Top 10 Greatest (Midwest) #7

One Be Lo

He's 5th on my Midwest list

Top 5.

top 5

Top 10

NEITHER..in all caps. This dude has skills but nothing about him to me stands out. He only has one album I hear get a lot of praise and one grp album that gets luv.

KRob86 wrote:

NEITHER..in all caps. This dude has skills but nothing about him to me stands out. He only has one album I hear get a lot of praise and one grp album that gets luv.

I understand that you don'y feel him as much as others, but people praise Project F.E.T.U.S. too. That would mean that he has 2 classics and a 4.0-4.5 star album in a weak mid-west, but Biggie's 2 albums are enough for top 10 in an infinitely stronger east coast. I don't get that logic, but your entitled to your opinion.

But Pharoahe 2 albums are enough for top 10 in an infinitely stronger east coast. I don't get that logic, but your entitled to your opinion.

T. Myers wrote:

KRob86 wrote:

NEITHER..in all caps. This dude has skills but nothing about him to me stands out. He only has one album I hear get a lot of praise and one grp album that gets luv.

I understand that you don'y feel him as much as others, but people praise Project F.E.T.U.S. too. That would mean that he has 2 classics and a 4.0-4.5 star album in a weak mid-west, but Biggie's 2 albums are enough for top 10 in an infinitely stronger east coast. I don't get that logic, but your entitled to your opinion.

Damn right Biggie's albums are enough for Top 5 considering the impact they made. But I agree with you on One Be Lo. He's easily Top 5 in the Midwest to me. I can't honestly think of 10 Midwestern MC's that are better.

KRob86 wrote:

But Pharoahe 2 albums are enough for top 10 in an infinitely stronger east coast. I don't get that logic, but your entitled to your opinion.

He has 3 group albums too, right? I guess that must have slipped past you.

pharoahe has 5 albums counting OK and tons of guest appearances

I knew you were going to comeback with that but Pharoah to have all these skills and be this great top 10 rapper can't drop solo albums but every 9-10 yrs to huh? And don't get me wrong I like Pharoah like i'm sure you like some Biggie I understand it's all preferance.

KRob86 wrote:

I knew you were going to comeback with that but Pharoah to have all these skills and be this great top 10 rapper can't drop solo albums but every 9-10 yrs to huh? And don't get me wrong I like Pharoah like i'm sure you like some Biggie I understand it's all preferance.

When was the last time Biggie really dropped an album?

Pharoahe is droppin an album this year or early next

and i like Biggie i never said i didnt, i just dont spin his shit nearly as much as some other artists and i personally like other east artists better....GFK, G Rap, Slick Rick, GZA, Nas, etc

Are you serious?

KRob86 wrote:

Are you serious?

As a heart attack

Terry you know why Big only has two albums correct? Or maybe i'm confused.

I know exactly why he only has 2 albums, but why does that matter? 2 albums is 2 albums, right?

T. Myers wrote:

KRob86 wrote:

I knew you were going to comeback with that but Pharoah to have all these skills and be this great top 10 rapper can't drop solo albums but every 9-10 yrs to huh? And don't get me wrong I like Pharoah like i'm sure you like some Biggie I understand it's all preferance.

When was the last time Biggie really dropped an album?

Kinda hard to do so when you've been dead for 13 years and don't have a bunch of unreleased shit in the crates.

As much as I like Pharoahe, I do see Kevin's point. He should have released MUCH more material given his time in the game.

KJ Styles wrote:

T. Myers wrote:

KRob86 wrote:

I knew you were going to comeback with that but Pharoah to have all these skills and be this great top 10 rapper can't drop solo albums but every 9-10 yrs to huh? And don't get me wrong I like Pharoah like i'm sure you like some Biggie I understand it's all preferance.

When was the last time Biggie really dropped an album?

Kinda hard to do so when you've been dead for 13 years and don't have a bunch of unreleased shit in the crates.

As much as I like Pharoahe, I do see Kevin's point. He should have released MUCH more material given his time in the game.

what difference does it make? As great of an actor as Daniel Day Lewis is, i wish he'd do more movies, but that does not make him less great. Kev's point is plain stupid.

