The Ten Greatest Rappers of All-Time (From a Purely Commercial Perspective)

Every hip-hop head loves to debate who is the Greatest Rapper of All Time. Focusing on the most coveted distinction in rap, this discussion is a loaded one, with those worthy of GOAT status often measured by influence, lyricism, and flow. The problem with these factors is that they’re subjective: sure, it only takes a casual hip-hop fan to understand that, in terms of mic-skills, Biggie is superior to Kanye, and, when it comes to impact, Tupac is head-and-shoulders above Drake, but when ranking the top-tier MCs in the running for the GOAT title — i.e. Rakim, Nas, Biggie, Tupac, Jay-Z, Eminem, and Kendrick — the debate becomes unanswerable; though this is that which makes it endlessly entertaining, a part of me wishes we could reach an objective ranking by way of subjective measurements.

For a moment, let’s consider how the sport of basketball debates its GOAT: championships, MVPs, and Finals MVPs. In other words, numbers. As such, ranking the five-best players in NBA history is rarely much of a debate; MJ is the GOAT and LeBron is right behind, while the three-remaining spots are reserved for a collection of five guys: Russell, Wilt, Kareem, Magic, and Bird.

Granted, a similar approach in deciding hip-hop’s GOAT would center on commercial popularity which — despite serving as the most…