Who Is The Greatest MC Of All Time?
Such as the endless debate of which came first, the chicken or the egg, is equal if not less than the debate over who is the greatest MC of all time in the hip hop game. Long talked about for almost thirty years now, hip hop heads from across the world have spoken their mind on who they personally think is the best for whatever particular reason they think it might be. Factors like longevity, impact, the ability to spit ill shit on a dime and overall persona are just some of the reasons why students of the hip hop university we all know and love claim why their personal number one is the best. So what happens when you get three eager and green students together to discuss this epic battle of King King in the hip hop world?
Cue one of the best up and coming hip hop live band groups in the game right now, Dussel Has Friends, and editor in chief of one of the best media websites out there right now, Manhattan Digest’s, and watch the floodgates open. Dussel’s Mally James & Sid Nicolas as well as yours truly got the conversation going recently on our personal top 10’s in the game as well as some honorable mentions on who is slightly bubbling under. Whereas we differed on many, there were a couple that we definitely agreed on who were in the top rung to be considered “The Greatest Of All Time”.
We agreed that arguably the top three greatest were, in no particular order as we were different in each- Jay-Z, Notorious BIG and Tupac Shakur. Why them? We agreed that Jay-Z has had some incredible longevity, whereas the impact that Notorious BIG and Tupac Shakur has left on the industry for twenty years on top of their incredible talent that was cut too short earn them the right to be in the top three. Notably close to them in a fourth place slot is Queens very own Nas, who arguably had the best freshman album ever with “Illmatic”, with Jay-Z’s “Reasonable Doubt” coming in a close second.
Other notables that we discussed were Kanye West, who Sid said is a better producer than rapper whereas I noted that if you take away all of the outside shit with Kim K and whatnot he really is a fantastic performer. Lil Wayne was another one that was discussed mainly for his longevity and ability bring in some of the new class including Nicki Minaj as well as Drake and his light shining brighter than others in the years where nothing that really came out was that great (the late 00 years). Lauryn Hill was a major factor in advancing women in the hip-hop game as she remains the only true hip-hop album to win “Album Of The Year” at The Grammy Awards, something that many have tried since then (Eminem, Kanye) and have not been able to succeed at.
Many others are thoroughly discussed such as Big L, Andre 3000 and 50 Cent to name a few. Who do YOU think is the best MC of all time? Are any MC’s that we have on this list or in the video ones that shouldn’t be on there? Voice your opinion and let the world know what you think.
In case you haven’t heard of Dussel Has Friends before, they’re a live band hip hop group that integrates a variety of influences including Long Island indie rock and hardcore, early 90s hip hop, offbeat ska and soul. The band has been building a cult following along the east coast, and has performed with Sabac Red of Non Phixion, Immortal Technique and The Kickdrums. They’re currently recording their debut EP with producer Brian McKenna of Btoven Music (Carly Rose, Lea Muses, Bakko) and sound engineer Lu Diaz (50 Cent, P. Diddy, Lauryn Hill), and they’re currently preparing to release the first single off of that record “Cold World”.
Rap head says
This is funny as hell! And true!!