THE TOP 5 most overrated rappers ever...
Aug 06 '04 (Updated Aug 22 '04)
The Bottom Line Just read it!
Well Folks, here it is. A list of the top 5 most overrated rappers of all time. These 5 guys have committed such hip hop sins as selling out, joining wack record companies, lying to the public, making way too many bad quality cd’s, and flat out not performing at the peak of their abilities. Along with countless other faults at their hands, we here at epinions hope to finally bring justice to the world of Hip Hop.
What makes an artist overrated? The most common case is when people think that a specific rapper is “the sh*t” but in fact his rhymes are just cr@p. You won’t see Chingy or J-kwon on this list because even though they are very popular, they aren’t respected as rappers but rather just people you listen to so you can shake your @ss. Overrated rappers are usually the ones who are done, but they still keep going and people buy their albums
thinking they will make a comeback.
5. Method Man
Yes, I know that Method Man is still respected but from what I see, his rapping career is over. He was in some wack movies and now has a show. He doesn’t need to rap anymore, especially because he forgot how. Let me take you back to 1993. Wu-Tang explodes onto the rap scene with their classic “Enter the Wu: 36 chambers”. The most popular and charismatic member of the new leaders of hip-hop is none other than Method. The following year, Wu-Tang launches its solo projects and he is the first up to bat. “Tical” was a huge disappointment. I don’t care how much you liked it, it did not meet up to Johnny Blaze’s expectations. The following solo efforts from Wu-Tang were VERY good (Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, Liquid Swords, etc) and so I guess people thought this to be a fluke. Then, out of nowhere, Method Man made the biggest mistake of his career: he started hanging out with Redman. Yes, I know Redman made some great albums early in his career but he also became worse around this time. (SIDENOTE: If you think that Redman is part of Wu-Tang, stop listening to rap) Meth and Red made “Blackout!” in 1997 and that was a piece of trash. After that they became like Batman and Robin, Peanut Butter and Jelly. Everywhere together. A little while later Method made “Tical 2000” with a “rapper of the future” idea and this backfired on him. It ended up being a 2-disk disaster (double the garbage). Then him and his buddy Red made the movie “How High” (not recommended). The whole theme of the movie is: Black people are cool, everybody tries to be like them. Oh yeah and smoke weed. This year he recorded “Tical 0” (hey Meth, lets try not naming your album “Tical” every time, a bonus for originality). “Tical 0” has the idea of going back to the early 90’s when rap was gritty and raw. When I heard about this I was very relieved. I thought to myself “Finally, a rapper will save his career and maybe change the public’s view on true hip hop”. MAN WAS I WRONG. This album is a joke. It’s the final flush that will put any real hip-hop in Method Man down the toilet. This album has guest appearances to the point when you don’t think that this is a solo LP. How is having Ludacris and Missy Elliott a “prequel”? All three of his albums sucked, he is now only well-known for his dumb movie, and he still hangs out with Redman. But people still think that he is one of the best rappers. NO, Method man is DONE. And by the way, I’ve seen his new show twice and I laughed probably a total of three times. Another retarded “achievement” for his small plaque.
4. 50 Cent
At least Method Man was good at one point in his career, 50 was NEVER good. This guy is so bad. All he uses is a simple A-A, B-B rhyme pattern and never tries anything fancy. He has the vocabulary of a 5th grader and the voice of a mental patient’s worst Al Pacino impression. His whole career is based upon him getting shot. Those nine bullet holes are the best things that ever happened to him. It’s the only street credentials he has, besides being a crack baby. 50 doesn’t seem to refrain from using extremely simple rhymes such as Dub/club or Bacardi/party. The latter is the only rhyme I have heard by him that is more than one syllable. 50 is supposed to be the second coming of Pac or whatever but I think he is the second coming of Nelly (another fake gangster). 50 cent only raps about riches, guns and how he got shot. He doesn’t ever try to make meaningful rap. Not one song. He tried with “Many men” to make a kind of a deep song but…What the hell was that? Another “I got shot”anthem? 50 tries to be a “P-I-M-P” but he is just so wack its not even funny. The video for that song is the worst thing I’ve ever seen. A pimp convention? And then he says “Im a P-I-M-P, plus I got the magic stick” and he shows them his “magic stick” which glows of gold (nice job ripping Austin Powers and Goldmember). Wait! Did he just show them his “stick”? What’s up with that? I thought these guys were pimps. 50 is not only overrated but probably the worst rapper ever.
