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 Kyle Rapps put out his fave five, producer Illmind scoops out his top picks.]
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Andre 3000. I picked Andre for obvious reasons, especially looking at OutKast. They have innovated for a long time. He’s almost untouchable on the microphone. I love everything about him. He just embodies a dope emcee. The guy is incredible live. I say give him a few more years and albums and he’ll be up there with Biggie. -
O.C. He has put out a classic album. He’s not the best emcee, but he embodies just dope hip-hop. Everything from the beats he picks to the material he’s put out to the subject matter. It’s just everything. -
Black Sheep. Black Sheep’s in there for what they did for hip-hop. When they came out, it was around the time of A Tribe Called Quest and Native Tongues, but they just kept it funky and kept it fun. They have classic records and they’re a staple in the hip-hop history books. They’re still very much relevant to this day.
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Redman. Not only are we both from New Jersey, he’s one of the greatest. He’s got classic records, he’s one of the first guys to contribute to Def Jam’s success and he’s untoucable. There’s not much more I can say about him. He embodies a dope emcee. He can rhyme his a** off, his live show is crazy and he has classic records and albums.
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J. Dilla. Dilla is, to me, the dopest producer/emcee to ever come out. That’s not taking away from your Pete Rock’s and other guys like Erick Sermon who I almost picked for this spot. His rhyming was just as innovative as his production. He didn’t really talk about much but the way he stretched his words and the way his voice sounded was dope to me. I really feel like he was overlooked on the emcee side and he was dope to me.
Andre 3000. I picked Andre for obvious reasons, especially looking at OutKast. They have innovated for a long time. He’s almost untouchable on the microphone. I love everything about him. He just embodies a dope emcee. The guy is incredible live. I say give him a few more years and albums and he’ll be up there with Biggie.
O.C. He has put out a classic album. He’s not the best emcee, but he embodies just dope hip-hop. Everything from the beats he picks to the material he’s put out to the subject matter. It’s just everything.
Black Sheep. Black Sheep’s in there for what they did for hip-hop. When they came out, it was around the time of A Tribe Called Quest and Native Tongues, but they just kept it funky and kept it fun. They have classic records and they’re a staple in the hip-hop history books. They’re still very much relevant to this day.
Redman. Not only are we both from New Jersey, he’s one of the greatest. He’s got classic records, he’s one of the first guys to contribute to Def Jam’s success and he’s untoucable. There’s not much more I can say about him. He embodies a dope emcee. He can rhyme his a** off, his live show is crazy and he has classic records and albums.
J. Dilla. Dilla is, to me, the dopest producer/emcee to ever come out. That’s not taking away from your Pete Rock’s and other guys like Erick Sermon who I almost picked for this spot. His rhyming was just as innovative as his production. He didn’t really talk about much but the way he stretched his words and the way his voice sounded was dope to me. I really feel like he was overlooked on the emcee side and he was dope to me.
