S. Samuel
[Each week, SOHH asks two entertainment personalities to name their Top 5 rappers of all-time. To make things tricky, we've created a "Hall of Fame" of emcees (see right) who are universally respected and therefore may not be mentioned. After Sadat X named his top picks, Swishahouse's Lil Keke announces his fave five.]
Andre 3000. He’s got to be there somewhere between one and two. He can go lyrically anywhere he wants to. He’s talented. He’s been around for a long time. The impact of his verses have meant a lot to me.
Lil Keke. I would have to put myself in there. I’ve sold over 2 million records independently, besides Scarface, everybody is using a style that I created. You can go out and check that from every person that came ouf of this state [of Texas]. They use my samples and scratches. There’s not one artist that went platinum out of Houston, Texas that didn’t use one of my samples for their music.
Rick Ross. I would have to put him in there. No matter how much you don’t like Rick Ross, as an artist, he makes good music. He chooses good beats, he has good lyrics and he can really make good songs. He’s got a nice broad audience. He can reach the street n*ggas and can reach the women at the same time. He reminds me of our generation’s Biggie. Not the impact, but with everything else.
N.W.A. Eazy E. Ice Cube. I need to put him before Andre 3000. I can’t believe he’s not in the Hall of Fame. Ice Cube really brought cursing to rap. I remember having to hide my tapes because they were N.W.A. Ice Cube was really the first one to start saying “F*ck the police” and all that stuff. Dr. Dre. I don’t have him in there from a lyrical standpoint, but I have him in there from a mogul standpoint. He’s walked away from $200 million and made $500 million. You’ve got to love it. Ice Cube and Dre belong in the Hall of Fame.
Def Jam. I have to put them in there. They’re the first ones who taught me how to rap. That’s Run-DMC and LL Cool J.