3. Jay-Z
Without a doubt in my mind, Jay-Z has been the biggest waste of talent in Hip Hop (In the last decade). To the average listener, he will be remembered as one of the best rappers ever, but to any true hip hop head, only his entrepreneurship will deserve a round of applause.
That’s right people, lets get our heads of the gutter and start downsizing all these PHONY rappers. Just like Jay. Now I’m not saying he doesn’t have at least have some street cred back from his hustling days, but his emcee skills have never matched the expectations that came from the streets.
Let’s start be reviewing Jay-Z first album ever – Reasonable Doubt. Wow, a masterpiece; Jay officially joined the ranks of such artists as Nas, Wu-Tang, Mobb Deep, Notorious B.I.G., Outkast, and even ATCQ, as dropping a classic LP his first time around the block. But then was when Jay fell way off the map. Jay thought his hustling days could be something to rake in lots of dough, so he continued to whole style of Mafioso raps. If I remember right, In my Lifetime, both Volumes had only one hit song – Hard Knock Life. Wow, Jay gets respect for 1/28 songs in two years of rhyming. Embarrassing after dropping a joint like Reasonable Doubt. I mean, even MTV rated this guy the 5th best MC ever, and they said he doesn’t even write lyrics on paper. Well there you go, no wonder we get songs like “Money Ain’t A Thing,” “Money, Cash, Ho*s,” from him. Maybe if he sat down, and wrote something on the same level of hustling like Biggie or Big L he might write more good music. Jay continued to release more CDs in the late 90s. It seemed like you couldn’t turn on MTV without seeing him roll around in a Bentley. I mean this guy became instant mainstream success. His whole life flipped from dealing crack on the street corner, to sighing autographs for fans at TRL. So maybe we just didn’t credit Jay enough with making these kinds of records. We do know he wanted the Crown of New York and to reach that he needed to entertain EVERYONE in New York. Ok Jay, you proved your point, but only women started buying you stuff, and any true rapper knew that your style was all about selling out. Later on, Jay released a track called “Takeover” on his Blueprint album. Oh my goodness, what was he thinking dissing all those people, including the one and only God’ Son – Nasir Jones. First off, I’m sick and tired of people telling me that track was a hot diss song. NO NO NO! Nas’s response with Ether will forever go down as the greatest diss song EVER – Period. Let’s compare real quick. Jay’s wack a$$ beat by K. West sucked complete d*ck. I mean, when I just heard the instrumental of Ether, I had chills going down my spinal chord. Talk about a true battle track. Also, Nas lyrics had to be some of the best he’s put down in the new millennium. He flips around everyone single one of Jay’s lines to perfectly annihilate his opponent. Wow, what was Jay thinking about trying to steal the crown from the King of NY? So Jay decided to wipe off his p*ssy tears and make a compilation album with R.Kelly. The CD was wack folks. I mean the last three tracks were named “Shorty” “Honey” “P*ssy.” So what we have here is a self-conscious 30 year old male, who loves to contradict himself. Pathetic, and afterwards Jay releases the Blueprint 2! Yes, biting off KRS-One for the second time in your career. Seriously Jay-Z, can’t you be at least a little more original. At least try to make up rhymes with words that have more than two syllables. And you only good production you’ve ever had was Kanye, but too bad he saved all the goods beats for himself (Oh and for Scarface, ‘member “Guess Who’s Back”). Now on the topic of Jay repping with a sick crew. NO! Not sick, tight, filthy or any other slang word can describe Jay-Z crew. I mean all these guy’s care about is making $CHEDDAR$. That’s it. So they will put out wack albums during the transition period of Jay-Z’s albums so Roccafella Records can rule the undustry. Man, if I had a dollar for everytime Jay-Z stole someone’s elses idea, I swear I would have more money that Jay-MotherF*cking Z himself!!!!! First, Jay samples Nas TWO times, he also can’t think of his own label name. Last but not least, he uses an album title from the great KRS-One…TWICE!!! That bitter!!!! And after I saw Roccafella shoes, vodka, night club, and expensive clothes I knew Jay was definitely no longer about the music. His whole marketing scheme is to try and sell $50 dollar t-shirts to suburbia kids that believe they are “Gangsta.” Give me a break. Jay-Z is the definition of a PHONY rapper. This guy makes hype around everything he does. I was actually happy that he retired from the game so he could stop making such bad music. Pathetic, I’ll only give him the nod on two albums – Reasonable Doubt (5/5), and Black Album (4/5). His whole style is so bogus to me. Maybe if he didn’t release so many contradictory songs, I would still believe in him, but all Jay can do is feed us with commercial bullsh*t. Please Jay, now that your done rapping, go move to the Caribbean with some dumb model, and fill your DSL lips with your favorite fatty cigars. ‘Cause I never want to hear them again.
