AZ
Method Man
Big L
Andre 3000
Murs
Talib
KRS-One
Kool G Rap
Rakim

the lists could go on forever, all opinion based.

CANIBUS

weezy

Potatoes nigga. Potatoes are raw

BIG PUN
NOTORIOUS BIG
NAS & THE FIRM
THE LOX
ICE CUBE
EMINEM
RICK ROSS
DMX
TUPAC

I am not sure if they are the best but they are certainly my favorites:
Nas, Rakim, Special Ed, Guru, and Drake.

Canibus, K-Rino and Immortal Technique.

And of course legends like Rakim, KRS-One and Nas.

GZA
ACEYALONE
GIFT OF GAB
J LIVE
ONE BE LO

Some of my favorites:
Eminem
Nas
Canibus
Ill Bill
Vinnie Paz
Ras Kass
Black Thought
Lupe Fiasco
2Pac
Kanye West

So many mentions of DOOM..

I’ll admit yeah he’s a pretty good lyricist.. but the MORE I delve into his discography the more I think he’s an overrated one and less I’m impressed from his lyrics.

Eminem, Jay-Z, 2pac, Nas, Biggie

also top 5 rappers

Sooo… 7 months ago this website actually LIKED Hopsin, but now that he blew up everybody on this site hates him.

KRS one

How about MOS DEF??

Hopsin’s a dope lyricist I just hope that now that he has some buzz he’ll take the opportunity to outsource for his production. “Raw” had a couple decent beats but overall it was blandly produced.

People have slightly different views of exactly what constitutes “lyricism” but all of these folks rank pretty highly in my opinion (aside from the more obvious choices like Nas, Eminem, etc.)

The Crest
ToneDeff
Diabolic
Brother Ali
Reef the Lost Cauze
Termanology
iCON the Mic King
Esoteric
Edan
Percee P

Canibus, KRS-1, Crooked I and all of Slaughterhouse, Eminem, most rappers are lyrical. The best would depend on what type of content you’re talking about. Overall Canibus had like math books and science shit in his bars, so he might be the most lyrical.

Rappers that are very lyrical:
Eminem
Jay-Z
Tupac
Nas
Big L
DMX
The LOX
K-Rino
GZA & Wutang (everybody)
Talib Kwali
Notorious B.I.G.
LL Cool J
AZ
Slaughterhouse(everybody)
Mos Def
Kool G Rap…
the list goes on

He had a whole lotta cheese plus he was a mac had a whole lot of seeds. Made a lot of niggas fat gave a whole lotta G’s. Can’t get more lyrical than fiasco

Rakim, Nas, AZ, Big Pun, Big L, Canibus, stic.man, Dre, eLZhi, Guru, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Scientifik, Ryu, Slick Rick, Common, Andre 3k, and Jay-Z.

Anyone here heard of Apathy. Best rapper in the game right now, IMO.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gnejsdojw7w

Ridiculous lyricist, check him out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=og47ekrnSEY

MF DOOM, nas, kendrick lamar, rakim, you know the staples. Honestly even though their subject matter can be shallow sometimes, Hodgy Beats and Earl Sweatshirt are going to have a spot up their with other rappers as the best at lyricism.

For Some Young Cats. listen to Earl..Joey Badass…..Pro Era And Odd Future for the most part. But if you want some super lyrical shit..Capitol Punishment Album By Big Pun.Look Up Jay Electronica also..Canibus…Eminem of course…Some GZA and The Rest of Wu Tang if you want some scientific/Mafasio rap shit. Oh and there’s this one Guy named Lupe Fiasco.lol

The fiend of the mic, Rakim #1

Nas
Jay-Z
Mos Def
Talib Kweli
Kendrick Lamar
Joey bada$$
Eminem

You know, even some rappers in this day aren’t too bad, I kinda like Kendrick Lamar + A$AP Rocky — two of my new school rappers I like
Otherwise, you’ve seen the list progress already
Jay-Z
Nas
Biggie
Pac
Big Pun
Big L
NYGz
Gang Starr
Jedi Mind Tricks
Army Of The Pharoahs

etc etc etc

Not enough people mention Lupe. I feel like most of his lyrics go over peoples heads and they don’t even realize what they are listening too.

