Who Is the Most Underrated MC?
Monday July 30, 2007
Let’s face it, talent is rarely idolized in hip-hop. Booty-bops are often favored over lyrics of fury. Style has been known to excel over substance. Why else do you think industry execs managed to devise the concept of "mainstream rap" and "hip-pop"? In a bid to celebrate the unheralded connoisseurs of hip-hop, I've compiled a list of 10 Most Underrated Rappers of our time. You're welcome to add to the list.
Photo © Motown
Comments
It’s nice to see that 2 of my 3 favorite MC’s made the list.
My 3 favorite:
1-Nas
2-Royce Da 5′9″
3-AZ
when i think of under rated MCs, two come to mind. The Fresh Prince and Papoose. Papoose may not be underrated for very long after his album, but as for the Fresh Prince, in the world of hip hop, he is an afterthought to many. this is not right.
Prince Po, King Sun, Posdnuos, Gift of Gab, Del, Guru, Inspectah Deck, J-Live, C.L. Smooth
Chino XL and Ras Kass.
Kurupt Young Gotti….best out the West….maybe not MOST underrated, but he’s up there. And like DLev pointed out, Rebel INS is DEFINITELY underrated, perhaps overshadowed by Wu’s fellow lyrical beasts like Ghost and G.
I think the reason inspectah deck is so slept on is because while raekown, meth, gza, ghostface and the rest of them dropped albums after 36 chambers he waited a while but there was no doubt in my mind he was the best lyrically. on az though i have to say that do or die is a top 10 fav of mine. and awol is one of the 10 best albums since 05. good list
also did anyone see that list mtv put out about the hottest rapper??
That MTV list is garbage.
It would’ve definitely been garbage if it was “Best MCs in the game”, because the criteria for that would be simply “who’s the best lyrically right now”. And since one can’t exactly define “hot”, MTV made up its own criteria including stuff like swagger over lyrics, diamonds they wear, radio play, popularity. So according to that criteria, the list isn’t too far from accurate cuz lyrics don’t matter to them.
Common shouldn’t have been 9th, he should’ve been much higher.
henry ur right anything mtv or vh1 puts out about ranking rappers is ridiculous, it’s too mainstream and the lyrical ones get stepped over.
And in case anyone’s wondering, here’s the MTV list in descending order:
10. Jim Jones
9. Common
8. 50 Cent
7. Jay-Z
6. Young Jeezy
5. Kanye West
4. Andre 3000
3. The Game
2. T.I.
1. Lil Wayne
I thought that list was garbage as well. since when was being a good rapper become more then lyrically content. then they compared JEEZY to PAC. if jones, jeezy and wayne came out 10-15 years ago (going up against nas, jay, pac, biggie, big l, mobb deep and the wu) then would never had been signed (that to me was the jordan era of hip hop) lupe to me is the best rapper putting out music in these last 365 days
there i go skipping over az, he belongs in that jordan era of hip hop i mentioned above
Yeah that MTV list did suck, but they got some right. Now bear with me that i am not the biggest fan of some of these guys, but judging by how popular they are, the list is somewhat accurate.
First off i agree that Lil Weasle is the most hot rapper. I dont especially like him, i find that he puts as many punchlines and metaphors in his verses as possible to hide the fact that the majority are pure garbage. But T.I. is someone who is pretty hot right now, even though his last album was meh. Game is another ok choice, hes a pretty good rapper but needs to stop namedropping every other bar. Dont understand the Andre 3000 choice, love him, but i mean he hasnt been serious about rap in a while. Kanye should have been higher, period. Jeezy sucks, but his buzz has been defeaning at times. Jay-z and 50 are on the decline, big time. Common deserves his spot for being able to keep his soul and still sell lots of cds. And shocker, but i like Jim Jones. Not much talent but he has undeniable charisma, and i like his style, even though he is absolutely terrible on the mic.
For real, I cant argue much with this list of underrated MCs. There’s not a person i’d take off the list, but it’s hard not to include, somehow 3 dudes that seem to NEVER get thier due:
-Rass Kass
-J Live
-Cee Lo Green
In a time when empty metaphors were running crazy on the east, Rass came out with Soul on Ice, a bonafide CLASSIC that displayed not only a penchant for crafting some of the wittiest and thought provoking rhymes, but also taught a lesson and made you read a dam book. J-Live has simply mashed every track that he’s been on. But in an age where education has seemingly taken a backseat to stupidity, it’s no wonder a school-teacher/emcee gets no burn. And lastly, you can NOT talk about the South without mentioning Cee-Lo Green. True, Dre 3000 may be the illest thing ATL has put out, but dont let 3000’s Jordan outshine Cee-Lo’s Dominique, if you know what i mean. Countless GoodieMobb classics, 2 soulful solo lps, what more could you ask for. But again, in a time where articulate rhymes that have content are overlooked, it’s no wonder when you mention the south, cee-lo is often overlooked.
Alex, Good comments
What you have stated there is exactly what i feel about the game at the moment……
Apart from TI album being meh! i personally thought it was a hot album.
