Best Rappers of the '90s

The Top Ten
1 Tupac Shakur Tupac Amaru Shakur, also known as 2Pac, was an American rapper and actor born on June 16, 1971 in East Harlem, New York. Tupac sold over 75 million records worldwide and has been referred to in multiple major publications such as Rolling Stone as one of the greatest music artists of all time. 2Pac was assassinated on September 1996 at the age of 25. ...read more.

While his records as a whole aren't the greatest, he a few hit wonders. "Hail Mary", "How do you like it", "I get around", "Gangsta Party" are some hits off of his best selling records. Like I said which has been reciprocated from hip hop experts is that his records as a whole weren't nearly as impressive as his few good ones. This is because Tupac was under a lot of pressure by his record company to put out as many albums as he could. Subsequently reducing their quality.

You had be a teenager or older in the 90s to realise the enormous popularity and impact of Tupac. All the cars, the houses, the clubs, personal walkmans, CD players, all had a copy of Tupac's albums, blasting from the speakers at every corner. Unbelievable cult followng, no one like him since. Almost mythical.

Biggie is a good second, though biggies flow is slighter better, but no way as popular or as "exciting" as Tupac back then.

Everyone other rapper is scrambling for lower positions. Maybe Eminem 3rd.

Not only a brilliant rapper but also a complete artist, and a huge leader for the opressed and the black community. With the movies he acted in, poems he wrote, and interviews he gave, he showed the world that he is the greatest artist who can make us touch his soul through his work and he showed us why he is the realest. There will never be another one like him, RIP the realest man of all time.

Tupac is the single greatest rapper of all-time. "Califonia Love, " "How Do U Want It, " "Picture Me Rollin', " "Dear Mama, " and "Pour Out a Little Liquor" are just a few of the great songs that can be found in his discography.

2 The Notorious B.I.G. Christopher George Latore Wallace, born May 21, 1972, better known by his stage name The Notorious B.I.G (sometimes Biggie Smalls or just simply Biggie), is an American rapper from Brooklyn, New York. On March 9, 1997, he was murdered in a drive by shooting in Los Angeles, California at the age of only 24. To this day it’s unknown who murdered him. ...read more.

The Notorious Biggie Smalls in my eyes is Number 1. To me his a legend that will live forever in the hip hop world. Nobody has inspired me like B.I. G has, the flow, the raps, stories, background and of course the persona that the legend had. Biggie, your my idol, rest in peace my hero, One Love

Lyrical talent, complex rhyme schemes, uncompromising flow, and frankly one of the deepest back stories makes Biggie the best rapper ever.

For me, He is a better rappers than Tupac, There are just so many Tupac fans, Now I'll admit, I love Tupac but Biggie's rapping skills was much better.

There is no better rapper than the NOTORIOUS B.I. G all the others were good but he was and still is just on a higher level of rap...

3 Eminem Eminem, born Marshall Bruce Mathers III, is an American rapper, actor and music producer born on October 17, 1972 in St. Joseph, Missouri. Eminem has sold over 300 million records making him the bestselling hip-hop artist of all time. In addition to his solo career, he is a member of D12 and (with Royce da 5'9") half of the hip-hop duo Bad Meets Evil. Rolling Stone ranked him 83rd on its list of 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, calling him the King of Hip Hop. Including his work with D12 and Bad Meets Evil, Eminem has had ten number-one albums on the Billboard 200 and 5 number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100, and 13 worldwide.

M&M the best rapper ALIVE, common' this guy saved our *sses, he came right after "death" of The Best Ever Rapper To Walk This Earth in Tupac, dope lyrics, great storyteller, mad flow "listen to rap god", sick beats, just common he should be further up the list. No Disrespect to those above but for me he should be.

Always the best, doesn't matter that his super fame came in the 2000's, The Marshall Mathers Lp was the second best rap album of all time, recovery is the 1st, Eminem rules ever decennia

Used to bring out the best music. It's a shame his last good album was Encore. Although MMLP2 is without a shadow of a doubt better than that garbage Recovery!

SSLP is his best album to date because of ROLE MODEL!