2. Snoop Doggy Dogg
Dr. Dre’s early 90’s protege has been spitting softcore gangster rhymes more than a decade now, and what does he have to show for it? One quality and impressive album, that’s all folks! You can debate all you want, but at the end of the day only his debut LP – Doggystyle, shows catchy and genius lyricism along with party going West Coast beats. That classic album dropped in 1993, and then Snoop’s whole world flipped upside down when he was tried and acquitted of murder. The end of the trial came as a shock to the young superstar artist who had also had problems with Death Row management. Now, two years later, and new and better Snoop declared to the public that his gangster persona was finished. He would go out and live his life the righteous way. He stated this in an interview with MTV. Then in 1996, Snoop Dogg came out with The DoggFather. This was a disappointing 21 track follow up to the untouchable Doggystyle. Two years later, the new “No Limit” signed Snoop Dogg released one of the weakest albums ever. To the true hip hop head, the album’s title already spelled D-I-S-A-S-T-E-R. Da Game is to be Sold Not to be Told, featured horrible production from the No Limit crew; along with wack, ignorant No Limit, warrior rhymes. Snoop even tried to recreate the classic “Nothin’ but a ‘G’ Thang”, with “Still a ‘G’ Thang”. This just showed hot bad Snoop had dropped. When an artist has to go back into their bag of old songs because they can’t think of fresh material to write, they are definitely starting to sell out. Very rarely can an artist recreate the magic of an old hit song. Oh, and by the way this was the first sell-out album we saw from Snoop. I mean look at the title, Da Game is to be Sold Not to be Told, Snoop was flat out laughing at anyone who bought this CD. Nowadays, Young Buck’s new CD comes to mind of this forgetful album from Snoopy-“Straight Outta Cashville.” Come on, give me a break, do people really fall for these gimmicks??? The following year (1999) Snoop released another wack CD titled, “No Limit Top Dogg.” The No Limit formula for success was implanted again on this album as it features the same half-assed rhymes from Snoop and his crew. Out of the 19 tracks, 18 of them had the gangster-vibe with Snoop’s high voice. The last track was a salute to his momma. Wow, a typical sell-out album. I mean look at Nelly’s “Country Grammar”. Nothing special, NOTHING original, and a commercial vibe through out the whole album. Afterwards, Snoop introduced his own group – “The Eastsidaz.” WOW!!! One of the biggest flops in the history of rap. I got to admit, the St. Lunatics, Chingy’s clique, the deceased Da Band, D12, Luda’s crew, and The post-Big Pun era Terror Squad have gotten more respect than these guys. Damn, and that’s some butt-nasty company to be with in the first place. On the same topic, even Lil’ Jon’s homeys – The Eastside Boys get more respect. Hmmm? Maybe they are the same group??? I don’t even know, but I could care less. Let’s keep going. Fast forward to late 2000 and Snoop is now a free man. He has his own label. WOW! But wait, didn’t he recently sign over to Star Trak?? That shows just how long his label was in business. So Snoop drops one of the worst albums EVER! “The Last Meal,” will forever be labeled as the most hyped up Snoop album ever. I mean, he had a cartoon inside the cover (Probably stole the idea from Freddie Foxxx’ Industry Shakedown). There’s purely three singles and everything else is just trash. His “Shizzle talk” continues the trend set by E-40 as the worst slang terminology ever. Finally, I won’t even review the “Paid Tha Cost to be Da Bo$$” album because you know where I’m heading.
