Note that the title of this post is MY top 25. Not yours. I welcome all feedback and comments, below, but say this only because there are going to be some guys you’re not going to see here that you’ll get all upset about. Black Thought, Common, Mos Def, and Talib Kweli immediately come to mind as emcees that just don’t move me at all–even if their skills are generally and widely recognized as top tier.
Another note: I find the entire Beastie Boys catalog to be tremendous, but it’s because of their ensemble work. And while I know many people love individual Wu-Tang Clanners, for most of them I find them best enjoyed when they are “all in together.” (See what I did there?). If this were a list that included ensembles, you’d see Wu Tang Clan, Beastie Boys, OutKast, N.W.A., Run DMC, TCQ, and De La Soul, for sure. As it is, these incredibly talented and important groups are largely ignored here. Sorry.
I’ve also tried to make sure I include some up-and-comers, even if their total body of work may not support entry of YOUR list. But here they are on mine.
Finally, my list is HONEST. These are the emcees I ACTUALLY LISTEN TO over and over again. Not the ones I feel like I “should” appreciate but whose work simply doesn’t draw me back in. It’s a matter of taste, at the end of the day.
Before we start, a few runner ups who I really love but just can’t put in my top 50. First, Kanye West. I know he’s basically been written out of the history of hip hop, and that’s why I’m not putting him higher on this list. I basically can’t listen to him anymore without getting angry. But if you can put his horrible personal views and ego to one side, his albums are phenomenal and his bars are great. There are rumors he didn’t write them all, but even if he only wrote half of them he’s better than the vast majority of emcees.
Then, in no particular order: Boots Riley (of The Coup), Larry June (because he’s smooth and hilarious), Danny Brown, Kno Of Cunninlynguists, Melle Mel, Rapsody, Jean Grae, Queen Latifah, Boldy James, Joey Bada$$, Joe Buddens, Gift of Gab, Big Daddy Kane, Payroll Giovanni, Don Trip, G Perico, Big Boi, and Killer Mike.
50. Skyzoo.
49. Armani Caesar.
48. J. Live.
47. J. Cole. Truly can’t understand why he doesn’t get more love. Best: 2014 Forest Hills Drive and KOD.
46. Royce Da 5’9″. You know, that guy who used to go bar-for-bar with Eminem.
Best: Book of Ryan and Prhyme 1 and 2.
45. Lauryn Hill. Lauryn has only great solo album, but it is one of the best of all time. Her work with Fugees is also great. Best: Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.
44. Nipsey Hussle. Best: Marathon and Crenshaw mixtapes; Victory Lap.
43. Schoolboy Q. Every time a SQ album comes out, it’s surprising and different.
Best: Blank Face EP, Habits and Contradictions
42. Big Punisher. Pun’s short career and small catalog has enough power to rate him one of the 50 GOATs.
Best: His two albums.
41. MC Serch. Best: The Cactus Album (with 3d Bass)
40. Maxo Kream.
I’m not sure why Kream speaks to me, but he does. I love every single one of his records.
Best: Punken, Brandon Banks, Weight of the World
39. GZA. I know most people would have put other Wu Tangers on this before including GZA, but they can get their own blogs. For me, he makes it here on the strength of Grandmasters and Liquid Swords alone–even without his contributions to Wu Tang Clan.
38. Speech of Arrested Development. AD’s first album was great. For some reason I don’t understand they’ve been largely overlooked ever since, but Speech continues to lead this progressive, enlightened collective to greatness, album after album.
Best: 3 Years, 5 Months & 2 Days In The Life Of… and For The FKN Love.
37. Brother Ali. Best: Undisputed Truth, Shadows on the Sun.
36. Benny the Butcher. Best: His Plugz I Met and Tana Talk series.
34. Little Simz. Best: Sometimes I Might Be Introvert.
33. Q-Tip.
Best: Amplified (solo) and Midnight Marauders (with Tribe Called Quest).
32. Ice-T. Best: O.G., The Iceberg/Freedom of Speech
31. Che Noir. An up-and-comer with an already very respectable discography.
Best: As God Intended (with Apollo Brown) and Juno (with 38 Spesh).
30. Slug of Atmosphere.
Best: God Loves Ugly, You Can’t Imagine How Much Fun We’re Having, Fishing Blues, Lucy Ford.