#1. The man's a genius. He's the Best of the Best. King of Rock 'N Roll is Elvis Presley, King of Pop is Michael Jackson. Eminem is THE KING OF RAP! Dr. Dre is THE KING OF BEATS! Their creativity together is untouchable.

4 Ice Cube O'Shea Jackson, born June 15, 1969 in Baldwin Hills, CA, known by his stage name Ice Cube, is an American rapper, record producer, actor, and filmmaker. He began his career as a member of the hip-hop group C.I.A and later joined the seminal gangster rap group N.W.A. After leaving N.W.A in December 1989, ...read more.

Ice Cube, fearless flow, gangsta lyrics but still are real. Spine of N.W.A, wrote classic like It Was A Good DAy, Boyz In The Hood, Ghetto Vet

Best rapper out of them all, realest of them all. No other rapper can compete with cube cept pac big and nas

Ice cube started rapping with N.W.A now look at him still making music even movies

Best rapper ever because he is in the best rappers of all time al. L least I think so N.W. A the Lench Mob Etc...

5 Eazy-E Eric Lynn Wright better known by his stage name "Eazy-E", was an American rapper who performed solo and in the hip hop group N.W.A. He is affectionately called "The Godfather of Gangsta Rap". He was born to Richard and Kathie Wright in Compton, California. On March 26, 1995 Eazy-E dies from complications ...read more.

It has been 19 years since this Legend's passing. I would call him the Grandfather of Gangsta rap. His contributions to the Gangsta rap community are phenomenal and perfected what is what we call Gangsta rap.

Really? I accept he was A pioneer as the face of NWA when gangsta rap started out, so influential? Yes, Greatest rapper? Never! how he's above Eminem, jay z, snoop and many others is beyond me

He may not of written his lyrics, but the way he rapped them and the sound of his voice and the music is why I vote Eazy

Eazy E was the greatest rapper of his time. He did write SOME lyrics. Everyone at Ruthless records would pitch in.

6 Snoop Dogg Cordozar Calvin Broadus, Jr., (born October 20, 1971) known professionally as Snoop Dogg, is an American rapper, actor, record producer, and television personality from Long Beach, California.

Snoop doggy dogg dropped doggystyle a major sick album! Why ain't he ahead of AZ?!?!

Com'on Snoop Dogg is way better than Eminem because snoop has been in the game longer than Eniem and Snoop is the best alive

Doogystyle is the best he should be number 1 with dr dre I think he is better than biggie and tupac

Why is he not ahead of dre and eazy, his flow smashes them both together

7 Dr. Dre Andre Romelle Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American rapper, record producer, and entrepreneur. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and previously co-founded, co-owned, and was the president of Death Row Records. Dr. Dre ...read more.

Dre is the king of gangsta rap beats. I don't think anyone has ever made better beats then him, especially in his songs "Still Dre" "Forgot about Dre" and "Xxplosive".

He is the greatest producer in hip hop and has made some dope songs such as "The Watcher" and "Nuttin But A G Thang", he hasn't released lots of albums but every album he has made has changed the next generation of hip hip. The Greatest!

What the hell? Dre is a great producer but his rapping isn't very good at all - mediocre at best. Also he get's ghost writers to do it for him.

Dr Dre may have not made a lot of songs, and when he did they were fire. He was behind the scenes on EVERYTHING. Should be top 4 at least

8 Nas Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones, better known by his stage name Nas, is an American rapper and entrepreneur born on September 14, 1973 in New York City. His album, Illmatic, is considered to be one of the best rap albums of all time. He is also considered to be one of the best rappers of all time.

Nas holds the greatest hip hop album of all time in Illmatic. He also holds several other classics in Stillmatic, It Was Written, and The Lost Tapes. God's Son and Life Is Good are also excellent albums that will at some point be up for discussion as classics. No other MC has managed to rhyme at this level after being in the game so long. His lyrics are both technically impressive, as well as being incredibly creative. (Fetus, Rewind) At this point, Nas should be in every head's top 3 MC's of all time.

Seriously! How the hell are Ice Cube and Eazy E higher than Nas? Nas straight up owned the 90's, he dropped two of the best albums in hip hop, and Eazy-E didn't even write his own lyrics! This is blasphemy! Biggie is also higher, which is also messed up, Biggie is nowhere near as good as Nas is and he is overrated because of his death.