T. Myers wrote:

KJ Styles wrote:

T. Myers wrote:

KRob86 wrote:

I knew you were going to comeback with that but Pharoah to have all these skills and be this great top 10 rapper can't drop solo albums but every 9-10 yrs to huh? And don't get me wrong I like Pharoah like i'm sure you like some Biggie I understand it's all preferance.

When was the last time Biggie really dropped an album?

Kinda hard to do so when you've been dead for 13 years and don't have a bunch of unreleased shit in the crates.

As much as I like Pharoahe, I do see Kevin's point. He should have released MUCH more material given his time in the game.

what difference does it make? As great of an actor as Daniel Day Lewis is, i wish he'd do more movies, but that does not make him less great. Kev's point is plain stupid.

Well you say Biggie didn't release enough, but that's because he's no longer with us. Pharoahe has no excuse. That's the point he's making.

KJ Styles wrote:

T. Myers wrote:

KJ Styles wrote:

T. Myers wrote:

KRob86 wrote:

I knew you were going to comeback with that but Pharoah to have all these skills and be this great top 10 rapper can't drop solo albums but every 9-10 yrs to huh? And don't get me wrong I like Pharoah like i'm sure you like some Biggie I understand it's all preferance.

When was the last time Biggie really dropped an album?

Kinda hard to do so when you've been dead for 13 years and don't have a bunch of unreleased shit in the crates.

As much as I like Pharoahe, I do see Kevin's point. He should have released MUCH more material given his time in the game.

what difference does it make? As great of an actor as Daniel Day Lewis is, i wish he'd do more movies, but that does not make him less great. Kev's point is plain stupid.

Well you say Biggie didn't release enough, but that's because he's no longer with us. Pharoahe has no excuse. That's the point he's making.

IT DOES NOT MATTER. Pharoahe has more material than Biggie. If Biggie has less material than Pharoahe, and he's on your's and Kev's top 10, his point about Pharoahe is moot.

neither

Top 5.

Neither...he's probably in my top 50 somewhere, but definitely not touching my top 25. One Be Low is obviously dope and obviously has a dope catalogue, but IMO he suffers from the same fate as Kanye, Lupe, Rhymefest, Supernatural, Common, Black Milk, etc. in that he's clearly an east coast favorite.

Jeff you think Ye has a east coast style?

Top 5. Also, Terry:

"what difference does it make? As great of an actor as Daniel Day Lewis is, i wish he'd do more movies, but that does not make him less great. Kev's point is plain stupid.
"

Wouldn't that logic apply to B.I.G., too?

Not really, I just think he appeals to a more east coast crowd. I don't really even think Common has that much an east coast style, but he plays to a different type of crowd than most midwest artists.

If you look at the whole of the midwest, I would think it's fair to say the sound is much more in line with the Eminems, Twistas, Tech N9nes, Bone Thugs', etc than the aftorementioned artists. I realize Chicago and Detroit have their own little purist scene and MN is on some other shit, and while I like some of those artists, I don't think of them as "top 10 Midwest". I tend to think of people that helped establish a style or sound that is congruent with true representations of a coast. Granted, people like 50 Cent have obviously contributed enormously to hip hop but he's not going near a top 10 east coast discussion (and while talent is an obvious factor) it has a little bit to do with his style and music overall. Is anyone going to list Primo as the #1 producer from the south? He's from Texas, but he's often mentioned as an east coast artist.

Dude, N3R0, I was about to type that exact paragraph.

Shaun wrote:

Wouldn't that logic apply to B.I.G., too?

No, it really doesn't. Monch has 5 albums(including OK albums), and none of them are less tha 4 stars. Biggie is dope, but due to his circumstances, there isn't a large enough sampling.

Really?

Yeah I feel you..Midwest style is known to be more fast paced rhyming to dark gangsta style. But now with more white rappers it is getting know for a more organic/experimental laid back sound also.

Yes, N3R0. Mine was a tad shorter, though, and then I deleted it by accident and I didn't feel like re-typing it lol

"No, it really doesn't. Monch has 5 albums(including OK albums), and none of them are less tha 4 stars. Biggie is dope, but due to his circumstances, there isn't a large enough sampling."

I was referring to the Daniel Day Lewis comment about not being in a ton of movies

Shaun wrote:

I was referring to the Daniel Day Lewis comment about not being in a ton of movies

the Daniel Day Lewis comment was due to Kev making a comment about Pharoahe Monch dropping albums infrequently. My point was that the frequency does not have anything to do with quality.

