Every Hip-Hop fan has an opinion on Hip-Hop’s past, present, and future. These fiery debates rage on in cafeterias, barbershops, neighborhood bbq’s, and college campuses across the nation.  One of the most popular debates, one that gets people riled up to the point of violence (which we don’t condone!)  is “Who Is The Greatest Emcee/Rapper of All-Time?”

Using our Facebook Page, we set out to give Hip-Hop enthusiasts  an outlet to answer this proverbial question. Borrowing the set up of the NCAA March Madness tournament, we organized the “64 Greatest Emcees”bracket and discussed four debates a day until we reached the “Elite Eight”.

The Emcees were judged on their Lyrical Skill, Quality of Albums, Quality of Songs, Impact of Songs, Impact of Albums, Impact of Lyrics, Storytelling Ability, Originality, and most importantly, Overall Quality. Sales and “relevance” in the current marketplace were asked to be disregarded from the discussion.

Our experiment turned out to be insightful as debates raged on and on as emcees were voted out and as emcees moved on.

In the first round, the most vitriolic debates stemmed from Eminem being knocked out by GURU of Gang Starr.  GURU’s win over Eminem equally upset and excited Hip-Hop fans because it demonstrated that this tournament was not going to be a cakewalk for anybody.

In case you missed it or if you want to relive it we would like to highlight and review some of the more talked about Emcee debates and break it down from the mouths of the voters themselves. There was also a Greatest Emcees All-Time Power Ranking developed by the fans votes as you will see at the bottom of this article.

And in case you’re wondering….Nas was crowned The Greatest Emcee of All-Time According 2 Hip-Hop!

GURU Defeating Eminem In The 1st Round:  Eminem is generally thought of being an Emcee that is top 20 or even top 10 of All-Time depending on who you ask.  Mainstream music outlet Rolling Stone Magazine just recently named Eminem The King of Hip-Hop. In some form this match-up looked like a David and Goliath match, at least for those that were unaware of GURU’s legacy. Here are some arguments that were made.

Eminem voter: I like Guru, but let’s break it down: LYRICAL SKILL – Em, no question. Dude’s technique is flawless. Guru makes up his lack of technique and vocab with his delivery. QUALITY OF ALBUMS – I can give that to Guru, although Em is no slouch. QUALITY OF SONGS – This could go either way. Guru has “Just To Get A Rep”, “Mass Appeal”, “Royalty” among many others and Em has “I Am Whatever You Say I Am”, “97 Bonnie and Clyde”, “Stan”, among others. I say that’s a tie. IMPACT OF SONGS AND ALBUMS – Let’s keep it 100 – how much of an impact did Guru have on the game? What did he change about the game? What trend did he set? Who did he influence? We appreciated Guru more when he passed away, honestly. How often does he show up on YOUR top 5? Outside of sales, I think Em’s impact speaks for itself. Dude was really the first legitimate white rapper. Em is currently making lyrics “cool” again with his EP with Royce. C’mon son lol STORYTELLING – Guru is good, but Guru didn’t make “97 Bonnie and Clyde”. ORIGINALITY – I say this is a tie because they’re both original in their own way. Guru’s main thing that set him apart was his monotone voice, which could never be duplicated. Em, while the idea of a white rapper isn’t original, he was original in his content. No rapper used their imagination to the extent he did. Sure we all know Redman heavily influenced his style, but it was HOW he delivered these songs – “97 Bonnie & Clyde”, “Stan”, “K.I.M.”, etc. WHO DO I THINK THE BETTER EMCEE IS? Again, I love to listen to Guru over a Premo beat and Moment of Truth is one of my top 10 favorite albums hands down, but I’m a fan of technique and how you put words together. Em incorporates more technique in his rhymes than ANYONE and executes it flawlessly and makes it sound effortless. His rhyme schemes are ridiculous, his wordplay is crazy…the only thing that he lacks is the voice because it can get too high pitched, but I can name 5 quotable Em verses off the top of the head before I could name one from Guru. Real talk. “Renegade”, “If I Get Locked Up”, “Dead Wrong”, “Patiently Waiting”, “Forgot About Dre”. So yeah, I know I’m late because I was at the job – but that’s my explanation and I’m sticking to it. EM!!!”