29. Murs. Consistently underrated and consistently great.
Best work: Murs for President, Murs 3:16 and Murray’s Revenge (both with 9th Wonder)
28. Guilty Simpson. Grit, humor, experimentation and a voice as powerful as Chuck D.
Best work: Dice Game (with Apollo Brown); Detroit’s Son; Ode to the Ghetto
27. LL Cool J.
Cool J’s first album was incredible. A beast that blew everything up. His second, third and fourth were fantastic, too. Most albums after that had diminishing returns, but each one has at least a few really hot cuts. And I highly recommend 14 Shots to the Dome, if you haven’t heard it for a while.
Best work: Radio, Mama Said Knock You Out.
26. Elzhi. Elzhi’s rhymes are smart and dense, which immediately makes him less accessible than most rappers on this list. And yet he also created “cover” of the greatest hip hop album of all time: Nas’ Illmatic. I remember when I first heard Elmatic. I thought it was arrogant and brilliant. Elzhi started as an affilliate of J Dilla’s legendary band Slum Village (and became a full member after Dilla left), but his solo catalog is just as great as anything he produced with them.
Best works: Elmatic, The Preface, Zhigeist.
25. Your Old Droog. YOD may be new compared to most of the people on this list, but if you don’t think he belongs here, you’re just not listening.
Best work: Dump YOD: Krutoy Edition; Eponymous debut; Packs.
24. Conway the Machine. Go ahead and tell me Conway doesn’t deserve to be top 25. (Then listen to any of his albums–all the way through–and say it again.). Or say that Westside Gunn is better. (As the creative visionary of Griselda Records, Gunn has been more influential than Conway, but he’s not a better rapper. Not even close.). Or complain that he has no range. (Then listen to Stressed or Losses ot Blessings.). Conway may be a new jack relative to most of the others on this list, but he’s proven himself as a GOAT.
Best works: God Don’t Make Mistakes, Reject 2, Everybody is F.O.O.D.
23. Freddie Gibbs. Freddie Gibbs is barely known outside of real hip hop head circles, but his creative output is undeniable. He mixes soul and grit better than anyone, and is one of those rappers whose voice and style are wholly unique and distinct.
Best work: Alfredo, Bandana, Pinata.
22. Andre 3000. As half of Outkast, Andre 3000 left a permanent mark in Hip Hop history.
Best work: The Love Below, Stankonia, ATLiens.
21. Missy Elliott.
Missy had a perfect record: Six albums released. All six were great in their own ways. Then she stopped making music (mostly) and became a philanthropist. Saving animals and helping young women are certainly good reasons to stop making music, but I personally miss Missy.
Best works: Supa Dupa Fly, Under Construction.
20. Sean Price. 
Everyone knows who Wu Tang Clan are, but far fewer people remember Boot Camp Clik, who were arguably just as responsible for pioneering the East Coast grime sound. Sean Price was also half of Heltah Skeltah, with Buckshot (who would be on this list if it went up to 100), and then went on to have a solo career of the highest quality. Price was a rapper’s rapper: Many of the names higher on this list cite him as an influence.
Best work: Mic Tyson, Random Axe (with Guilty Simpson), Jesus Price Superstar.
19. Ghostface Killa. Grimey storytelling. There is no denying his contributions to Wu Tang Clan, but I actually prefer his solo stuff if I’m going to listen to an album straight through.
Best work (solo work only): Ironman, Supreme Clientele, Fishscale
18. Rakim.
In the late ’80s and early ’90s, a creative artist wasn’t expected to release more than one album every couple years. Albums mattered. With Eric B., Rakim released four classics in the space of five years. His solo work since then is also of the highest quality, but hip hop doesn’t get much better than Eric B and Rakim’s first four.
Best work: Paid in Full and Follow the Leader.
17. KRS-1.
The voice of Boogie Down Productions may sound dated by today’s standards. In terms of delivery, it belongs in the same class as Melle Mel, Murs, Chuck D, and others who emphasize enunciation and clarity over street cred and slang. It’s a toss-up whether Chuck D or Kris is more important as an emcee, but I gave Chuck the edge because when I went back over their entire catalogs, no BDP/KRS-One album is better than any of Public Enemy’s first 4 records, and PE’s recent output continues to hold relevance.
Best work: Criminal Minded, By All Means Necessary, and the shamefully overlooked Edutainment album.
