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25. The D.O.C.
Ice Cube’s one-time lyrical replacement in N.W.A. had some serious Chucks to fill, but Eazy and Jerry Heller or whoever was making such decisions chose wisely. The D.O.C. released one solo album before God decided he was too funky and fucked up his vocal chords in a car accident. Not content to be known for the rest of his life as the dude who invented the “one and in comes the two to the three to the four†adlib, The D.O.C. regrouped and served as Dr. Dre’s primary ghost writer for the rest of the decade. In other words he was one of the main lyrical architects of the g-funk era. Re-watching the video below we're reminded that he might have invented the slip-into-fake-Jamaican-accent move currently being employed by Lil Wayne and Wyclef Jean.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiPbeIXZpD4"]YouTube- The D.O.C - It's Funky Enough | *Best Quality* (1989)[/ame]
24. Schoolly D.
Let’s take a moment to pause and give thanks to the dude who realized that cuss words and rap mixed together like motherfucking peanut butter and motherfucking jelly. Your stoned younger brother might only know Schoolly as the dude who raps the theme song to “Aqua Teen Hunger Force,†but the Philadelphia native also invented hardcore rap. Unfortunately Schoolly wasn’t totally built for YouTube, but here’s a perfect use of “Saturday Night†in a certain 1990 film from which the Nototious B.I.G. gleaned his best alias.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nr59F0UObm0"]YouTube- schoolly d saturday night[/ame]
23. Bun B
Though Bun’s adopted hometown of Houston didn’t land on the national rap radar until the summer of 2005, he has long been one of the elder statesmen of Southern rap. As half of UGK he helped create the market for smooth, slightly resigned drug raps for a decade before anyone north of the Mason-Dixon took much notice. In the South, though, he’s your favorite MC’s favorite MC. “Pocketful of Stones†alone secured his spot in rap history. Never mind what he did here…
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnP1XmxyqxA"]YouTube- UGK - Pocket Full Of Stone[/ame]
22. Kool G. Rap
Mafioso tales, multisyllabic rhyme schemes, body counts: there are few classic New York trends that Kool G. Rap didn’t have a hand in blazing. As if originating gun raps when they were still a novel idea wasn’t enough, Rap was also a member of the all-important Juice Crew. His Big Daddy Kane-introducing verse on “The Symphony†might have stole the show if not for who, exactly, it was introducing.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Niua9KOzgrA"]YouTube- On the Run [1992] - Kool G. Rap & DJ Polo[/ame]
21. Too $hort
One of the first Left Coast artists to get in on the rap game, Too $hort built his career on two pillars: his effortless, conversational flow and his dirty, dirty raps. The first to take that Bay accent nationwide, a generation of West Coast rappers – from Snoop to the latest Hyphy apostle -- can only doff their pimp caps in homage to $hort Dog.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiDAZomH8uw"]YouTube- Too Short - Cocktails[/ame]
20. Common
Say what you will about his work since, but Common’s 1994 sophomore LP, Resurrection inarguably paved the way for the mid-late 1990s conscious strain of MCs. Without the artist formerly known as Common Sense. Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Black Thought, etc. would all be out of jobs. What’s kind of amazing in returning to Ressurection, is how much it really did influence the backpack camp for the rest of the decade and how uncompromising it was. Com had wordplay and metaphors for days, outspoken criticism for the direction hip hop was taking and, um, swagger. Let us not forget that before he was hawking Gap hoodies, Lonnie Lynn, Jr. was taking on Ice Cube in his prime.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5btqEdt6gU"]YouTube- Common - Resurrection[/ame]
19. (Tie) Ghostface and Raekwon
This is technically a list ranked on the contributions of single voices. Unfortunately, this meant that the Wu-Tang Clan as a whole could not be represented. That said, Ghostface and Raekwon -- with a pair of mid-nineties solo albums (Ironman and Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, respectively)-- best represented the Wu aesthetic that spawned a thousand weed carriers at its height. Cuban Linx also ushered in the age of late 90s Mafioso raps. Despite inadvertently giving way to a whole mess of sub par stuff like The Firm album (shudder) its influence cannot be underestimated.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j05fJPvfJ0g"]YouTube- Raekwon - Ice cream (1995)[/ame]
17. Kool Keith
There are few rap conventions held dear by a certain brand of hip hop that Kool Keith didn’t pioneer. It was clear from his mid 80’s debut with Ultramagnetic MCs that Keith was years ahead of his time. From sci-fi imagery to free associative wordplay to explicitly explicit sex talk to working with Dan the Automator to maybe being a bit crazy to having more aliases than he himself can count, Keith has pretty much done it all and done it before anyone else has even thought of it.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LdEq_coDaY"]YouTube- Ultramagnetic MC's - Traveling At The Speed Of Thought[/ame]
