S. Samuel
ROUND TWO: The duo battle continue as Ninjasonik's (Twitter) Jah takes on group member Telli. Whose list gets the props? You decide!
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I would put Cold Crush Brothers in there. They were at the beginning of [hip-hop music], at the birth and they showed you how to form yourself. They showed you how to form yourself like a warrior, like a man, and how to stick up for yourself. They showed you that everybody plays their part. You have your DJ, your emcee, and everybody plays their part. What they were talking about, they were mostly focused on repping their area and what they were about. They were real emcees and they had microphone control. They knew how to rock a mic and hold down a crowd. |
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You have to put Lupe Fiasco in the list because he’s a straight up animal. Come on, we all need to give him his props. Lupe is one of the best rappers that’s out and deserves to get more respect than he gets. We need to give him his props as one of the best. He’s one of the greatest rappers of this generation. I really don’t feel like he’s gotten the respect he deserves. |
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I’d have to put in Ol’ Dirty Bastard. ODB was such an innovator. He was the definition of “I don’t give a f*ck.” He made it so it had to be what it was going to be, no matter what the situation was. He was all about himself and doing what he felt like doing. That’s why I really respect him. |
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And what about Slick Rick? Come on, you’re talking about one of the greatest storytellers in rap music. Just take the time to listen to “Children’s Story” and hear what he’s talking about. Slick Rick is a legend. The first rhyme I ever learned was “Children’s Story.” |
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I would also put in Big Pun for my list. He was so serious. The things he would say in songs, like, “It’s so hard, n*ggas wanna be like Pun.” The albums he came out with really talked about his storyline. It was like, “Yo I’m Big Pun, and I’m hot right now.” He was addressing his critics in his songs and showed that he didn’t even care, he was about doing what he wanted. |
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Just listen to Ice Cube. He’s another hip-hop legend. Come on. He had the N.W.A. sh*t and his own solo movement back in the day. There’s too many n*ggas that you can name in this list but Ice Cube’s gotta be in there. |
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Q-Tip belongs in there as well. I choose him just because of what he’s done with A Tribe Called Quest in general. I’m into hardcore music, hip-hop and punk rock, and I love Q-Tip. He’s someone that I grew up on. I love the jazzy sound he and Tribe had. His whole voice and tone were so great to me. It was like, “Holy sh*t, this is magical.” When you were younger, you’d have your parents telling you to turn down the rap music. But when you listened to Tip , especially when he was with Tribe, it was a taste of hip-hop and jazz music. |
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I remember LL Cool J was always bad. He’s one of my favorites from growing up. I always loved LL Cool J. LL is one of the best battle rappers ever. |
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Slick Rick. There’s no way you can’t have Slick Rick in there. Slick Rick was a great storyteller. Even if you weren’t in to hip-hop, you can listen to his songs because he was the storyteller. It wasn’t a second where you were like, “The song’s not hot anymore.” You wanted to hear the entire song because it was a story. It took two or three minutes and he would give a whole storyline. |
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And the last rapper in the list would have to be a group. I gotta name the Beastie Boys. They’re in my list as well. |