16. Lupe Fiasco. Unlike most of the others in my top 10, Lupe has without a doubt released several disappointing albums. But here’s the thing: Even when he misses the mark, I can admire his intelligence and willingness to experiment.
Best Albums: His Fahrenheit 1/15 mixtapes, Food & Liquor, Tetsuo & Youth, The Cool.
15. Pusha T. I recognize the valid criticisms that Pusha can be something of a “one note” rapper, but it’s a great note and he does it very well. Personally, Pusha used to be in my top 5 but he’s recently come down a bit. If you ask me again in a year, he might be back up at the top.
Best work: Solo: Daytona. With Clipse: Hell Hath No Fury and We Got It 4 Cheap volumes 1 and 2.
14. Kendrick Lamar.
Kendrick is the rarest of rappers: One who seems to get better with age. His albums are progressively more sophisticated, but even his earliest work was rarely (if ever) one dimensional. Kendrick is one of the most complex and thoughtful voices in rap.
Best work: To Pimp a Butterfly, Good Kid, mAAD City.
13. Scarface.
Scarface’s position as a GOAT should be undebatable. He was part of the Geto Boys, the most popular southern rap group of its time and one of the first to break through to mainstream. As a solo artist, he was one of the first to push gritty, hardcore lyrics into powerful and personal discussions of grief, suicide, infidelity. Plenty of rappers put up misogyny either as a front or as an authentic part of their personality, but few take their therapeutic “shadow work” as public as Scarface has. He’s also an immensely talented storyteller–the kind where, even when you’ve heard him tell it before, you’re still hanging on every word.
Best works: The Diary, The Fix, Deeply Rooted.
12. Joell Ortiz. 
Joell doesn’t get the props he deserves. His debut album got him an invite into the short-lived supergroup Slaughterhouse, but after that he couldn’t maintain relationships with major labels and has been releasing his work independently. With all of its talk about oppression and rebellion, you would think that being a hugely successful indie rapper would make Ortiz a hip hop hero but rap culture is schizophrenic. On the one hand, it fights for counter-culture credibility while on the other hand so much of the content defines success in terms of sales, popularity, and money.
Ortiz’ success isn’t just in how he puts out music, but, of course, is in the music itself. He’s certainly not the only rapper to expose personal demons, talk about being in therapy, address being a parent, and tackle other very personal matters, but he is one of the best to do it.
Studio albums. Collaborations. Mixtapes. His catalog has some of the best of all these types of albums.
Best works: Brick: The Bodega Chronicles, House Slippers, Mona Lisa with Apollo Brown, Joel Ortiz Covers the Classics (mixtape), and Welcome to Our House (with Slaughterhouse).
11. Guru.
As the voice of Gang Starr, Guru was responsible for the best rap album of the ’90s that didn’t even get certified gold: Step In the Arena. After his break with DJ Premier, he produced his own Jazzamatazz series that took rap in a mature direction–and he did it at a time when the genre was becoming hugely popular. Popularity usually waters down art forms, so Guru’s movement into live instrumentation with an adult feel was both meaningful and brave. Then, in 2019, Guru and Preem reunited to create One of the Best. It was aptly named, as the record was just as good as anything the duo produced in their prime.
Guru died of cancer at the age of 48. Given his track record and artistic trajectory, I wonder what he might have created if he’d lived.
Best works: Step in the Arena, One of the Best, Moment of Truth
10. Notorious B.I.G.
Before you start shouting and jumping and up and down: He’s not higher on the list because he only released two albums during his lifetime, and most of his posthumous stuff is meh. His impact on the medium and the culture cannot be overstated, for sure, but in terms of body of work, this is where he lands for me.
Best work: He only put out two records. Both are flawless.
9. Chuck D.
The founder and leader of Public Enemy was not the first political militant in rap music, but he certainly was the first one who was able to move from being seen as “scary” (Ice-T) or “anti-White” (Paris) to being seen as a relevant voice on critical issues. Plus, he can be funny and provocative at the same time–even when Chuck offends, he does so in a way that forces the listener to think.
Best work: It Takes a Nation of Millions, Fear of a Black Planet.