Steve wrote:

neither

Wow, I thought you were a big One Be Lo fan

N3R0 of 0nslaught3r wrote:

Neither...he's probably in my top 50 somewhere, but definitely not touching my top 25. One Be Low is obviously dope and obviously has a dope catalogue, but IMO he suffers from the same fate as Kanye, Lupe, Rhymefest, Supernatural, Common, Black Milk, etc. in that he's clearly an east coast favorite.

And the problem with that is????

"the Daniel Day Lewis comment was due to Kev making a comment about Pharoahe Monch dropping albums infrequently. My point was that the frequency does not have anything to do with quality."

Gotcha

There's no "problem" KJ, clearly this is about personal preference and as some one from the midwest when I think of a midwest artist I think of some one that reps us as well as reps the regional style/sound. That's all I was saying.

N3R0 of 0nslaught3r wrote:

There's no "problem" KJ, clearly this is about personal preference and as some one from the midwest when I think of a midwest artist I think of some one that reps us as well as reps the regional style/sound. That's all I was saying.

One Be Lo may have the swagger of an East Coast MC, but I wouldn't say his style is neccessarily such. He's a mic ripper for sure though.

To be honest with you. I never heard of him until I came to Amazon and heard people biggin up Binary Star, so I checked them out and I love them. I've probably spun SONOGRAM and Masters Of The Universe as much as anything over the last 6 months or so.

Define your regional "style" Jeff, because I really don't see anything distinct about the Midwest. I see certain styles with the East, West, and South but not so much the Midwest. Break down the Midwestern style for me.

Midwest regional style= BTNH, Twista, Tech N9ne and his ilk, Eminem, etc

i do like him a lot. just not enough for him to crack my midwest top 10.

i really feel One Be Lo, i obviously have a bias because he's from a city very close to my high school and am happy to see a local guy succeed like he has but i can see the point of how he appeals to the east coast sound, which is fine with me though

The midwest style was IMO pioneered and popularized by MC Breed, and is heavily influenced by G Funk. Following breed a number of producers (notably Steve Pitts, Mike E. Clark, Dj U-Neek, Legendary Traxter, QDIII, Sandman, Esham, Jay "E" Epperson, Toxic, and a bevy of others) took this style and ran with it. Most took a darker turn (obviously influenced by producers like Beats By The Pound and 3-6 Mafia) and threw in triple time hi hats and 808s.

As for rappers, I would consider Tech N9ne, Nelly, Bone Thugs N Harmony, Do Or Die, Snypaz, Crucial Conflict, Dayton Family, Twista, Psychodrama, Triple Darkness, Sandman, and King Gordy are typical of the midwestern rapping style. Obviously again MC Breed is a pioneer but I don't think the midwest really had a footing in terms of a definite style until the mid-90's when Bone became prominent, Twista started using the style most recognize him for today, Tech N9ne influenced a whole city (or maybe Vell Bakardi, but that's another story), and Nelly smoothed out the sound to go multi-platinum. It's a style with rapid fire lyrics, a melodic flow, and a horrorcore tinge (more often then not). Often confused with the southern style of rapping (and admittedly influenced by it) the midwest boasts it's own distinct style IMO, but definitely isn't defined by just these artists. When people say "Midwest" this is what I think of, but people like Al are going to think of an entirely different (albeit more localized) scene. And don't get it twisted, even Twista and EC Illa once boasted styles more reminescent of east coast mcs until the midwest sound really got entrenched in hip hop.

N3R0 of 0nslaught3r wrote:

The midwest style was IMO pioneered and popularized by MC Breed, and is heavily influenced by G Funk. Following breed a number of producers (notably Steve Pitts, Mike E. Clark, Dj U-Neek, Legendary Traxter, QDIII, Sandman, Esham, Jay "E" Epperson, Toxic, and a bevy of others) took this style and ran with it. Most took a darker turn (obviously influenced by producers like Beats By The Pound and 3-6 Mafia) and threw in triple time hi hats and 808s.

