KMZ

Well here you have it. After over a week of our blood, sweat and tears, it is finally here. The 100th post. We decided to dedicate this post to hip hop, by conducting a list of the best 100 rappers of all time. By using our own special formula no homo, we came up with this. So don't ask why your favorite rapper is placed lower than so n so. Hey, math is math.

Oh. And if your favorite rapper is not on the list, then that means he or she didn't make the list. We're sorry. I wanted Rick Ross to make it, but he didn't. He just missed it. Speaking of rappers that didn't make it...

Anywho, here it is!

100. Styles P.

99. Erick Sermon

98. Ja rule

97. Juvenile

96. Dialated Peoples

95. DMX

94. Whodini

93. Slum Village

92. Redman

91. Bow Wow

- Ok ladies, calm down. I know you all are spazzing over the spot your boy Bow has earned, but its not that bad. We rated a pool of rappers that was over 200 deep, so be glad that he made the cut. And I admit, the dude is somewhat accomplished. He still holds the Guiness world record for the youngest rapper to ever reach platinum status at the age of 13. What's even more crazier is that the kid is already a 6 or 7 album veteran at 21 years old, which means he's got plenty time to ditch the ghostwriters, (T.I., Jermaine Dupri, Da Brat, etc) who all lent him hands throughout his career. Anything is possible. Check him out on that Brown Paper Bag freestyle he did (it's on youtube most likely). If he can continue to rap like that consistently, and leave the bubble gum rap alone, he can gain a whole new fanbase outside of 13 year old girls.

90. Canibus

89. Beanie Siegel

88. Young Buck

87. Lupe Fiasco

- What can we say about Lupe Fiasco? Lu is a young rapper influenced by T.V., anime, comic books, videogames, and Nas with a passion for fashion. He prides himself on beings a purveyor of "intellectual hip-hop" utilizing his massive vocabulary. The only thing bigger than his words is his ego which rivals that of fellow Chi-Town native Kanye West. His ego even caused beef between him and A Tribe Called Quest. Fiascogate started with Lupe messing up A Tribe Called Quest's lyrics during the Hip Hop Honors awards. Instead of apologizing Lupe attacks ATCQ, calling them irrelevant. He has yet to apologize for his actions or statements.

His first two albums were excellent, providing a "breath of fresh air" (so says Jay-Z), yet lacked the cohesiveness that makes the difference between a good album and a great album. Lu has proven that he has a lot of potential in him and hopefully he will prove this with his next release: LupEND. Lupe is also a member of Child Rebel Soldier, a new super rap group consisting of Lu, Kanye West, and Pharrell Williams.

86. J Dilla

85. Crooked I

84. Cee-lo

83. Da Brat

82. MC Hammer

81. Dead Prez

-You know the song that plays after the Chappelle’s Show theme song? Yeah, that’s Dead Prez’s “Hip-Hop”. Dead Prez is a rebellious rap duo concerned with liberation and revolution. DP is grimy and as gritty as it gets. When you put on a DP track expect something like a cross between N.W.A. and Public Enemy. Their anti-government and socialist rap keeps them from getting much airplay but if you happen upon one of their CD’s cop that shit. You’ll hear more about the condition of our people from a perspective wider than just the streets. You’ll hear songs talking about how school teach white man’s history, the oppression of the Black man, revolution by any means necessary, how the radio uses repetition to teach ignorance, how to train one’s body for combat, institutionalize racism, the fallacy of religion, struggles with common vices like weed, and how to pimp the system. Dead Prez is well known amongst some of your favorite rappers too; DP has done collaborations with Jay-Z, David Banner, Krayzie Bone (of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony), and TuPac to name a few. They got a new album coming out this November called Information Age. Check it out.

80. Mc Lyte

79. Mac Dre

78. Queen Latifah

77. Mack 10

76. Lloyd Banks

75. Nelly

74. Q-Tip

73. Young Jeezy

72. Salt N Pepa

71. Mobb Deep

70. Ghostface Killah

69. Lil' Kim

68. Shyne

67. Fabolous

66. Ice T

65. The Clipse

64. Cassidy

63. Twista

62. Master P

61. Warren G

60. Daz

59. Onyx

58. Wyclef Jean

57. Juvenile

56. Cypress Hill

55. Juelz Santana

54. Ma$e

53. De La Soul

52. The Geto Boys

51. Method Man

50. E-40

- Sorry Lu, but here is thee coolest mutherfucker in Hip-Hop, E-Fonzereli. This dude is so hyphy he got his own lingo. 40-Water has been around for years and is the original “Captain Save-A-Hoe”. The Bay Area’s favorite son, E-40 has helped bring the West back on the map by bring attention to the Hyphy movement. The Ambassador of the Bay is well connected too and always had respect for southern Hip-Hop; he was doing colabos with the South’s finest (Scarface, Eightball, Master P, etc) since way back when. If you haven’t heard Charlie Hustle’s hometown hit then expect some off the wall slanguistics. 40 got a new album on the way, f.y.i., called The Ball Street Journal set to be released sometime this year.

