YW's Fifty Greatest Rappers of All Time: 22-12

Once again, another list of great rappers, another enormous post to write. Let's pop it off.
The Pharcyde- Runnin'


22) Talib Kweli
Average Score: 7.63
Government Name: Talib Kweli Greene
High School: Brooklyn Technical
College: New York University
Known For: Before and above all else, Kweli has been tagged as the quintessential conscious rapper. This tag has provided a built-in niche for Talib and also a burden, as seen by the name of his up-coming album Prisoner of Consciousness. While Talib's collaborative efforts (Reflection Eternal, Black Star, Liberation) have always been well received, he is yet to have the same success with his solo projects. Nevertheless, Talib is one of the world's strongest true lyricists.
Essential Album: Reflection Eternal: Train of Thought (2000)

21) Louis Logic
Average Score: 7.67
Government Name: Louis Dorley
Hometown: Babylon, Long Island
Number of Rappers on this list from LI: Five
Author's Thoughts: When I put the results of this poll together and went down the list, Louis Logic's place at 21 was what surprised me most. There were several judges who didn't give dude a score, presumably because they aren't that familiar with his music, which even by the longest stretch of the most elitist hip hop heads imagination, isn't a faux-pas, because Louis Logic isn't famous. Still, I don't necessarily think that Logic is in the wrong place on this list. Besides for his large repertoire of collaborative and minor releases, Logic has released two full-length albums of mostly quality music (props to JJ Brown). And, oh boy, can Louis rap. He has punchlines for days. He is funny and thoughtful. His flow is always on point, and he has rhyme schemes that rival Eminem or Cam's. This is probably the first time Louis Logic has ranked so highly on such a prestigious list, so congratulations to a great emcee.
Essential Album: Sin-A-Matic (2004)

20) Tupac Shakur
Average Score: 7.69
Government Name: Tupac Amaru Shakur
Birthplace: East Harlem
Known For: If there is anything a brief summary can teach you about Pac, you need to watch one of the 30423485 documentaries about his life.
Author's Thoughts: This might be the first time since Shakur's death that Pac wasn't in the top five of one of these. It is probably a reflection of our East Coast tendencies, and the correct opinion that despite his enormous societal and musical contributions, he is not in the running for the best rapper of all time.
Essential Album: All Eyez on Me (1996)

19) Cam'ron
Average Score: 7.7
Government Name: Cameron Giles
High School: Manhattan Center
AAU Team: The Gauchos
Known For: The Harlem journeyman has achieved moderate commercial and critical success (they sleeping) for over a decade, reaching a climax in 2002 with the release of the album Come Home With Me and the singles Oh Boy and Hey Ma. Although at points almost indecipherable, Cam's lyrics are deeply rooted in alliteration and dizzying internal rhymes, stacked next to each other like Japanese businessmen in the Tokyo Subway, arranged to provide a view of the streets through a journalist's lens. No Bias here.
Essential Album: Purple Haze (2004)

18) Common
Average Score: 7.75
Government Name: Lonnie Rashid Lynn
Parent's Occupation: Professour (Mother), ABA player turned gangster (Father)
Known For: With a very high quality eight album catalogue, spread consistently over 16 years, Common has likely become Chicago's most celebrated rapper. His consistent flow allows unparalleled vocal thoughtfulness across an unparalleled variety of content- diss tracks (the Bitch in You), love ballads (the Light), stories (A Song for Assata), songs about religion (Faithful) and revolution (the Sixth Sense), or both pessimistic and optimistic commentaries on hip hop (Chi City, I Used to Love Her). He has been before his time (Electric Circus) and just behind it (Universal Mind Control) but Common Sense's work ethic and presence is a staple in greater hip hop.
Essential Album: Be (2005)

17) Jadakiss
Average Score: 7.85
Government Name: Jayson Philips
Judges Breakdown: Besides for a pair of sixes, Kiss received above an eight from all the judges.
Author's Thoughts on his Rank: I guess this is a reflection of our collective sentimentalism for New York game spitting.
Known For: Jada has been on the periphery of mainstream hip hop for years. Three solo albums and a pair of Lox albums in, what Jada lacks in overall songwriting ability, he more than makes up for in his bar for bar rapping skill. A trademark voice and guffaw, unique rhyme patterns, and of course punchlines for days make Jada command the respect of anyone with an appreciation of the emcees art.
Essential Album: The Champ is Here Mixtape (2004)

