S. Samuel
FINAL ROUND: Former Little BrotherBig Pooh and DJ Scratch face-off pick-for-pick. Whose list gets the FINAL props?
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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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Melle Mel. Man, Melle deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. He goes without saying. Just listen to “The Message”. That song is so far ahead of its time. He has so many bodies of work, but it’s just that one record that’s so amazing and ahead of its time. Just “The Message” alone puts him in there. |
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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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LL Cool J. LL Cool J needs to be in the Hall of Fame as well. LL Cool J is the greatest of all time. He’s the most consistent and the only artist that’s completed a record deal from start to finish. He has the most platinum albums. He’s LL Cool J. He’s the only emcee in hip-hop who has battled everybody and never lost. Undefeated. |
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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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Busta Rhymes. I say Busta Rhymes, stopping at his fourth album. He’s electrifying. Probably the best live performer in hip-hop to this day. And he’s one of the most charismatic artists in hip-hop, carrying that old school tradition into the new school. |
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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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Q-Tip. He’s a genius. I’m not sure if people knew this but he’s an incredible off-the-top freestyle emcee. He’s also another electrifying performer. |
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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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Man, it’s so many. Grand Puba is my final pick. Come on. Just think back to his lyrics. Grand Puba, then Brand Nubian. He’s also one of the most underrated producers in hip-hop. He actually produced the Brand Nubian album. |