49. Ol Dirty Bastard

48. Kurupt

47. Bone Thugs N Harmony

46. Talib Kweli

45. Big Boi

44. Mos Def

43. Dj Quik

42. Common

41. Jadakiss

40. Kool Mo Dee

39. Cam'ron

- Quick. You have three options to get you and your family out of the hood. U can go to the NBA, sell drugs, or rap. Which do you choose? High School basketball All American Cam'ron chose the dope route before the music route after his basketball career being put to a stop. In pursuing music, it was the late Notorious B.I.G. that promised Cam a spot on his upcoming music label before he was gunned down. Cam eventually signed to Rocafella records after signing under Biggie's manager Lance Un Rivera's (the guy Jay-z stabbed) label. At Rocafella he reached platinum status and had the whole New York behind him and his crew, Dipset. The Dipset don is responsible for fashion trends, slang (can u say no homo!), and amongst other things. He would've earned a higher spot if he woulda stuck to the rap formula he was using at the Roc, but being content with a good amount of money you have can change things (I.e. Snoop). Like Cam has said before, "music is whack I only do it 'cus I'm nice." Very nice of u Killa.

38. Ludacris

37. T.I.

- Before purchasing guns on the black market, it was obvious that T.I.P was on his was to the T.O.P. He has the look no homo, arguably the best swag in the game, a couple platinum albums under his belt, and he can make a hit club record with the best of him. He will have to serve his one year bid starting in March of 2009, so expect Mr. Harris to do a lot of writing for his next albums while he is in the joint.

36. Eminem

- "shady lose shady sits on the shelf"

If rap was like boxing Dr.Dre would have to be Mickey Goldmill(Rocky's boxing trainer). What he has done with music is simply amazing,but more amazing then his beats is his training. He brought out what I call the great white hope which is Eminem. At a time where we downed white rapper's,because of their past failures(vanilla ice,insane clown posse etc.) he surpassed every expectation and added some to even add him into their top 10 of all time. Some say Eminem is lyrically on the heels of great rappers such as Jay-z, Nas, Andre 3000, and even the late great B.I.G.

He has this swagger and aggression on records that people only hear on diss records, but they got airplay regularly. Eminem has sold over 80 million rap albums to date and is still the only rap artist in history to have a sold out crowd of 200,000 fans. He has sold 1.7 million records in a single week and his following album The Eminem Show to do the same with 1.2 million.There are only two other rap artist to do the same which are 50 cent(the massacre 05') and 2 Pac(all eyez on me 96')

Now with all this said why is he not number 1? He has millions of albums sold and the respect of his peers.why can't a white kid from 8 mile be simply the greatest ever? He has stated in many songs but personally my favorite song to quote White America.Slim writes a song stating that if there were more white rappers then rap would be the new country music. So is it all really just good timing and luck? Hmmm lets check these lyrics and see what Em thinks of his success

Look at these eyes baby blue baby just like yourself/ if they were brown Shady lose Shady
Sits on the shelf/but Shady's cute Shady knew Shady's dimple's would help

look at my sales let's do the math if I was black I would've sold half I
Ain't have to graduate from Lincoln high school to know that

sittin' back lookin' at
Shit, wow/I'm like my skin is starting to work to my benefit now,

they connected with me too because I looked like them

surely hip-hop was never a problem in Harlem, only in Boston,
After it bothered the fathers of daughters starting to blossom,

He said it not us lol.

35. UGK

34. Three 6 Mafia

33. The Game

32. The Roots

31. The Fugees

30. Ice Cube

29. Naughty By Nature

28. Rakim

27. Kanye West

- Sorry, Kanye. We know you wanted the number one spot but it just aint so. Yeah, College Dropout did change the tempo of the game and yeah it brought soul beats to the forefront. But Kanye, you lost me with the extra'd out ego. You're name should be in the revisioned Bible? Mr. West, I got to say the nay-no. Late Registration was a great album but it didn't have the same soul as College Dropout. Graduation moved back toward that direction but still didn't quite resonate the same as C.D. (Although you did smash 50 in that little beef). That's not being said to take away from those two albums though because they were fire.

26. Lil Wayne

- The hardest working man in rap right now. This guy is one classic album away from being elite status, or DAMN close to it. He's got some good albums under his belt, mixtapes that are just bananas, and he is featured on just about everybody's album at least once. If The Carter 3 turns out to be that classic, then that best rapper alive claim might not sound so bad to some.

25. Missy Elliot

24. A Tribe Called Quest.

23. Doug E Fresh

22. Digital Underground

21. Big Pun

20. Scarface

19. Slick Rick

18. 50 Cent

- One thing that has boosted this man to the top 20 is power. Many rapers fear this man point blank period. He says whatever about anyone and they know not to respond. He single handedly severely damaged the career of Ja Rule, who was a multi platinum artist. On top of all this his album debut Get Rich or Die Tryin is an instant classic. That album title best describes his 5 or 6 year career. Can u say vitamin water?

