YW's Greatest Rappers of All Time: 4,3,2

Almost done. J Store wrote number four, I did three (quite briefly, my apologies), and NickName did two.


4) Eminem
Average Score: 8.875
Government Name: Marshall Mathers III
J-Store's Favorite Em “Freestyles”: Broke The Rubber, Got It Twisted Freestyle, 3 Verses, Weed Lacer, Racial Tension, Hand Me An 8th.
Authors Thoughts: I was in 8th grade the first time I heard Eminem. It was February 1999 and bling was king of rap. Cash Money was running hip-hop, Nas was selling out, and Puffy was still Puffy – sucking the last breathes of life from Biggie’s legacy.
It was the peak of the dot com boom, people were making a shit-ton of money, and almost every hip-hop cat was proliferating an overindulgence in materialism -- being on top had as much to do with having the highest records sales and biggest platinum chains, as it did with talent. It was a period of one-ups-manship with everyone saying, “My dick is bigger than yours.”
Music was becoming blander than an all-tofu dinner. And then, in stepped this poor, bleached blond piece of white trash, asking “Hi kids, do you like violence? Wanna see me stick nine inch nails through each one of my eyelids?” As a hyperactive 13-year-old, my instant response was, “Yes, I love violence, and I’d like nothing more than to see you put nails through your eyelids.”
The lyrics were quirky, almost gimmicky, but Marshall Mathers had grabbed the nation’s attention. While his comedic first single, “My Name Is,” wasn’t a revelation, it was a clear shift in the tone and content of rap. Slim Shady wasn’t going to swing his glistening diamonds in the air. He wasn’t going to use his music to figuratively tell you how big his dick is. And he wasn’t going to tell you about all the hot bitches he was piping. Shit, he didn’t have diamonds, on more than one occasion he mentioned how small his dick is, and the only woman he was piping was also the focal point of much of his derision.
His was a new voice. And not because he was white, but because he represented a demographic we’d never heard from – the poor Midwesterner, struggling to get by, long forgotten and abandoned by industry thanks to the spread of globalized capitalism. Em didn’t sell drugs to get out of the ghetto, he used them to mentally escape it.
A hip-hop disciple inheriting a twisted American racial history he didn’t create, Em made a running gag out of his cultural alienation. By the time his second album, “The Marshall Mathers LP,” hit stores he was a household name, and not just in suburban, white America. Real hip-hop heads had started to notice the Detroit emcee for what he was, a bona fide lyricist with an irresistible flow.
Having Dr. Dre as his co-signer certainly helped Em gain notoriety, but the respect he now garners came from hard work and a plethora of unbelievably genius and advanced rhymes. After his first album, he kept hard at work, making guest appearances for everyone and their mother. It was these appearances that gave Em credibility in hip-hop.
From his wild verse on Biggie’s “Dead Wrong,” which are on par with BIG’s verses, to his foray into independent music with “Any Man” on Rawkus Records “Soundbombing 2,” one thing became clear -- Em sounded like no one else. His ability to rhyme words that don’t rhyme, and to change his vocal pace and style multiple times throughout a song without losing the beat, separated him from the hip-hop masses. He could change the tone of a song within a fraction of a second and not seem at all altered by the beat.
What’s more, his flow could change drastically from one song to the next, creating something that sounds unique and familiar at the same time. On one track he might favor a more aggressive tone, emphasizing every word, and sending a clear and calculated message (e.g. – “Kill You”), and on the next he could be more introspective, calm, and reflective (e.g. – “Life”).
Over the years, Em has evolved, and many say for the worse. While his last effort, Encore, was a bit of a disappointment – he sounded bored with life and music, rehashing old content – he is still an untouchable in the rap game. His verses on Jay-Z’s “Renegade” are arguably the best verses of all time. His battle rapping is second to none – just ask Ja Rule, Everlast, Cage, Insane Clown Posse, and a slew of other slayed MCs. And his freestyles leave your body in goosebumps for days.
Perhaps that’s why people are patiently waiting on and highly anticipating his next album, “Relapse,” due out May 19th. And to those of you that could give a shit about Em and his next album, let me please quote the man himself by saying, “If y’all don’t like the shit that you’re hearing, then blow me till you’re lipstick is smearing, and I can see my dick disappearing.”
Essential Album: The Slim Shady LP (1999)
by Jerk Store

