My Top 10 Rappers

1. Notorious B.I.G.
2. Eminem
3. Tupac
4. Big L
5. Jay-Z
6. Nas
7. Ice Cube
8. Mobb Deep
9. Kool G Rap
10. Rakim

Notorious B.I.G.
Christopher Wallace will always go down as one of the greatest rappers of all-time on everyone’s top lists. However, the question hovers that he only lived long enough to record two solo albums. In my opinion, those two albums (Ready to Die and Life After Death) are two of the top six albums ever recorded, and that he had to potential to make more hits. My favorite song of all-time is “Juicy”, which has the perfect flow and story-telling capabilities of his rags-to-riches story. Biggie’s flow, smooth lyrics, and ability to tell stories are the features that prompt me to name him as the top rapper of all-time.
Top Songs: Juicy, Big Poppa, Who Shot Ya?, What’s Beef? & Notorious Thugs

Eminem
Mr. Don’t Give a F—k is one of the top rappers because of his abilities to relate his real life stories into his songs. His ability to relate his listeners to the struggles that he faces is unparallel in the rap game. I consider his first two albums to be in the top six of top albums of all-time, and “The Eminem Show” isn’t far behind. Eminem’s sense of humor, his ability to attack any other rapper, and his word play will never be matched by another rapper, cementing his legacy as one of the greatest rappers of all-time. If he can produce another great album (Recovery was strong but not to the level of his first three), he will have strong consideration from me as the greatest rapper to ever live.
Top Songs: Lose Yourself, My Name is, Role Model, Stan, & The Real Slim Shady

Tupac
Probably the most popular rapper to ever live, Tupac had a poetic lyricism that could speak to all of his listeners. Tupac will always be one of the most versatile rappers to enter the game with his ability to have a serious song “Changes” that can relate to everyone in the world, to the streets in “Life Goes On”, to the party scenes “California Love”, and his sensitive side with “Dear Mama”. Tupac was one of the best battle rappers with the beefs that endured in his career, most prominently “Hit Em Up” against Notorious B.I.G. Unfortunately, he died too soon, but I will always believe that he had a higher peak in rap than he showed in his albums although “All Eyez on Me” will be regarded as one of the top albums ever.
Top Songs: Dear Mama, Changes, Life Goes On, & California Love

Big L
A similar career to Notorious B.I.G., Big L only had the chance to record two albums in his short life, but due to the fact that his two albums were outright amazing, he deserves to be mentioned as one of the best rappers to ever live. His ability to rap stories to his listeners will make every other rapper envious. Although Big L had a tremendous amount of street credibility, it was more personified through his rap songs than real life, where his rap sheet was empty. His life was cut too short, and he rapped in a generation that overlooked him, giving him the title of most underrated rapper ever.
Top Songs: Put It On, Devil’s Son, Danger Zone, & ’98 Freestyle

Jay-Z
Jay-Z is one of the few rappers that have been able to rapping strong over the course of 15 years. I will always prefer Jay-Z’s older songs, but his new style still suits the style that is popular today. Jay-Z has his own unique word flow, that he has made popular. Although Jay-Z may not be the greatest lyricist to ever rap, his ability to make songs that listeners will appreciate in all generations is an understated talent. His rivalry with Nas (#6 rapper) will probably go down as the best rap battles to ever happen between high-profile rappers, and I thought he held his own in “Blueprint 2”. Also, “Reasonable Doubt” is one of the best debut albums ever, and he deserves to be considered a top rapper of all-time.
Top Songs: Dead Presidents II, 22 Two’s, Moment of Clarity, & Blueprint 2

Nas
Nas is another rapper who started strong in the 90’s and his talents have continued past the millennium mark. Although I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t believe “Illmatic” is in the top 8 albums of all-time, which seems to be the general consensus, Nas is still one of the top rappers in the game. Nas holds a conversational type of rapping that makes it seem that he is talking to you through his songs instead of listening to a regular song. Also, Nas’ diss song “Ether” will always go down in my mind as the greatest diss ever to be recorded. Although he isn’t the same rapper that he used to be, he still should be celebrated as an amazing lyricist.
Top Songs: Ether, One Mic, Life’s a Bitch, & Hate Me Now

Ice Cube
Although Ice Cube has changed his persona from being one of the rawest rappers to being the actor that he has become, it doesn’t change my image of the rapper that I heard from N.W.A. Ice Cube was able to parlay his strong rhyming skills to messages of racism, police abuse, and other issues that he wanted to get across. Ice Cube’s rapping style was able to get through to his listeners with a force and recklessness that was effective for the points he wanted across.
Top Songs: No Vaseline, Straight Outta Compton, AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted, & Natural Born Killaz

Mobb Deep
I understand Mobb Deep is the duo of Havoc and Prodigy, but it didn’t seem to be justice not to put their careers together. Mobb Deep was one of the most influential rap duos ever to rap, and their careers together were exponentially better than their solo careers. Their abilities to rap dark and scary feelings through the words were more effective than any other gangster rappers of their time. The imagery that Mobb Deep can describe will bring the listeners to the violent Queensbridge streets.
Top Songs: Shooked Ones Pt. I and II, Hell on Earth, Survival of the Fittest, & Temperature’s Rising

Kool G Rap
This is the rapper that has probably influenced more rappers than any other rapper before him. His ability to rap in multi-syllable techniques, and visual descriptions have been emulated by nearly every other rapper above him on my top 10 list. Kool G Rap was one of the first successful rappers with the hardcore approach, which his listeners loved with his unparalleled imagery.
Top Songs: Fast Life, On the Run, Ill Street Blues, & My Life

Rakim
My last rapper on my Top 10 list wouldn’t be anywhere without the DJ Eric B., so I have to give him a shout-out as well. Rakim is a rapper that used a simple, relaxed word play that mesmerized his listeners. Also, he was a rapper that didn’t have to rap about sex and drugs compared to him rapping about being the best lyricist around. After breaking off from Eric B., Rakim was never the same rapper, but his influences and his ability to rap will never be forgotten from being one of the greatest of all-time.
Top Songs: I Ain’t No Joke, Move the Crowd, Follow the Leader, & My Melody

There is my list. I’d gladly take any comments whether you want to praise or bash this list if you have an opinion.