Along with everything Snoop has ever wrote, he only has one album that a true Hip-Hop head would put in their top 10. And for a guy who’s been in the so-called rap game since 92, that’s just pathetic. All we have from Snoop is 12 years of bullsh*t. Now, getting off the music talk, Snoop has probably made more money doing bogus commercials, movies, TV Shows-(remember Doggy Fizzle Tellevizzle?), and don’t forget his collection of Adult Videos, than all of his album sales combined. Snoop has even became a household name through out America. That is just scary! When people praise a man who’s smokes more than Santa’s chimney. Besides all of the gimmicks, Snoop can basically be summed up into one thing. The Biggest Sell-Out of all time. He can’t rap, he can’t act, can’t do business, can’t stay clean, and he’s still trying to persuade people that his the realest G in all of Hollywood. Give me a break, I wouldn’t listen to this guy if someone paid me!
And the most overrated rapper ever is….
1.2pac
Oh my god, I already feel the people turn away in horror of what I just stated, BUT ITS TRUE!!! Pac is just an above average rapper with a lot of passion. I can name 10 rappers who have better lyrics than him and Pac’s beats are nothing special (an exception for some songs). Lets just compare 2pac with other rappers on the many categories of lyrics and see how he fares:
Vocabulary
2pac’s words were always easy and so even 4th graders can listen to him. Ras Kass, Jedi Mind Tricks, and Canibus are giants to a midget(2pac) in vocabulary.
Street Poetry
2pac is very well known for this but I don’t think anybody is better at this than Nas or Bone Thugs-n-Harmony. Mobb Deep, Common, and Jay-Z would even beat him here in my opinion.
Emotion
Pac is VERY emotional but there is no contest, DMX is the all-time champ.
Charisma
Ok this is what I like about 2pac, his charismatic delivery. But I’m sorry, I would have to give this to Biggie or Talib Kweli whose deliveries are the best ever in my book.
Storytelling
This may be a bit old school but the best storyteller is Slick Rick, NO DOUBT. Nas is very good at this (yes, Nas is my favorite rapper, that’s why I mention him a lot). Big L has some impressive tales too.
Introspect
Ok, here is something 2pac is good at. He probably has some of the best reflective songs ever but for some reason, after being thoughtful he goes and makes a song like "2 of Americaz Most Wanted” where Snoop joins him as they rap about being gangsters, which is why I first started to dismiss Pac as the greatest.
Wordplay
This is the reason why I think Biggie is better than 2pac. 2pac’s wordplay is just as good as Nelly’s (not saying much).
Metaphors
Anybody who has heard “Liquid Swords” knows that GZA was given the crown in '95 when he came out with that album.
Battle rapping
2 words: Canibus, PERIOD
The only categories that 2pac would come in the top 5 were street poetry, charisma, and introspect. He is not that great of a lyricist. I don’t mean to sound cynical but the only reason people perceive him and Biggie as the two greatest rappers is because they were feuding and then both got shot. 2pac is considered greater because he came out with all these posthumous albums (I didn’t think that any of these were good). People just listen to die hard fans of the mid-nineties and just assume that he is the best rapper ever and go out and download all of his songs, listen (not understand what he is saying), and go and say he’s the best. 2pac’s first three albums (2pacalypse now, Strictly 4 my N.*.G.G.A.Z., Me against the World) were excellent but he fell behind when he joined Deathrow. He became a “thug” and followed the gangster movement. After his death, he released a bunch of albums that prove to me that he would have went into decline had he not died.
Open to any comments (especially ones that don’t disregard me for hating on 2pac).
The assault on Jay-z and Snoop brought to you by DL
Method Man, 50 cent, and 2pac were done my ~M~
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russianraiderz
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Will be back from hiatus soon! Stay tuned for my Chamillionaire series!
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