S. Samuel
[Each week, SOHH asks two entertainment personalities to name their Top 5 hip-hop artists 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 Mike and Maurkice Pouncey revealed their hottest five, music duo Planet VI's A.I. and Uptown name their top picks.]
Drake. He has to go in there. -A.I.
Lil Wayne. I think Lil Wayne’s wordplay has never been seen before. He’s a living legend. I think the way Lil Wayne raps, you have to include him in there. -Uptown
Lauryn Hill. I got to put Lauryn Hill on there. The Fugees is like my all-time favorite group to ever make music. Lauryn Hill, dog, most men can’t rap better than her. Rap is dope and it’s great if you can put clever words together but if you can rap, say something and sell records? That’s hard, bro. I’m sorry. It’s easy to go A-B-C-D-E-F-G. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill was damn-near a gospel album. She’s got to be in there. -Uptown
Kendrick Lamar. Kendrick is definitely on the list. He doesn’t care about radio, he’s just there to make music. It’s like Drake and Kanye, you expect quality when you hear his music. He also really knows how to use his words. He knows how to put words together and paint pictures with stories. Hip-hop started with stories, like with Slick Rick and The Art of Storytelling, Kendrick tells some really, really good stories. -A.I.
Kanye West. I would have to put Kanye West on there because he’s been so consistent in putting out new music. Kanye is the most consistent out of all the artists out. Kanye doesn’t have to drop a single for me to buy his album. I just assume it’s going to be quality. -Uptown