GURU voter: “GURU HANDS DOWN! I got love for Em and he is nice and all but GURU has timeless classics. Not only does GURU have timeless classics but he is one of the few Emcees that I’ve never heard a wack album from. Songs like “JUST TO GET A REP”, “MASS APPEAL”, “DYWICK”, “STEP INTO THE ARENA”, the list goes on! Then he stepped outside the box doing his Jazz thing which was very slept on and dope. GURU is a very big part of Hip-Hop and think about it..Who’s more respected? Who told better stories you can relate to? Who appealed more to the Hip-Hop world? GURUwas also giving a message and teaching in his music so it’s not even close in my opinion.

Big L Defeating Lauryn Hill In The 1st Round: Big L’s fans really showed up in this match-up. The backlash of this debate went into the 2nd & 3rd Rounds.  This was the reaction from a Lauryn Hill fan after her loss to Big L:

Lauryn Hill Voter: C’mon People, now we all know that Lauryn Hill will not make it to the end but C’mon now if where going by the standers of According 2 Hip-Hop then Lauryn is clearly the winner. Look at the FACTS:

Fact 1 Lauryn Hill’s Impact in the Hip-Hop Game was far Greater than Big L’s and the it is still begin felt do to the FACT that Female Hip-Hop has been in slow Kill every since she stepped away from the game.

Fact 2 Lauryn Hill was the Fugees, no Lauryn no Fugees. Why you think the group has come together to make new music. WyClef could have replace Lauryn if he wanted to groups do it all the time, but who you going to put in to fill Lauryn Hill’s shoes. Right nobody.

Fact 3 Lyrically both are neck and neck but Lauryn edges out Big L do to the FACT that she could spit you some political/conscious shit as well spit some shit about how nice she was on the mic. Big L was doing that

Fact4 Lauryn Hill was a complete artist she could RAP AND SING and the shit was not wack on either side of the coin. Lauryn Hill was not Drake, meaning she could really SANG SOME NOTES.

Fact: 5 Lauryn Hill could hang with the best of the fellas when it came to rocking the mic. There are not that many Female Emcees that can do that shit.

Mos Def Defeating Jay-Z In The 2nd Round: This match-up saw 2  Brooklyn Emcees facing off against one another. Jay-Z vs. Mos Def was so close that it went down to our midnight voting cutoff time. When Mos Def edged out this victory against Jay-Z that’s when the real war of words started to fire off. Jay-Z voters accusing Mos Def voters of hating on Jay-Z and Mos Def voters accusing Jay-Z voters of supporting an Emcee that “acknowledged” the fact that he dumbed down his lyrics to sell records. It was a very eventful debate here is a bit of a sample:

Jay-Z Voter: My vote goes to the Jiggaman. Lyrically – Both are great technical rappers and excellent with words, but I think Mos has an edge over Jay because his content is deeper. Album for album – this is like the Meth/Common debate – Mos has one classic. Jay has 2 definite classics and a slew of arguable ones. Jay wins that. Song for song – Again, this just comes down to Jay being on album 11 – of course his catalog is gonna be deeper – but he’s also made some timeless Hip-Hop AND crossover joints which, to me, gives him the edge. Originality – Mos definitely wins in this category. Impact and influence – Jay wins this hands down, no explanation needed. HOV!

Mos Def Voter: Dammit! Mos Def. As savvy a businessman as Jay-Z is, he doesn’t hold a candle to Mos Def’s talent. I don’t care what you say about Jay’s lyricism it doesn’t compare to Mos. When was the last time Jay played the drums and rapped? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuwVP1WoIhg&feature=related , or when was the last time Jay sang, well I mean, or when was the last time Jay rapped in another language: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G477yV8okEA, Do you think Jay could hang in a cypher with Mos? Possibly. However I think overall when you want to compare Jay to Mos, Jay is not nearly as versatile and talented as people give him credit for. Come on lets go through the criteria: The Bracket & Rules: Judging By Lyrical Skill- Mos, Quality of Albums- Jay (simply because he had better production), Quality of Songs-Mos, Impact of Songs and Albums-Mos (you can’t tell me that a Mos song doesn’t land heavy on your mental), Impact of Lyrics – clearly Mos, Storytelling Ability-Jay, Originality-MOS, and Most Importantly Who You Think The Overall Better Emcee Is-Mos. Remember: Sales Don’t Matter In This Tournament neither does Relevance In The Current Marketplace. It’s All About Overall Quality. Thus, MOS DEF.

