]

Yeah, I love Dre and have a ton of respect for everything he's done, easily one of the most important people in the history in hip hop, but as a stand alone rapper I've always just considered him above average. His ear for great beats is definitely his strength, he's gotta be the most well rounded musician in hip hop for sure.

[PappyTron]

Dre is a weak rapper, for sure.

[Guest Len B'stard]

Bob Dylan virtually invented rap in popular music -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trosB4pa3vg

Rap was created by Jamaican DJs that would talk in rhyme over remixes and rhythms, people like U Roy, they actually took cues from 50s American DJs that would talk you into a song and big up their radio station. Then you got people like Muhammad Ali, Dolemite and The Last Poets that bought that American edge and informed their reinterpretation of it. James Brown and his staccato, heavy on the rhyme style has a lot of influence there too.

That and the dozens.

Reggae is the father of hip hop.

Well, I think soul, funk, and blues had a little to do with it too.

True in that they used the beats and rhythms of funk and soul had a touch in there and the blues too in a very convoluted way but with reggae it was kind of the format that was taken.

[bacardimayne]

Throw Nas into my list as well.

[wasted]

Big Pun gets my vote.

[Guest Len B'stard]

The correct answer is Rakim, period. If you think different you think wrong.

[J Dog]

The correct answer is Rakim, period. If you think different you think wrong.

I'll take Rakim, Pac, and Eminem and put them against everybody else combined.

You have to have skill like the battle rappers the op was talking about along with delivery, personality, and writing. You can't just be good at one to be considered the greatest.