In this blog post, we mention some of the best rappers of all time. Hip Hop has made great strides over the past few years. Through passion and commitment hip hop has churned out some of the greatest who have proved to be the best MCs.
They’ve shown their ability to move crowds, deliver flows and lyrics that have a cultural impact. Their command over the microphone has allowed them to create a body of work that’s creative and original.
Some are known for their battle skills while others are known for their poetic substance and others are known for their influence with captivating and flavorful lyrics.
Best Rappers of All Time
1. 2Pac
Tupac Amaru Shakur also known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. After attending the Bruce Seldon vs. Mike Tyson WBA Heavyweight Championship title fight at the MGM Grand, Pac was shot four times by an unknown assailant in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas; he died six days later and the gunman was never captured. The themes of most of Tupac’s songs are the violence and hardship in inner cities, racism, and conflicts with other rappers during the East Coast–West Coast hip hop rivalry.
2. Eminem
Marshall Bruce Mathers III, better known as Eminem, was born on October 17, 1972, and is one of the most successful musical artists of his generation. He started off as an underground battle rapper in Detroit. His big break came in 1997 when we traveled to Los Angeles to compete in the 1997 Rap Olympics competition. Although he came in second place, his performance impressed the managers at Interscope Records who passed his name to Dr. Dre. Year later, he would go on to sell millions of records.
3. The Notorious B.I.G.
The Notorious B.I.G. (Biggie Smalls, or Biggie) was an American rapper. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. In just a few short years, the Notorious B.I.G. went from a Brooklyn street hustler to the savior of East Coast hip-hop to a tragic victim of the culture of violence he depicted so realistically on his records. He’s best known for his #1 hits “Hypnotize” and “Mo’ Money, Mo’ Problems,” his top 10 hits “One More Chance (Stay with Me Remix)” and “Big Poppa,” and his iconic early single “Juicy.”
- Best Hip Hop Rap Songs by The Notorious BIG
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4. Jay-Z
Shawn Corey Carter ((born December 4, 1969,) professionally known as Jay-Z, is a billionaire, entrepreneur and rapper from Brooklyn, New York.
From the projects to the throne, New York rapper, producer, and entrepreneur Jay-Z embodied the quintessential rags-to-riches dream, becoming one of the most successful MCs of his generation while creating an empire that made him one of the richest artists of the era.
5. Nas
Nas is an American rapper, songwriter and son of jazz musician Olu Dara. He’s is one of hip-hop’s best-known, most mercurial, and lyrically blessed figures ever to touch the microphone.
Since his heart-stopping debut turn on Main Source’s “Live at the Barbeque”, Nas has released eight consecutive platinum and multi-platinum albums and has sold over 30 million records worldwide.
With every ensuing album Nas always reminds fans that he’s still the same Queensbridge MC who crafted one of the greatest albums of all time, and arguably the bible of hip hop, Illmatic.
6. Rakim
Rakim is an American rapper and one half of golden age hip hop duo Eric B. & Rakim.
First meeting in 1985, Eric B. and Rakim went on to release four studio albums before their separation in 1992. The duo were described by journalist Tom Terrell of NPR as “the most influential DJ/MC combo in contemporary pop music period”
He raised the bar for MC technique higher than it had ever been, helping to pioneer the use of internal rhymes — i.e., rhymes that occurred in the middle of lines, rather than just at the end.
7. Kendrick Lamar
Kendrick Lamar is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. He is indisputably the most acclaimed rap artist of his generation regarded as one of the most skillful and successful hip hop artists of his generation.
Lamar hit his creative and chart-topping stride in the 2010s. Good Kid, M.A.A.D City (2012), the Grammy-winning To Pimp a Butterfly (2015), and the Grammy- and Pulitzer Prize-winning DAMN (2017).
Lamar has received thirteen Grammy Awards. In early 2013, MTV named him the “Hottest MC in the Game”, on their annual list. Time named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2016.