Being as he didn't make as large of a contribution to the Hip hop scene in the 80s and 90s, I would of switched Nas' spot with Eazy E, who I would call the Grandfather of Gangsta rap. Ice T should be near the top as well.

Nas is definitely the best in my opinion. He is the best storyteller and his poetic skills are second to none. I would say he is #1 for sure. True kind of hip-hop.

9 Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter, known by his stage name JAY-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur and investor born on December 4, 1969 in Brooklyn, New York. He is best known for his albums Reasonable Doubt, The Blueprint, and The Black Album. He is considered to be one of the best rappers of all time.

Are you guys all stupid? Reasonable doubt was flawless and one of the best rap albums ever made along with illmatic, ready to die and all eyes on me. Jay should be easily top 3 if not number one. There's no way in hell canibus, puffy, snoop and so many more should be above jay

Jay is the total package of an ideal mc. The voice lyrics unorthodox flow and records sold. He took this rap thing far beyond anyone! Wether you like him or not you can't ignore the fact that jay-z is your favorite rapper's favorite rapper.

One of the best ever to be honest reasonable doubt,black album and blueprints were amazing and I've noted his views in upliftment of black as a community and I am not even black.

Jay z should be in the top 10 Em is one of the best but he only released one album in the 90s and it was 1999 so he shouldn't be on here

10 Big L Lamont Coleman (May 30, 1974 – February 15, 1999), best known by his stage name Big L, was an American hip hop recording artist, born and raised in Harlem, New York City, New York. Coleman embarked on his career in rapping, with the hip hop trio, Three the Hard Way. His first notable appearance came ...read more.

Big L is the #1 in my book. Undefeated, his lyrical finesse and gritty eloquence define what it means to be a dope rapper and no one except Shady comes close to being able to illustrate a story like Big L does... So well that you can feel the dirt under your nails and its like you're right there with him, climbing the stairs to the hotel room in Jersey to ambush his cheating girlfriend and perpetrators.. He's so bomb he still gives me chills.

Big L was one of the best rappers, period. His flow was amazing, and his wordplay was on top. He was never considered one of the best but I promise he's worth listening to. Especially "Fed Up Wit' The Bulls***". He was undefeated and still is to this day.

Big l is definitely the most underrated MC of all time, he had the lyrical flow of biggie, the poetic style of pac, the experience of Eazy E, and the dedication of nas and jay z. His attributes were amazing, big l would be number one if it wasn't for all the little famous.

The lines he spit were fire they couldn't be touched by any rapper and he only had 9 years in the game he already had mad tracks by the time he was gunned down if he were still here now guaranteed he'd be up there with Nas and Eminem

The Contenders
11 Rakim William Michael Griffin Jr. (born January 28, 1968), better known by his stage name Rakim Allah (or simply Rakim), is an American rapper and record producer. One half of golden age hip hop duo Eric B. & Rakim, he is widely regarded as one of the most influential and skilled MCs of all time. ...read more.

Rakim's word play and near and inner rhymes really pulled him out from any other rapper into one of the best. Even with his latest album in 2006, he still rules the M.I. C

What Rakim should be top 4.

12 LL Cool J James Todd Smith, known professionally as LL Cool J, Is an American rapper, actor, author and entrepreneur from Queens, New York.

He is the best rapper of all time and is cool and he is also ll

Better than all! Still Balling!

13 Black Thought Tariq Luqmaan Trotter, better known as Black Thought, is an American artist who is the lead MC of the Philadelphia-based hip hop group The Roots, as well as an occasional actor.

A best rappers list and Thought is not in the top 10? This is madness.

14 Guru Keith Edward Elam (July 17, 1961 - April 19, 2010), better known by his stage name Guru, was an American rapper, producer and actor. He was a member of the hip hop duo Gang Starr, along with DJ Premier. He was born in Roxbury, Boston.

Should be ranked way higher. Had mad flows, inspirational, and S/O to his sick beats DJ Premier

15 MC Ren Lorenzo Jerald Patterson, better known by his stage name MC Ren, is an American rapper from Compton, California. He is the founder and owner of the record label Villain Entertainment. His moniker is derived from the middle letters in his first name.