16) A Tribe Called Quest/ Q-Tip
Average Score: 7.94
Group Members: Kamal "Q-Tip" Farid (Born Johnathon Davis), Malik "Phyfe Dawg" Taylor, Ali Shaheed Muhammad
Check this out: Q-Tip djs at Santos Party House almost every Friday.
Known For: ATCQ is generally put among an elite circle of hip hop pioneers, fusing their music with jazz and afrocentrism, while maintaining a timeless pop-esque accessibility and appeal. Tribe's standout emcee is Q-Tip. Armed with a wonderful, albeit high-pitched, voice and the first great sing-songy flow, Tip has continued to grow from great emcee, to producer, to a-list dj.
Essential Album: Midnight Marauders (1993)

15) Mos Def
Average Score: 8.1
Government Name: Dante Terrell Smith
Unique Achievement: Mos is the only emcee to be nominated for an emmy for acting, and one of two emcees to be nominated for a golden globe for acting, Will Smith being the other. The nominations were for Mos' role in the HBO movie Something the Lord Made (2005).
Little Known Fact: Saul Williams was inspired to become a spoken-word poet after hearing Mos Def perform a poem called Peter Pan-Africa in a BK coffee shop in the late nineties.
Known For: Somewhat of a renaissance man, Mos Def is a well respected, rapper, singer, actor, and poet. Although his albums are few and far between, Mos Def is
an extremely well-rounded rapper. His flow, lyrics, voice, content and swagger leave very little to be desired.
Essential Album: Black on Both Sides (1999)

14) The Fugees
Average Score: 8.125
Group Members: Wyclef Jean, Lauryn Hill, Pras Michel
Note on Album Sales: After the Score (1996) sold over 18 million copies worldwide, the trio's first album Blunted on Reality (1994), sold four million copies. Upon its release in 94, its peak position did not make it on to the Billboard Top 200.
Known For: When discussing the overwhelming plus side of the Fugees' career (only two years active), one only needs to think of The Score. Combining Reggae, Soul, Caribbean folklore, conscious lyrics, and hard-hitting drums and base, the album is among the finest in the history of hip hop.
Essential Album: The Score (1996)

13) Ghostface Killah
Average Score: 8.2
Government Name: Dennis Coles
How he got his name: Ghostface Killer was a character in the 1979 film, The Mystery of Chessboxing. It has been said that the nickname was given in the beginning of the Wu-Tang Clan's career, a time when Ghostface had a warrant out for his arrest, and subsequently had to hide his face in publicity pictures of the group.
Known For: His emotional and entropic delivery and subject matter allowed Ghost to standout on collaborative Wu-Tang efforts. But the rapper's most notable feat is his overlyingly excellent seven album catalogue.
Essential Album: Supreme Clientele (2000)

12) Lauryn Hill
Average Score: 8.22
Unique Characteristic: Lauryn Hill is the only woman on this list. The next highest female ranking was Missy Elliot at number 56 with an average score of 6.4.
Known For: On the aforementioned Fugees' album, Lauryn Hill was the standout artist. Beginning her career as a child actor Lauryn Hill has one of the best singing voices in contemporary popular music. And she is almost undeniably the best female lyricist ever to grace the microphone. L Boogie's solo debut (and only studio album) The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill was a genre-fusing masterpiece that sold over 18 million copies and earned five Grammys.
Essential Album: The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998)

11) Lil' Wayne
Average Score: 8.25
Government Name: Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr.
Age at Which he Wrote his First Rap Song: Eight
Known For: At age 26, Weezy has been signed to Cash Money for the better part of his life. As a member of the Hot Boys, Weezy's raspy voice and lucid flow stood out despite playing second fiddle to already established emcee Juvenile. Young Carter released his first solo album at the age of seventeen, and has had five follow up since the turn of the millennium. While streaks of ingenuity became progressively more frequent throughout his career, it was not until 2005's Carter II that Weezy established himself as a driving force of originality in hip hop. Weezy is arguably the most influential rapper in the world right now due to his superstar confidence, unique delivery, hit making talent and the sheer mass of music he releases.
Essential Album: Tha Carter II