Top 10 Lyrical Genius

Who are they? Can you even think of ten rappers that are true lyrical genius?

Del is the first that comes to mind. Few can rival his expanded vocabulary.

Not in any particular order

Rakim
Nas
Black Thought
KRS-One
Biggie
Big Daddy Kane
Kool G Rap
Eminem
Andre 3000
GZA

Take KRS off of that list. Please.

And Rakim, replace him with MC Serch

smh. Rakim can stay, KRS doesn't belong there.

Naw. Replace Biggie with Kid Cudi

Shaun wrote:

Take KRS off of that list. Please.

I was gonna say the same thing last night, but i deemed it not worth the hassle. KRS released an album on the east coast in the 80's, and that is a FACT. Therefore he has to be a lyrical genius.

LOL @ this thread....you need a little clarification huh Kev?? no problem man here's my list

In NO particular order:

Biggie
Nas
Kool Moe Dee
Rakim
Kool G Rap
LL Cool J
Jay-Z
Big Daddy Kane
Melle Mel
Big Pun


these are NOT my top 10 emcees of all-time (although a few of them do appear here too), but I would say that these are my top 10 "lyrical geniuses"


the way these guys flip words and flows is ridiculous IN MY OPINION....and there's a few more where they came from and NO I'm not removing anyone from MY list to appease anyone here...if my list doesn't suit your tastes then I think you should list YOUR top "lyrical geniuses" just like I did!

Just for the record my top 10 emcees of all-time goes like this:

IN ORDER:

1. Rakim
2. KRS-One
3. Biggie
4. Nas
5. LL Cool J
6. Big Daddy Kane
7. Jay-Z
8. Kool G Rap
9. Ice Cube
10. Chuck D


now that's my top 10 of all-time which is obviously a little different from my top 10 "lyrical geniuses" of all-time...

I love LL just as much as anyone on here with the exception of Powell, but i wouldn't put him in the lyrical genius category.

Just off the top of my head some of my fav's are

GZA
Pharoahe Monch
Andre 3000
Kool G Rap
Jay-Z

flow has nothing to do with lyrical genius imo.

Hmmm...some of these choices are suspect as hell imo. LL Cool J? Kool Moe Dee? Rakim? Biggie? KRS One? I don't know. Jay Z and Kane I am still thinking on that one. But I could see them before the others.

Here's who I got:

K Rino
Nas
Pharoahe Monche
Pac
Killah Priest
Andre 3000
Eminem
Talib Kweli
Ghostface Killah
GZA

Honorable mention
Kane
Jay-Z
Ras Kass
Canibus
Melle Mel
Scarface
Kool G Rap
Black Thought

Like i said there are not many.

Oh, i'd like to add K-Rino to my list and i don't care who has a problem with it.

You know Kev, Jay-Z is probably borderline, but he's in my top 10 off all time so i threw him on there. I wouldn't gripe too much if people objected to him though.

Another dude who deserves a mention is Tech N9ne. People can complain all they want, but Tech has plenty of lyrical skills

Anyone that doesn't think Cool J is a "lyrical genius" doesn't know lyrics IN MY OPINION

he easily makes many hip-hop heads lists...I'm not just talking about myself when I say that my dudes..

KRob86 wrote:

Hmmm...some of these choices are suspect as hell imo. LL Cool J? Kool Moe Dee? Rakim? Biggie? KRS One? I don't know. Jay Z and Kane I am still thinking on that one. But I could see them before the others.

Here's who I got:

K Rino
Nas
Pharoahe Monche
Pac
Killah Priest
Andre 3000
Enimem
Talib Kweli
Ghostface Killah
GZA

Honorable mention
Kane
Jay-Z
Ras Kass
Canibus
Melle Mel
Scarface
Kool G Rap
Black Thought

Like i said there are not many.

Kev your questioning Cool J, Biggie, Kool Moe Dee but your adding Pac and Talib and 'Face to your lists and honorable mentions lists...so obviously this all boils down to opinions...because none of those 3 would get near my top 20 for lyrical geniuses....IN MY OPINION!

Whoa, there is no question i like LL more than Kweli(although Kweli is in my top 20), but based only on lyricism, Kweli smothers LL like some Waffle House hash browns. C'Mon Powell. I really don't see how you take offense to LL but not KRS. I think they are more similar lyrically than people would realize.

I can see Biggie a tad but he was cut short on us so its hard to include him on that level based off two albums. LL is a lyricist no doubt but once again genius? I don't see it. Kool Moe Dee and Rakim the same.

And I did not include Face in the top 10 for that reason.

Lionel Hutz wrote:

flow has nothing to do with lyrical genius imo.

Flow adds to it IN MY OPINION otherwise heads like GZA, K-Rino, Eminem, Canibus and a few others would be in my top ten lyrical geniuses of all-time but their flows are killing them IN MY OPINION...that's a major factor for them being left off of my list for top 10 IN MY OPINION...they may have lyrics but their flows with those lyrics holds them off of my own personal list

Powell Em has flow for days so I don't see how you do not include him with your theory. KRino flows betta than most give him credit for including myself in the past. But I agree about Gza and Canibus flow though.

Wow, the definition of "genius" really gets thrown around here. Ridiculous. What record did Notorious BIG or KRS One make that any other mc couldn't make? Seriously?

Jay-Z has some clever lines and has made concept records that are really creative. The same could be said for Nas, Eminem and a select few mentioned n here. Rakim has lyrics, no question about that. But the fact of the matter is that he's more revered for his FLOW than his lyrics AND what concept record has dude made that 10 other mc's couldn't have made? Period. There is nothing "genius" about anything Tupac ever made. Period. LL Cool J is laughable.

K Rino
Chino XL
Rass Kass
Sage Francis
Ghostface Killah
Immortal Technique
Pharoahe Monch
Gza
Andre 3000
Killah Priest
Eminem
Jay-Z
Nas
Aesop Rock

See how there are dudes up there who's music I don't really even like? Because I'm recognizing GENIUS. And the truth of the matter is, Paul Barman is probably a lyrical genius because the dude wrote an entire verse in palindrone. Again, more ridiculous bias at work here.

T. Myers wrote:

Whoa, there is no question i like LL more than Kweli(although Kweli is in my top 20), but based only on lyricism, Kweli smothers LL like some Waffle House hash browns. C'Mon Powell. I really don't see how you take offense to LL but not KRS. I think they are more similar lyrically than people would realize.

Kweli is nice lyrically but IN MY OPINION he ain't that nice and certainly not to the point that you just said Terry because if that is the case then he would be smothering Kris as well according to your theory and I certainly don't believe that too be true....