Who is the definitive Hip-Hop artist of the last 10 years?

[Alt-Rocker77]

Personally, There are four I could argue for:

Kanye West
Jay-Z
Eminem

Cases for each:

Jay-Z: Already considered a legend (atleast by Jay-Z himself) he certainly did create a powerful sound that would be copied for rest of the decade with the Blueprint, and created his own Ready to Die aping eulogy with the Black Album (to good results), but one could argue those are his only great albums from this decade (with American Gangster sometimes lumped in) One thing that gives Jay a slight advantage is the overall quality of his guest appearances compared to the other two. Some could argue his classic status has more to do with his own self promotion than actual quality.

Kanye West: Ye really has some skill in the producers chair. I might argue he is the most sonically adventurous of the three, exploring 90's R & B in The College Dropout, Motown Soul in Late Registration and just about everything on Graduation. I think Kanye's influence might become pretty sweeping in a decade or two, with rappers of all kinds rapping about close to anything, and spitting over just about anything. some could argue that his raw rapping abilities are far weaker than Jay-Z or Eminem's however.

Eminem: Every code of honor, rule, and stereotype of about Hip-Hop were thrown out the window on the Marshall Mathers LP. He pretty much broadened everyone's horizons on what the genre could be. I'd argue he has the most rapping ability out of the 3. I fear he may be a little too unique to have large influence, however, which makes him an excellent artist, but not a definitive artist.

[videoheadcleaner]

Which is the fourth one?

[Norman Bates]

Mos Def.

[cartoken]

1. Outkast
2. Missy Elliot
3. Kanye West

[RaineyWins]

I am not really into hip hop, but these 3 artists are my favourite

1) Outkast
2) Kanye West
3) Jay Z

[teodor_matz]

1. Kanye West
Maybe the most innovative and influential artist of the decade.

2. OutKast
I really think OutKast is the hip-hop version of The Beatles, they both started out as pretty traditional bands in there genres but then they became more and more adventurous as time went by. André 3000 and John Lennon were both very forward looking while both Big Boi and Paul McCartney was pretty conservative. Both bands had great commercial success but still managed to remain very innovative.

3. The Game
His debut album is one of the best gangsta rap albums ever. On his second album he didn't get any help from Dr Dre but it was still amazing.

4. Eminem
He only made one great record in the 00's, but that record is really one of the greatest hip-hop albums ever.


5. Dizzee Rascal
Boy In Da Corner was one of the best records of the decade and painted out the best picture of British youth since Trainspotting.

Runner-ups
Jay-Z
Drake
Lil Wayne
Ludacris
M.I.A
The Streets

[Kiki]

As good as the Black Album is, I would have to say Eminem and Kanye West both suppress Jay-Z as the "number one of the decade", even if I was to put my own taste aside for personal acclaim.

[Alt-Rocker77]

The fourth was Outkast, I completely forgot to write them down.

Also, Holy Crap! I forgot MIA, she might be the best of the decade.

Just to clarify, the artists I listed aren't in any particular order.

[purple]

MIA!

But Outkast, Eminem, Kanye, Ghostface Killa, and Jay-Z can all be argued. I would go with Outkast out of those...

[pinkfloyd!]

Certainly OutKast. No rapper or group has ever been so innovative, so ambient, so energetic while still keeping quality.

I'd put Kanye second. He got bad recently- 808s and Heartbreak, as well as the TSwift incident.

Thirdly, we cannot forget the great Missy Elliot and her hit singles "Work It" and "Scream".

On the subject of Eminem, I must say I find his lyrics unbearable.