Kanye West
If rap is a kingdom, then Kanye West is the statesman destined to become the King. There’s nothing West doesn’t do. He’s producer, sampler king, singer, trendsetter (with the damn shuttershades), clothing designer, career launcher, record label executive and … right, a masterful rapper.
Lyrically speaking, I dare you to find a more relevant rapper in the 21st century than Kanye West. I’ll wait. This was apparent when Jay-Z’s “Run this Town” single dropped—who do you really from the track? West dethroned the self-proclaimed “best rapper alive” on his own lead single. While Jay-Z was laying down verses about being a “couple of bands down and trying to get back,” Kanye was cleverly and ironically speaking of the traps of a life of fame: “Police Escorts, everybody ports/this the life that everybody ask for/This is fast life and we are on a crash course.”
West’s articulate reflections on the culture of hip hop and his simultaneous acceptance and condemnation of it reflect some serious personal conflicts. For instance, “Diamonds from Sierra Leone” contains the lines “Though it’s thousands of miles away/Sierra Leone connect to what we go through today/Over here, it’s a drug trade, we die from drugs/Over there, they die from what we buy from drugs,” and continues, “It’s in a black person’s soul to rock that gold/Spend ya whole life tryna get that ice/On a polo rugby it look so nice/How could somethin’ so wrong make me feel so right, right?”
Such precise words are common for West. In another song “Never Let me Down,” West expresses his displeasure at the political apathy of black voters in the United States. His portrayal of real conflicts in the 21st century are unmatched. While other rappers recreate stereotypical problems, West finds more relevant and current issues we must deal with.
It’s not that he’s the best lyricist alive. He is, but that alone isn’t sufficient in making West the greatest. Rap is about personas, and West is absolutely unmatched in his persona. He singlehandedly made it important for television networks to add a delay to live broadcasts to ensure that sweethearts like Taylor Swift don’t get embarrassed on national television (Beyoncé did have the best video of all time). No matter what he does, it’s always relevant. His persona and his words make him the greatest of all time.
– Elamin Abdelmahmoud
The Notorious B.I.G.
A few summers ago I picked up The Notorious B.I.G’s Ready To Die on vinyl from Brian’s Record Option on Princess St. It’s one of my more cherished record purchases.
Raised in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighbourhood of Brooklyn and coming of age at the height of the crack epidemic of the 1980s, Biggie had more than enough material to draw from. After dropping out of high school at 17, he started dealing crack cocaine to himself.
Stories like these are ubiqituous in the hip-hop community, but for Biggie they informed his material rather than constrained it. Biggie had the ability to transform a tale of a crack dealer into a vivid storytelling exercise. He added colour and detail to every subject he encountered.
By the time The Notorious B.I.G. was discovered by Sean Combs and Ready To Die saw release, he had expanded these subjects to include all aspects of a burgeoning rap star’s life, defining the persona his successors would adopt for years to come. He rapped about his newfound success, excesses, beefs and the occasional love song.
Biggie had the subject matter and style to appeal to everyone: a ragged past, a taste for slow-jams, lyrical athletics and an ear for authentic beats.
Despite all this variety in oeuvre, it was united behind Biggie’s relaxed, effortless flow. He had a way with pronounciation and rhythm unlike any other, linking phrases and ideas together with complex single-line rhyming schemes and patterns. But he never sounded like he was trying. No ums, ahs or filler words to complete his thoughts. Biggie had a natural style we haven’t seen since.
Not only was he comfortable with his own rhymes, but he was flexible when adapting to other styles. Biggie transitioned easily into the faster style of Bone Thugs N’ Harmony for their collaboration on “Notorious Thugs” and smoothed out his cadence for blockbuster hits like “Hypnotize”. He easily shifts his intonation to match the mood on the shouty, strutting “Gimme The Loot” or slows down for “Big Poppa”, the smoothest song ever recorded.
On March 9, 1997 Biggie was the victim of a drive-by shooting after leaving the Soul Train Music Awards in Los Angeles. Having just finished recording his sophomore album Life After Death, his entire career lay ahead of him. Imagine what Biggie could have brought hip hop of the last 13 years.
– Tyler Ball
Lil Wayne
Lil Wayne might just be the voice of his generation—just ask Barack Obama. His raspy snarl is infamous, appealing to some and unsettling to others but hey, Bob Dylan never let his penchant for growly vocals get in the way of success.
Since Weezy proclaimed himself “The Best Rapper Alive” in 2005 he’s been consistently proving himself right with the release of countless cameos and mixtapes. Though incarcerated presently on weapons charges, I’m confident prison will have the opposite of a stifling effect on the rapper.
His ability to transform his image in the last decade from a somewhat comical and decidedly mediocre MC with Hot Boyz to a respected and sought-after artist, collaborator and lyricist is truly remarkable.
Born Dwayne Carter in New Orleans and adopted into the Cash Money Records family as a young crack dealer and gangster protégé, he immediately made the studio his street. Constantly surrounded by hip hop culture, Wayne’s natural talent with words flourished and the driving and motivating factor in his life solidified as music.