Slick Rick Defeating LL Cool in the 2nd Round: Slick Rick and LL Cool are 2 of Hip-Hop’s most recognizing images and names. These Def Jam artists have an infinite amount of respect in the Hip-Hop community in addition to being 2 of the few rappers that rocked hard in the 80’s and still can fill up seats for a show tonight if they had to. This one was close but here is what some of the voters said:

LL Cool J Voter: ‎”LL Cool J is hard as hell!” I was in the 3rd grade when I first heard “Rock the Bells” that ish still bangs! “I Need Love” is the greatest love rap ever! His first four albums are super dope (“Mama Said Knock You Out” might be one of the greatest ever), and you can’t forget “Goin’ Back to Cali.” I love Slick Rick. Me and my dude performed “La Di Da Di” in our 4th grade school talent show. That ish still bangs too! No song gets the party jumpin’ better to this day. “The Great Adventures of Slick Rick” is classic! “Hey Young World” still motivates me to this very day. But Ricky can’t handle Uncle L. His shadow is too long, and he’s battle tested (took out my dude Ice T and Kool Moe Dee, not to mention a few young cats too). L is my dude.

Slick Rick Voter: I’m not going to make this a personal vote but I will this, even though I don’t Believe Slick Rick is the Greatest Story Teller of All Time. I will say that he is better than LL Cool J

Impact: both have had a huge Impact on the game but Ricky’s is Impact is felt more in the Hip-Hop Game. One, there are many that feel that Rick is the Greatest Story Teller of all Time and will do all they can to prove their point. You never see LL’s name mention when people speak about the top 10 Greatest Emcee’s of all time. Rick wins

Also people always speak on the fact that LL has been around for a long time. Longevity doesn’t mean SHIT if you are putting out wack albums. LL’s last nice album was the Mr. Smith Album and that was back in 1995 or 96.

Slick Rick also had the VOICE and FLOW/DELIVERY

Ricky wins

Common Defeating 2Pac In The 3rd Round: The deeper we got into the tournament the harder these decisions became for the voters. This match-up was not an easy one for the hardcore Hip-Hop fans, many even said it was unfair. Once again this match-up took us all the way into the midnight voting deadline. In the end Common aka Common Sense won out over the late great 2Pac. This is what some of our voters had to say:

2Pac Voter:  At Pac’s height, he had arguably every thug, pro-black, lower class, middle class, upper class, college student, educated, and even not so educated person on the face of this planet a fan and following him. I remember when All Eyes On Me dropped; I remember how I could not find a person who didn’t like that CD. And I remember when he died, how black folks were devastated. He is our “black Elvis” b/c to this day, I still occasionally hear the “rumor” about him still being alive. Now, I will give it to Common; lyrically, he smashes Pac. But that type of influence overrides lyricism, big time! Everybody and they momma loved Pac…..literally. That type of influence can’t be ignored. Vote to 2pac.

Common Voter: Lyrical content: Tie 10/10
Flow: Pac had one consistent flow that worked with any beat like Jada. Common is a dope flower that can switch it up a variety of ways and still come strong. Com 6/8
Songs: both have a nice catalogue of classic Hip-Hop records. 10/10
Delivery: Pac has one of the dopest deliveries in Hip-Hop history; captivating. Com while lacking mic presence is one of the best when it comes to stylin (switching up speeds and vocal inflections and adding pauses to his rhymes)Pac 10/8
Albums: Pac has three classics and Com has two but he didn’t maintain the consistency that Pac did. Electric Circus and UMC were some WTF Pac. 10/ 7
Lyrical Skill: Although Pac is great with alliteration and assonance he was always an average lyricist. Com is one of the best in history. Com 6/10
Originality: Pac covered a variety of subjects but nothing new. Com really pushes the limits. The images he paints are pure poetry and are extremely difficult to replicate. Com 6/10
58/62 Com

Rakim Defeating The Notorious B.I.G In The 4th Round: Another tough debate.  Biggie’s lack of a lengthy catalog might have played a part in his loss to the GOD Emcee Rakim but there were interesting arguments on both sides.

Biggie Voter: I was eleven years old when Paid In Full (the album) came out. That means that many of the people who will participate in this debate were not even thought of yet or had no idea who he was until ten years after this album even came out.

Some of y’all are too influenced by Rakim’s mythology. Yes, he is one of the greatest MC’s of all time. And yes, he made major cultural contributions that pushed Hip-Hop culture to new heights and levels. He might even be a better lyricist than Biggie, but I think that B.I.G. wins this one comfortably.