8. Lil Wayne
Lil Wayne began his career as a near-novelty, a preteen delivering hardcore Southern hip-hop.
Lil Wayne is famous for his command of slow, witty lines and metaphorical jokes. His discography includes a slew of successful mixtapes, including Dedication 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6; No Ceilings; and Da Drought 3. His albums consistently garner acclaim, with Tha Carter series all platinum hits.
Tha Carter series has been a work of Wayne’s for 13 years and continues to grow with the fifth installment, Tha Carter V released in 2018 (however, it was initially supposed to be released in late 2014).
9. 50 Cent
50 Cent began pursuing a musical career and in 2000 he produced Power of the Dollar for Columbia Records, but days before the planned release he was shot and the album was never released.
50’s crowning success came in 2003 with the release of the album Get Rich or Die Tryin’ which sold 872,000 copies in four days and was certified 8x platinum by the RIAA.
50 Cent has sold over 30 million albums worldwide and won several awards, including a Grammy Award, thirteen Billboard Music Awards, six World Music Awards, three American Music Awards and four BET Awards.
10. Kanye West
Kanye West has been responsible for cultural movements and progressions within mainstream hip hop and popular music at large.
In the span of three short years, Kanye West went from hip-hop beatmaker to worldwide hitmaker, as his stellar production work for Jay-Z led to a major-label recording contract and, ultimately, a wildly successful solo career.
Each of his albums has been massive critical and commercial successes, including his collaboration album with JAY-Z, Watch the Throne. West has won an astounding 21 Grammy’s, tied with JAY-Z as the most decorated hip-hop artist in Grammy history.
11. KRS-One
KRS-One was the leader of Boogie Down Productions, one of the most influential hardcore hip-hop outfits of the ’80s.
At the height of his career, roughly 1987-1990, KRS-One was known for his furiously political and socially conscious raps, which is the source of his nickname, “the Teacher.”
At the 2008 BET Awards, KRS-One was the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award for all his work and effort towards the Stop the Violence Movement as well as the overall pioneering of hip hop music and culture.
12. J. Cole
J. Cole first started getting recognition in 2007 with the release of his debut mixtape The Come Up.
He would later come to the attention of Jay Z after he heard Cole’s song “Lights Please”. Jay Z would go on to make J. Cole his first signing to his then newly formed record label, Roc Nation, in 2009.
Since then he has become one of the biggest names of the “new school” era, with the release of four platinum certified albums.
13. Dr. Dre
Dr. Dre is credited as a key figure in the crafting and popularization of West Coast G-funk, a rap style characterized as synthesizer-based with slow, heavy beats.
His solo career has seen the release of three successful studio albums: The Chronic (1992, for which he won a Grammy for “Let Me Ride”), 2001(1999), and Compton: A Soundtrack (2015). In all, he has won a total of six Grammy’s as an artist and producer.
He has also produced albums for and overseen the careers of many rappers, including 2Pac, The D.O.C., Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Xzibit, Knoc-turn’al, 50 Cent, The Game, and Kendrick Lamar.
14. André 3000
André 3000 is often regarded as one of the best rappers of all time.
The rapper, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and actor, best known for his work as one-half of the hip-hop duo OutKast alongside his partner in rhyme, Big Boi.
The duo has released some of the most critically acclaimed albums in hip-hop history, culminating in them winning the Grammy Award for Album of the Year for their 2003 double album Speakerboxxx/The Love Below.
15. LL Cool J
LL Cool J (short for Ladies Love Cool James), is an American rapper. He is known as one of the forefathers of pop rap.
He quickly developed an alternate style, a romantic , and occasionally sappy, lover’s rap epitomized by his mainstream breakthrough single, “I Need Love.” LL’s first two albums, Radio and Bigger and Deffer, made him a star.
16. Logic
Logic launched his rap career through uploads and mixtapes prior to signing a Def Jam deal that fostered sustained mainstream presence throughout the second half of the 2010s.
