[Space-Dementia]

Not sure this is a topic yet (the forum search is kinda hard to use), and I know you'll find comments like this all over YouTube, but I'm kinda curious to see how people answer the question: Who are the top 5 greatest rappers of all time? And for the purpose of this question let's focus on solely the skill of the rapper, not their production abilities. For example, I love Kanye West's music, but I'll be the first to admit that he's not anywhere near the top 5 rappers ever. My list would look something like this:
5. Earl Sweatshirt
4. Kendrick Lamar
3. The Notorious B.I.G.
2. MF DOOM
1. Andre 3000

[glynspsa]

5. Mos Def
4. Eminem
3. Rakim
2. Ice Cube
1. The Notorious B.I.G.

[Lachapelle]

Top Five:
5. Aesop Rock
4. MF Doom
3. Black Thought (of The Roots)
2. Kendrick Lamar
1. Eminem

Honourable Mentions:
Nas
Mos Def
Slug (of Atmosphere)
Brother Ali
KRS-One
Andre 3000
Joey Bada$$
Rakim
Guru (of Gang Starr)
Redman
The Notorious B.I.G.
GZA

There are so many others I could put in the honourable mentions but I'll stop here before I get carried away..

Don't hate me for having Eminem at the top. I'll be honest I haven't listened to his work in years but it's what put me on to hip-hop music as a child, and without his body of work I wouldn't have fell in love with the genre. As for the rest of my top five I decided to choose what I listen to the most, not necessarily who is more skilled. Some people might think Kendrick is too new to include on here.. Everything he has put out since Kendrick Lamar EP is top quality (roughly 7 projects), that's a lot of material. More music than some of the usual goat list rappers have even released in their entire careers.

[baystateoftheart]

alphabetical order

André 3000
Black Thought
Ghostface Killah
Kendrick Lamar
Nas

Cool to see MF DOOM on two lists. He makes some of my favorite hip hop music, and he's definitely top 10 for me.
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[elo269megv]

Best or favorite?

Favorite:
Kendrick
Game
Kid Cudi
Eminem
J Cole

Best:
Kendrick
Nas
Wu tang (copout I know but seriously they're all great)
Andre 3000
Eminem

Honorable mentions:
Pac
Biggie
MF Doom
Kanye
Run the jewels
Dr Dre
Q-Tip

[Daydreamer]

Eminem is by far my favourite rapper. Kendrick and Tupac come next.
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All time

2000's
1990's
1980's
1970's
1960's

[Anti]

Not necessarily my favorites, but:

1. 2Pac
2. Eminem
3. Nas
4. Andre 3000
5. Jay Z
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...and for dessert!

[O.T.]

Aceyalone
Myka 9
P.E.A.C.E.
Self Jupiter
Master Gee
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"But really, the thing that propels me through music is the emotional reality of it."
Jerry Garcia

[Graeme2]

[Graeme2]

Eminem is definitely one of the great rappers but I don't really enjoy his music.