Please comment, consider, and give me your opinions and personal choices for best artists. This list is unique in that the actual order is just separated to illustrate my personal choice in my favorite picks for all time artists. In addition to making my list of who I think are the greatest artists for whatever the reason may be, I've also included the time period which I most enjoyed their music.
Ten: 10
Lil' Wayne (2007-2010)
Yes, some will argue that he doesn't even deserve a spot on this list, and I can contend to the fact that this is really focusing on late 2000s Wayne. This era of Lil Wayne was transcending racial difference in early 2000s by riding off of the fame of various mixtapes such as Da Drought, Vols 1-3, and his epic follow up to Tha Carter II, with Tha Carter III. And that's why he deserves a spot on this list in my opinion. Love him or hate him, if you were black in the early 2000s, you and/or one of your Caucasian buddies probably found some level ground in his music and lyrics, before his party music was slowly eclipsed by Wiz Khalifa, and Gucci Mane? 😟🤷🏽♂️
Some of his best tracks include 2007 "I Feel Like Dying" his 2009 track "Wasted" off of his No Ceilings mixtape, "The Sky Is The Limit" off of his 2007 mixtape Da Drought 3, and "3 Peat" off of his notable studio album Tha Carter III. "Lollipop" off of the same album also deserves an honorable mention as well for its incredible impact on the rap-pop world, and record breaking air play. It was easily one of the cornerstones to his career in my opinion.
A notable line from 2007-2010 era Lil Wayne was a 2008 record of his entitled "Kush" where in it the Louisiana MC raps:
"Im runnin' this and I can jump the hurdles
I feelin' like I'm racing a bunch of little turtles
Keep a bandanna like the Ninja Turtles
I'm like a turtle, when I sip the purple"
This is a good example of his music, because it basically sums up most of Lil Wayne's music. He reminisces of gang-banging while sipping on purple lean. Lil Wayne in a nutshell.
Nine: 9
Nas (1994-2012)
Okay, to be fair, I am an MC myself. And with that being said, I would of personally placed him much higher on this list, but I had a little help making this with a friend, and she's actually a viable member of the music industry who's been signed before, so I took some of her input with this one. Nas is one of those artists who's work just simply goes without saying. Just go listen to some of his work such as his first track on his Life Is Good album, "No Introduction" or "One Mic" off Stillmatic in 2002, "The World is Yours" from his 1994 album Illmatic, or ANY one of his feature verses. I particularly like one string of punchlines he had in a song he did with Kanye West called "Still Dreaming" where the NYC based rapper says:
"How you a man waiting for the next man to get rich?
Your plan is to stick out your hand real quick,
So if he feed your family and he serve you shit
Then he need that head you get and he deserve your bitch."
Rhymes like this pretty much sum up some of Nas' fierceness, and demonstrates the kind of content you get from an authentic street rapper. Real, meaningful, and very engaging.
And speaking of engaging, for our next pick at top 10 artists, for number eight we have...
Eight: 8
DMX...just kidding... KANYE WEST (2004-2011)
Yes, when my friend helped me create this list, she forgot all about someone whom we truly know and love. Kanye West. With his debut album, College Dropout in 2004, the Chicago bred MC touched millions of people with tracks such as "Through The Wire" and "Slow Jamz" it was very clear that Kanye was something to be closely examined. With his follow-up album Late Registration the next year in 2005, he released even more gems with "Gold Digger" sampling one of Soul music's founding fathers, Ray Charles, and "Heard Em' Say" featuring Adam Levine from Maroon 5! Two years later, he somehow once again outdid both of these efforts with his 2007 album Graduation featuring classics such as "Stronger" sampling Daft Punk!! And "Flashing Lights" The next year he again brought the fire with 808s and Heartbreak featuring little known gems such as "Say You Will" and "Paranoid" the latter of which featured prime Rihanna in the music video, and eskewd the path to an incredible genre of the pop-rap we have today. Two years later!! He brought the heat once more with My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy with personal favorites of mine such as "Devil In A New Dress" which J.Cole simply demolished on his 2010 mixtape Friday Night Lights track, entitled "Villematic" and another's one of my personal favorites by Kanye, "Lost In The World" featuring Bon Iver. This was all before the whole Yeezus thing, and this Kanye had an incredible, amazing (which was also a good 2008 track), era that just seemed like it would never end. And when he stormed on with his collaborated Watch The Throne album in 2011. You may have thought it never would.