His musical career in early 2009, releasing Logic: The Mixtape and a mixtape titled Young, Broke & Infamous in 2010. He then signed with Visionary Music Group, and subsequently released three additional mixtapes over three years.
His third proper LP debuted at the top of multiple Billboard charts with weighty themes including mental health, exemplified by “1-800-273-8255,” a number two pop hit nominated for a Grammy award.
17. XXXTentacion
XXXTentacion was a controversial figure within the hip hop industry, and been regarded to have left behind “a huge musical footprint” due to his impact on his young fanbase and his popularity during his short career.
He played fast and loose when it came to genres, often incorporating elements of punk rock, hip-hop, R&B, and heavy metal. In the late 2010s, he experienced a quick rise with his dark and emotionally intense content, scoring a number one album with 2018’s ?.
On December 7, 2018, X’s third studio album, and first posthumous album, SKINS, was released. Being less than twenty minutes long, the album is his shortest project to date, and includes a sole feature from rapper Kanye West.
18. Snoop Dogg
Snoop Dogg, is an American rapper whose music career began in 1992 when he was discovered by Dr. Dre and featured on Dre’s solo debut, “Deep Cover”, and then on Dre’s solo debut album, The Chronic.
Dr. Dre, was considerably impressed with Snoop’s style, and began collaborating with the rapper. In 1993 Snoop Dogg released Doggystyle; He was thus baptized as one of the pioneers of the G-Funk Era.
He has since sold over 23 million albums in the United States and 35 million albums worldwide.Snoop quickly became one of the most famous stars in rap, partially due to his drawled, laconic rhyming, as well as the realistic violence implied by his lyrics.
19. The Game
The Game was determined to make it in rap, he started honing his skills by freestyling on the streets of Compton and landed his first big break when he met J.T. The Bigga Figga at the West Coast Hip-Hip Summit in 2002.
He became one of the first to join the roster of Dr. Dre’s Aftermath Records, and issued his debut LP, The Documentary, in 2004 through Aftermath/G-Unit/Universal. With everyone from Dr. Dre and 50 Cent to Nate Dogg, Kanye West, and Just Blaze contributing to the album.
Game continued to release critically-acclaimed albums and has been one of the driving forces keeping West Coast hip-hop alive and well.
20. Drake
Drake Graham is a Canadian rapper, is part of a generation of rappers who came up through internet mixtapes.
Drizzy put out three mixtapes from 2006 to 2009: Room for Improvement, Comeback Season, and So Far Gone. These mixtapes got him the attention of Lil Wayne, and spawned the hit singles “Forever” and “Best I Ever Had,” the latter coming from his critically acclaimed mixtape So Far Gone.
After signing to Lil Wayne’s Young Money Entertainment in June 2009, Drake released his debut studio album Thank Me Later in 2010, which debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 and was soon certified platinum.
Drake went on to release his fifth studio album Scorpion on June 29, 2018. It featured 25 tracks and was released as a double album. Upon release, it set the single day album streaming record on both Apple Music and Spotify and broke the first-week streaming record for an album in a mere three days.
21. Wiz Khalifa
Wiz Khalifa released his debut album, Show and Prove, in 2006, and signed to Warner Bros. Records in 2007.
His Eurodance-influenced single, “Say Yeah”, received urban radio airplay, charting on the Rhythmic Top 40 and Hot Rap Tracks charts in 2008.
Wiz has released a series of massively successful mixtapes, including Kush & Orange Juice, Star Power, and Cabin Fever, as well as five albums; Rolling Papers, O.N.I.F.C., Blacc Hollywood, KHALIFA, and Rolling Papers 2.
22. Busta Rhymes
Busta Rhymes is best known for his intricate rhyming technique, rapping at high speed with heavy use of internal rhyme and half rhyme.
His one of the most idiosyncratic personalities in rap, with his halting, ragga-inspired style and incredible complexity, inventiveness, and humor.
