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50 Greatest Rappers of All Time

Billboard and Vibe are counting down the best MCs ever in honor of hip-hop's 50th anniversary.

Billboard and Vibe are counting down the best MCs ever in honor of hip-hop’s 50th anniversary.

Source: Billboard

The Greatest of All Time, aka the GOAT. That’s a distinguished — and also contentious — honor when it comes to ranking who or what is the ultimate best, whether you’re talking films, TV shows, restaurants or any other subject.

In early 2023, Billboard/Vibe is ranking the Top 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time as part of our salute to this year’s golden anniversary of hip-hop. (The genre dates back to 1973, when DJ Kool Herc first set up his two turntables to rock a Bronx party.) The rollout began with the Jan. 11 reveal of the rappers ranked 50-41. We’ve revealed 10 more rappers each week since, with the final top 10 now unveiled below.

In determining these rankings, the Billboard and Vibe editorial teams opted first to limit the rap arena to North America. So for example, as estimable as his career is, British rapper Slick Rick isn’t on this list. We also opted not to include the significant contributions of reggaetón and dancehall MCs on this list, just to keep our pool of nominees a little more focused.

From there, the teams took into account the following criteria, not in any particular order: body of work/achievements (charted singles/albums, gold/platinum certifications), cultural impact/influence (how the artist’s work fostered the genre’s evolution), longevity (years at the mic), lyrics (storytelling skills) and flow (vocal prowess).

As is well known, GOAT and similar best-of lists always draw their share of criticism and praise from industry pundits and the public alike. So it took a lot of deliberation and deep discussion to reason our way to what we believe is a well-thought-out, authentic list that reflects hip-hop’s foundational pioneers, evolutionary trailblazers and contemporary mainstays. In addition, that mix also encompasses 50 years of cultural milestones for a genre initially dismissed as a passing fad — and now recognized as the industry’s market-share leader.

So now, let’s run through Billboard/Vibe’s Top 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time … and let the debate rage on.

See the Full List here: https://www.billboard.com/lists/best-rappers-all-time/

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Lil Wayne Reacts To Being Ranked 7th Best Rapper Of All Time

Lil Wayne Reacts To Being Ranked 7th Best Rapper Of All Time

Lil Wayne has responded to his placement on Billboard’s controversial “50 Greatest Rappers Of All Time” list, which saw him ranked at No. 7.

Source: HipHopDX

The Young Money mogul recently sat down with Zane Lowe at Apple Music to discuss his highly anticipated album, The Carter 6. Amid talks about the project, its Swizz Beatz-produced single “Kant Nobody” with the late DMX, Tunechi remarked that he is simply not concerned with the ranking as he’s confident that everyone knows he’s really the G.O.A.T.

“Man, who the hell is before me?” Wayne questioned. “Was the list including ALL Hip Hop, like before and after as well? I can deal with that… I will tell you that I am a muthafuckin’ one. Everybody whose names you named, they also know I’m number one. Go ask ’em. They know what it is.”

Ahead of Wayne on the list, in reverse order, were Biggie Smalls, Eminem, 2pac, Nas, Kendrick Lamar and JAY-Z.

Despite proclaiming himself No. 1, Wayne recently confirmed that, in his book, Hov remains the greatest rapper ever.

“The greatest rapper of all time is Shawn ‘JAY-Z’ Carter,” he declared on a November episode of Marcellus Wiley’s More to It podcast. “When you do this rapping thing, obviously like football, every sport is different. You play hockey, I’m sure they got something that they only know about. Something that they probably can’t explain, but only they know. That thing in rap, that we only know in rap, he has that. He’s the Tom Brady of that.”

Elsewhere in his new interview with Apple Music, Weezy gave a little insight on what fans can expect from the forthcoming C6.

“Everybody already know,” Lil Wayne said. “You already know. Come on – it’s Carter 6. I never even imagined. That didn’t even sound right years ago. I can’t believe we’re at Carter 6. My fans know I give my all. Go listen to my last feature and know it’s gonna be a thousand times better than that.”

While he has yet to set a release date for the LP, Lil Wayne has kicked off his roll out with the release of the DMX-assisted single and a tour announcement.

The 28-city Welcome To Tha Carter tour kicks off on April 4 at The Fillmore in Minneapolis. Wayne will trek through Detroit, Toronto, Houston, New York and other cities before wrapping in Los Angeles at The Wiltern on May 13.

More information and get Tickets at:
https://hiphopdx.com/news/lil-wayne-reacts-7th-best-rapper-all-time