S. Samuel
ROUND ONE: The battle gets large today as rap newcomer Big Sean faces off with Little Brother's Big Pooh. Whose list gets the props? You decide!
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I gotta start the list off with Jadakiss. He’s got to be in there. I never heard Jada spit a bad verse. Ever. Hands down Jada’s gotta go first. |
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Big Sean goes in there because I’m my favorite rapper. H*ll yeah. I’m deserving of being in the Hall of Fame because I changed hip-hop with a rap star before even dropping my first album. Everybody in the game you can think from Lil Wayne to Drake were influenced [by me]. They borrowed my style, [and] it showed me how far I can go in this rap game. I’m only 22. |
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I’m gonna have to put Bun B in there. Bun B is so underrated. I think people miss a lot of the things he says in his music. I’ve taken the time to go back and analyze Bun B’s music and I think a lot of people miss some of the brilliant things he says, especially [with] his flow patterns. |
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Number two, I’ve got to go with Kanye West. I feel like Kanye brought a fresh new style to the game [in addition to me]. That’s just something you can’t ignore. He’s always coming from the heart with his music and he’s gonna do the songs that “he” wants to do. |
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You definitely gotta put Big Pun in my list. He had the little Kool G. Rap flow, a little bit of that. He was just one of those cats that could spit. When you saw him, you were like, “Nah, come on, look at this guy.” But when you started hearing him, he just sent chills through your spine. We knew he evolved from Kool G. Rap but he was still Pun. That Capital Punishment record? Ain’t too many f*cking with Pun. A lot of these young cats weren’t listening to Pun when he was breathing and doing it better than most. |
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Number three has to to go Lil Wayne. Look at what he’s done. He continues to out-do himself and prove [it] to everyone, verse after verse after verse. Every verse that he’s done has always been good when you look at what he’s done in hip-hop. I’ve been listening to Wayne since 500 Degreez and onward. |
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Looking back at his early career, I’d have to put Ice Cube in there. Cube was probably the most unstoppable writer at the early part of his career. He was killing it early in his career. And then when he started getting into the movies, directing and all of that, he kind of fell off. But he tried to make a comeback with his last two records and they’re decent. But off his early work alone, Cube is definitely in the Top 5. Hands down. |
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I’m going to put Andre 3000 in the Top 5 list as well. When it comes to Andre 3000, it’s all about complexity. It boils down to how complex he is. If you think about it, Andre has to be one of the most witty and complex rappers of all-time. He’s also a very great storyteller. |
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Outkast is in there at the end. Andre 3000 is one of those rappers that’s so intelligent. He’s so intelligent but it doesn’t go too much over your head. He knows how to make it and put the slick sh*t in there and make it so subtle-like. He knows how to use his country dialect to really let the words line up. It’s brilliant. He’s one of those guys who I know doesn’t want to admit how brilliant he is but he’s just one of those dudes I could listen to all day long. A lot of people get caught up listening to Andre and forget how Big Boi be spitting. He’s a pattern guy. Not only does he spit but then he puts those words in ill patterns. If you go back and listen to some of his old sh*t, he really goes in to it. |
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I’ll end the list with Common being my last choice. Common is definitely one of the greatest. I don’t think he always necessarily gets that credit. His level of skill is just incredible. He’s always been one of those rappers that I felt always spoke from the soul. |
