Essay Preview: Rap
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05. 2Pac
Though slightly over-rated as a lyricist, 2Pac is the name that comes to any non-hip hop fans mind when you ask them who their favourite rapper is. The reason is simple, 2Pac addressed every issue that its possible to address and influenced every rap star out today. Me Against The World is his finest work, followed by All Eyez On Me. 2Pac has the greatest number of “classic” songs, Dear Mama is a masterpiece, Changes is the song that most fans have as their number 1 of all-time, Keep Ya Head Up is one of the most uplifting tunes Ive ever heard, Brendas Got A Baby is a fine example of good storytelling and I Aint Mad Atcha is a brilliant retrospect on life in the hood. The list goes on. Its just a shame his career is somewhat tarnished by ludicrous conspiracy theories and constant attempts at resurrecting his music by putting acapellas on new beats by Eminem and other producers.
04. Big Pun
The biggest latino rap star ever, I remember buying Yeeeah Baby and listening to Off With His Head over and over and over again. His music never got old. Despite his weight problems, Pun still delivered brilliant lyricism with a graceful, pacy flow that is an alien concept to most overweight rappers nowadays. Weight was always an issue with Pun and led to his downfall, you can only imagine what he wouldve been by the time he was 35 as his life was tragically cut short via. a heart attack aged just 28. Still an incredible asset who will never be forgotten. Without Big Punisher, Terror Squad is just Fat Joe and some other dudes
03. Nas
Nas is the most versatile emcee ever to grace a mic booth. No exceptions, the man has proven time and time again that he can take any concept complex or simple and turn it into a classic. One of the few rappers to have fallen off and immediately returned to top form in the space of two consecutive albums. You can say he relates race to everything, you can say his tone is boring, you can even say he got destroyed by Jay-Z but youd be making yourself look foolish. Nas made a top 5 of all time diss record (Ether), a top 5 of all time album (Illmatic), numerous classic songs (The World Is Yours, If I Ruled the World and Nas Is Like just to name a few) and made himself known as one of the greatest emcees of all time. Streets Disciple, his latest release, is another brilliant release and hes proven he can still battle with the fantastic diss track MC Burial/Dont Body Yourself. Brilliant.