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 Slaine unveiled his top choices, rap veteran John Regan dishes out his top five favorite emcees.]
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Lupe Fiasco. He’s that dude who can cross over to mainstream but still rock with the real hip-hop. He wants to put out his product the way he wants it. -
Raekwon. I’m surprised he’s not a part of the Hall of Fame list. Just look at his longevity. He’s been doing it for a minute. He can perform forever. Wu-Tang forever.
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Common. I’ve got a lot of respect for Common. He obviously did his thing in the 1990’s and even after his thing went down with Erykah Badu, he maintained himself through that. He was able to maintain. I know Kanye West came through a little bit later in his career and helped keep him back up. I’ve got a lot of respect for Common.
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Prodigy. He falls in the same category as Biggie because he can say so much in one line. Nas could do a whole verse but Prodigy could do just four bars and say the same exact thing.
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Lauryn Hill. To be honest, when it comes to pioneers, I think Raekwon was the one who said Drake was like a male version of Lauryn Hill because they cross-genre their music. She can rap and she can sing. She was doing her thing with the Fugees and her own stuff. Even having disappeared from music, people still had a bunch of respect for her.
Lupe Fiasco. He’s that dude who can cross over to mainstream but still rock with the real hip-hop. He wants to put out his product the way he wants it.
Raekwon. I’m surprised he’s not a part of the Hall of Fame list. Just look at his longevity. He’s been doing it for a minute. He can perform forever. Wu-Tang forever.
Common. I’ve got a lot of respect for Common. He obviously did his thing in the 1990’s and even after his thing went down with Erykah Badu, he maintained himself through that. He was able to maintain. I know Kanye West came through a little bit later in his career and helped keep him back up. I’ve got a lot of respect for Common.
Prodigy. He falls in the same category as Biggie because he can say so much in one line. Nas could do a whole verse but Prodigy could do just four bars and say the same exact thing.
Lauryn Hill. To be honest, when it comes to pioneers, I think Raekwon was the one who said Drake was like a male version of Lauryn Hill because they cross-genre their music. She can rap and she can sing. She was doing her thing with the Fugees and her own stuff. Even having disappeared from music, people still had a bunch of respect for her.