As for rappers, I would consider Tech N9ne, Nelly, Bone Thugs N Harmony, Do Or Die, Snypaz, Crucial Conflict, Dayton Family, Twista, Psychodrama, Triple Darkness, Sandman, and King Gordy are typical of the midwestern rapping style. Obviously again MC Breed is a pioneer but I don't think the midwest really had a footing in terms of a definite style until the mid-90's when Bone became prominent, Twista started using the style most recognize him for today, Tech N9ne influenced a whole city (or maybe Vell Bakardi, but that's another story), and Nelly smoothed out the sound to go multi-platinum. It's a style with rapid fire lyrics, a melodic flow, and a horrorcore tinge (more often then not). Often confused with the southern style of rapping (and admittedly influenced by it) the midwest boasts it's own distinct style IMO, but definitely isn't defined by just these artists. When people say "Midwest" this is what I think of, but people like Al are going to think of an entirely different (albeit more localized) scene. And don't get it twisted, even Twista and EC Illa once boasted styles more reminescent of east coast mcs until the midwest sound really got entrenched in hip hop.

i can see that but i also dont believe the Midwest has its own distinct style and it varies almost state to state. For example, Chicago artists have a similar style but different from other midwest states, Detroit has its own scene on hip hop that is different and not found like it in other midwest states, then there are the more southern midwest states that have the style you just mentioned...lumping the Midwest into one style is impossible, and rather each state should be looked at independently as its own style

...I respectfully disagree Slang.

you actually think Detroit rappers have the same style as say Kansas City, Cleveland, etc?

I'm saying there's an overall arc to the style that is prominent in most midwestern states. I'm saying that if you go to Indiana, you have Coo Coo Cal and Midwikid. If you go to Detroit, you have...oh a juggalo army plus Eminem and D12 plus Esham/Natas, plus Fat Killahz plus Goon Sqwad plus Royce/D-Elite (not to mention Dayton Family and their extended affiliates like Top Authority, Jake The Flake, etc). If you go to Kansas City, you have Strange Music plus all the dudes that aren't on Strange but try really really hard to sound like they are. If you go to Iowa you have Evil Pimp. If you go to Chicago, you have Twista/GMG, Do Or Die, EC Illa, Psychodrama, Crucial Conflict, Triple Darkness and Ric Jilla. If you go to Minnesota, you have Grave Plott, DMG, and Sandman. If you go to Nebraska, you have Center City Coalition and it's affliates.

I'm not discounting Minnesota's Emo Rap movement, or the traditionalists in Chicago and Detroit, but they really are the minority. I don't think it's fair to give a "state to state" comparison for a region that has worked hard to define it's style. I'm not taking anything away from your opinion and I'm sure that dudes like One Be Lo are probably offended by statements like this but you can't just say that there isn't a midwest sound because a few artists on the underground and in the minority have a different style. The south is all over the place to be honest but people lump them together. It'd be easy to say there's a "Georgia Sound" and a "Florida Sound" and a "Louisana Sound" and a "Texas Sound" and a "Tennessee Sound" because there IS, BUT you can't take away the fact there are overall shared characteristics in all of those styles that defines the "southern sound".

i can agree with those statements but the way i see it is theres basically 2 sounds from the midwest that are very different that have broke into the mainstrem.

Theres the Kanye West, Common, etc. sound
Theres the Twista, Bone, etc. sound which has obviously been prevelant longer

i guess you can draw comparisons between the two but imo i dont lump them together

i just think that a rapper shouldn't be penalized, for example, for not having a typical "midwest" sound like it seems some people are saying about a guy like One Be Lo, not confining to the sound of his region shouldnt discredit his skill as a rapper when voting on the best mc's from the midwest. Im not saying you have to like him at all or anything, i just dont think how well he confines to the sound of his region should be a factor...

Slang Editorial wrote:

i can agree with those statements but the way i see it is theres basically 2 sounds from the midwest that are very different that have broke into the mainstrem.

Theres the Kanye West, Common, etc. sound
Theres the Twista, Bone, etc. sound which has obviously been prevelant longer

i guess you can draw comparisons between the two but imo i dont lump them together

i just think that a rapper shouldn't be penalized, for example, for not having a typical "midwest" sound like it seems some people are saying about a guy like One Be Lo, not confining to the sound of his region shouldnt discredit his skill as a rapper when voting on the best mc's from the midwest. Im not saying you have to like him at all or anything, i just dont think how well he confines to the sound of his region should be a factor...

I agree. Just like Rakim said, it ain't where you from it's where you're at!