Best Lyricists
Eminem
Nas
Lupe Fiasco
Andre 3000

And although I don’t think he should be on this list… Lil Wayne had some pretty damn good lyrics up until Tha Carter 2, especially on his mixtapes…. no one gives him credit there anymore though because he has been horrible as of late

Do You know Racionais MC’s ?

I’ll take seven emcees, put ‘em in a line.
Add seven more brothers who think they can rhyme.
It’ll take seven more before I go for my, and that’s 21 emcees ate up at the same time.

The God

I never thought Rakim really lyrical if we talk subject

^maxim- i think you got hella downvotes coming…

Killah Priest
Roc Marciano
Ka
Redman, as well as method.

It..
Depends on your inspiration, my
crazy-frayed brain likes scien-
-tific identification. Cata-
Clysmic and tragic future-
Istic hip-hop-black-magic get’s my
Brain all misbehavion from Bumpin
Del the Funkee Homosapien.
Below is a link, it may
Cause you to think, it all
started for me with 3030's
State of the Nation. If your
Synapses spark like burnin grasses then
Wait till you hear the whole album
Lyrical hip hop classic

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=ctc7cqQoO7Q&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dctc7cqQoO7Q

Pretty sure I posted in here a long time ago.. but the best lyrical rappers to me are: (no order really)

Top 5:

Illogic
Canibus
Elzhi
K-Rino
Pharoahe Monch

something along those lines.. other notables of course:

Chino Xl
MF DOOM
Aceyalone
Saul Williams
Vakill
GZA
Los
Gift of Gab
Jay Electronica
Azeem
Ras Kass
Del
One Be Lo

and many many others of course.. these just popped into my brain.

^You lost all credibility when you put Los as on of the best lyrical rappers of all time.

Also, it’s not name your favorite underground MCs, you left out so many greats it’s not even funny.

That wouldn’t make me lose credibility because you’re ignorant to his work. He deserves to be AT LEAST top 30 as a lyricist. He has some of the best wordplay of any artist tbh.

Also, I didn’t attempt to just name underground artists.. I just named the best lyricists in general. Please point out who I missed then.

You know that’s complete bullshit. There is a difference between making good punchlines and making clever lines and being a lyricist that sends a message and paints a picture. I’m not knocking Los' skill at all, he’s dope and one of the better artists in the game right now but there is no way that he’s even close to one of the best of all time, I’m sorry but I can’t it.

You missed Nas, AZ, Jay, Mos, Chuck D, Guru, L, Pun, and if you’re saying all those guys are greats than Murs.

I left out plenty of guys too….

Oh being a lyricist is all about painting a picture and having good subject matter? Not even. I like good subject matter and story-telling tracks as much as the next guy, but HOW something is being said > what’s being said from a lyrical standpoint.

Also, yeah I missed Nas and AZ. Jay Z should be nowhere near even top 50 from a lyrical standpoint.. dude is average as hell. Mos isn’t that good, neither is Chuck D. I’d love to put Big L, but all he had were punchlines and multi’s. He’s one of my all time favorites but he lacked a larger vocab, metaphors, wordplay, etc. Pun could be there as well. Guru is a maybe.. but definitely after the guys I named. And Murs wouldn’t be there lol.

That’s the thing about hip hop, people have different opinions on what different things are. Some people think that the overall subject matter and message of the music matters most, some people think punchlines and wordplay make a lyricist. No big deal.

Just to clarify, I think Murs is up there with everyone on your list with the exception of a few guys up there.

Lol,

He said Chuck D AND Jay are lyrical…

Canibus owns this thread, tbh

So you have nothing to contribute to this topic at all? Just laughing at my opinion. I think both Chuck D and Jay Z are very lyrical.

1. 2pac

2. Eminem

3. Hopsin

4. Kanye West

Whoever said lil wayne is lyriacal is A DICK, when you rime nigga with nigga your not lyrical

Canibus owns this thread, tbh

That’s all I need to contribute.

And you’re gonna get mad because I laughed at your opinion, right after you got done knocking someone else’s list… Okay

^ Big difference in simply disagreeing and leaving an lol.

padjaye, that guy is right, Wayne did have some pretty good lyrics earlier in his career. It wasn’t always like his verse in Pop That, he used to be a pretty good rapper. Every MC has done that too, he wasn’t trying to rhyme nigga with nigga it just flowed well I guess. I bet you all of your favorite guys have done that sometime in their career too.

Kanye’s OLD stuff had some good lines.

