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 Obie Trice brought out his fave five earlier this week, Memphis veteran Lil Wyte unwraps his top spitters.]
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Three 6 Mafia. They completely changed the way Southern hip-hop was created. They completely changed the way Southern gangster rap was created and molded. -
Master P. Definitely. Master P hustled and grinded. His No Limit Records was dropping like two albums a month. At least I know for a fact that south of the Mason-Dixon line, everyone was saying, ‘Uhhhh, uhhhhh. Naaaa naaa naaaaa.’ They had Silkk the Shocker, Mia X, Mystikal and everyone. He’s one of the godfathers to how Southern rappers do it these days.
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Dr. Dre. I would have to put him in there. He’s got to be in there. If Eminem’s on the list, Dre’s got to be on the list. Dre changed everything. When Dre brought Em into the game, then Em brought 50 Cent into the game. It’s not so much the music but what he brought to the music industry.
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Lil Jon. It sounds crazy but Lil Jon is my boy and I love him to death. I met him and he actually took crunk to a commercial level and let everyone know what was going on. I think that was awesome that one man could single handedly do that.
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UGK. I have to go with UGK. Bun B and Pimp C. They helped mold Master P, Young Money When Jay-Z and UGK did “Big Pimpin’,” that’s when I knew things were going down. Whoever came up with that idea, I would like to meet them. Jesus Christ. Who thought of that one? Jigga and Bun B and Pimp C? I think that really connected the North and the South in a very big way. That gave people a lot of respect to the South and also the North. It honestly made me start buying more Jay-Z CDs.
Three 6 Mafia. They completely changed the way Southern hip-hop was created. They completely changed the way Southern gangster rap was created and molded.
Master P. Definitely. Master P hustled and grinded. His No Limit Records was dropping like two albums a month. At least I know for a fact that south of the Mason-Dixon line, everyone was saying, ‘Uhhhh, uhhhhh. Naaaa naaa naaaaa.’ They had Silkk the Shocker, Mia X, Mystikal and everyone. He’s one of the godfathers to how Southern rappers do it these days. 
Dr. Dre. I would have to put him in there. He’s got to be in there. If Eminem’s on the list, Dre’s got to be on the list. Dre changed everything. When Dre brought Em into the game, then Em brought 50 Cent into the game. It’s not so much the music but what he brought to the music industry.
Lil Jon. It sounds crazy but Lil Jon is my boy and I love him to death. I met him and he actually took crunk to a commercial level and let everyone know what was going on. I think that was awesome that one man could single handedly do that.
UGK. I have to go with UGK. Bun B and Pimp C. They helped mold Master P, Young Money When Jay-Z and UGK did “Big Pimpin’,” that’s when I knew things were going down. Whoever came up with that idea, I would like to meet them. Jesus Christ. Who thought of that one? Jigga and Bun B and Pimp C? I think that really connected the North and the South in a very big way. That gave people a lot of respect to the South and also the North. It honestly made me start buying more Jay-Z CDs.
