HipHop365.com - When Nas declared hip hop was dead back in 2006, the following 25 artists should’ve most likely stood trial for at the very least, accessory to murder. The music that came out from these guys music was so far left from hip hop’s original roots, that it almost sounded like a parody. We countdown the 25 Rappers that set hip hop back.
Although Diddy’s slightly more passable than some of the other guys on the list, it’s downright embarrassing when you have some of the greatest rappers of all time writing your verses for you and you still end up sounding like a clown every time you step into the booth. Puff should’ve just stuck to ad-libbing.
When you think of music industry creeps; the suits that suck the blood out of legitimate artists, it wouldn’t be too surprising if you thought of Benzino. A leech that singlehandedly plunged The Source into disarray, ‘zino also had the unique ability to make diss tracks that were more insulting to him than they were to the target, simply because his rapping was so laughable.
Attenshun!!! Bone Crusher comes from the school of rappers who listened to MOP and decided that shouting loudly with minimal rhyming constituted a rapping career. Bone Crusher is probably the worst of the bunch; a Frankenstein’s monster of nonsensical lyrics and crushing tedium.
Mannie Fresh is about as bad a rapper as his former partner Birdman, but his producing chops give him a little more of a pass than he of the red-starred dome. Don’t get it twisted though, when Mannie starts rhyming it’s a good time to hit the skip button.
G-Dep was signed to Bad Boy in their famous period of signing criminals and hoping that they can rap. Dep clearly failed the test having no visible talent and his one album, Child of the Ghetto, might have been the beginning of the end of mainstream gangster rap.
It’s a shame that female rappers don’t get more shine, but then when they come as discombobulated as Lil Mama does; it makes a hell of a lot of sense. As qualified to hold a mic as she is to judge dance competitions, Mama is a plague who we thankfully don’t hear much from; she hasn’t done anything since her first album dropped.
Having Biggie’s voice doesn’t mean you can rap. Shyne confused a lot of novices with his husky baritone when he first came out, but in recent years there’s no one mistaking Shyne for the black Frank White. Biggie could rap.
Why didn’t Dilated Peoples ever get popular? They had a great producer in DJ Babu and the incomparable Evidence as one of their MC’s. And who was that third guy? Oh yeah, Rakka, the most boring, stereotypical, underground rapper of all time, who single-handily kept Dilated from the success that the other two deserved.
Rappers become famous for their punch lines; most fans can recite at least a couple of excellent bars from their favorite artist. Know what people who like Mike Jones say? They say, “Mike Jones.” Over and over again. And nothing else.
The Ying Yang Twins have given us a couple of enjoyable tracks throughout their time in the game, but you’ll agree that the enjoyment has never sprung from their lyrics. If you’re good at rapping, you don’t make a song quietly so that no one can make out how stupid the actual words are.
Da Band was a collection of five terrible artists and one decent one (Ness was ok) who, when put together, formed an entity whose talent was somehow less than the sum of its parts. The only good thing Da Band gave to the world is one of the funniest Chapelle skits of all time. Dylan, Dylan, Dylan, Dylan and Dylan.
So you’re Canadian. Do you downplay this fact, dress as normally as possible and try to hone your craft so that no one will recognize you for what you are, namely the whitest person ever to say “Golly Gee Whiz?” Not if you’re Snow. Nope; you name yourself Snow, dress as ridiculous as you possibly can, and basically call attention to how doofy you are with every move you make.
Crunchy Black is another Three Six affiliate although he had the distinction of being a member for a little while. Three Six Mafia is well known for their lifestyle rhymes, crunk beats, and artful stupidity but Crunchy Black can’t really be said to contribute anything in the first two categories. But he does have an Oscar.
This dude deserves mention on this list because I’m pretty sure he spits the same verse on every single song. He’s always going to clubs and hotels and partying with Jennifer Lopez or T-Pain or Lil Jon. In every song, it’s the same thing.
We actually like Project Pat, but the man has no business rapping. He’s just a funny dude who likes to hang out with Three Six Mafia (Juicy J is his brother) who somehow got the notion in his head that he could rap. And he really, really can’t. His verses sound like the rap equivalent of falling down some stairs: awkward, painful, and occasionally hilarious.
Dem Franchize Boys aren’t rappers so much as a motley boy band, some executive at BET’s idea of a way to target children who don’t know what real music is yet and like to dance and snap their fingers. Definitely appropriate for nursery schoolers, someone should figure out how to get these guys on Yo Gabba,Gabba!
A prime example of the weed carrier, Tony Yayo was allowed to spit words over music simply because 50 Cent thought three was an unlucky number. Even so, the cover of Beg For Mercy tells the truth. Yayo is on a wall watching the other three pose for the camera. It’s not because he was in jail at the time; it’s because watching from the sideline is his proper place.
Chingy entered the game when Nelly was at the height of his popularity, but for some reason, the second sensation from St. Louis faded from the spotlight even more quickly than the first. Maybe it’s because his rhymes were fairy dust soft and all his songs were targeted at twelve year old girls.
It’s a good thing that Eminem has put in the kind of work he has over the course of his career. Because Vanilla Ice set the white rapper so far back that it’s a wonder that we ever allowed a white boy to pick up the mic after he was done with it. Good thing he’s in home design now; it seems like it’s more his speed.
Someone needs to teach these kids that just putting out eight million separate songs does not make you an artist. Just because Wayne’s mental vomit sometimes resulted in interesting tracks doesn’t mean that it’s a successful formula. Lil B is proof, the king of mental vomit whose only positive quality is his verifiable insanity.
Nick Cannon was always trying to be someone. The lost Wayans brother, The slightly less fresh Prince, Mariah Carey’s husband. Something he should never have tried to be was a rapper.
Plies has such an exaggerated Southern drawl that it’s tempting for his supporters to blame his lyrical mishaps on listeners who don’t have the ability to translate the rapper’s garbled non-flow. Unfortunately, Plies has no supporters, just people who think it’s funny to hear a crazy person talk about incredibly explicit sex.
Birdman’s lyrical prowess knows no bounds. The concepts and themes communicated in a single line of his are almost too deep to even try to understand. Just think about the weight behind a simple line like “I went from sittin’ in a cell to sittin’ on a jet, from shittin’ in a cell to shittin’ on a jet.” Powerful stuff.
Silkk the Shocker has a lyrical style that’s always instantly recognizable. Any time he finds himself on a track, he starts shouting and explaining who he is, apparently confused as to how the hell he got in the booth in the first place. The word “flow” can’t even describe the style of someone whose words seem strung together completely by accident.
We don’t want to say he killed rap so let’s just say he left it maimed, lying in a gutter with its nose broken on a street corner in Atlanta. His songs are unadulterated nonsense and the worst part is he’s inspired plenty of other no-talent rappers to make music, thus deserving of the # 1 spot.
