<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (gentile @ Jun 14 2007, 07:30 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Rakim - Top of the line. Brought more technical rhyme flow innovations, delivery, and complex lyrics to the table than any rapper before him. It took rappers years to even get close to catching up. Two eras of rap: Before Rakim and after.Nas - If you don't know...In 93, "The Source" (back when the magazine still had some integrity) called Nas the second coming of Rakim.Eminem - The brilliant white boy is hard to handle. He's a rare throwback rapper with battle skiils as tremendous as his writing abilities. If he was black he would probably have been overlooked though. Pac - Relied on emotion and voice more than sharp lyrics. But nobody could rhyme about so many scenarios and topics as convincingly as Tupac. Coded messages, sex, systemic criticism, thuggery, his own death prophecies... His ambition almost created a religion to some.Ice T - I wanted to put Slick Rick or KRS in here. But neither were as courageous or consistent as Ice. He was so far ahead of the game. He put out four straight classic albums. Classics! He never bragged about being a crip. He called out Presidents by name. A gangster that could spit credibly about Iran-Contra as deftly as telling a tale about a heist or getting the party started. Unfortunately, his rhyme skills diminished as he grew in fame. Lyrically, he never topped his first album and by the time Bush ended his career in early 92, he was spent anyway.</div>I like your list. The one thing I'd disagree with is that, in my opinion, Eminem was never a good rap battler because he never actually freestyles, which I think is a critical part of rap battling. All of his "freestyle" rap battles, even when he was underground, had all the punchlines written beforehand.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (dsounG @ Feb 4 2007, 03:01 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>1. Nas2. Lupe Fiasco3. Immortal Technique4. Papoose5. AZ</div>Switch Lupe with Nas. I'm in love with Lupe's music now.
lil' wayne is a lyracist...I could name a million rappers that write better songs then he does...but the lyrics he writes are crazy
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (carmelo115 @ Jun 22 2007, 08:20 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>lil' wayne is a lyracist...I could name a million rappers that write better songs then he does...but the lyrics he writes are crazy</div>not if you value clever punchlines, good rhymes, substance, or anything else that's generally valued in rap lyrics.....
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (BFR @ Jun 22 2007, 11:56 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Have any of you guys heard of a guy named Murs im likin his last album "Murray's Revenge"?</div>Yeah, Murs is pretty nice. I like his stuff with Atmosphere.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (tHe_pEsTiLeNcE @ Jun 22 2007, 03:57 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I like your list. The one thing I'd disagree with is that, in my opinion, Eminem was never a good rap battler because he never actually freestyles, which I think is a critical part of rap battling. All of his "freestyle" rap battles, even when he was underground, had all the punchlines written beforehand.</div>NEVER is a mighty big word. A rapper that has rhymes in the vault might need to pull out a punchline or two every so often. From experience I can tell you that it's a hard temptation to overlook when somebody is gift-wrapping your own ass right in front of you.Em acknowledges that he spit written rhymes on occasion in battles. Sometimes he admitted it during the battles. But I've seen him come straight off the top as well. He still looks brilliant.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (PrimeTime @ Jun 23 2007, 02:08 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>1. Nas2. Snoop Dogg3. Mobb Deep4. Bone Thugs5. Akon</div>Akon is not a rapper by any means
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (gentile @ Jun 23 2007, 05:26 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>NEVER is a mighty big word. A rapper that has rhymes in the vault might need to pull out a punchline or two every so often. From experience I can tell you that it's a hard temptation to overlook when somebody is gift-wrapping your own ass right in front of you.Em acknowledges that he spit written rhymes on occasion in battles. Sometimes he admitted it during the battles. But I've seen him come straight off the top as well. He still looks brilliant.</div>yeah, I guess it just always seems like when I'm listening to an eminem battle it goes like this"wow, that was an impressive punchline.....wasn't that on [insert eminem track here]?" and it nearly invariiably is.It just kind of ruins it for me. Of course part of the reason for that is because I've probably listened to everySome examples:In Scribble Jam '97 he said "you couldn't make the crowd throw up their hands if they swallowed their fingers", a line on his LP "Infinite" from three years prior, as well as "you're worse than the rapper you got your wack style from/you couldn't sell two copies if you pressed a double album" which was on "Just don't give a F*ck" on the Slim Shady EP he released earlier that year. I'm sure there are dozens more situations like this. I also wonder if he's spitting written rhymes that are out there for the world to see on albums, how many written lines does he spit are not out there for the world to see?<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (PrimeTime @ Jun 23 2007, 12:08 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>1. Nas2. Snoop Dogg3. Mobb Deep4. Bone Thugs5. Akon</div>how do you figure akon is a rapper?
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (7Goat @ Jun 23 2007, 09:47 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Akon is not a rapper by any means</div>Akon is a rapper. Yall are stupid. I will point out several songs where he raps.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1vaszd6NnAhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veEM1W9mPUYhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0-6QZ0330g...ted&search=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ohKCftjsOAIf akon isnt a rapper then what is he?
He doesn't rap in Lonely... he sings in pretty much all his songs. You think people use him in their hooks to rap?
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (PrimeTime @ Jun 23 2007, 01:13 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Akon is a rapper. Yall are stupid. I will point out several songs where he raps.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1vaszd6NnAhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veEM1W9mPUYhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0-6QZ0330g...ted&search=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ohKCftjsOAIf akon isnt a rapper then what is he?</div>He somewhat raps, I guess...but he's still strictly R&B.
Rapper or singer, its the same thing when it comes to Akon. He's still considered a rapper in my opinion seeing as how he does rap.
Akon can rap, and alotve artists can do both...some even mix it(like Bone Thugs). Ive heard Akon rap once...he should come out with a song where he raps...
the pestilence,In freestyles, it's no way to guarantee that the guy is going off the head or spitting a contrived verse unless you put him in a room with random objects and let him take off. Or throw a word or concept at him random to see how he handles it lyrically. Or challenge him to spit strictly in response to lines from other rappers. It's only unforgivable in eminem because he's high profile and easy to catch.edit: He came in second at that famous scribble Jam 97. Juice and Supernatural, definitely are two rappers that would pass your sniff test for freestyle purity.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=GYGep0zPMbAThat was fu*kin crazy. (Skip the first minute and 45 sec. and then it starts)