Because of this drive, Lil Wayne is the best at what he does. He raps for no one but himself and his fans, and for no other reason than the music. With a portable studio in a black bag always with him, impromptu recording is constant.
Wayne doesn’t write his rhymes down, only raps them aloud in hopes that when he dies he’ll leave only his music behind.
Recording more than one thousand songs over the past year or two, he’s elevated himself as an untouchable force that’s present in all aspects of the online and physical hip hop music scene and is unafraid to throw out his take on any track. His breadth of obscure pop culture knowledge is mind-boggling. Refrences to Topanga of Boy Meets World, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Murder She Wrote are only a tiny fraction of the relatable hidden gems to be found on his tracks.
The quality of his songs isn’t sacrificed for quantity; rhymes are varied and get sharper and more entertaining as you listen. From witty spit fired brag tracks putting new spins on cars, cash and guns like “Hustler Musik” to movingly painful articulations of a young artist’s pain in tracks like “Die For You.” Listeners don’t have to wonder what could have been. Weezy’s young, alive and inspired with his head to the sky and his feet on the ground.
– Ally Hall
Public Enemy
To call Public Enemy the best rappers, living or dead, would be an understatement. They quite simply made the genre a justifiable form of protest and revolutionized its musicality—bending and challenging rap’s conventions, they’re so obviously No 1. Don’t believe the hype; Public Enemy have oodles of “street cred.” From the segregated suburbs of Long Island, Chuck D spoke out against the America of the 1980s, letting the whole world know that systemic problems of racism in America didn’t exclusively exist in inner-city neighbourhoods. What other rapper has ever held such bold political convictions?
From the beginning, the Public Enemy crew seamlessly blended funky beats, loud voices, grinding guitars and, well, noise. Public Enemy’s Chuck D fearlessly boomed intelligent rhymes, sidekick Flavor Flav infused much-needed humour into the mix and the Bomb Squad manufactured textured and danceable (just ask Rosie Perez) beats filled with screaming voices and menacing sirens. Their beats brilliantly and meticulously mirror their content. Self-described “timing freaks” the music confronts the subject matter, hypnotically and relentlessly. In the 1980s they weren’t afraid to collaborate with different acts in the industry—just like many popular hip hop artists who collaborate with other artists today.
Their blend of political consciousness and keen musical skill has paved the way for countless rappers today. They were in control because they were armed with knowledge. In his book Can’t Stop Won’t Stop, Jeff Chang puts it beautifully when he writes, “Violence became their [Public Enemy’s] primary, and most often misunderstood, metaphor.” Instead of actually engaging in violence like other so-called rappers—Biggie and TuPac to name just a few—Public Enemy used the language of violence in order to further their message. Chuck D has called rap “Black America’s CNN.” More than a form of expression, rap has become a media tool thanks to Public Enemy.
Outspoken, militant and gifted, the group spoke and continues to speak for the voiceless all across America who have experienced the problems of systemic racism. Smart, harder, faster, leaner and winning, Public Enemy challenged all its listeners to “fight the powers that be”—I dare you to find a more ionate and articulate rhyme.
– Emily Whalen
Jay-Z
In 2006, MTV ranked the top 10 greatest MCs of all time. Jay-Z topped the list, with Tupac and Biggie finishing second and third respectively.
Jay-Z has stayed in the conversation in every era, which no one else can say. He held his own in the era that spawned him and he stayed in his prime during the years when Eminem and DMX hit their peak. And despite his “retirement,” he’s still holding it down amid new challengers like Lil Wayne, the self-proclaimed “Best Rapper Alive,” Kanye West and Drake.
Having a place at or near the top in every era since the mid-1990s is unique to Jay-Z. No other rap act or single rapper can claim that mantle.
Props to Public Enemy, who blazed the trail for everyone else. But they don’t have Jay’s longevity on their side. Did you know they’re still active as a group? Neither did I.
I’m a huge Lil Wayne fan and he might unseat Jay-Z one day, but despite the half-a-million mixtapes he releases per year, he hasn’t matched Hova’s longevity yet.
In D.O.A., Jay-Z rhetorically asks, “I’m a multimillionaire/So how is it I’m still the hardest n**** here?”
The reason is, as MTV points out in ranking him number one: “He is one of only a handful of MCs whose flow is so potent that his tongue can effortlessly glide over any track and still destroy a verse with line-for-line firepower.”
Jay-Z has accumulated more money than almost anyone and he’s a master at branding himself, but he nonetheless maintains his street cred. He’s an excellent storyteller—probably the best since Biggie—and his tales of dealing cocaine, his relationship with his father and other aspects of his life remain well-known.
His 11 Billboard No. 1 albums are the most of all time. He even ed Elvis Presley when The Blueprint 3 topped the charts last fall.
He has also contributed to rap’s evolution in significant ways: rapping alongside the Beatles, taking part in brave collaborations (hello, Chris Martin) and experimenting with unusual instrumentality in his songs.
The “Mike Jordan of mic recordin’” has done enough, over a long period of time to earn the title of the best rapper of all time. Many will disagree and he might not hold on to the title for long, but it’s time to give Shawn Carter his due.
– Michael Woods
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