Here’s why: Rakim’s got so much mythology that young heads don’t even realize that he lost much steam and momentum over the course of his career. The first two albums are classics, but most heads in their thirties will tell you that the third album (Let The Rhythm Hit’em) was a MAJOR let down. The fourth one was only a little bit better (remember how you felt the first time you saw the video for “Don’t Sweat the Technique,” when Eric B and Rakim were surrounded by a sea of white chicks?). The saving grace on that album was “Know the Ledge,” but young heads should recognize that song blew up because it was on the soundtrack to the movie “Juice” not because of the album itself.

Thus, Rakim had about a six year gap in his career before the 18th Letter came out. And who blew up during those six years? BIGGIE. He among others made most people (save for a few heads) nearly forget about Rakim. BIG is also a lyricist of the first order and his cultural contributions are nearly unmatched. Honest heads that see through the mythology will admit that while Rakim is “the God,” his run was relatively short lived. So was Biggie’s — but we never had the opportunity to see him fall from grace.

Rakim Voter: Lyrical content: Biggie’s glaring weakness here. Ra covered a variety and subjects and is all about content. 4/9
Flow: Big has a perfect flow and one of the greatest of all time. Rakim is a dope flower too but not on Big’s level. 10/8
Quality of Songs: Tie both have top ten classics 10/10
Delivery: Big has a charisma and personality that has been unmatched. Rakim has a tremendous vocal presence but lacks charisma and personality sometimes. Big. 10/7
Albums: Tie both have multiple classic albums. 9/9
Lyrical Skill: Both have excellent wordplay and heavily use internal rhyme schemes and multi-syllabic rhyme patterns. I would say Rah has the slight edge here because he can carry a metaphor for multiple bars, which is extremely difficult to do. 9/10
Originality: Ra has this one too. Rakim came out of nowhere. Big never did anything really original he just perfected a lot of what was done. 6/10
Storytelling: Big is one of the illest story tellers. Ra is great but not one of the elite. Big 10/7
Impact: Both are tied here. Had a huge impact on the game 10/10
78/80 Rakim Allah (Closer than I thought)

Nas Defeating KRS-One In The Semi Finals:

KRS-One Voter: KRS-One stands head and shoulders above the competition in this tournament. Nas, Rakim, and Big Daddy Kane are all legendary MC’s. But, KRS-One’s sustained lyricism, consistent cultural and intellectual contributions for over 30 years — as well as the fact that he played a critical role in establishing and building Hip Hop culture — make him THE GREATEST MC of All-Time.

Each of our final four MC’s are lyricists of the first order. So what sets them apart? It’s their LEGACY – or being more than just a “dope lyricist.” Who best represents our culture’s values, history, traditions, political/social beliefs, and emphasis on lyricism? In other words, who has had the strongest impact overall? Once you get passed your own personal allegiance to Nas, Rakim, or Kane, the answer is clear: Knowledge Reigns Supreme over Nearly Everybody.

Nas shouldn’t be considered our greatest ever because he hasn’t done much to push our culture’s boundaries beyond those that KRS established. What is Nas’s legacy? What has he done beyond mastering the art of MCing? He’s got the “live nigga rap” genre on lock, but his cultural contributions are very limited as compared to the Blastmaster. KRS gave us the “Stop the Violence” movement (e.g., “Self Destruction” among other national initiatives) 20 years ago. In recent years he’s established the Temple of Hip Hop – a cultural center that emphasizes education and spiritual growth through Hip Hop. Moreover, not only has Kris written several books about Hip Hop, but scholars have written books about him! KRS practices what he preaches; that’s why no one has ever seriously questioned “The Teacher.”

Kris definitely has an advantage over Nas since he arrived on the scene during Hip Hop’s infancy. But during the mid-1990’s pinnacle of East Coast Hip Hop – when our culture was far beyond infancy – Nas failed to differentiate himself from other NYC legends like Biggie and Jay-Z. How can Nas be anointed our greatest MC overall when he isn’t even the “King of New York”?

Nas hasn’t ever been seriously considered to be at least an heir to “the throne” because he lacks the kind of charisma that appeals to heads across all walks in life (in fact, yesterday respected contributor to these debates said that he has a “lukewarm allure”). You might say that about KRS now. But 20 years ago, his style and charisma was widespread.

Believe it or not, Nasty Nas is one of my favorite MC’s. Illmatic is a top-five album in Hip Hop history and I don’t like having to critique him like this. But anointing our greatest MC is an important task that should not be taken lightly. Nas, Rakim, and Kane all have dope “lyrics” but none of them can match KRS’s “legacy.”

