The Source Magazine Top 50 Lyricists of All Time

[j.hen]

Not even worth commenting on.

...SHIT

[1ke]

Well the aforementioned gangsta rappers werent/arent really known for being great lyricist. Quik, 40 Water (acquired taste) and Spice 1 are respectable lyricist (as in not weak) but dont really belong on a top 50 list IMO. Short Dogg and Snoop certainly dont belong on a top 50 list, great artist but subpar lyricist. Some of Too Shorts earlier tracks standout (The Ghetto, Its Your Life) but he was never a lyricist. A gangsta rap list is deserving of its own, Id participate.

No doubt. Agree on 99% of what you said. Only difference is I think a young Snoop was good enough. I also love love love me some Spice 1. Lol, a 10 year old Mexican kid in the hood growing up on Spice 1. Haha unreal.

[Champ]

Where is Dylan?

[BigBucs]

Doggystyle/The Chronic Snoop isnt a lyricist IMO. His flow/delivery and laid back style is what appealed to me. The production on Doggystyle is what stood out to me. Was perfect for his style.

[FedEx227]

Right, Snoop has never real had profound lyrics. Just a great style/flow/production combo.

Oh add Gift of Gab to my list of better lyricists than 75% of that list.

[Tailback U]

Anyone who has an opinion, when you get some free time post your top 50. OP should act as a decent baseline. Some of you should STFU about hip hop. Its the equivalent of me going into a metal/rock and roll thread trying to critique a top 20 guitarist of all time list, I have no business doing so.

Why don't you go ahead and do that first.

Ike - westcoast/gangster rappers will never get credit for being pure lyricists because the underlying theme of most of their shit was the same.

That said, my favorite west coast lyricists would include blackalicious, gift of gab, jurassic 5, mc eiht, heiroglyphics, souls of mischief, living legends, dilated peoples.

[FedEx227]

Lol right. When I get an extra 2 hours i'll do that for ya.

[1ke]

Why don't you go ahead and do that first.

Ike - westcoast/gangster rappers will never get credit for being pure lyricists because the underlying theme of most of their shit was the same.

That said, my favorite west coast lyricists would include blackalicious, gift of gab, jurassic 5, mc eiht, heiroglyphics, souls of mischief, living legends, dilated peoples.

Youre correct, and its a very valid point but thats why I dont like it. Just because the theme was "Fuck the Police" doesn't mean that some of these dudes couldnt flow. It annoys me because I grew up on West Coast rap, and gravitated to it more because it was always sampling from some sort of Funk band and blending it so good. They need their credit dammit! MC Eiht, Eiht Hype Thug!!!!!! CMW!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

[BigBucs]

Why don't you go ahead and do that first.

Ill get around to it in the next day or few.

[dell71]

TBH, I think some of you are selling short Cube, KRS and Chuck D. None of them have smooth flows or complex rhyme schemes but they all attacked lyricism from a content standpoint and gave us some of the most insightful rap songs and albums of all time.

There are good reasons why most west coast gangsta rappers are not known as great lyricists. They were all inspired by Cube (& Ice-T) very very few of them could come anywhere near shedding the same light on the west coast lifestyle that he could. He told stories that really put us in the lifestyle, made us think about his point of view and made it relatable to people not from Cali. He was scary to some because he actually had something to say. Most of the rest just repeatedly pretended to be the biggest baddest gang-banger they could possibly be. There was no substance. Then you add in the fact that most of them had really simple flows, rhyme schemes and vocabularies. That said, there were/are some standouts: MC Eiht, Kurupt, Ras Kass, Xzibit (before he started pimpin' rides, lol), The Game.

Other west coast non-gangstas I'm a fan of: Heiroglyphics, Souls of Mischief, Del the Funkee Homosapien and two I think could definitely replace a lot of people on this list, Blu and Fashawn.