This isn't MC Ren this is who played him in NWA but He is still a dope rapper

He is so underrated and cube eazy and dre got all the attention at nwa but ren rapped a lot

Underrated. He gave a huge contribution to NWA and was hugely ignored because of the rivalries between Eazy and Dre. Also made one of the best albums in hip hop:
Shock of the hour

I know he was apart of it to

16 Diddy Sean John Combs, also known by his stage names Puff Daddy, Puffy, P. Diddy, Diddy, Love and Brother Love is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, actor, record producer, and entrepreneur.

Are Diddy and Puffy Combs the same person?

17 OutKast Outkast is an American hip hop duo formed in 1991, in East Point, Atlanta, Georgia, composed of Atlanta-based rappers André "André 3000" Benjamin (formerly known as Dré) and Antwan "Big Boi" Patton. The duo achieved both critical acclaim and commercial success in the 1990s and early 2000s, helping ...read more.

They are probably the best rap group from the south and with albums such as Aquemini and ATLiens in the 90's they proved that. They were extremely influential and ahead of their time and they should at least deserved to be mentioned when speaking of the "Golden Age" of hip hop. When it comes to rap, Andre 3000 was an amazing MC in the 90's and Big Boi was very good as well. Although they are a duo, you should at least add one, and if not both, for they are true pioneers of the Dirty South.

Some of the sickest beats definitely should be up at the top above jay z songs like players ball and southernplaysticcadilacmuzik were amazing songs. Thank you Big Boi and Andre for the real rap you and wu tang are my favorites

Mos definitely top 10

I cannot belive they are this far down. Some of the best lyrics you will ever find. I am very dissapointed.

18 Big Daddy Kane Antonio Hardy, better known by his stage name Big Daddy Kane, is a Grammy Award-winning American rapper and actor who started his career in 1986 as a member of the rap collective the Juice Crew.
19 The D.O.C.

You can't sleep on The D.O.C., he had flow back in the day and was before his time! He had substance, flow, and bomb beats. Believe that.

20 Cypress Hill Cypress Hill is an American hip hop group from South Gate, California. Cypress Hill was the first Latino American hip hop recording group to have platinum and multi-platinum albums, selling over 18 million albums worldwide.

The group that got me into the rap scene with black Sunday in the early 90s, B real's unique style and muggs producing made cypress hill stand out from the crowd and got me listening to other rap gods such as pac, BIG, nas, jigga, snoop, DMX and Eminem, all could be top spot depending on your personal style in what was truly a golden era for hip hop and I thank the Hill clan for introducing me into the world of rap music

Favorite songs come from cypress

21 Big Pun Christopher Lee Rios, better known by his stage name Big Pun, was an American rapper. Emerging from the underground hip hop scene in The Bronx borough of New York City, in the early 1990s, he was the first Latino rapper to have an album certified platinum as a solo act. Pun was proud of his Puerto Rican heritage and became an icon within his community. Weighing nearly 700 pounds, he died of heart failure. Pun wasn't generally considered the greatest rapper of all time, but was the first rapper to carry such a devoted Latin fan base, one that exceeded that of Cypress Hill.

He's far better than Lil Wayne to start off and he's just a lyrical genius, amazing flow, great rhyming techniques, word play and basically in general a great MC. He deserves a top 10 spot and that's no doubt, all his tracks are far better than most rappers.

The man should be top 10 at least if not top 5. He's better than Biggie, Jay-Z, LL Cool J, Ice Cube, and he's definitely much better than Eazy and Wayne.

Should be nearer the top RIP

Great lyricist

22 C.L. Smooth
23 Busta Rhymes Trevor George Smith, Jr., better known by his stage name Busta Rhymes, is an American hip hop recording artist, actor, record producer and record executive.

Amazing rapper! Busta appeals to all genres in my opinion! One of the best alternative rappers ever, and extremely intelligent lyrically. Nuthin but love

24 Pharoahe Monch
25 Xzibit Alvin Nathaniel Joiner (born September 18, 1974), better known by his stage name Xzibit (pronounced "exhibit"), is an American rapper, actor, songwriter, television presenter, and radio personality.
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