The 25 Greatest MCs of All Time... 5 and 4

[M Dogg™]

5. Ice Cube



Strongest album: AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted

The first rapper to be the most respected on both coast, the main rapper in the most controversial group of all time, N.W.A., the first rapper on the westcoast you can ever call King, and in his prime one of the most revolutionary and straight up hardcore rappers you'll ever hear. His the Don Mega, Ice Cube. When Eazy-E started N.W.A., he recruited Ice Cube as his main rapper, Dr. Dre to provide the beats and Arabian Prince to add the commercial appeal. What you had was the beginnings of not a group, but a movement. Arabian Prince trickled out, Dre talked Eazy into rapping with Ice Cube ghostwriting, MC Ren kicked his way in, and Ice Cube pissed people off with his verses on songs like Dopeman, Gangsta Gangsta, and Fuck the Police. But Cube seeing his contract ripping him off, decided to change labels, and since he didn't have Dre, he got the next best thing, the Bomb Squad. Something about the most controversial rapper on the westcoast hooking up with Public Enemy and their producers seemed so right. AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted was released and a new single star was born. N.W.A. dissed Ice Cube to try to take back their thunder, and what they got back was No Vaseline, Ice Cube introduced the Lynch Mob, and he became the Nigga That You Love To Hate. Cube's skills are above average, but his voice pushes his raw lyrics into your head and makes you feel how powerful words can be. He message was something never heard before, as he mixed the street stories with political messages, and he is the rapper that most westcoast artist design their blueprint after. Since Cube, many westcoast artist use rap as a way to express street lyrics with a social political message. Cube was the original king of the westcoast, and is one of the greatest rappers to ever touch the mic.

4. Notorious B.I.G.



Strongest album: Ready to Die

Biggie Smalls was one of the illest rappers to ever come out of Brooklyn, and he is the legend that many in New York will always compare each and every artist too. His skillz were as good as any other emcee in the history of rap, and he flow was so smooth that even the most diehard 2Pac fan has caught themselves rapping to Who Shot You? Though that horrible night on March 9th will always be remembered, and to some hurt Biggie's legacy, this is about the great career of Big Poppa. Biggie had New York believing again. Nas, Wu Tang, they all came out, but it was Biggie that New York embraced. The self proclaimed King of NY, the rapping Frank White became just that when Ready to Die dropped, and he laced verses on many other projects in New York. Biggies skillz were unmatched in 1996, when his battle with 2Pac hit it's peak. With Nas dropping It Was Written, which was a great album, but not up to Biggie's skillz, there was no question who was on top of NY. He then recorded Life After Death, and with the death of 2Pac in 1996, Biggie had much to talk about. Biggie's skillz seemed to be at his best, and his flow seemed to find it's self as each track was released since his career started. Life After Death was to finally hear Biggie be completely the rapper he was maturing to be. Though it's not a perfect classic that some say, he did release more classic tracks in that one album than most artist would ever in their career. With a career that was too short, you have to judge Biggie on what we had, and Biggie only left two of the greatest albums ever. With that, Big Poppa will always be seen as the King of New York to many people who remember the late great.

Top 25 MCs:

25. Common
24. Run
23. MC Ren
22. Big Pun
21. Lauryn Hill
20. Andre 3000
19. Eminem
18. Chuck D
17. Kurtis Blow
16. Snoop Dogg
15. The DOC
14. LL Cool J
13. Grandmaster Caz
12. Slick Rick
11. Kool G Rap
10. Jay-Z
9. Melle Mel
8. KRS-One
7. Big Daddy Kane
6. Scarface
5. Ice Cube
4. Notorious Big

[Twentytwofifty]

Nice, both are top ten MCs for sure.
My guess for the rest...3. Nas 2. Pac 1. Ra

[Da Flamboyant 1]

i think dis nigga gone make pac # 1

[BizzyR.I.P.]

i think dis nigga gone make pac # 1

Na he alredy said PAc ain't gonna be #1.

Anyways I would have put Cube 4 & Biggie 5. I just like his raw voice and I like his lyrics a little better.

[makaveli11]

I would have definitely put ice cube over biggie for sure and I would say cube's strongest album without a doubt is death certificate.

[big mat]

pac is fucking #1

[BizzyR.I.P.]

pac is fucking #1

I agree

[Mac 10 †]

great spot for biggie

[Wicked977]

pac is fucking #1

I agree

Nah Ain't nobody Fucking Wit Rakim 

[Da Flamboyant 1]

ya rakim is #1 but when u talkin bout mc's not artists den kool g rap is ranked 2 low hes top5 on da mic eazy

[ImmortalOne]

As an overall artist Pac is easily tops....here, I tend to agree with Knuckles prediction (wow, we agree on something!!).....

#3 will be Nas, Pac will be #2, and Rakim will get the top spot.

[JMan]

real dope countdown....  Props

[BizzyR.I.P.]

As an overall artist Pac is easily tops....here, I tend to agree with Knuckles prediction (wow, we agree on something!!).....

#3 will be Nas, Pac will be #2, and Rakim will get the top spot.

Yeah he is one of the few complete artists.

[ImmortalOne]

As an overall artist Pac is easily tops....here, I tend to agree with Knuckles prediction (wow, we agree on something!!).....

#3 will be Nas, Pac will be #2, and Rakim will get the top spot.

Yeah he is one of the few complete artists.

Which is one reason why he is GOAT in my book  . Pac was just that dude. Great presence/energy on the mic, variety of topics in his songs, solid (though not great) flow, extremely prolific as a songwriter, charismatic personality, and an outstanding discography make him the most complete MC ever.

He wasnt the greatest freestyler or wordsmith, but his content and emotion far outweighed that weakness.

[BizzyR.I.P.]

As an overall artist Pac is easily tops....here, I tend to agree with Knuckles prediction (wow, we agree on something!!).....

#3 will be Nas, Pac will be #2, and Rakim will get the top spot.

Yeah he is one of the few complete artists.

Which is one reason why he is GOAT in my book  . Pac was just that dude. Great presence/energy on the mic, variety of topics in his songs, solid (though not great) flow, extremely prolific as a songwriter, charismatic personality, and an outstanding discography make him the most complete MC ever.

He wasnt the greatest freestyler or wordsmith, but his content and emotion far outweighed that weakness.

The 2 things that makes me say he is the greatest is his emotions on the mic. No one put so much into their music than him. And like you said variety of topics, he didn't stick 2 one or two subjects in his song writing.