The Top 10 Most Influential East Coast MC's

I got this topic from the Big L thread yesterday. Please list your top 10 and why they are top 10.

Objectively right?

KRob86 wrote:

Objectively right?

He said your top 10, so I would think personal?

KRob86 wrote:

Objectively right?

yes, I'd like like everyone's personal opinion.

Kool G Rap
Rakim
KRS One
Slick Rick
Chuck D
Big Daddy Kane
LL Cool J
Nas
Raekwon/Ghostface - Before faggots say LOL, think about it. These two resurrected the whole era of Mafioso and storytelling rap in the 90's. OBFCL DIRECTLY led to the direction of MANY OTHER albums including Reasonable Doubt, Life after Death, It Was Written, The Firm, etc, etc.
Notorious B.I.G.

Faggotts? Why you gotta be so harsh Slang?

good list Slang. I'm not sure OB4CL influenced Life After Death since Biggie was doing similar things on Ready To Die which was released about a year before OB4CL. Either way G Rap's influence is all over those mafioso inspired albums.

My personal top 10 from the east....

KRS-One (because I own 17 of his CDs (+ tapes) and I spin them consistently)
CL Smooth (because he has 3 classic albums and one classic EP IMO)
Q-Tip (because ATCQ has 2 albums in my top 3 of all time...from any coast)
Masta Ace (because he's got 3 classics and 1 near classic IMO)
Chuck D (because PE arguably has 5 classic albums)
Heavy D (2 personal classics + a solid discog I play frequently)
Will Smith (because he has arguably 4 classics with DJ Jazzy Jeff)
Big Daddy Kane (because he's got 2 classics + a solid discog I play frequently)
Black Thought (because The Roots got 3 classics and a solid discog)
Talib Kweli (because he's got 2 classics and a near classic IMO)

smh...I should have voted positive for the last two. I was working off a different list with groups in it before and they didn't make the cut. But for a solo list, they do. Whatever.

nice list Pounds, but that's not exactly what i was going for. I wanted to know what ten east coast artists have had the most influence on hip hop not you in particular.

T. Myers wrote:

nice list Pounds, but that's not exactly what i was going for. I wanted to know what ten east coast artists have had the most influence on hip hop not you in particular.

Then why...

T. Myers wrote:

KRob86 wrote:

Objectively right?

yes, I'd like like everyone's personal opinion.

? You said personal opinion here...

Alan wrote:

T. Myers wrote:

nice list Pounds, but that's not exactly what i was going for. I wanted to know what ten east coast artists have had the most influence on hip hop not you in particular.

Then why...

T. Myers wrote:

KRob86 wrote:

Objectively right?

yes, I'd like like everyone's personal opinion.

? You said personal opinion here...

LOL! I guess that could be interpreted differently. I just meant i want everyone to list 10 artists they personally felt had the most influence on hip hop.

I guess I'll go with these for an objective list then:

KRS-One
Chuck D
Rakim
Big Daddy Kane
LL Cool J
Q-Tip
Nas
Slick Rick
Kool G Rap
Black Thought

Rakim
KRS One
Big Daddy Kane
Kool G Rap
LL Cool J
Notorious BIG (because of his death, I think he's had a much bigger impact then he would have had he lived to drop some stinkers)
Nas
Rza (only because he "pioneered" what is now considered the Wu style)
50 Cent (his output has probably had the most influence of any NY mc post 2000, even his adversaries like Fat Joe and Dipset have adapted his multi-coastal style)
Kool Keith (what would the underground sound like today if it wasn't for Ultra?)

Rza
Gza
ODB
Ghost
Method Man
Inspectah Deck
Masta Killa
Raekwon
U-God
Melle Mel

In no particular order:

Rakim ( the man changed EVERYTHING...The way heads flow, their cadence,their voice, their style..EVERYTHING)

Run-D.M.C. (they let everyone know that hip-hop was here to stay, that you could actually make a career out of doing hip-hop music)


Wu-Tang Clan (the crew from Shaolin added the Kung-Fu element to hip-hop..lol, and changed the way hip-hop groups were perceived, and the size of those groups)


LL Cool J (the start of the most influential label (Def Jam) in hip-hop history started with this guy, his influence on hip-hop is endless, heads tried to copy his formula for success and not many have matched it)

Biggie Smalls (this guy paved the way for so many in such a short amount of time, as far as writing skills, flow, voice,style etc)

Public Enemy (when heads begin to think of the political side of hip-hop it most often begins with this group)

Kool G Rap (this guy made it possible for heads from the Wu and Nas and many others to even think about adding that "gangsta" element to their names and rhymes, his influence is HUGE)

Grandmaster Flash And The Furious Five (probably the MOST influential hip-hop group of all-time hands down, google them to learn just a few of their accomplishments)

Stetsasonic (the band idea in hip-hop began with these guys who opened the door, for groups like The Roots and The Fugees and Black Eye Peas and many others to really want to actually PLAY instruments while creating hip-hop music)

Salt-N-Pepa/MC Lyte (kind of a combo platter of influence from these pioneers on the female side, every female emcee owes something to them)

these IMO are the most INFLUENTIAL emcees/groups out of the east coast and pretty much on hip-hop as a whole in general...your favorite emcee was more than likely influenced by one of the heads I mentioned up above, trust me there...

