VH1 50 Greatest Hip Hop Artists

1. Run-DMC

2. Public Enemy

3. Tupac Shakur

4. Notorious B.I.G.

5. LL Cool J

6. Eminem

7. Dr. Dre

8. Grandmaster Flash

9. Salt-N-Pepa

10. Jay-Z

11. Beastie Boys

12. P. Diddy

13. N.W.A.

14. Missy Elliott

15. Wu-Tang Clan

16. Ice-T

17. The Fugees & Lauryn Hill

18. Afrika Bambaataa

19. Nas

20. Eric B. & Rakim

21. KRS-One

22. DMX

23. OutKast

24. Queen Latifah

25. Snoop Dogg

26. Ice Cube

27. A Tribe Called Quest

28. Busta Rhymes

29. Nelly

30. Will Smith & DJ Jazzy Jeff

31. Naughty By Nature

32. Cypress Hill

33. De La Soul

34. Lil' Kim

35. Big Daddy Kane

36. Master P

37. The Roots

38. Biz Markie

39. Ja Rule

40. Gang Starr

41. MC Lyte

42. Kurtis Blow

43. Coolio

44. MC Hammer

45. Heavy D & The Boyz

46. Eve

47. Arrested Development

48. Kool Moe Dee

49. Tone Loc

50. Sugarhill Gang


I have yet to find one person who doesn't have issues with this list. Including people like Ja Rule, Coolio and Eve while leaving out Digital Underground, Whodini and The Fat Boys are my biggest complaints. I'm not going to go through my top 50 but I am listing my top 10. I would interested in seeing others. Besides your own taste, make sure you take into account the number of hits, flow, creativity and their impact on hip hop while compiling your list. Mine is as follows.

1. Tupac Shakur
2. Run-DMC
3. Public Enemy
4. Kurtis Blow
5. LL Cool J
6. Digital Underground
7. NWA
8. Eric B & Rakim
9. A Tribe Called Quest
10.(t) Snoop & Too Short

I thought I didn't see Lauryn there...I was about to say!!!
[This message was edited Mon Apr 21 12:03:06 PDT 2003 by Starmist7]

This list is illegitimate. While right on many counts, no Mos Def, No Talib, no Common, no Pharcyde, no Mobb Deep, and they put NELLY and COOLIO on that list? Please. You can tell who compiled this list.

Before I contribute here, I do want to mention the "disclaimer" that I have only a "casual" interest in hip-hop & only a "general knowledge" of a few of its biggest names, which would probably explain much of my commentary..


that said, I too am surprised that neither DIGITAL UNDERGROUND or Whodini were in the top 50
(then again, this IS "wanna be cool, wanna be all-up-in-hip-hop-without-ACTUALLY-showing-the_videos VH1.. what does anyone expect? & why did VH1 do only "50"??? they didn't know about/couldn't find 50 more?)

the "Fat Boys"..?
Hm.
To even call them a "hip-hop novelty" act would be generous..

where was "Guru", of "Jazzmatazz" fame?


I would essentially agree with the top 3, but I would put Public Enemy 1st because of "social conciousness" & that they were more.. they were more of several things, none of which I seem to be able to articulate at this time..

Those who should have been ranked higher:
Salt-N-Pepa
Beastie Boys
Queen Latifah
Tribe Called Quest
even "Big Daddy Kane"..
MC Lyte


Surprised these weren't ranked higher, generally speaking:
Snoop Dog
The Roots
Arrested Development
Outkast
De La Soul
Ice Cube


Should have been ranked lower:
P. Diddy
Master P
Wu-Tang Clan


Shouldn't have been ranked at all:
Tone-Loc


Appropriately omitted:
JJ Fad
Fu-shnikens (sp?)
Digable Planets
Chi Ali
Yo-Yo
Doug E. Fresh (& Slick Rick)
Rob Base
Vanilla Ice
etc. etc.
(damn.. most hip-hop performers DO have a VERY SHORT "shelf life"..)

yeah, you can tell this list is not from HIP/HOP fans...come on Rakim wasn't higher.

BETs list of HIP/HOP acts looked very different.

mltijchr said:

Thanks for such a well thought out post but I respectfully take issue with your comments about the Fat Boys. Most people forget or just don't realize the impact these cats had as well as their vocal skills. The problem is there skills are over-shadowed by the same thing that helped them become big (no pun intended) Most acts that hit big have a novelty. PE ,militant. Queen Latifah, afro-centric pro female. 2PAc, misunderstood thug. NWA, gangsta. Hell even Emenin is a hip-hop novelty in the fact he is a white rapper. The Fat Boys played a big role in the explosion of hip hop in the mid 80's. I would have to include anyone that was on that raising hell tour in the top 50. That tour was ground breaking in so many ways. So I'll stand by my comment that the Fat Boys should be in the top 50. In a list of 50 we need to include all of those who laid the ground work in the 80's. They had a much larger impact than Eve, Ja Rule or Coolio ever will.

Run DMC are cool and all, there place in hip-hop's innovative history is assured BUT does anybody really enjoy listening to them the most and think they're the best?

Essence said:

I do. In my car, I carry a collection of albums and 12" mixes I burned onto disk. I play it at least once a month. I can always enjoy hip hop in it's truest form and RUN-DMC is as real as it gets.

intha916 said:

Cool, back at the start they'd of been my favourite but in retrospect I don't rank them amongst the hip-hop music I enjoy the most. I play the greatest hits CD on occasion...

Essence said:

I haven't heard much hip hop since that had as much passion and flow (Pac is the only other) as Run and D had. The way they bounced off each other lyrically was an art form that no other duo has been able to match (Chuck and Flav are the next closest) These cats will never be played to me anymore than James Brown or George Clinton will be played when it comes to soul and funk. There is a reason they are all godfathers of this shit. Not that they did it first, but they did it best.

Channels and magazines create these lists simply to promote their network/magazine. It gets people arguing over it, debating it, and making threads on message boards about it. It's good PR for them.

I agree with you Essence, Run DMC, while I still highly respect them and enjoy their output, and how they did more for hip hop on a mainstream basis before anyone else; if I were going to make a list (which would be uncharacteristic of me in the first place) they wouldn't be at the top. Some of their music was progressive for hip hop for that time back in the 80s, but later on in time I don't find some of those same songs to be timeless. And at the same time, they're pioneers of the genre, and they belong in the upper echelon.

I notice VH1 never lays out their criteria for these bloody lists.

P Diddy before Afrika? What kind of joke is that shit?

intha916 said:

I'd be the last 1 to entirely discount the "impact" of..
the Fat Boys
(brief pause, followed by irrepressible "chuckles"..)

the biggest 1, wasn't he 1 of the 1st "human beat boxers"?

Yeah, I suppose in some sort of way they made a contribution to hip-hop..
they've certainly contributed more than.. Ja Rule..
THAT'S for damn sho!

Since when does Viacom Hits 1 know anything about hip hop. This so called list is insulting.

it's from VH1, what do you expect?

no pharcyde? !

mltijchr said:

FYI -- Guru actually made the list, as the vocal half of Gang Starr (DJ Premier is the turntablist/producer).

Kool Moe Dee should have been on this list. His 1989 hit "I Go To Work" is a tour de force of lyrical/rhythmic dexterity that few have equalled or surpassed IMO.

Brother915 said:

He is on it. #48

intha916 said:

Oh yea... I see it now...My bad.