Opinion: L.Q. ENT's Top 50 Rappers of All Time



After seeing some of the list online we decided to through out hat into the races for the never ending debate for the Top 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time. But first, we would like to explain our choices and our order.

The ranking of this last is based on these factors:
  • Lyrical abilities
  • Flow
  • Storytelling abilities
  • Freestyle skills
  • Conceptuality (can they rap well about the topics they care about)
  • Complexity
  • Song creativity
  • Full body's of work
  • Feature verses
  • If they actually write their lyrics or not
  • Good verse to bad verse ratio
  • Can they move you emotionally
Factors that are not taken into account for our rankings:

  • Impact on hip hop
  • Records sold
  • Popularity
  • Hooks
  • Gender
  • Personal enjoyment (Yes, there are artist on this list we personally don't listen to regularly, but have researched enough to know they belong) 
  • Nostalgia (no one cares what you listened to growing up) 

***DISCLAIMER

***We are not including artist who rap about or have spoken in favor of pedophilia (KRS - One, any members of the Beastie Boys). No only is this against our image and values, but it's not like they were that great anyway.


With those things out the way...here is out list from #50 to #1

50. Nicki Minaj

49. Talib Kweli

48. E-40

47. Oddisee

46. Lil Kim

45. Drake 

44. Mick Jenkins

43. Kurupt

42. Jay Electronica

41. Big Boi

40. Chuck D (of Public Enemy)

39. Aesop Rock

38. Queen Latifah

37. Raekwon

36. Phonte (of Little Brother)

35. Freddie Gibbs

34. The Game

33. Joey Bada$$

32. Big K.R.I.T.

31. T.I.

30. Killer Mike 

29. Snoop Dogg

28. Ludacris

27. Lauryn Hill

26. LL Cool J

25. Prodigy (of Mobb Deep)

24. Mos Def

23. Method Man

22. DMX

21. Rapsody

20. Royce Da 5'9"

19. J. Cole

18. Ghostface Killah

17. Ice Cube

16. Lil Wayne

15. Eminem 

14. MF Doom

13. Common

12. Big Pun

11. Pusha T

10. Scarface

 

9. Andre 3000 

8. Nas

 

7. Rakim

6. Tupac (Reread what we judge on before you get mad)

 

5. Biggie (same applies here)

4. Jay Z

 

3.  Lupe Fiasco


 



2. Kendrick Lamar

 


1. Black Thought


Yes, the guy from Jimmy Fallon show is our #1, but here's way....

If you look into The Roots discography you will see an array of depth and creativity in the music of Black Thought, his ability to rap seemlessly on any beat is superb, and his freestyle capabilites are completely unmatched. We personally enjoy the music of #2 and #3 more, but what Black Thought is able to do behind a mic is insane, if you don't believe us, check out his freestyle with Funk Flex or just listen to albums Undun and Things Fall Apart. Black Thought can rap from any perspective with a endless amount of wordplay and flow. Imagine all the skills presented over the course of two decades. A true master of the craft.


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