MTV2's countdown of the top22 greatest MCs ever (MENTALISM!)

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Has anyone seen this? MTV Portugal just showed it...hosted by Fab Five Freddy, and voted by "you, the fans" (no further clarification given.) It managed to be both sort of dull (highly predictable top5, atrocious pundits, they didn't even show a single complete video) and totally crazy, in that they seemed to have chosen ppl completley at random. Here's the full list:

22-Chuck D
21-Method Man
20-Queen Latifah
19-LL Cool J
18-Foxy Brown
17-Common
16-Snoop Dogg
15-KRS-ONE
14-Run-D.M.C.
13-DMX
12-Nelly
11-Big Punisher
10-Missy Elliot
9-The Beastie Boys
8-Li'l Kim
7-Dr.Dre
6-Rakim
5-Jay-Z
4-Nas
3-Eminem
2-Notorious B.I.G.
1-2PAC

I mean, WTF???

― Daniel_Rf (Daniel_Rf), Saturday, 6 March 2004 23:56 (twenty-one years ago)

I assume Ya Kid K was 23rd?

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Sunday, 7 March 2004 00:12 (twenty-one years ago)

I love how Run DMC and the Beastie Boys count as one MC.

― Siegbran (eofor), Sunday, 7 March 2004 00:19 (twenty-one years ago)

I don't know how really "random" those top 5 are. I was just listening to All Eyez on Me in the car though and noting that while I'd still say 2Pac's highest moments are probably the best things ever ever ever, B.I.G.'s Life After Death is 90,000x more consistent.

― J0hn Darn1elle (J0hn Darn1elle), Sunday, 7 March 2004 00:36 (twenty-one years ago)

hosted by Fab Five Freddy

Ed Lover and Dre weren't available?

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 7 March 2004 00:38 (twenty-one years ago)

this is the same thing that aired many months ago, right? isn't it "greatest hip hop artists", not "greatest MCs"? that's a pretty crucial difference (and would completely change the plausibility of Dr. Dre in the top ten, for one).

the list isn't great, but really the only ones that I think are really out of place and unexplainable are Foxy Brown and Common.

― Al (sitcom), Sunday, 7 March 2004 01:06 (twenty-one years ago)

I don't know how really "random" those top 5 are.

The top5 ain't random at all! But the list as a whole is...

Hmmmm, that might just be MTV Portugal's bad translation services at work then.

― Daniel_Rf (Daniel_Rf), Sunday, 7 March 2004 02:02 (twenty-one years ago)

Also, mebbe it's just that I find it difficult to enjoy early Hip-Hop, but Queen Latifah?? The Beastie Boys??? And if we're talking "best Hip-Hop artists" as opposed to "best MCs", why not just go for The Neptunes instead of Nelly? (Yeah, yeah, this is only my personal bias against the guy talking here - even tho I quite enjoyed "Country Grammar" - and of course his gigantic success/pop culture impact could count as a reason to choose him over Mystikal, Juvenile, B.G., Ludacris, N.O.R.E. or even Fabolous, all of whom could have been used to rep for the Party Rap movement that he belongs to, and all of whom I would have been more than happy to see in the countdown instead of him, but blah...)

(hahaha, number eleven: N.O.R.E.! That would've ruled so hard!)

― Daniel_Rf (Daniel_Rf), Sunday, 7 March 2004 02:17 (twenty-one years ago)

bg and juvenile and mystikal aren't very "party rap," are they? for sure not bg and juvenile (they were disqualified for being on cash money). and fabolous has had more for the ladies singles than party singles and the former were way huger. and n.o.r.e. is-- he's too serious. those five aren't very similar to nelly at all. and nelly is a better rapper than ludacris.

― William Wiggins, Sunday, 7 March 2004 02:28 (twenty-one years ago)

The only one of those that really confuses me is Big Pun at #11. Where does his cred come from? Because he broke ethnic ground? Because he's dead? That one really has me puzzled.

― The Good Dr. Bill (Andrew Unterberger), Sunday, 7 March 2004 02:33 (twenty-one years ago)

eh, I dunno, I was going by what I've heard of their singles, granted the Cash Money sound and Nelly are kind of different sonically. Fabolous I put in to account for Nelly's teenybopper following, but I couldn't say "party rap/teenybopper appeal" cuz that's *definitley* something Mystikal wouldn't fit in with (I think...?)

― Daniel_Rf (Daniel_Rf), Sunday, 7 March 2004 02:38 (twenty-one years ago)

i think there's kind of some agreement that big pun's one of the greatest of all time. he's always overlooked on magazine lists but everyone in the world has him in their top ten, kind of like scarface.

x-post!!!!!!!!!!!

