"Can-i-bus" was a battle rapper. Clever, witty, and on point, but he wasn't complete. Biggie was complete because he had (still has) the following while maintaining a level of pop success. Biggie is a legend, and he only lived to see only ONE of his albums released. ONE. Can-i-bus was definitely talented, but in the overall scope, he's not even close. Gift of Gab? Extremely underrated, but all-time greatest? Seriously? Its more than just skill. Everyone knows a talented ballplayer - the kid who's dunked since he was 7, or the kid who scored more touchdowns than his whole high school team - but he's not automatically an all-time great.
There's a lot of room for good and great emcees (Mos Def, Q-Tip, etc.) but when it comes to the best four, you have to be really objective. The Roots are a group (right now) that are only known by those who already know. Unfortunately, most people don't know who they are, even though they've been around for what seems like forever and its a shame. Anyway, with The Roots, some of it is their reluctance to be in the spotlight, but now as Late Night with Jimmy Fallon's house band on NBC every night, maybe that will open them up to the people. Their music, while awesome, right now just isn't enough to get Thought into that elite circle. I truly feel that if what you have is truly great, you don't even have to pursue the fame - it'll find you, and everyone will see it, too - as long as you're exposed. And on a small scale, that's already happened to The Roots. Whether we agree with it or not, IT ALWAYS HAS, AND ALWAYS WILL BE ABOUT MORE THAN JUST THE MUSIC. I used to think The Roots would always be happy with their place in hip-hop, but the move to NBC looks like they finally want more, and that gives Black Thought a LOT of hope. All-time greatest hip-hop band? Unquestioned.
You're old school, and your tastes are a lot like mine. I LOVE The Roots as much as anyone, but Biggie and Pac touched the masses, turned millions onto hip-hop culture and whats going on outside of your own world better than anyone else and still do to this day. Between Biggie & Tupac, who's #1 and #2 is always up for debate, but their placement as #1 & #2 should always be firm, and I wasn't really a fan of either one - I love the artists that talk about real life. To a degree, they lived the music they made, but that's not most people's life, and drug/money rap never did much for me. There are some college classes (not music classes) based on the works of Biggie & Tupac. If you're really gonna make a list, you have to be objective. You'll definitely understand this compared to the guy who posted all his top rappers as Southern artists because that's all he listens to so he can't be objective.
Bottom line, its the appeal that puts them at the top. Somehow Biggie & Pac, who often said some pretty horrible things and painted gruesome, disturbing images in their music, managed to bring the thugs, the kids, the soccer moms and the scholars - EVERYONE - into their world. And they did it their way, and that's why they'll always be at the top until someone does it better.
In my humble opinion, of course.
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