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 Havoc dished out his fave five, M.O.P.'s Billy Danze puts out his top picks.
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This is definitely going to start off with M.O.P., first off. There’s no way you can’t put M.O.P. in there. No explanation needed. -
There’s a dude that nobody probably knows of. I need you to go and look this dude up. His name is Mr. Mike. I believe he’s from Texas. He had an album called Wicked Wayz back in 1997 I believe. I don’t think he ever put out another album but Mr. Mike? A beast. At that time it was kind of hard for the South to get any light but when I tell you he used to wrap circles around the top guy at that time. The dude is bananas. His name is Mr. Mike. It’s crazy.
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Bun B is kinda hot. He’s always carried that flag for Houston for years. A lot of people respect Bun B and he goes hard on the track. Bun B is fire, so you can’t take that away from him.
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One of my favorites, Raekwon, has to be in there. I think Raekwon is one of the dopest emcees to ever grip a mic. A lot of people know but there’s still a lot of people that don’t know. When we talk about dope emcees, we should really be talking about dope emcees. Like when we came out, rapping was more about your lyrics or your style alone. Raekwon actually had both. A lot of people didn’t have that. A lot of people would have style but no lyrics. Some people would have lyrics but no style. Raekwon had both and he had that whole street feel. Raekwon is another one.
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We can’t forget about Guru. Let me tell you something. His voice alone? I wish I had that man’s voice. His voice alone was bananas. He never changed his voice. You never heard him get on a record and chance his voice. The same way he talked to you was the same way he rapped. He would preach to you, [but didn’t] try to make you feel like he was smarter than you like a lot of rappers do. Guru would preach to you and teach you things that kids today don’t even understand. He was a sharp dude. This dude would glow on stage. I was blessed to tour and work with him. This dude was special. Guru would be my top pick.
This is definitely going to start off with M.O.P., first off. There’s no way you can’t put M.O.P. in there. No explanation needed.
There’s a dude that nobody probably knows of. I need you to go and look this dude up. His name is Mr. Mike. I believe he’s from Texas. He had an album called Wicked Wayz back in 1997 I believe. I don’t think he ever put out another album but Mr. Mike? A beast. At that time it was kind of hard for the South to get any light but when I tell you he used to wrap circles around the top guy at that time. The dude is bananas. His name is Mr. Mike. It’s crazy.
Bun B is kinda hot. He’s always carried that flag for Houston for years. A lot of people respect Bun B and he goes hard on the track. Bun B is fire, so you can’t take that away from him.
One of my favorites, Raekwon, has to be in there. I think Raekwon is one of the dopest emcees to ever grip a mic. A lot of people know but there’s still a lot of people that don’t know. When we talk about dope emcees, we should really be talking about dope emcees. Like when we came out, rapping was more about your lyrics or your style alone. Raekwon actually had both. A lot of people didn’t have that. A lot of people would have style but no lyrics. Some people would have lyrics but no style. Raekwon had both and he had that whole street feel. Raekwon is another one.
We can’t forget about Guru. Let me tell you something. His voice alone? I wish I had that man’s voice. His voice alone was bananas. He never changed his voice. You never heard him get on a record and chance his voice. The same way he talked to you was the same way he rapped. He would preach to you, [but didn’t] try to make you feel like he was smarter than you like a lot of rappers do. Guru would preach to you and teach you things that kids today don’t even understand. He was a sharp dude. This dude would glow on stage. I was blessed to tour and work with him. This dude was special. Guru would be my top pick.