Busta Rhymes has released nine studio albums, with the first being the 1996 platinum-selling album The Coming and has received 11 Grammy Award nominations for his work.
23. Talib Kweli
Talib Kweli is an earnest MC who became one of the most critically successful rappers of his time, which dawned in the late ’90s when he rapped alongside Mos Def and DJ Hi-Tek as part of the group Black Star.
In fact, he was one of the most admired and respected rappers on the major-label circuit during the mid-2000s, best evidenced by Jay-Z’s famous Black Album rhyme: “If skills sold, truth be told/I’d probably be, lyrically, Talib Kweli.”
24. DMX
DMX rose to fame in the late 1990’s. To date, his best-selling album is his 1999 album …And Then There Was X, which featured the hit single “Party Up (Up in Here)”.
Following the deaths of Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G., DMX took over as the undisputed reigning king of hardcore rap. He was that rare commodity: a commercial powerhouse with artistic and street credibility to spare.
Everything about DMX was unremittingly intense, from his muscular, tattooed physique to his gruff, barking delivery, which made a perfect match for his trademark lyrical obsession with dogs.
25. T.I.
Once dubbed “the Jay-Z of the South” by Pharrell Williams, T.I. gradually came into his own and established himself as one of rap’s most successful MCs during the early 2000s.
T.I. has released ten studio albums, with seven of them reaching the top five of the US Billboard 200 chart. Throughout his career, T.I. has also released several highly successful singles, including Billboard Hot 100 number one hits “Whatever You Like” and “Live Your Life”
26. Raekwon
Raekwon, is a rapper and a member of the Wu-Tang Clan and released his solo debut, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… in 1995.
Raekwon is often cited as one of the pioneers of the Mafioso rap sub-genre. The Miami New Times described Raekwon’s music as being “street epics” that are “straightforward yet linguistically rich universes not unlike a gangsta Illiad.
27. Common
Common is a Grammy and Oscar-winning rapper and actor from Chicago, Illinois. Common’s inspired mix of poetic flow and hip-hop soul has helped him earn his status as one of the most respected rappers in the game.
His outward-looking, nimbly performed rhymes and political consciousness made him achieve mainstream popularity with a handful of gold-selling recordings.
28. Ice Cube
Ice Cube, is an American rapper who gained recognition as a member of the hip hop group C.I.A. in 1984, which gained limited commercial success prior to disbanding three years later.
Ice Cube, alongside Dr. Dre and Eazy E, then formed the group N.W.A, where he gained extreme notoriety as the group’s primary songwriter and performer, noted for becoming one of the founding artists of gangsta rap, and pushing the boundaries of lyrical content in mainstream popular music, as well as visual imagery in music videos.
29. Nipsey Hussle
Nipsey Hussle, was an American rapper and songwriter from Los Angeles, California.
Nipsey gained national headlines in 2013 as he sold copies of his Crenshaw mixtape for $100 each. One customer was JAY-Z, who purchased 100 copies in support of Nipsey’s hustle.
He then charged $1,000 per copy of his Mailbox Moneymixtape in 2014 to continue his #ProudToPay campaign.
After a decade of releasing dozens of singles and mixtapes, Nipsey released his debut album Victory Lap in 2018. The album was nominated in the Best Rap Album category at the 2019 Grammy Awards.
On March 31, 2019, Nipsey was the victim of a shooting outside of his store in Los Angeles, California. He passed away at the age of 33.
30. Scarface
Scarface quickly became the South’s most admired rapper and remained so throughout the ’90s after breaking away from the Geto Boys to launch his solo career in 1991.
Scarface went on to release several critically acclaimed albums, including The Diary (1994), The Untouchable (1997), My Homies (1998), and The Fix(2002), which received a rating of 5 Mics from The Source magazine.
In 2001, Scarface was named Lyricist of the Year at The Source Awards and he was honored with the I Am Hip Hop lifetime achievement award at the BET Hip Hop Awards in 2015.
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