Which rapper is better?

Fuck yes Rest in Peace to Guru, and Rakim da gawd

 

Big L is definitely up there for me, him Rakim and Guru are probably the 3 best lyricists of all time.

 

Tupac by far, the rest of these rappers shouldn't even be compared to Tupac. -.-

 

Lol don't make such a statement when you clearly don't know what the hell you're talking about.

Why do people think Pac started it all? Not even close. Hip-hop was around way before he was. And all those up there are legends, but of course some of you probably haven't even listened to them all. No surprise Pac is so far in the lead as always. Big L and Pun definitely deserve the same recognition along with countless others. I'm not saying Pac isn't a legend, but he's still one of the most overrated rappers of all time. Threads like these are always pointless since just about everyone goes around saying how Pac is the G.O.A.T. and how so many rappers wouldn't be around if it wasn't for him like it's some kind of fad. I'm sure most of you are just saying your favorite out of the bunch, but this thread would still be more interesting if people actually gave more intelligent responses to back yourself up. I also don't see how it's really possible to say much unless you've actually listened to them all. I doubt a lot of you will, but you should at least be able to say why you choose someone.

There isn't just one best anyways because each one is better at something different. Like Big L was a better lyricalist and Pun had a little bit better flow. Pac had good stage presence and knew how to appeal to a large audience, but he is far from the best rapper of all the time. Each one of them had a different style though, so it doesn't really matter. They're all great and unique in their own way. Any true hip-hop fan should be able to appreciate and enjoy a lot of different artists. It's hard for me to even choose a top 20. I can't understand how so many people can just listen to the same handful of rappers, then talk about how much better someone is compared to everyone else. It's fine to like someone, but don't act like you know everything when you clearly haven't listened to enough hip-hop to know shit.

 

Impressed with both of you right now. Gangstarr is my shit, listened to full clip in its entirety earlier today. Theres SOOOO many better rappers / hip hop artists than the ones mentioned. I mean im not knocking the rappers mentioned by OP but most of them are known for their individual flow or hooks not really for their lyricism.

Either way... gurus got all that shit in spades and doesn't put up some uber (fake) gangster front.

Some great guys that should have made the list (that haven't been mentioned yet) are:

Q-Tip
Del/Deltron
Mos Def
Scarface (not exactly a lyrical genius but great flow, better than Big Pun Eazy E and Big L easily IMO)
Talib Kweli
Phife Dawg

 

Yeah, it's pretty hard to put tupac in a pole and not expect him to win unanimously.

 

What are you talking about? Because you very clearly have absolutely no clue about what rap is.
People saying that Pac started it all are clearly illiterate on the subject, Pac is more of a gangster rapper, gangster rap came on much later in the very late 80s/early 90s, before that it was lyricists and DJ's with smooth beats and intelligent lyrics that addressed issues on the street and in the world, I love Pac but saying that he is the 'best rapper' is ignorant and doesn't recognize the work of other rappers like Guru, Rakim, Big L, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane and Nas just to name a few.

 

I think Eazy-E was good.

 

deff a 2pac fan. dear momma.

 

I didn't really like Tupac. I honestly don't like old school rap all that much, but if I had to decide, I'd go with Eazy E.

 

This guy knows what he's talking about.

Anytime the debate of lyricists comes up you have to mention Nas, he's a complete emcee. DMX is also another artist I appreciate, just because of the power in his vocals. There's others like Canibus, Rakim, pharaoh monche, et al.

To compare rappers you have to understand what kind of artist each one is. Pun and Biggie are more flow based rappers, as New York rappers tend to be, whilst PAC is a pure lyricist. Big L is a combination of the two, whilst Eazy was a genre based rapper, rather than a true emcee.

To compare the five you listed, I'd rate Biggie as the best pure rapper out of the lot followed by Big L. Sadly, Eazy isn't even of the calibre of the ones you listed .