― William Wiggins, Sunday, 7 March 2004 02:40 (twenty-one years ago)

WHERE IS LIL WAYNE. THIS IS AN OUTRAGE ETC. Except MTV2's lists are always retarded and rap lists are all the same--who actually bought that ridiculous Ego Trip book of lists? Do people really need their boring beliefs validated that much?

― adam (adam), Sunday, 7 March 2004 03:26 (twenty-one years ago)

mebbe it's just that I find it difficult to enjoy early Hip-Hop

Statements like this are what make me realize that I'm old.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 7 March 2004 03:28 (twenty-one years ago)

who actually bought that ridiculous Ego Trip book of lists?

*raises hand*

― Nate in ST.P (natedetritus), Sunday, 7 March 2004 03:42 (twenty-one years ago)

The only one of those that really confuses me is Big Pun at #11. Where does his cred come from? Because he broke ethnic ground? Because he's dead? That one really has me puzzled.

Huh? Not only is Capital Punishment fucking great, but Pun has been on boring "great MC" shortlists for a long time. He's one of the least surprising picks.

― Colin Beckett (Colin Beckett), Sunday, 7 March 2004 04:04 (twenty-one years ago)

I had no idea.

― The Good Dr. Bill (Andrew Unterberger), Sunday, 7 March 2004 05:56 (twenty-one years ago)

mebbe it's just that I find it difficult to enjoy early Hip-Hop
Statements like this are what make me realize that I'm old.

Statements like this make me realize I was born a decade late.

― Cacaman Flores, Sunday, 7 March 2004 06:33 (twenty-one years ago)

That Ego Trip book is exactly what we do here every day (so stands to reason we'd like it circle jerk hooray).

― Dan I. (Dan I.), Sunday, 7 March 2004 06:42 (twenty-one years ago)

Um, the Ego Trip book is great. Did you even look through it before dismissing it?

Oh yeah, and that list is absolutely awful. It WAS billed as the 22 greatest mc's, and putting people like Missy and the Beastie Boys on it is so wrong I don't know where to start.

― oops (Oops), Sunday, 7 March 2004 10:30 (twenty-one years ago)

I just bought that book the other day cause i like ILM

― Dan I. (Dan I.), Sunday, 7 March 2004 10:35 (twenty-one years ago)

Haha Dr. Dre is the seventh greatest MC ever.

― Sym (shmuel), Sunday, 7 March 2004 12:15 (twenty-one years ago)

Well, during his segment they played "Been There, Done That", and I was struck by how much that single seemed to lyrically anticipate the late 90's/early 00's "fuck you, I'm rich!" approach, so some credit for that, I guess. Also: "Express Yourself"!

― Daniel_Rf (Daniel_Rf), Sunday, 7 March 2004 12:23 (twenty-one years ago)

six months pass...

I donno if he still posts here but WW...do you really think Nelly >> Ludacris!?

― djdee2005 (djdee2005), Monday, 13 September 2004 02:53 (twenty-one years ago)

Luda is a FAR better MC than Nelly; Nelly tends to have better production (not always, o' course...)

― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Monday, 13 September 2004 05:33 (twenty-one years ago)

two weeks pass...

1st of all...22 greatest mc's was a good program but there r so many faults in the chart...My opinion is that Common,Nelly,Queen Latifah & Missy Elliott have 2 leave....and N.O.R.E.,OutKast,Ice Cube & Bone Thugs -N- Harmony should stand there instead,because N.O.R.E. raps about real life,real things,OutKast has a bigger impact in hip-hop then Common,Ice Cube because he changed the face of gangsta rap(begin 90's) & Bone Thugs -n- Harmony because they have much more skillz then Nelly...that's only my opinion.

― LiL' LaYZiE aKa CuBiaNo, Thursday, 30 September 2004 11:23 (twenty-one years ago)

one month passes...

This list is absolute crap, and it sucks that people as ill as Dougie Fresh would even show their face in presenting such a wack list. It was obviously voted on and formed by people who only know the SURFACE of hip-hop. When it comes down to simply the best MC, no one touches Rakim. Moreover, the top ten is all fucked up, how about KRS-One, Run-DMC and Chuck D - the heads that invented MCing and delivered it in the realist form. AND HOW ABOUT THE MOTHER FUCKING BIG L!!!! WHere is he? And where the fuck is MF DOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Both whom should be in the top ten! For all you corn balls that voted, don't speak on shit unless you know what the fuck you're talking about!

― Josh Seidman, Saturday, 6 November 2004 03:13 (twenty-one years ago)

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