again, thinking of topics in the off season and i came up with this fun post. we grade any rapper by their strength and weaknesses which is all open for debate. i guess i will start with recent rappers though i would eventually like to do old school rappers too.

jay z- grade:A- strength: business savvy and knows what sells. thinks two steps ahead business wise. lyrical wise, very good flow that has the right metaphors. great vocabulary. variety of styles and ranges as far as music and takes risks though it works out a lot more than not. can easily keep up with any rapper who guests with him and doesnt get outshined. finds ways to bury its competition one way or another and always the last person standing. resilient. covers a variety of topics.

weakness: though a great battle ready mc, he still got his butt handed to him by nas. his response is highly debated ( signing nas to his label). sometimes he crossover TOO much guest starring in many r & b songs. though he has classic albums, there were some that were very weak. inconsistent. though he covers a variety of topics, he focuses on blinging too much most of the times.

lil wayne- grade:B strength: original flow and voice distinction. very good with metaphors and has a variety of flow techniques. one of the best creative mc's out right now. willing to experiment and not pigeon hole himself. can hold his own with anyone especially on a posse cut. one of the hardest working mc out right now. willing to evolve and could eventually be a complete mc.

weakness: like a lot of southern rappers, vocab, though better than most, still limited. his voice and drawl can be a distraction. can be creative but sometimes his rhymes are a stretch.

P. Diddy- grade: B+: revolutionized the genre with such classics as 'that godzilla song', 'the one with the shiny suit video' and by his uncanny eye for talent, such as Biggy and Mase.

Solid flow even though he has a speech issue. He loses some points for his perceived lack of writing skills but gains them back for his tap-dancing. A tri-athlete of the music world with his tap dance, business savvy, and rapping skills.

Weakness: None really

notorious b.i.g.- A strength: extensive vocabulary and unbelievably consistent flow. underrated story teller and great battle rapper. great metaphor spitter. Great knack of visualizing with his words. distinguished voice that shows a range of emotion.
weakness: not many but the one weakness is probably the lack of variety in content. however that could be because he only had two albums and didnt see him evolve.

tupac- A- strength: workaholic. constantly put out good materials. willing to tackle many subjects. uses emotion to get his point effectively across. great range of voice. very introspective which makes his music more emotional. one of the more inspirational rappers when motivated.

weakness: like nas and krs-one who have tackled many subjects, he becomes the victim of contradicting himself.

Posted by orangeblobman:

P. Diddy- grade: B+: revolutionized the genre with such classics as 'that godzilla song', 'the one with the shiny suit video' and by his uncanny eye for talent, such as Biggy and Mase.

Solid flow even though he has a speech issue. He loses some points for his perceived lack of writing skills but gains them back for his tap-dancing. A tri-athlete of the music world with his tap dance, business savvy, and rapping skills.

Weakness: None really

I dont know if youre being serious or not. P Diddy gets an F when it comes to rapping. If you made a list of best rappers ever P diddy would fall somewhere between the weird white guy at a frat party back in 1998 and my wife when shes screaming at me,

lol

ghostface -- storytelling + word play + delivery + new slang + great beat selection + consistently solid solo efforts = A+

too often overlooked is mr. killa. def the wu mvp.

Posted by eViL:

ghostface -- storytelling + word play + delivery + new slang + great beat selection + consistently solid solo efforts = A+

too often overlooked is mr. killa. def the wu mvp.

I'd give Ghostface a B. He's pretty charismatic and has a great delivery but half of the shyt he says literally makes no sense whatsoever. His Supreme Clientele is a classic, tho.

Posted by kam77:

I'm not a rap afficianado but I love Illmatic.

Can someone in the know grade KRS-1 for me.

KRS: A- . Hands down one of the top performers ever. Along with Rakim, he revolutionized rap taking it from a more basic RunDMC simplistic flow to a more complex, intelligent, and introspective style. His stage presence, depth of lyrics and longevity is, cumulatively, perhaps second-to-none. His records rarely disappoint ( his self-titled 1995 album might be the most underrated record ever in any genre) and even at what many consider to be an advanced age in the hip hop realm, he still hasn't been pushed out and kicked to the curb like so many.

Cons: Kinda Nit-picky, but he does rely on the "Temple of Knowledge" "I am hip hop stuff" a little too much. Comes across as preachy and self-obsessed at times (but what hip hopper isn't self obsessed). The most damaging criticism I could level is his beef with Nelly. Straight up, Nelly got him. Considering their respective talents, KRS should have humiliated him but it didn't turn out like that at all and for somebody who has built his reputation on the battle aspects of the artform one would have to consider that a major loss.

Big Daddy Kane: B

Pros: At his peak, no MC was ever better at his craft...nobody. He combined every element needed: He was funny, knew how to make a hit, his stage presence and breath control were among the best, he appealed to the ladies, and most importantly he was absolutely vicious on the mic and would tear your ass up in heartbeat and could captivate the streets. The most complete MC of all time in his prime, he also had Marley Marl backing him who was the Dr. Dre of his era (even tho his stuff sounds kinda dated now)

Cons: Through little fault of his own, he was a major casualty in the hip hop shift to hardcore and the west-coast dominance of the early 90s. Kane was looked upon as soft and a relic virtually overnight as his polished, ladies man image worked against him. L.L almost got caught up in the same thing, but he was savvy enough to hook up with Trackmasters, plus he had Def Jam behind him which experienced a mid-90s revival and renaissance. Kane can still rap his ass off, but its clear he was bitter about his dramatic fall off. The passion has been missing from his music since his heyday.

Posted by sebstar:

Common: A -

Pros: His catalog is really underrated, as all of his albums range from good to excellent. Very few MC's with longevity can say that. "I used to Love H.E.R" is arguably the greatest hip hop song of all time and an absolutely breathtaking track. Even with his Kanye-influence revival he hasnt sold out or compromised his style much. At the beginning he was a frat boy style rapper, but once he found religion he has been consistently substative without coming across as preachy, pious, or self-important. One of the best to ever do it.

Cons: Very few. His lyrics kinda suck now as evidenced by the fact that he got blazed by Ludacris on a recent collabo, something that never would have happened 10 years ago. He's obviously settled into a hip hop elder statesman role rather than somebody who is trying to push the genre forward. Took a major L when he hooked up with Badu and started wearing red shirts with green pants and brown shoes, lol.

its hard to mention common and not also think of talib and the roots as some of the last 7 yrs best lyricists as well. great flow, melody to their rhymes - not to mention the message their raps spit.

Ice Cube: B -

Pros: Raps biggest and most bankable star in his prime and so revolutionary and pro-black minded he made Pac look like Bob Saget. Cube was literally the lyrical brains behind NWA (along with the underrated D.O.C) and once he went solo he produced some of the best albums ever in the early 90s. Could effortlessly bounce from making a hardcore track that could inspire a Black Panthers reunion to a frivolous party track and not lose and ounce of credibility. Was one of the rappers that made hip-hop into a respectable, sonic force.

Cons: A dykkrider for trends. Was extremely pro-black and pro-muslim when they were favorable within the culture --- but once he spied the east coast/west coast rift he callously capitalized on it. Ditched his muslim stance and became the biggest east coast antagonist next to Pac, only with Pac a lot of it was done with a wink and a nod as he was quick to give credit to many east coast rappers and he was from the east himself --- Cube made people really believe there was a "war".

Cube was famously humiliated by Common by that "bytch in Yoo" track. From that point forward Cube switched almost exclusively into a party rapper with little substance. Recently he's tried to redeem himself by going back to his old conscious self, but its probably too little too late as nobody is really checking for him anymore.