Public Enemy- ushered in the whole black power/awareness movement in hip hop period.

Wu Tang- all your clicks, posse's, crews, wants to be like them and they ushered in that gritty undaground NY sound.

Notorious BIG- one of your fav rappers fav rapper. Big paved the way for blending the gangsta style with the smooth high end style.

Nas- the made maybe the most highly accliamed album in east coast history. The flow and attention paid to lyrics was duplicated my a lot of rappers period.

Jay-Z- the first east rapper who is looked at to me bigger than rap. Jay ushered in the montone yet smooth flow and reinvented the slick talk swag.

Run DMC- Why is hip hop even mainstream? these guys right here were originators in every form and fashion and they are single handely the reason most people wanted to be rappers.

Rakim- never heard a style like his before, Rakim imo is the inventor of the flow and your voice being a instrument in hip hop.

ATCQ- brought the jazzy rap style to the forefront.

LL Cool J- agree with Powell, he is the solo Run DMC.

BDK- smooth rapper that can still get in ya ass batle rap wise, rapid fire flow. So many wants to be him.

Okay this is NOT me being a dick, but asking an honest question. What about Q Tip/ATCQ was so influential? There are like 5 groups maybe today with obvious influences from them, whereas the other people on these lists have long reaching influences. Just asking.

If I knew we could have done groups, my list would look far different.

"What about Q Tip/ATCQ was so influential?"

You must not listen to much alternative/jazz rap. He/they influenced a slew of them. I still see plenty of similarities in that type of rap I hear today. They basically perfected jazz rap.

ATCQ imo is the main reason for your underground jazzy style rappers. They are the blueprint for what is now called and real undaground hip hop. I know the Jungle Brothers are the originators but ATCQ took it to the next level.

And Powell on the real I almost listed SNP, I agree with them.

That's true, I find most Jazzy rap boring. But that's why I ask.

D.Powell wrote:

In no particular order:

Rakim ( the man changed EVERYTHING...The way heads flow, their cadence,their voice, their style..EVERYTHING)

Run-D.M.C. (they let everyone know that hip-hop was here to stay, that you could actually make a career out of doing hip-hop music)


Wu-Tang Clan (the crew from Shaolin added the Kung-Fu element to hip-hop..lol, and changed the way hip-hop groups were perceived, and the size of those groups)


LL Cool J (the start of the most influential label (Def Jam) in hip-hop history started with this guy, his influence on hip-hop is endless, heads tried to copy his formula for success and not many have matched it)

Biggie Smalls (this guy paved the way for so many in such a short amount of time, as far as writing skills, flow, voice,style etc)

Public Enemy (when heads begin to think of the political side of hip-hop it most often begins with this group)

Kool G Rap (this guy made it possible for heads from the Wu and Nas and many others to even think about adding that "gangsta" element to their names and rhymes, his influence is HUGE)

Grandmaster Flash And The Furious Five (probably the MOST influential hip-hop group of all-time hands down, google them to learn just a few of their accomplishments)

Stetsasonic (the band idea in hip-hop began with these guys who opened the door, for groups like The Roots and The Fugees and Black Eye Peas and many others to really want to actually PLAY instruments while creating hip-hop music)

Salt-N-Pepa/MC Lyte (kind of a combo platter of influence from these pioneers on the female side, every female emcee owes something to them)

these IMO are the most INFLUENTIAL emcees/groups out of the east coast and pretty much on hip-hop as a whole in general...your favorite emcee was more than likely influenced by one of the heads I mentioned up above, trust me there...

Where's KRS, BDK, Slick Rick, or even Doug E Fesh?

They would make my top 15 most influential east coast emcees/groups/producers

they are right behind the ones previously mentioned as far as influence and you can add Marley Marl in that mix too...

KRob86 wrote:

ATCQ imo is the main reason for your underground jazzy style rappers. They are the blueprint for what is now called

o_0

LOL

D.Powell wrote:

They would make my top 15 most influential east coast emcees/groups/producers

they are right behind the ones previously mentioned as far as influence and you can add Marley Marl in that mix too...

I can't deny Biggie's impact, but IMO, he came along far too late to have more influence than some the older ones i mentioned. If i was to name any mc from Biggie's era, it would probably Nas. IMO, Illmatic is easily more influential than Ready To Die and Life After Death, but i guess that's another discussion altogether. good list though.