3) Outkast
Average Score: 9.15
Group Members: Andre "Andre 3000" Benjamin, Antwan "Big Boi" Patton
Known For: The greatest rap duo of all time. Period. These two Georgia based rappers have maintained popularity and acclaim over their seventeen year career. Whether making pop or jazz, incorporating spoken word or house music, Outkast has created a masterful body of alternative rap, consistent only in their inconsistency, in everything except for quality.
The Radiohead of rap. Andre 3000 takes it to outer space, and Big Boi keeps them grounded.
Essential Album: ATLiens (1996)


2) Jay-Z
Average Score: 9.2
Government Name: Sean Carter
Certified Platinum Albums: Eleven
Author's Thoughts: I moved to New York around the first of November, in 1997. Before then, my experience with rap music was limited to The Fugees, Coolio, and LL Cool J. After school on my second or third day, I went with my dude to HMV to purchase a CD that had just dropped. I'd never heard of the artist, but then again, I hadn't heard of much. After copping, we skipped the first song and went straight to the second, entitled The City is Mine. Now, I'd heard smooth MC's before (Will Smith I see you), but this was another story. His words effortlessly flew off of his tongue and his ad-libs epitomized cool. Knowing little about this great city I'd just moved to, I learned something very quickly in that first week; the city was Jay-Z's.
I love Biggie with all of my heart. He's probably the most naturally gifted MC of all time. But, I didn't really listen to Biggie before he was killed. This is probably why my allegiance is with Jay-Z. His words were the soundtrack to my adolescence. Album after album, summer after summer, Hov blessed me with some new shit. And, when I discovered Reasonable Doubt in my sophomore year of High School it changed my life. Til this day, I consider Reasonable Doubt the greatest piece of music I've ever heard, and when I attended the 10th anniversary concert at Radio City, in which he performed the whole album (with a live orchestra), I could have died and been completely satisfied with life.
I remember copping Blueprint, and meeting up with John Struggles and Beauregard P. Grimes to blaze a blunt on a school night at Struggles' house. As we lit the L, dios mio, "R-O-C, we runnin' this rap shit...". After two mediocre pop albums in a row (Volume 3 and Dynasty), Jigga once again took over our lives. In a post-9/11 New York, Jay was in fact, the heart of the city.
What always brought me back to Jay-z was the fact that I could always count on him. For every wack track he dropped, there was a song like U Don't Know. When Blueprint 2 failed to match Blueprint's genius, he dropped The Black Album, another CD that I will forever hold close to my heart.
In recent years, I've been fairly disappointed with Jay. Kingdom Come was a mistake, and American Gangster was, though solid, very much so an underachievement. When I attended Fade to Black at the garden, his retirement concert, it was the most bittersweet moment of my relationship with Jay-Z. He was leaving, but he was leaving on top. At the time, he was quoted as saying something like, "It broke my heart to see Jordan comeback and play with the Wizards, so I'm going out on top of the game." Just like Jordan, he couldn't stay away, but you can't say Jordan was less of a basketball player because of a few bad years at the end of his career. I can only hope that Blueprint 3 follows the trend of Blueprint (1) and Black Album, and serves as a reminder that the legend lives on.
When thinking about writing this article, I had a lot of trouble deciding on a concise format about such an accomplished, dynamic individual. In the end, I figured I'd just write it from the standpoint of a fan. The critical analysis of Sean Carter is better left for someone who doesn't have such strong feelings invested in his music.
I'll leave you with this:
"Pound for pound I'm the best to ever come around here, excluding nobody/
Look what i embody, the soul of a hustler I really ran the street"
Essential Album: Reasonable Doubt(1996)
by NickName