8. Eminem. 
It’s shocking to me. Everyone agrees that Em’s first three albums are untouchable, timeless records, but then they all say that he “fell off” after that. Bullshit. Kamikaze is great. Encore is great. MM LP2 is great. His new one, Death of Slim Shady, is great. Even weaker albums like Recovery and Relapse have their share of solid content. And go up against him in a battle. Even after three decades in the business, he is unbeatable.
Best work: Marshall Mathers LP, Slim Shady LP, and Eminem Show.
7. Tupac Shakur. It’s kind of a toss-up when you’re ranking a top 10 with entries as great as these, so on any given day the order might change. For today, 2pac is #9.
Tupac was a very important personality in hip hop, for sure–for countless reasons. One of the things that made him special as an emcee was the power of his charisma–few can deliver bars as well as Pac–and his ability to jump from his Thug Life persona to political topics and then across to emotionally resonant, progressive empathy. His catalog, however, is uneven–and negatively impacted by some pretty bad posthumous releases.
Best work: All Eyez on Me, Don Killuminati.
6. The Game.
Remember: This is MY list. The most listened-to rap song on my iTunes is “Hate it or Love it.” Documentary, D2 and D2.5 are among my favorite rap albums of all time. In terms of diss cuts, the only one who comes close to Game is Eminem. In terms of mixtapes, there are few who have put out the sheer volume of content AND ensured that it stayed great. In terms of delivery, Game is both an original voice and a phenomenal mimic—jumping across subgenres and styles with ease. Boom Bap. Pop. Trap. Gangsta. He’s done it all. He’s also a walking hip hop encyclopedia. Game is one of the best. If you disagree, you’re just wrong.
Best works: Documentary, Doc 2, Doc 2.5, 1992, and Jesus Piece.
5. MF DOOM.
DOOM didn’t make records, he made worlds. He had at least a half-dozen personalities, and each one was remarkably distinct and produced a different sound. Now, this is a list of the best rappers–not the best producers–so his placement on this list is based on his lyrics and delivery. But a good rapper also picks good beats to rhyme over, and DOOM can’t be beat when it comes to that.
Best albums: Operation: Doomsday, Mmm…Food, Vaudeville Villain (as Viktor Vaughn), Madvillainy (with Madlib).
4. Ice Cube.
He helped create gangsta rap. He took storytelling rap from its original, “polite” phrasing and added the real language of the streets. Then, when the industry tried to take advantage of him, he broke free and produced some of the most important rap albums of all time.
Best work: Straight Outta Compton (with NWA), Amerikkka’s Most Wanted, Death Certificate, The Predator.
3. Nas.
Nas created the best rap album of all time as his very first album. It’s tough when you start with the bar that high. Nas has never created a better album than Illmatic–but nobody else has, either.
Other great ones in his catalog include Stillmatic and Hip Hop is Dead, and his recent Magic and King’s Disease trilogies were excellent.
2. Jay-Z.
I struggled with whether Pac or Nas should be higher, but when I looked at their overall catalogs, Jay-Z won out. Plus, he certainly won the play count competition in my iTunes. Blueprint and Black Album are my most listened-to rap albums. Plus, his first three albums are indisputable classics.
When it comes to picking the best of his work, it’s helpful to do it in phases. For the ’90s, it’s Reasonable Doubt–but all three of his first albums are amazing, as I said earlier. In the 2000s, his best decade, he brought us both Blueprint and Black Album, as well as the surprisingly good American Gangster album. For the “modern” Jay-Z era, 4:44 is excellent.
1. Masta Ace. I know, I know. This should be Nas. This should be Hova. Or ‘Pac. Or Biggie. But album for album and track-by-track, Duval Clear has never released a weak record. Nas can’t say that, and neither can Jay-Z. Biggie only released two records, and Tupac’s resume is weakened both by a glut of low-quality posthumous work and by the fact that all of his albums have at least a little filler in them. Every single Masta Ace album is perfect, and even his uneven debut as “Masta Ace Incorporated” still has suprises. Every time he provides a feature, it’s fire. The man never misses.
In addition, Masta Ace has been able to age on mic. His content has matured with absolutely no decline in quality. There’s not a single emcee on the planet who can say the same. No, wait. I can say that about Joell Ortiz, and he’s fantastic as well, but Masta Ace is on another level. Sorry, Joell.
He’s my #1.
Best works: All of them, but start with his verses on Marley Marl’s “The Symphony” posse cut and his brilliant Long Hot Summer and Disposable Arts albums.
