The Source: Top 50 Lyricists

Agree? Disagree? Voice your opinion below?

PEACE

50.50 Cent
49.Lupe Fiasco
48.Royce Da 5'9
47.Styles P
46.Rick Ross
45.Lil Kim
44.Canibus
43.DMX
42.Ludacris
41.Fabolous
40.T.I.
39.Prodigy
38.Posdnous(De La Soul)
37.Busta Rhymes
36.Lil Wayne
35.Bun B
34.Black Thought
33.Method Man
32.GZA
31.Kanye West
30.Guru
29.Snoop Dogg
28.Talib Kweli
27.Pharoahe Monch
26.Big L
25.Queen Latifah
24.Jadakiss
23.Mos Def
22.Common
21.Redman
20.Q-Tip
19.Big Pun
18.Kool G. Rap
17.The D.O.C.
16.Scarface
15.Slick Rick
14.Ice Cube
13.Andre 3000
12.Chuck D
11.LL Cool J
10.Melle Mel
9.Lauryn Hill
8.Big Daddy Kane
7.Krs-One
6.Eminem
5.2Pac
4.Jay-Z
3.Biggie
2.Nas
1.Rakim

Very surprised they didn’t have Ghostface Killah, Raekwon or AZ on this list.

I think 2pac (ranked 5th) is too high, same goes for Kanye West (ranked 31st).

I think Kool G Raps deserves to be ranked higher, IMO he krs 1 and Rakim were the originators of the true lyricist.

I hate how people think that great rhyme schemes equals a great lyricist.

No J-Live, no Gift of Gab, I think they’ve could of included Opio

Rick Ross, Lil Kim, Ludacris(I love Luda, but still) Lil Wayne all ranked above MCs like Lupe Fiasco or Royce Da 5'9"??? GTFOH. Some of this list I agree with(Rakim should definitely be #1, pretty obvious)some of this list is Complex-like.

lupe is too low imo

Rick Ross being on this list damn near takes credibility from it, hell Kendrick Lamar ain’t been in the game that long; and he’s 125x the lyricist Rozay could ever be.

Biggie is too high honestly.

Lupe is definetly too low. He earned better than 49

Lupe is too high. He’s better than most of the current rappers below him.

^In this case ‘high’ would be a lower number. Honestly I think Biggie and 2Pac were both too high as far as lyricism goes. Busta Rhymes can spit, but he doesn’t have much lyricism.. Um it’s not even worth explaining. This list is wack.

I was just surprised that LiL Wayne made it!

List is terrible. The stop 20 is frozen in the 90s. The bottom 10 is just them attempting to through popular more recent rappers in there.

Bottom line: They fucked up.

Why is Lupe so low? What’s up with these lists? I’m very confused by it. Im very confused by the whole thing, in fact if I’m being completely honest I don’t understand any of it.

Why the fuck are we talking about this list? As listeners of credible, “real” rap, why do we give a fuck? The moment I even saw people like Pac on the list (No offense but he’s more of a storyteller), I didn’t take this seriously. Any mainstream source of music knowledge is bullshit. They’re puppets trying to appease to the higher-ups. Those fucking retards wouldn’t know a lyricist if they kicked them in the chest with the best punchline known to man.

Eminem really should have been first, honestly no Stanning.

The list is pretty damn good considering its source. It’s the freaking Source after all. I’m surprised they didn’t have Benzino in the top 5.

Eminem really should have been first, honestly no Stanning, If you’re talking about technical ability. If you include “influence” and stuff like that, you could probably argue Nas, Jay, Rakim being ahead of him.

the print it too small for me to read, but in any explanation, do they mention what the criteria was?

rhyme schemes? meaning behind the lyrics themselves?

“1. Rakim”

Lol

Here’s a list I made a while back. The Source’s top 8 are all in my top 10. Their #9 and #10 aren’t in my top 50. Melle Mell was a consideration for me, but I didn’t include any old-school emcees. I also didn’t include any women. I considered Lauryn Hill, Latifah, and MC Lyte.

The top from my top 10 that aren’t in The Source’s top 10 are Common and Kool G Rap. I’m really surprised Kool G Rap is rated so low by The Source. Here’s my list again:

1. KRS-ONE
2. Jay-Z
3. Rakim
4. Nas
5. Common
6. Kool G Rap
7. Big Daddy Kane
8. Notorious BIG
9. 2Pac
10. Eminem
11. LL Cool J
12. Slick Rick
13. Ice Cube
14. Chuck D
15. Lord Finesse
16. Big L
17. Pharoahe Monch
18. Chino XL
19. Talib Kweli
20. Ras Kass
21. Big Pun
22. Ghostface Killah
23. Mos Def
24. Method Man
25. Posdonous
26. Andre 3000
27. Slug
28. Redman
29. Aceyalone
30. Run
31. Scarface
32. O.C.
33. Royce the 5'9
34. Busta Rhymes
35. Black Thought
36. Eyedea
37. Canibus
38. Grand Puba
39. Del the Funkee Homosapien
40. CL Smooth
41. Kool Keith
42. Guru
43. DMC
44. Aesop Rock
45. Kanye West
46. AZ
47. Gza
48. Illogic
49. Q-Tip
50. MF DOOM

Wait, wait, wait there, nigga. KRS the most lyrical?