17. LL Cool J

16. Eazy E

15. Andre 3000

-Now you may be wondering why Andre 3000 is ranked outside of his group, Outkast. Well, it may have something to do with Andre being a ethereal force of nature when he rocks the mic. Let’s be honest now. When you bought Speakerboxxx / The Love Below You popped Andre’s disk in first. The Love Below is a genuine artwork that was relatable across the race barrier and transcended genres. Please don’t take this as any disrespect to Big Boi, he does what he does, but Andre is the headliner in the duo. Fact is fact.

14. KRS One

13. Public Enemy

12. Snoop Dogg

11. Busta Rhymes

10. Wu Tang Clan

9. Run Dmc

8. Outkast

-If you listen to an artist and stick with em from jump street more than likely you'll be able to watch them grow and mature in the game. No other rap group has illustrated this evolution as vividly as Outkast. From ceasers to dreads to perms to naturals. From hood to funkadellic to space alien to prep. Outkast remains relevant throughout the years because of their ability to reinvent themselves constantly. All their hits have a different vibe to em but manage to maintain that Outkast flavor. Outkast is successful because both Big Boi and Andre 3000 come together and blend their individual styles to form an unique, unparalleled sound. Big Boi is the steady of the group, an O.G. Of southern rap and head representer of ATL. He speaks for the hood. Andre, however, speaks for the soul; his evolution from street spitter to enlightened lyricist has personally been one of my favorite aspects of Hip-Hop. Oukast got a new album, "The Hard Way", coming out 2009 but not before Big Boi drops his solo album slated to be released some time this year.

7. Nas

- Illmatic. Need I say more to qualify his number 7 spot? This man has always been a smart rapper in his times as Nasty NAS to Nas Escobar to NAStrodomus and today as NAS. The Queen's Bridge has never been scared to preach knowledge wrought from the streets of NY. His lyrical style is profound and poetic with an emphasis on story telling and intense imagery. Illmatic, his first album, is still praised as one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time. Although he strayed from what made him the shit in Illmatic, he brought that soul back in the infamous beef every Hip-Hop head knows: Jay-Z vs. NAS. "Got Yoself A..." and "Ether" were both hot fire; lyrical venom spat in the eye of the self proclaimed "god of the game". The winner of this beef is still debated. NAS can also be credited for mainstreaming the movement "hip-hop is dead". His next album, titled Nigger, is laden controversy and is already turning heads in the political community. 6. Dr. Dre

5. Big L -

was a lyrical monster. This man had an arsenal of rhymes and devilish flow that could spit on some light hearted punch lines like the Pharcyde then seamlessly move into some horrorcore shit that would make the Gheto Boys blush. He was a freestyle beast (youtube Big L and you'll see what I mean) and his story telling was phenomenal. Listen to this man rap and you will hear how many other rappers out have long since bit his style (I'm looking at you Jay-Z). Damn, L could tell a story too (Check out "Casualties of a Dice Game" off of The Big Picture). Big L would have changed the game if he were alive today considering he would have been the only rapper under the Roc-A-Fella name that was on par with Hova. Unfortunately, Big L was shot down in Harlem in 1999 over a dispute over his brother's debt- something L had nothing to do with. The shots were fatal and Big L died that night before getting his chance to shine.

... and now the top four:

4. Jay-Z

- No sorry Hov, your not number two.

3. N.W.A.

Before we get into the top two, honestly, are you really surprised to see who it is?

2. The Notorious B.I.G.

1. 2Pac

According to Magic lol, Jay-Z is lyrically better then everybody in this rap category
by far. We expected him not to finish number one, because there were more rap icons then Jay when Jay was simply a rookie in the game. Jay-Z came in at number 4 over 96 strong candidates for this prized number one position. #1-2 Pac(everybody's favorite) #2-B.I.G.(everybody's 2nd favorite to Pac) #3NWA(who can say gangsta rap without them?). As we can see everybody came with hits when Jay was simply a drug hustling kid in Brooklyn, New York that was to involved in the street crime to focus on the rap game.

While 2 Pac hit hard with classic albums like 2Pacalypse Now(91'), Me Against the World(95') All Eyez on Me(96') which some consider his best album ever. While 2nd best B.I.G. did something some consider 2 Pac never to have which was a lyrical flow. B.I.G. hit the mainstream rap world in 94' with one of the greatest lyrical albums in rap history which is Ready to Die. Now lets rewind some time and go back let's say ugh 88' when NWA hit the scene with a classic album titled Straight Outta Compton then another classic named 100 Miles and Runnin'(90') with the infamous "fuck tha police" track. As we all can see icons were established before Jay-Z even took the game serious or cared for it.

Well there you have it folks, Rap's 100. We know some of you wont agree with some of the ranks, but like we stated above, math is math, and the numbers don't lie. And no we are not basing it strictly on sales. We thought real long and hard (super no homo) about each and every rapper. Anywho, we appreciate you guys patience, we really do. But just know this is only the beginning...

KMZ

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

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THE BIG 100

My faves

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