My Top 5 Hip Hop Artists
Before I even jump into it, I just want to say that this list is completely personal. Everybody’s top 5 looks a little bit different, and everyone will argue different artists for different reasons. I will be the first to admit that this list is not so much based on technical ability as much as it is just some of my personal inspirations and favorites.
I first got into listening to hip hop as a young kid in the early 2000s, and have stuck with it ever since. I have been through the different eras of hard copy CDs, iTunes, DatPiff, and the streaming era that we now see today. On top of being an avid listener, I started releasing music myself back in 2014 at the age of 17. I’ve been a long time fan of the genre, and that continues to this day. Here is my personal top 5.
#5 Kendrick Lamar
Kendrick is easily one of the most incredible artists of this generation. His albums “To Pimp A Butterfly” and “Good Kid Maad City” are easily some of the top albums released in the past 10-15 years, and are up there with some of the best albums of all time. As an MC, Kendrick is about as good as it gets. His wordplay and lyricism is top tier. His song concepts and albums are top notch. And his versatility is unmatched. However, on top of being a chart topping artist, Kendrick has a spirit of good will and positivity embedded within his music. He explores deep, profound themes, and raps with a genuine meaningfulness to his work. With all that said, it is easy to see why Kendrick is so highly favored among the hip hop community, and by me personally.
#4 Nas
Nas has what is largely considered to be the greatest hip hop album of all time, and that is a hard thing to argue with. Even though Illmatic was released 30 years ago, it still holds up today as an incredible listen. However, even following it up from Illmatic, Nas continued to put out exceptional music and still does to this day. “It Was Written” is another all time classic. And “Stillmatic” was another popular release as well.
Nas brought forth a vocal delivery and lyricism that impacted the rap game in a large way. His confident bravado and street smarts have inspired rappers to this day. But on top of all that, Nas is a genuinely cool and likeable guy. Watch any interview and you will see that as a person he is incredibly humble and good-willed.
#3 Max B
Max B is not a name you would typically see on a Top 5 list, but he is on this one, and I will explain why. Although Max isn’t the most lyrically technical, or conceptually intricate, his musical style is incredibly unique. In fact, many people trace the game’s melodic style that we see today back to Max himself. On top of that, Max is known for having his own slang, and is attributed to being the one to popularize the word “wavy” that we see so commonly used in hip hop even to this day.
On top of being one of the most prolific artists to ever release hip hop music, Max has one of the most interesting stories within the genre. From releasing albums while in jail, to dropping albums back-to-back-to-back while out on bail, Max’s music has a different feel to it, and it’s something that you can hear within his work.
#2 Wiz Khalifa
Wiz is one of the most liked artists in the game, but he is also very commonly criticized and hated on. Fans frequently make comments of wanting the “Old Wiz” back. Critics complain about the songs being overly material and superficial. And that is understandable. But, even with all that said, I feel that Wiz has had a very valuable and noteworthy contribution to the genre, and let me explain why.
Wiz has the largest streamed hip hop song ever released. At the time of writing this article “See You Again” has over 6 billion views on YouTube, and still continues to receive frequent play even after being released for almost 10 years.
Wiz can also be seen as one of the artists that paved the way for the level of independent artistry that we see today. Before eventually signing with Atlantic Wiz dropped a series of underground, self-released material that still holds up to this day. He’s also one of the most consistent and prolific artists in the game, dropping an assortment of singles, mixtapes, albums, and freestyles on an extremely regular basis.
#1 Eminem
Eminem is the largest selling hip hop artist of all time. His early albums are some of the greatest hip hop albums ever released, and led the way for what was a “golden era” of hip hop music.
If it wasn’t for Eminem, I might’ve never gotten into hip hop music as heavily as I did, and that is probably the case for many others as well. Eminem brought hip hop to a more broad audience, and is a big part of why the genre is so successful today.
As an artist, Eminem’s technical abilities are about as good as it gets. But, what makes Eminem so special is his lyricism and writing. Storytelling, punchlines, humor. Eminem has a little bit of it all.
Similar to Max B, another thing that makes Eminem so special is that he has an incredibly likeable and relatable story. So much so that it was even brought to the big screen with the motion picture “8 Mile”; which was critically acclaimed.
And lastly, similar to Wiz Khalifa, Eminem has some of the largest, most popular singles ever released within the genre. From “Real Slim Shady” to “My Name Is”, and so on.
My Personal Top 5
I am aware that there are many other artists that could have been placed on this list. Artists like Tupac, Biggie Smalls, Jay-Z, Jadakiss, and so on. However, like I said up top, these are just my personal top 5 artists. If you listen to my music, you will likely find the inspiration from them embedded within my style.
As always, thank you for taking the time to read this article. I will see you on the next one.