16. Redman
Even though -- as already noted -- this is a list of single MCs, Erick Sermon was going to make his presence felt sooner or later. With all respect due to EPMD, Redman and one-half of the legendary group (Sermon) upgraded their street-ready, funk-jacking sound into the archetype for Golden Age east coast rhymes. Add in a pinch of self-deprecation and you’re really only a few steps away from… well, just watch the video for “Tonight’s The Night†below and tell me you’re not surprised that Ready to Die hit shelves a year later.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKdmKx3fNZc"]YouTube- Redman - Tonight's Da Night (HQ High Quality Uncensored)[/ame]
15. Tupac
Pac’s greatest contribution to rap might be his willingness to put all of himself on display. Tupac the rapper, Tupac the actor and Tupac the notebook poet all vied for the public’s attention in equal turns. And that was just in his MTV interviews. Seriously though, Pac’s multiple personalities and unmistakable voice (you’re welcome DMX and Ja Rule) have left an impression on an entire generation of MCs.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydnFfp3Bc90"]YouTube- 2pac(keep ya head up)[/ame]
14. (Tie) Big Boi and Andre 3000
You know all that music that has come out of Atlanta in the last ten years? None of that would have been possible without the influence of Outkast. Two MCs -- one a composer of grade A strip club anthems and one a spaced-out post-conscious alien -- who might have hated each other from the get go came together in the 90s and broke bread. An entire region benefited. Each one could have been on here separately (though probably in different slots) but together, as the flagship of the Dungeon Fam, Big Boi and Dre helped invent the dirty dirty.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbmAzP08NFI"]YouTube- Outkast - Player's Ball (Uncut) [HD][/ame]
12. Method Man
Method Man was one of the first of a mid-nineties wave of rappers to break away from the classic storytelling or braggart mode in favor of running laps around the English language. Long before Right Guard commercials and sitcoms, Meth showed up to the recording sessions for 36 Chambers with a backpack full of syllables, and a star was born. The current trend of MCs obsessed with the idea of “flow†(please see Lil Wayne) can be traced pretty easily back to one song on that landmark album.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpL0xVIYbnU"]YouTube- M.E.T.H.O.D. Man (original cut)[/ame]
11. Chuck D
Presiding over Public Enemy’s decade-closing reign on rap in the 80s, Chuck D called it the way he saw it. Over the course of three albums, MistaChuck absolutely revolutionized the way rap music sounded. He adapted the old school, party-mover flow to the Bomb Squad’s incendiary production work and invented political rap.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PmsBpBKGIY"]YouTube- Public Enemy - Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos[/ame]
10. Jay-Z
It’s easy to think of Jay-Z simply as the guy who rode the Big Daddy Kane/Biggie trend of charismatic crossover appeal to its natural, staggeringly popular conclusion, but that would be discounting his influence as a lyricist. Those who remember their course reading in Reasonable Doubt (which, it’s worth mentioning, is the blueprint for corner talk turned rap hustle) will note that before he was S dot Carter, check signer, he was Jay hyphen Z, holder of mics. Even his later, more pop-focused concessions still had enough wordplay and variety of flow to have influenced just about anyone who’s come up in this century.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pu4UG8uLHZ8"]YouTube- Jay-Z - I Can't Get Wit That [1994 Rare & Unreleased] *DVD*[/ame]
9. LL Cool J
Before he invented having ripped abdominal muscles and trying to get in your lady’s pants via the cheesy R&B crossover, James Todd Smith invented being a complete fucking monster on the mic. Observe.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7l250E5uM4"]YouTube- L.L.Cool J - Mama said knock you out[/ame]
8. Nas
The author of one of hip hop’s perfect documents, Nasir Jones used a little collection of 10 tracks named Illmatic to completely bridge the gap between the old and new schools in 1994. It’s rhyming with the focus and ability of Rakim. It’s storytelling with the eye for detail and drama of Rick. It’s the street tales of the West Coast. Along with Wu and Biggie it brought New York to rap dominance for the rest of the decade. It’s been a cross to bear for both Nas and any other lyricist -- from the indie-est of the underground to the blatantly commercial -- since its release.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKjj4hk0pV4"]YouTube- Nas NY State of Mind[/ame]