Nas Voter: Lyrical Skill – I think they’re both up there, both have incredible content but I’d give Nas the edge because (purely on a technical level), we’ve heard Nas switch the flow up in more ways than KRS. Not to mention, Nas has experimented more on the lyrical side of things: speed rapping, telling a story backwards, and experimenting with his voice pitch. KRS is great with the words, but you pretty much know what you’re gonna get when you throw on a KRS album. I can’t really say that with Nas.

Quality of Albums – I’m sorry but I can’t honestly say that Criminal Minded is better than Illmatic. Criminal Minded is CLASSIC, but it’s nowhere near as celebrated as Illmatic. Plus if we’re talking quality of album(s) being plural, Nas really only has 2 major misses in my book: Nastradamus and Street’s Disciple. With KRS, I’d say most of his albums went unnoticed after I Got Next. We almost forgot about him until he beefed with Nelly. Nas on the other hand – has at least 3 certified classics (Illmatic, Stillmatic, and Lost Tapes) and a few arguable ones (It Was Written, God’s Son).

Quality of Songs – both have extensive catalogs – lots of hits and misses for the both of them – but being that Nas is on album 11, he has by far a deeper catalog of classic material. For every song you give me for KRS, I could give you three of Nas’s.

Impact of Songs and Albums – I think KRS shines in this moment because of the Stop the Violence campaign, but if we’re talking impact of songs AND albums…well, Illmatic speaks for itself, just keepin it 200.

Impact of Lyrics – Again, KRS shines here because of his content. But again, if you give me one KRS verse, I could give you three or four from Nas. Yes, KRS is the teacher, but you can’t be a teacher without students who LISTEN to you lol Every now and again KRS will have a song or interview where we’ll be like, “Ok, I see his point.” Nas, on the other hand – EVERYTIME he opens his mouth, we listen – even when he’s wrong! EXAMPLE: Nas’s facts were WAAAAAY off on “These Are Our Heroes” off of Street’s Disciple, but we listened and are influenced by it anyway because of his prescience. Same with “I Can” off of God’s Son. His last verse made us wanna do some research ourselves to dig deeper on what he could only say in 16 bars. I can’t remember the last time KRS made me do that. NOT TO MENTION – let’s not forget the infamous “Hip-Hop is dead” statement which the entire industry: fans, executives and artists alike weighing in on it. If THAT’S not impact, I don’t know what is.

Storytelling Ability – do I need to really explain this? lol If you haven’t heard “Rewind”, “Blaze a 50″, “Realest Nigga Alive”, “Drunk By Myself” or “Undying Love”, then we have nothing to talk about lol

Originality – Overall, I’d say KRS has the edge over this because we all know Nas is a direct descendant of Rakim and Kool G Rap. As far as songs go, Nas is as original as they come: “One Mic”, “I Gave You Power”, “One Love”, “One Mic”, “Rewind”, “Book of Rhymes”, etc.

Most Importantly Who You Think The Overall Better Emcee Is – perhaps I may be a little biased because I grew up on Nas and he’s always gone back and forth as my number one rapper (him and Jay), but I don’t see this as that difficult a match up. If we’re going by A2HH’s criteria, this is EASY lol Who do I think is the better overall emcee? Of course Nas – he’s better rounded than almost any rapper in the game. He comes from the old school but is able to stay consistent (lyrically) in 2011 and not compromise the quality of his lyrics. I mean, have you heard “Nasty”?! Don’t get me wrong, KRS is a beast, but he’s a one-trick pony. Nas has given us left-field concepts, different flows, deeper stories, different personas. Even when he misses the mark, I appreciate him taking a risk.

Also, I gotta say Nas probably had one of the best comebacks we’ve ever seen when he battled Jay. KRS wasn’t in the same position when he battled Shan. Nas had more to overcome because he was at a point where we pretty much counted him out. Like Jay said he “went from top 10 to not mentioned at all”, so for him to strike as hard as he did with “Ether” says a lot about his ability as an emcee.

I vote ESCO to take it all.

Nas Defeating Rakim In The Final 2 Earn The Title As The Greatest Emcee of All-Time.

