Everybody has a different viewpoint and opinion on who is the greatest MC to ever rap. To be honest, there will be no list ever to be released that will justify who is the greatest rapper of all time. Although, that hasn’t stopped people from compiling lists of their own.
Although, I have wondered how many artists came up when looking at other people’s lists of websites. I figured that the artist that came up the highest on the most lists was considered to be “the greatest”.
I went online and found 20 “Top 10 Greatest rappers of all time” lists, ranging from sources like Billboard and MTV to other lesser known sites like PPcorn and Hubpages. Overall, I grabbed all the Top 10 rappers and put them in a spreadsheet, averaged out the rankings, and have compiled the list of the Top 10 rappers of all time, based on the data of these 20 websites.
This is strictly for fun, this has nothing to do with proving a point and showing who truly is the greatest rapper. I hope you enjoy though!
Honorary Mentions: Big Daddy Kane, Lauryn Hill, Scarface, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre.
There were so many great rappers who were left off many Top 10 lists, that personally I felt like they should be on more lists. It turns out that there are so many great rappers out there, that it’s hard to properly choose 10 of the best out of the pool. These rappers will forever be great to me though.
Anyways… let’s get started:
10. Kendrick Lamar
# of entries in lists: 5/20
Average rank: 6.8
Kendrick Lamar is just getting started and already has made his way on numerous notable Top 10 lists, including Billboard. I do agree that he is the best rapper this generation has ever seen, and with his first 2 albums already deemed classics, it’s no surprise that he made his way up into the Top 10.
Opinion: I believe that if the album he releases on April 7th, 2017 (unnamed as of writing) is deemed another classic, I believe he needs to be permanently edged on many Top 10 lists, maybe up in the Top 7. For a rapper to drop 3 classics in one decade in this new age definitely deserves attention. Some of the rappers on this list doesn’t have 3 classic albums, so that places Kendrick Lamar in the elite squad.
9. Andre 3000
# of entries: 6/20
Average rank: 7.83
Andre 3000 is definitely one of the most influential rappers of all time. Along with creating some of hip hop’s greatest albums with Outkast, he is also a wonderful lyricist and adding him on any song automatically gives the songs credibility.
8. Ice Cube
# of entries: 6/20
Average rank: 7.66
Ice Cube definitely stands as one of the greatest to ever do it. From him writing and releasing Straight Outta Compton at the age of 19 to releasing probably hip hop’s most “famous” solo album, AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted, Ice Cube has definitely solidified himself as one of the greatest rappers to ever do it.
7. KRS-One
# of entries: 7/20
Average rank: 7.57
KRS-One and the Boogie Down Production go down as the initial artists to make major moves for hip hop. KRS-One’s flow and lyricism along with experimentation, along with him being ahead of his time, definitely places him in the Top 10 of my greatest rappers list.
6. Rakim
# of entries: 16/20
Average rank: 4.93
Rakim. The lyricist. The storyteller. The influencer. He is definitely one of the greatest to ever touch the microphone, and his skills have been a precursor for arguably all the rappers that are in the top 5 of all time.
5. Eminem
# of entries: 18/20
Average rank: 4
Eminem has done it all. He’s sold records in the hundreds of millions. He is one of the best freestyler in mainstream hip hop. A very great lyricist. I believe his music goes unnoticed more because of his content, so people only know and listen to the Eminem “hits” and not Eminem’s actual albums, which itself are great pieces of hip hop outright.
4. Nas
# of entries: 20/20
Average rank: 3.65
The greatest lyricist of all time. (OPINION). He recorded arguably the greatest Hip Hop album of all time at the age of 20. His lyricism continues on decades later and his discography contains some of the greatest piece of written work in the history of Hip Hop.
3. Jay Z
# of entries: 20/20
Average rank: 3.45
Hova. Jay Z’s consistency, bravado, work ethic, and lyricism definitely places him in the Top 5 rappers of all time. From releasing 8 albums in 8 years to retiring and coming back to Hip Hop like Michael Jordan did to basketball, to having 13 #1 albums, Jay Z proved that he can have raw skills like an underground artist, while having mainstream appeal.
2. Tupac
# of entries: 19/20
Average rank: 2.89
I’m still surprised Billboard did not place Tupac in their Top 10 rapper list. Whoever compiled the list clearly needs to reevaluate Tupac’s discography. Nobody in the history of Hip Hop has ever had a work ethic like Tupac from Oct. ’95 to Sept. ’96. Tupac still has 400 unreleased tracks. He has sold 75 million records. He is rap’s poet, and I still believe he is the greatest rapper of all time, to me although.
1. The Notorious B.I.G
# of entries: 20/20
Average rank: 2.3
For this man to release two albums and be placed as the greatest rapper of all time on many lists, still gets me to this day. Although, Biggie excels on all levels of rap. His first album is definitely the Top 10 hip hop albums of all time. He and Nas revived East Coast rap. He definitely was the King of rap during ‘94-’95. 18/20 websites ranked him in the Top 3 of all time. There’s no denying this man amongst the greatest to ever do it.
The websites used were Billboard, Ranker, The Top Ten, Stop The Breaks, MTV, Cheatsheet, Oxygen, Save Your Music, WhatCulture, Gigwise, Vista Now, Askmen, TopxBestList, HipHopMyWay, PPCorn, Listal, Hubpages, Byron Crawford, and The Richest.
Hope you enjoyed!
