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 the Kidz in the Hall dropped their Top 5, NC duo The Away Team gave us a look at their fave picks.
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Busta Rhymes. Give Busta any beat and you’ll see why he’s one of the greatest. You know what I’m saying? His pen game gets slept-on. His pen is actually nice, but I think people get lost in his antics. His knack for finding that pocket in the beat … he mastered that sh*t. I don’t know if it’s from how he came up, or if somebody told him how to do it, but he has a knack for finding those pockets in the beat. – Khrysis -
Ol’ Dirty Bastard. Why do I throw ODB in the mix? Because there’s nobody like him. Ever. He’ll just be playing around and just stumble up on something good by accident. That’s how ODB’s style was, not to mention, he knew how to rock a party! My big thing for alot of MC’s is this: There’s nothing wrong with lyrics and wordplay, but when it comes down to it, knowing how to rock a party is sort of a lost element. Dirty knew how to command your attention. When you go to a party and “Brooklyn Zoo” comes on, you know the whole is singin’ along. – Khrysis
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Keith Murray. One of my favorites of all time is Keith Murray. I think the Enigma album is an incredible. He flips the big words and stuff, plus he’s got that aggressiveness. The way he attacks mics, yo that’s my sh*t! My aggressivness comes from Keith Murray. The way I approach songs, was inspired by that dude. All day long. – Sean Boog
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Redman. I throw him in for the same reason I mentioned Busta: These people are not only dope lyricists, but they found the balance between lyrics and straight rockin’. They know how to do that sh*t. Like I said before, that’s an element that may not be totally lost, but it’s overlooked in the art of MCing. – Khrysis
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Talib Kweli. It’s hard to pick a 5, but what I will say is this: Reflection Eternal did a lot for me as an artist. That was a huge record for me personally, just how cohesive it is … that album is timeless. Everything he’s done even after that can mean nothing — not to say that it doesn’t, but on the strength of that album alone he’s a monumental artist to me. – Sean Boog
Busta Rhymes. Give Busta any beat and you’ll see why he’s one of the greatest. You know what I’m saying? His pen game gets slept-on. His pen is actually nice, but I think people get lost in his antics. His knack for finding that pocket in the beat … he mastered that sh*t. I don’t know if it’s from how he came up, or if somebody told him how to do it, but he has a knack for finding those pockets in the beat. – Khrysis
Ol’ Dirty Bastard. Why do I throw ODB in the mix? Because there’s nobody like him. Ever. He’ll just be playing around and just stumble up on something good by accident. That’s how ODB’s style was, not to mention, he knew how to rock a party! My big thing for alot of MC’s is this: There’s nothing wrong with lyrics and wordplay, but when it comes down to it, knowing how to rock a party is sort of a lost element. Dirty knew how to command your attention. When you go to a party and “Brooklyn Zoo” comes on, you know the whole is singin’ along. – Khrysis
Keith Murray. One of my favorites of all time is Keith Murray. I think the Enigma album is an incredible. He flips the big words and stuff, plus he’s got that aggressiveness. The way he attacks mics, yo that’s my sh*t! My aggressivness comes from Keith Murray. The way I approach songs, was inspired by that dude. All day long. – Sean Boog
Redman. I throw him in for the same reason I mentioned Busta: These people are not only dope lyricists, but they found the balance between lyrics and straight rockin’. They know how to do that sh*t. Like I said before, that’s an element that may not be totally lost, but it’s overlooked in the art of MCing. – Khrysis
Talib Kweli. It’s hard to pick a 5, but what I will say is this: Reflection Eternal did a lot for me as an artist. That was a huge record for me personally, just how cohesive it is … that album is timeless. Everything he’s done even after that can mean nothing — not to say that it doesn’t, but on the strength of that album alone he’s a monumental artist to me. – Sean Boog