KRob86 wrote:

ATCQ- brought the jazzy rap style to the forefront.

LOL! You're the only person i know who can praise and insult ATCQ at the same time.

T. Myers wrote:

KRob86 wrote:

ATCQ- brought the jazzy rap style to the forefront.

LOL! You're the only person i know who can praise and insult ATCQ at the same time.

I did not mean to insult them, *in arnold Jackson voice-"what you talking about Terry?"

KRob86 wrote:

T. Myers wrote:

KRob86 wrote:

ATCQ- brought the jazzy rap style to the forefront.

LOL! You're the only person i know who can praise and insult ATCQ at the same time.

I did not mean to insult them, *in arnold Jackson voice-"what you talking about Terry?"

It's because you called them .

Well that's not fair. I had to list the members of WU individually and everyone is cheating and listing groups? This is MC singular.

Melle Mel basically is number 1 with his work. The Message influenced damn near every rapper and changed the rap game as rappers started doing more serious shit with their music.

Wu has to take number 2-10 because as emcees they changed the game in ways others hadn't. Up to that point people had just taken the same old formulas and recycled them in different ways. Wu's Enter Da 36 Chambers may be the most influential album of all time. It brought in the huge emcees trading verses, revolutionary production, aliases, mafia shit, as a group and soloists they changed the industry with their contract structures, etc. etc. etc.

I was posting on this subject with details why I picked each MC/group. I got to number 8 when my fucking power went out!!! I'm SOOOO pissed off about that.

So I'll chime in on this topic tommorrow, because I want to explain exactly why I picked each MC and get feedback on it.

KJ Styles wrote:

I was posting on this subject with details why I picked each MC/group. I got to number 8 when my fucking power went out!!! I'm SOOOO pissed off about that.

So I'll chime in on this topic tommorrow, because I want to explain exactly why I picked each MC and get feedback on it.

You should move out of the slums KJ. Power outages and no running water are orca deterrents.

Southern Rap Pro wrote:

Well that's not fair. I had to list the members of WU individually and everyone is cheating and listing groups? This is MC singular.

Melle Mel basically is number 1 with his work. The Message influenced damn near every rapper and changed the rap game as rappers started doing more serious shit with their music.

Wu has to take number 2-10 because as emcees they changed the game in ways others hadn't. Up to that point people had just taken the same old formulas and recycled them in different ways. Wu's Enter Da 36 Chambers may be the most influential album of all time. It brought in the huge emcees trading verses, revolutionary production, aliases, mafia shit, as a group and soloists they changed the industry with their contract structures, etc. etc. etc.

not to mention Deck alone. His constant barrage of metaphors to string together words making them into braggodocios statements has influence literally 85% of every underground MC's style today

and to the U-God haters, he may have had the most memorable verse for me on their debut: RAW IMMA GIVE IT TO YA, WITH NO TRIVIA....that verse alone encompassed the entire sound/message of the album

Southern Rap Pro wrote:

KJ Styles wrote:

I was posting on this subject with details why I picked each MC/group. I got to number 8 when my fucking power went out!!! I'm SOOOO pissed off about that.

So I'll chime in on this topic tommorrow, because I want to explain exactly why I picked each MC and get feedback on it.

You should move out of the slums KJ. Power outages and no running water are orca deterrents.

I don't live in the slums jabroni. I live in a 500K crib.

KJ Styles wrote:

Southern Rap Pro wrote:

KJ Styles wrote:

I was posting on this subject with details why I picked each MC/group. I got to number 8 when my fucking power went out!!! I'm SOOOO pissed off about that.

So I'll chime in on this topic tommorrow, because I want to explain exactly why I picked each MC and get feedback on it.

You should move out of the slums KJ. Power outages and no running water are orca deterrents.

I don't live in the slums jabroni. I live in a 500K crib.

Correction. You live in a room in your parent's 500K crib. You have your own room and a giant fish tank for the nights your girlfriend stays the night.

A crib that I'm going to inherit when my dad retires from the family business. And that's the last piece of personal info that I'm EVER gonna share in this fuckin forum.

Take a joke, please...


joke  

–noun 1. something said or done to provoke laughter or cause amusement, as a witticism, a short and amusing anecdote, or a prankish act: He tells very funny jokes. She played a joke on him.

KJ Styles wrote:

A crib that I'm going to inherit when my dad retires from the family business. And that's the last piece of personal info that I'm EVER gonna share in this fuckin forum.

LMAO! KJ DOES live with his parents! LMAO!!!!!

1) Chuck D
2) KRS One
3) Rakim
4) DMC
5) Kool G Rap
6) Heavy D
7) CL Smooth
Nas
9) GZA
10) Slick Rick

Top 10 influential in my humble opinion.