This list is a joke some of the names deserve their spots but others are just laughable SMH

Lyricism doesn’t mean technical. But yes, he is lyrical. Go listen to his album w/ True Master, or his album Life. Any album really. He may not have the complex literary terms but he gets his points across

Well, a list that meets the expectations of each and every indivisual is a rarity. I’m not sure how much of the influence factor was taken into consideration while placing these emcees. In my humble opinion -
Rappers who should have been ranked higher — Eminem, Andre 3K, Kool G Rap, Pharoahe Monch, Lupe Fiasco, Black Thought, Canibus, Guru, GZA and Big L.

People who should have been ranked lower — Jay Z, Melle Mel, Snoop Dogg, Laurny Hill, The D.O.C and LL Cool J.

People who shouldn’t have made the list — Lil Kim, Lil Wayne, Ludacris, T.I, 50 Cent, Rick Ross and Queen Latifah.

Rappers who didn’t make the list but should have — Jeru the Damaja, Lord Finesse, Del the funky homosapien, Gift of Gab and Elzhi.

i pretty much agreed with the list until the last page… Rick Ross ahead of Royce, and even Lupe (whom i dislike A LOT) is ridiculous.

I think Jadakiss is ranked a little too high and Kanye a bit too low.. maybe if they traded spots (#21 and #31 respectively)

also a huge snoop dogg fan but he is ranked too high. His lyricism is really really average.

I agreed with the top 10 for the most part. I would switch Nas and Jay Z (#2 and #4) but it’s a really small change I think ill live.

They also had Andre 3k at #13 but no Big Boi on the list at all?? :(

and lastly weezy at #36 made me smile. and you already kno dat pimpin'

I didnt know that Rick Ross is lyricaly better than Lupe. I think Eminem is lyricaly better than Jay and maybe 2pac

It offends me that Rick Ross got a better ranking than Lupe

Then again I don’t think they considered each artist’s subject matter, and you got to admit that Rick Ross, while probably not the best candidate for #46, gets pretty crafty with those lines about being a drug kingpin. Lupe raps about things that are perceived as “real shit”, like Politics and whatnot so an uncalloused listener like rap23 might believe Lupe’s lyrics are greater than Rick Ross' simply because his lyrics are more socially conscious. Lupe and Ross can get complex with words but for the most part their lyrics are pretty simple. Neither of them deserve to be on the list in my unbiased opinion, but Rick Ross being ranked higher than Lupe might not be THAT much of a stretch.

I’m glad that they bothered to include some female emcees on the list.

Where is Tech N9NE and Big Boi?

List might as well be according to shoe size.

This is a joke. You cant put Big L on 26th.

^ He should have at least been 25th

Come on, you can´t expect to much from a commercial magazine to begin with, let alone The Source (nowadays). I mean, the list isn´t terrible per se (except for including Rick Ross as one of the 50 best LYRICISTS) but it´s obviously skewed towards mainstream rappers and trying to please as many as possible (I don´t think many would put Tupac as high as #5 on their lists of lyricists to use that example, except for the obvious Pac stans of course).

The only department that Eminem lacks in terms of lyricism is influence but I don’t think influence should have been such a huge factor while ranking lyricists; Eminem should have topped the list.

That list was pretty terrible. Why did they throw Posdnous in there? Somebody on their staff was stanning

Tupac should be above biggie and jay z….eminem should be above jayz…and nas and rakim should switch spots.

Some spots are good but for the most part this list sucks

Like I said, the top 15 or so is pretty decent for The Source. However, it’s pretty ridiculous when you think this group of emcees:

Rick Ross
Lil Kim
Lil Wayne
Fabolous

Is better than this group of emcees:

Lord Finesse
Chino XL
Ras Kass
Ghostface Killah

wow what a shitty list lmao

List is quite bad

Kanye West???
Lil Wayne???
Rick Ross???
The D.O.C???
Lil Kim???
T.I???
50 cent???
Lupe???
Royce???

I’d put Vinnie Paz and Jus Allah over a bunch of these guys.

They dun goofed.

Chief Keef should be higher up

where is del the funkee homosapien.

No Elzhi or even the Game?

Come on, you guys act like The Source is a credible Rap Magazine