Time to end this G.O.A.T. foolishness. (prepare 2 be mindfuked)

In this constant debate about Jay-Z being the best ever I read things like “Nas will destroy Jay-Z” or “Eminem got a better flow than Jay”

Those are OPINIONS.

When will you fools learn that you can’t win a debate with OPINIONS. Every rapper has a different style based on where they are from, the time period in which they were most successful, and their unique personality. We all can go on for days about our personal preferences but in a debate criteria like this is completely IRRELEVANT and automatically BIASED.

The only way to win a debate is with cold hard FACTS. And the fact of the matter is that, when you weigh all of the tangible criteria (Sales, Critical Acclaim, Consistency, Longevity, and Impact) Jay-Z makes the strongest case for the G.O.A.T.

Eminem has sold nearly twice as much as Jay-Z, and he is Jay’s equal when it comes to longevity and impact. But Em lacks the consistency or critical acclaim that Jay-Z has (Im not talkin cult/fanboy classics, Im talkin CERTIFIED classics. XXL/Rolling Stone/Source approved) Eminem is VERY close though.

Nas has enjoyed more critical acclaim and more overall respect in the hip-hop community through the years. And he’s definitely equal to Jay with longevity and impact. But he hasn’t been no where near as much of a consistent presence in hip-hop as Jay has. And he is obviously lacking in the sales department.

Lil Wayne just may be the most consistent rapper of all time. He’s no slouch when it comes to longevity and impact either. His glaring flaw? In his 12 year career Lil Wayne has yet to drop a truly critically acclaimed classic album (and it can be done in this climate. just look at kanye’s discography). Also, contrary to popular beleif, Wayne lacks in the sales department. Sure, Tha Carter III and IV are blockbuster albums, but his OVERALL sales of 10 mil US pale in comparison to Jay-Z’s 31 mil.

2pac is a touchy subject. When it comes to impact, pac takes the cake. No other rapper touched the world like 2pac did. He, like Em, has also sold more than Jay and he was very consistent in his time. Sadly, 2pac passed before his time which allowed Jay-Z to surpass him in longevity and critical acclaim.

LL Cool J was the prototype for what a G.O.A.T. could be. He has enjoyed the most longevity, and he was fairly consistent, but his sales, acclaim and overall impact are no where near the likes of 2pac, Eminem, and ofcourse Jay-Z.

Biggie, Rakim, Common, Snoop, the list goes on. All of these MC’s are great but none of them have the total G.O.A.T. package like Jay-Z does.

Jay-Z is the 3rd highest selling rapper of all time, and the richest. He’s one of the most acclaimed (perhaps only rivaled by his boy Kanye). He dropped multi-platinum albums YEARLY from 96'-03', and he is still going strong today. He’s been in the game since 88'. He’s impacted hip-hop in countless ways from starting one of the 1st successful MC-owned record labels, to being the 1st non-athlete with a signature shoe, to surpassing the likes of Elvis with #1 albums.

Jay-Z is without question the Greatest MC Of All Time. Period. You don’t have to listen to him everyday (Im currently on my Kendrick wave). You don’t even have to like him. But for goodness sake, RESPECT THE FACTS!

TL;DR!!!!!!!!!!!

Alright Kizman first of all, your reasons for deciding a GOAT and overall logic about the situation are beyond terrible.

I saw this and literally cringed, “tangible criteria (Sales, Critical Acclaim, Consistency, Longevity, and Impact)”.

Hey bro.. you’re forgetting about something really important.. umm.. WHAT IN THE WORLD COULD IT BE? OH, HOW ABOUT ACTUAL LYRICAL/MIC SKILLS.

The things you care about are just absurd. Like you really give a fuck if someone sold a lot or has had critical acclaim or stayed at the top of the game for a long time? Do you even know how many logical fallacies you committed?

The primary objective when deciding a GOAT(not even what this thread is about anyway, so that alone makes you a dimwit) should be actual lyrical skills of the MC.. or just their overall Mic skills really.. the lyricism, the flow, etc.. the package of actual MC'ing. The shit you’re busting your balls over seems extremely puerile.

Big L
Rakim
Biggie Smalls
Pac
GZA
Nas
El-P
Necro (hit or miss doe)
Jay
Del
Cool Keith
Black Thought
Lupe
Ghostface Killah
Raekwon
Q-TIP
Eminem
Slick Rick
Mos Def

I’ll stop there, so many talented dudes out there