In his 2010 track "Lost In The World" the College Dropout raps/recites
"You're my devil, you're my angel
You're my heaven, you're my hell
You're my now, you're my forever
You're my freedom, you're my jail
You're my lies, you're my truth
You're my war, you're my truce
You're my questions, you're my proof
You're my stress you're masseuse
Ma ma se, ma ma se, ma ma ku sa
Lost in this plastic life
Let's break out of this fake-ass party
Turn this into a classic night
If we die in each others arms, still get laid in the afterlife
If we die in each others arms, still get laid, yeah, yeah, yeah"
this was modern day poetry at its finest.
Seven: 7
Jay-Z (1998-PRESENT)
Although Jay-Z was arguably the lesser half in the aforementioned album, in 2011's Watch The Throne, he is still a billionaire, who is married to another billionaire. Now this by itself is hard to come by in the rap world obviously. But what is even more spectacular, is Jay-Z has without a doubt, helped shape his wife Beyoncé's career. Give him credit for the better half of Def Jam, Rocnation, Rocawear (moderately popular clothing line in the early 00s), and Beyoncé, AND Kanye West, -ANDD- Rihanna! Yes, Jay-Z is responsible for all of them. I shouldn't have to go on, but some of Jay-Z's notable tracks include "Empire State Of Mind" off of the 2009 album The Blueprint 3 "Renegade" off of his 2001 album The Blueprint "Lost One" from his 2006 album, Kingdom Come and "Otis" from his 2011 collaborative album with the previously mentioned Kanye West Watch The Throne
His catalogue goes on for decades, literally. And While I may not be as in depth with him as I was with Kanye, I'll leave you guys with some of the lyrics off of one of his latest tracks just released in 2017, called "The Story Of O.J."
"Light nigga, dark nigga, faux nigga, real nigga
Rich nigga, poor nigga, house nigga, field nigga
Still nigga, still nigga
I like that second one
Light nigga, dark nigga, faux nigga, real nigga
Rich nigga, poor nigga, house nigga, field nigga
Still nigga, still nigga..."
Six: 6
Andre 3000 (1996-2011)
Here is another MC, similar to Nas, needs little explanation. You just go to his music and listen, and vibe. Andre 3000 was the Kendrick Lamar of the earlier generation, and his group Outkast, where he worked alongside fellow Southern based rapper, Big Boi where they made life making songs such as "Hey Ya" from his 2003 album Speakerboxxx/The Love Below and "The Way You Move" from the same album. "Jazzy Belle" from their 1996 album, ATLiens and "Synthesizer" from their 1998 album, Aquemini
Andre 3000 has gone on to continue his legendary rapping techniques for decades, blessing other newer artists tracks, such as Frank Ocean, and Drake. His unique sound that he coined alongside Big Boi in the early 00's was an incredible one that many a Bruno Mars struggles to re-create. However, this kind of gift was so unique, so genius, and so effortless, that it simply could never be reimagined. And that's why despite his huge pop like influences, he delivers a Tupac/will.i.am package that never fails to satisfy any listener, just like the artists in reference...
Some of his notable lyrics are from his 2000 album, Stankonia where the chorus goes:
"[Dre] Don't pull the thang out, unless you plan to bang
[Choir] Bombs over Baghdad!
[Dre] Yeah! Ha ha yeah!
Don't even bang unless you plan to hit something
[Choir] Bombs over Baghdad!
[Dre] Yeah! Uhh-huh"
And one of my personal favorites from a feature he did on Drake's 2011 album, Take Care where he raps:
"Quote-unquote "bad bitches" work the whole floor
Those that get laughed at sit off in the corner
Like a lab rat nobody want her
Niggas that are married don't wanna go home
But we look up to them, they wish they were us
They want some new trim
We lust for some trust
Now the both of us are colorblind
'Cause the other side looks greener
Which leaves your turf in the Boise state
Can't see her play or the team, 'cause
Everybody has an addiction..."
Pt. 2 coming soon.
I will admit my reasons for picking number 10 were slightly due to a lack of knowledge of the rap genre despite being an MC myself. That's why I need your guy's input!! Number 10 was actually the hardest spot for me to fill, as I did this list kind of sporadically out of order, but if you guys would please do me the favor and let me know who you guys think some of the best artists are? Let me know in the comments below!
Ciao bella,
These pictures do not belong to me, here are there sources:
Picture 1 lil Wayne
3
https://aspenpeak-magazine.com/nas-performs-at-belly-up-and-more-events-in-aspen
4
http://m.zimbio.com/Kanye+West/pictures/pro/2007?Page=2
5
http://www.capitalxtra.com/artists/beyonce/lists/jay-z-relationship-timeline/