Rakim Voter: Earlier in Nas’s career, he said that Rakim was his favorite and that he inspired him to be type of artist that he was. Nas even wrote a song dedicated to Ra. He raised the bar when he dropped ” PAID IN FULL “. He raised it even higher with ” FOLLOW THE LEADER ” . He neva glorified drug use and violence. U neva hear him degrade women by callin them bitches and hoes ! The 1st time I even heard him even curse was on the song “Mahogany “, which was on his 3rd album. KRS 1 was wrong for not puttin Ra on SELF DESTRUCTION. Public Enemy’s 1st album was ” BUMRUSH THE SHOW “. BDP’s 1st was ” CRIMINAL MINDED ” …..The second was ” BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY ” , where KRS1 has an Uzi in his hand ! Ra wasn’t on that ish ! But after the death of Scott La Rock and a fan, the start a STOP THE VIOLENCE movement and didn’t even holla at Ra . SMH . His flow neva faded. He’s nicer now than he was when he dropped Follow The Leader. And there are cats today……that can’t touch what he wrote back in 1988! ! How many artist do u know , can take a 10 year hiatus and still be regarded as the best that ever done it?? His is, to me, the most influential and skill MC of our time. ‎”I am the way, the truth, and the light. No one comes to the Father except through me” said God’s son.

Hip hop fans need to stop being so needy and demanding. When Sade takes a 5 year break to “live” and then comes back people just accept the new album and pay the $100 to see her in concert. While she’s on hiatus not one goes around saying she “fell off.” Why do we do that to our favorite rappers?

“If you loved me you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is GREATER than I” said God’s son.

Now if Jesus can admit that the Creator that gave him life is greater than him then I think Nas can too…RAKIM IS THE ORIGINAL DON DADA!!

Nas Voter: So I’ve been reading these comments all day and has come to the realization that we are debating possibly two of the greatest MC’s to have ever touched the mic. Regardless of who wins even being in the finals is a great accomplishment in its own. For some reason I knew these two would meet. One thing I don’t understand is how some of ya’ll are sayin “Rakim hands down” or “Nas got this easy”. This is really a hard question. The one question I keep seeing being asked is… Have the student become the Master. IMO, I would say yes. Rakim hasn’t had to overcome a lot of the same obstacles Nas had. Nas had to stay ahead of the curve in the ever changing culture and still try to keep true to himself. Even when he had to succumb to the politics of the game he still was able to bounce back and not miss a step. Ever since Illmatic he has been looked at as the golden child, a prodigy, and the next Rakim. I think since Nas was fortunate to come out in the era that he did. He was groomed by the greats… Rakim, BDK, KGR, KRS One. When you wrap all the greats in one you have Nas… A master lyricist, able to tell the most creative story’s, educate within his lyrics, and still able to appeal to everyone. Don’t get me wrong… Rakim is an OUTSTANDING MC, but I think people get so used to not questioning him, or comparing him to anyone else, they tend to overlook other MC’s. With all that said… My vote goes to (if you haven’t figured it yet) NASIR JONES aka NAS aka NASTY NAS aka GOD SON aka ESCO aka NASTRADAMUS aka THE GREATEST MC!!!

Greatest Emcee All-Time Tournament Power Rankings

1) Nas
2) Rakim
3) KRS-One
4) Big Daddy Kane
5) Ice Cube
6) The Notorious B.I.G
7) Scarface
8 ) Common
9)  2Pac
10)   Redman
11)   Black Thought
12)   Slick Rick
13)   Kool G Rap
14)   Andre 3000
15)   Mos Def
16)   Busta Rhymes
17)   Chuck D
18)   LL Cool J
19)   Jay-Z
20)   GURU
21)   Ghostface
22)   Q-Tip
23)   Kanye West
24)   Method Man
25)   MC Lyte
26)   Raekwon
27)   DMX
28)   GZA
29)   Big Pun
30)   Big L
31)   Treach
32)   Kool Moe Dee
33)   Lauryn Hill
34)   Talib Kweli
35)   Eminem
36)   Snoop Dogg
37)   Posdnuos
38)   Big Boi
39)   Jadakiss
40)   Bun B
41)   Queen Latifah
42)   Lord Finesse
43)   Melle Mel
44)   AZ
45)   Pharoahe Monch
46)   Cee-lo
47)   Prodigy
48)   Ras Kass
49)   Beanie Sigel
50)   Lupe Fiasco
51)   T.I
52)   Canibus
53)   Ludacris
54)   Kurupt
55)   Fabolous
56)   Xzbit
57)   Keith Murray
58)   Joe Budden
59)   Joell Ortiz
60)   DJ Quik
61)   50 Cent
62)   Lil Wayne
63)   The Lady of Rage
64)   B-Real

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