7. The Notorious B.I.G.
There probably isn’t a note of praise left unsung about Christopher Wallace, so it could get a little redundant here. Biggie brought such a deep level of cinematic detail to his rhymes that you couldn’t help but become hypnotized. That said, he was also more willing than any other MC of his era to kick party rhymes to the masses. Diddy might not have invented the remix, but in the form of Biggie Smalls, he invented the million-selling hardcore rap crossover.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lb0HImG_MU"]YouTube- Warning - Biggie (Original Version)[/ame]
6. Big Daddy Kane
Kane might have originated the idea of what is currently called “swagger,†but he was also the verbal lynchpin of Marley Marl’s Juice Crew and one of the first MCs to combine technical skill with commercial appeal. It’s no coincidence that Jay-Z came up under the Kane wing of MC-dom.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2l2O-JOXG_I"]YouTube- Big Daddy Kane - Aint No Half Steppin[/ame]
5. Slick Rick
The best storyteller in the golden age of rap storytelling, there isn’t a rapper that Uncle Ricky hasn’t in some way influenced. Think that’s an overstatement? Try to imagine Illmatic without the influence of the detail-rich street tales that Rick helped pioneer. Then imagine the rest of the 90s.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRC4ziQpb5I[/ame]
4. Scarface
I said this in my Biggie memorial post a few months back, but it’s worth restating here: the biggest story in hip hop over the last ten years is the rise of the South. It’s impossible to imagine Southern hip hop without the influence of the Geto Boys and their breakout star, Brad Jordan a.k.a. Scarface. With a gravel voice that already sounded world-weary on his debut, Face kicked drug raps and worked out his own demons in equal parts. Biggie, Tupac and latter day trappers alike can all say thanks. It doesn’t hurt that he dropped a late career classic, The Fix, in 2002 that completely predicted the crack rap boom of the last three years.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJfqXgCp7aw"]YouTube- Scarface A Minute To Pray And A Second To Die[/ame]
3. KRS-One
A legend sometimes despite himself, KRS’ early day rivalry with MC Shan and the Juice Crew took beefing to a whole new stage. He would later channel that righteous anger and pure skill towards a more political purpose and drop a string of albums that sparked what is now sometimes derisively referred to as “conscious music.†Without KRS-One there is no Native Tonuges, Brand Nubian, et. al. Before he was making ill-advised trips to the FOX News studios, Kris was one of the original designers of hip hop culture. How many other guys on this list adapted their MC name from their graffiti handle?
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BxBs4f4RIU"]YouTube- KRS One "Sound of Da Police"[/ame]
2. Ice Cube
Even if he hadn’t written most of the N.W.A. catalog before his departure from the group, Cube would still land top five for his solo work in the early 90s. Jetting to New York after helping to define the West Coast sound, he got with the Bomb Squad and mixed the personal with the political in larger doses than had ever been witnessed in rap. Amerikka’s Most Wanted and Death Certificate are so devastating because Cube delivers his hood tales as his experience. Not saying, just saying: Tupac (and a whole lot of other MCs) certainly took notice.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvRc7pwnt0U"]YouTube- Ice Cube - No Vaseline (N.W.A Diss)[/ame]
1. Rakim
Rakim invented the brand of hip hop you love. Rap as technical display? Check. Rap as social commentary? Check. Rap as platform for pure braggadocio? Check. Rap as your hustle? Check.
This one was easy.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Irsh2mXJ-E"]YouTube- Eric B. & Rakim - Microphone Fiend[/ame]
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