Yo H, your old list was better I think, I mean Canibus needs to be high on an underrated list, same with Chino XL, Jadakiss, and hell..amongst heads.. ja rule.. damn i said it
i like this list especially with az bein 1…not a lot of people know who he is but hes a good rapper…people these days are always worried about lyrical content and whatever but its not all about that…its about flow, delivery, and just how you carry yourself…with the list on mtv some threw me off…i thought kanye should have been higher…weezy i agree is 1 and t.i. and game are where they should be…3000 shouldnt have even been on that list…jay z shouldnt have either…the only reason hes on that list is just cuz hes jay z…but game, kanye, t.i. and weezy are gonna be on top for awhile and they all should cuz they all earned it…both with radio play but also if you listen to all their songs and not just the hits youll see they have good content too and a sick flow…thats why theyre on top
People please stick to the subject, it’s about underrated mcs not that bs mtv list.
many people dont like his style but lyrically theres nobody like the kansas city king tech n9ne
I totally agree with p. Tech N9ne has a very unique style, but his flow is crazy. Plus he doesn’t sell-out. He is SO underrated
CORMEGA the most slept on lyricist..
the mtv list was ish.lets face it,Wayne has appeared at top coz of popularity reasons!anybody ever listened to his rhyme scheme?please do and then check out stuff by lyricists such as masta ace,last emp,immortal tech…and other concious hiphop artists.
ask yourself this question,would a rhyme from biggie 7 years ago be placed alongside rhymes from some of the mcs in that list?nas the king said it right;HIPHOP IS DEAD!rap nowadays is all about rims,cash,cars and whores!where is our art,REAL HIPHOP?
masta ice? last emp? immortal technique? lets be fu.ckin serious did any of them sign a deal with cash money records at the age of 12? cuz thats wen lil wayne his appearance on cash money. did any of them do that? nah i dont think they did, its obvious hes the most underrated rapper. and one more thing anyone who says his lines arnt good is on crack cuz his lyrics are tight and the ones that are kinda shaky are tha ones that are mixtapes where he takes the beats from other songs and puts his own lyrics in, sraight up the guys a fuc.kin legend and cleary the most underrated rapper today
lil wayne, the NEW “best rapper alive”
1.) MF DOOM
2.) Wordsworth
3.) Aesop Rock
4.) Illogic
5.) Canibus
6.) Darc Mind
7.) Ras Kass
8.) Pharoah Monch
9.) Black Thought
10.) Lupe Fiasco
I dare you to find a more lyrical group than this.
1.Cormega
2.Keith Murray
3 Jeru damaja
4 Inspectah deck
5. Buckshot
6. Common
7 xzibit
8 Eric Sermon
9 Craig Mack
10. Mc Eight
DLev1128 says:
Prince Po
DLev… I completely agree. I wish I had been in on this discussion when it was fresh because to be real “For every Player, There’s an Umpire” – strait up. For every person in the game some one paved the way -
Prince Po? Yea he is on my list. He’s an Urban Umpire.
2)Marc Stretch (Foreign Legion)
3)Grand V (the Rapper of Homliss Derilex) & The First Stonesthrow release under Peanut Butter Wolf – And he was on the beatjunckies vol 1.
3)Turbin (Planet Asia’s hype man)
4 & 5)Frizz B & RasCue (Various Blends) Who put on major bay area artists and laid dope tracks…
6)Cold Showda of The Greens Crew – who spits madly & for sure, throws heat in frestyle.
7)MoJo Swagger – Nuff Said
8)Just Jay – and this is escpecially sad because he KILLS on the production and DJ tip and cuts vinyl like jitsu knives.
9 & 10) Can I go off on DJ’s possibly? The DJ is the source you know…The DJ used to be front and center…
Because Africa Bombatta gave love to DJ CrushDelight on Crush’s World Hip Hop show that reached 3+ million a week and you don’t see CrushDelight on TV.
Same for DJ Coop D’ville who pretty much son’d…well I wont blow people spot up but Under-rated is the name of the Hip Hop Game.
What do my 10 have in common? Urban Umpires. Hip Hop is fighting back.
And lil wayne? I will ki – double hockey-stick your a**.
Just tryin’ to keep it G rated.
Peace
I cant believe the name Immortal Technique is not popping up here. I think Immortal Technique is SO underated. I also think the The Game is underated too…not as much as alot of rappers but i think he is underated still. What do you all think?
Some of the cats on this list are truly underrated/unappreciated/slept on legends, but there are some names that were/are formative voices in the various styles of hip-hop that haven’t been mentioned here. I’m not trying to rip this list apart because there are so many cats underground today that could be on this list, but I just can’t keep silent on some of the originals that are missing:
Aceyalone – This cat is the origin of the West cost underground sound. Freestyle Fellowship. Project Blowed…all of it built on his lyricism. On of the few who could actually rock accapella, freestyle on anyone’s album.
CL Smooth – Way ahead of his time. One of the only that was ever able to develop a style let alone destroy a track with both rhymes and cadence-based implied rhyme structures. Never even needed to rhyme.
Special Ed – Developed several rhyme styles built on 8-beat measures when 2 and 4 were as far as it went for most. Outside of the swing-beat styles, no one was playing with this aspect of rhyming at that point…and he was 16!
Jeru the Damaja – East New York Style pioneer…Wu Tang and all them learned the off-beat flows from him.
Ed O. G. – Never pulled props ‘cause he was from Boston, but he was doing it so very long ago. More importantly he called bullsh!t on the changes in hip-hop before anyone else.
Kool G. Rap & Polo – Along with Schooly D, and Masta Ace, this subset of artists may have had more influence on the sound of hardcore than any others.
Gang Starr – Nothing to even say about this.
Stetsasonic – As influential as Run-DMC in the mainstream burst of hip-hop, In Full Gear was one of the most accessible albums of the early days.
Lord Finesse – One of the most slept on of all time!! This dude was beyond amazing. Like Acyealone…everyone took their styles from him.
Plus…so many underground geniuses. And we haven’t even touched overseas! Solaar???
El-Fudge
Company Flow
Sage Francis
MC Paul Barman
El-Da-Sensei