Forums → Popular Media → rap lyricists
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this is the debate thread for who is the best rap lyricist of all time.
feel free to state your oppinion but just know that if you say eminem i swear to freaking god i will argue the hell out of you.
for me Rakim is the greatest rap lyricist of all time. his rhymes and lyrics were SOOOOO good. straight up poetry, metaphors, all that good junk. amazing stuff.
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Hip hop yesterday- Soldiers on the mike
check hip-hop in africa or asia. enoufg soldiers there take on the mike.
but they will never be in the top-40 of 1 of the western countrys because they do not rap in english. but there is still some very good rap out there wich is actualy about something and not only money and *****es.
Most recently I'm on my Jehst. An English rapper you may not have heard of, but his new album, The Dragon of an Ordianry Family, has some lyrically untouchable tunes, 'England to name but one.
To go for an all time greatest is a different story though. There's so much talent out there so I'll settle for a top 5, not in any order:
Nas, because for me he really typified how great the 90s US scene was, as well as typifying the relative sophistication(2pac excluded) of East coast Mcs vs West Coast MCs. Also Illmatic was a lyrically stunning album, and one of the first CDs I bought, so it has to be in this list.
Klashnekoff, an English born Jamaican rapper who you might not have heard of. For me, he is the best English hip hop artist by some distance. His lyrics are on point, and his flow is really nice. Tunes to check out are Murda, Revolution and Sayonara. Also his Focus Mode mixtape from 2005 is excellent, very old school in terms of presentation.
Immortal Technique is right up there too. He is a true MC in the classic sense. Willing to go to any ghetto and rep himself on a clash or a freestyle. Once I've seen him do an acapella, one of my life goals will have been ticked off.
Wiley, another English rapper quite simply created a whole new music scene in the early 2000s with his hollow eskibeat sound. Despite the fact he's made some sell out tunes and gone the way of Dizzee recently, he also came out with From the Drop with MJ Cole, a minimal but lyrically brilliant tune, showing he's still got it, after more than a decade in the game.
Finally, I'd have to go for Gangstarr. Made so many great songs, even after Big L sadly passed away.
As for the state of the current rap scene. My impression from here in the UK is that we are going through the explosion of creativity and growth which happened in the US in the 90s. I think, with very few exceptions, the American rap scene has gone from being interesting and introspective to being hollow, generic and facile.
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