Honorable Mentions for “The GOAT”
For all of our articles on the GOAT conversation, click here.
Compiling a list of some of the greatest rappers to ever grace a mic is like having to decide who cooks better: your mom, your aunt or your grandmother. Anyway you put it, you're going to get screamed at and get told that you're an ungrateful child who doesn't know better. Truth be told, none of us actually know better. We're fans looking at the finished product from the outside. We scribble our rappers best lines and memorize their verses. We eat the food we're given without a second thought. We're all biased to say that we love our hometown rapper the same way that we're biased to say that our mom is the best cook because we live with her. The list is hard to make, people will get snubbed and you can not expect a good Christmas present from any of the offended parties.
The list of rappers who are on the honorable mentions list are rappers who truly do deserve articles that truly describe their legacy (and some will get that), but didn't cut it when the entire crew at Boss Moves had an in depth discussion on who who the greatest rapper based on the criteria given in The GOAT Conversation article: Commercial success, body of work, longevity/impact & lyrics. So without further ado, let's elaborate on some of the greatest rappers who will definitely get me flamed in the comments for not adding them to the conversation:
Snoop Dogg
During our conversation on the subject, the utterance of the name of Snoop Dogg led to a collective gasp. How could one forget the Doggfather? In most lists, people forget to add this perennial staple of music since his debut in Deep Cover. His rap career is filled with countless successes, the only problem being that the overall fan disrespects him as much as the Grammy's do.
André 3000
There would be no southern hip-hop if it weren't for the contributions of Outkast. The eccentric lyrical philosopher always brought a fun time to the party. From ATLiens to Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, André always brought the best verses on almost any project he was on. The only thing truly stopping him from reaching the list was that he never had a true great solo project.
Lauryn Hill
Possibly one of the greatest albums of all-time? Yup. Part of one of the greatest rap groups of all-time? Yup. Only female rapper that Google put on it's list when you type "greatest rapper of all-time?" Yup. Ms. Hill took the game by storm with Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. The only thing that overshadows those accomplishments might be erratic behavior at concerts and/or a very bad live album.
Lil Wayne
Very few rappers can say that they've been in the game for 20+ years and hit their prime after ten years and ten albums already into the game. Lil Weezy gave us Lollipop, Drop the World, A Milli and countless other tracks that brought party goers to their feet and rap enthusiasts to their calling. Two problems arose with Weezy F. Baby: his extensive discography has as many good as it has bad tracks and as Play said, "we want Tha Carter V, let the streets eat!"
Drake
He sings too much. There, I said it. When Drake wants to rap, he's arguably one of the best in his generation. How else would someone make Michael Jackson type numbers? Projects such as So Far Gone & If You're Reading This It's Too Late prove that he can rap with the best of them. Why doesn't he do it? No one really knows. All we know is that he could be the GOAT if he wanted to be, but sometimes it feels like he just wants to give out a million dollars to people and think about failed relationships.
Kendrick Lamar
Called the second coming of Pac, Kendrick Lamar is possibly the best rapper the modern generation has seen live. He has hits, but he's missing that hit. The one that'll make him sit in the pantheon. Biggie had Juicy. Nas has N.Y State of Mind. What does Kendrick Lamar have? Everything else a king of rap could possibly ask for.
Nas
Nas is the modern urban poet. He was above his time and a young MC who used his avant garde style to show the world that the Projects was more than what they saw on TV. He has the greatest rap debut of all time with Illmatic, but also one of the worst hip-hop albums of all time with Nastradamus. Questionable production aren't his fault but it's reflected in the overall image of Nasty Nas.
Ghostface Killah
One could omit everyone from this list and just add Wu-Tang Clan members because they are honestly great together, and Ghostface Killah encapsulates that. A wizard on the microphone, he controlled a crowd like the puppeteer controlled NSync video in the Bye Bye Bye. However, the greatness of the group overshadows the individual greatness. You can not break apart Wu-Tang, because Wu-Tang is a way of life.
Rakim
Don't Sweat the Technique! There is no rapper in the modern era that doesn't owe their career to the immortal Rakim! He started being poetic. He used multi syllabic rhymes first. He changed the game with a swagger that is unmatched in the history of the game. Is there anything wrong with Rakim? No. To be considered better than Rakim, who for a time was considered the GOAT, is to truly be up there with the best to ever do it.
All of these rappers have understandable reasons as to why they should be ranked high up there. They're feeding the Culture with some of the best it's ever had. That can't be denied. But, the rappers that will be discussed thoroughly will be analyzed and brought to you in an objective fashion as to make sure that the one who stands on top is the best the game has given us yet...