THREAD - Hip Hop Hero's 40 Greatest MC's of the Last Decade & A Half (2005 - Present)

Criteria:

Not an “All-Time” GOAT list or a 10’s decade list. I want to switch it up, partly since I believe some artists, who’s careers started in the mid-late 2000s, aren’t mentioned enough

Criteria Con't:

- To make the list, the mc must have debuted their first studio album within the year 2005 or later

- Solo acts only

- Solo mc's who debuted in group albums pre-2005 are excluded (no Big Boi, Push, Q-Tip, Sean P etc)

40. Saba

- Debut Year: 2016

- Recommended Project: CARE FOR ME

39. Saigon

- Debut Year: 2011

- Recommended Project: The Greatest Story Never Told

38. Fashawn

- Debut Year: 2009

- Recommended Project: Boy Meets World

37. Black Milk

- Debut Year: 2005

- Recommended Project: Tronic

36. Mick Jenkins

- Debut Year: 2016

- Recommended Project: The Waters

35. Childish Gambino

- Debut Year: 2011

- Recommended Project: Because The Internet

34. Chance The Rapper

- Debut Year: 2019

- Recommended Project: Acid Rap

33. Nipsey Hussle

- Debut Year: 2018

- Recommended Project: Crenshaw

32. Jay Rock

- Debut Year: 2011

- Recommended Project: Redemption

31. Denzel Curry

- Debut Year: 2013

- Recommended Project: TA13OO

30. Earl Sweatshirt

- Debut Year: 2013

- Recommended Project: Doris

29. Schoolboy Q

- Debut Year: 2011

- Recommended Project: Oxymoron

28. Ab-Soul

- Debut Year: 2011

- Recommended Project: Control System

27. 38 Spesh

- Debut Year: 2008

- Recommended Project: Son of G Rap

26. Add-2

- Debut Year: 2015

- Recommended Project: Jim Crow: The Musical

25. Rick Ross

- Debut Year: 2006

- Recommended Project: Teflon Don

24. Kxng Crooked

- Debut Year: 2013

- Recommended Project: Good vs Evil II

23. Noveliss

- Debut Year: 2018

- Recommended Project: Detroit Revolution(s)

22. Wale

- Debut Year: 2009

- Recommended Project: Festivus

21. Tyler The Creator

- Debut Year: 2011

- Recommended Project: Flower Boy

20. Rapsody

- Debut Year: 2012

- Recommended Project: Eve

19. Mac Miller

- Debut Year: 2011

- Recommended Project: Divine Feminine

18. Joey Badass

- Debut Year: 2015

- Recommended Project: Summer Knights

17. Cyhi The Prince

- Debut Year: 2017

- Recommended Project: Black Hystori Project

16. Benny The Butcher

- Debut Year: 2018

- Recommended Project: Butcher On Steroids

15. Freddie Gibbs

- Debut Year: 2011

- Recommended Project: Miseducation of Freddie Gibbs

14. Oddisee

- Debut Year: 2008

- Recommended Project: Tangible Dreams

13. Conway The Machine

- Debut Year: 2020

- Recommended Project: G.O.A.T (Grimiest Of All-Time)

12. Ka

- Debut Year: 2008

- Recommended Project: The Night's Gambit

11. Skyzoo

- Debut Year: 2006

- Recommended Project: Cloud 9: The 3 Day High

10. Big K.R.I.T (King Remembered In Time)

- Debut Year: 2012

- Recommended Project: K.R.I.T Wuz Here

09. Westside Gunn

- Debut Year: 2016

- Recommended Project: FlyGod

- 4 Studio albums, 11 mixtapes, 4 collabs, 7 Eps, 2 compilations

- # of Classic Albums/Tapes: 3 (Hitler Wears Hermes 2, Hitler Wears Hermes 4, FlyGod)

Impact/Influence:

1/2

Impact/Influence:

- Carrying Upstate NY rap to the summit, WSG is a leader in the coke rap renaissance of the late 2010s, & we’re still seeing the residual effects of his prolific run, the full breath of which we likely won’t be able to measure for many years to come

2/2

08. Kid Cudi

- Debut Year: 2009

- Recommended Project: Man on The Moon 2

- 6 Studio albums, 1 Collaboration album, 1 Mixtape

- # of Classic Albums: 2 (MOTM 1, MOTM 2)

Impact/Influence:

1/3

Impact/Influence:

Cudi is a modern blueprint.. A muse for Mr West, & a precursor to Drizzy, Mister Rager birthed a new sonic & lyrical style that impacted multiple artists going into the last decade from Ye, Travis & Rocky to Juice Wrld & Chance The Rapper.

2/3

“In a genre where the term "real" is so often reserved for hypermasculine, seemingly bulletproof depictions of black manhood, Cudi has subverted those norms and epitomized the term through ever-relatable reflections of his existential frailties” - Upproxx

3/3

07. Drake

Debut Year: 2010

Recommended Project: Comeback Season

- 5 Studio albums, 6 solo mixtapes

- # of Classic Albums/Tapes: 2 (So Far Gone, Take Care)

Impact/Influence:

1/3

Impact/Influence:

Both a trained singer & a student of emceein', Drizzy has been pivotal in popularizing the combo separate from the autotune crooning of the previous era. Not the 1st to do both, he was the 1st to make it core part of his artistic identity across albums

2/3

Impact/Influence Con't:

While balancing both vocal deliveries across every project, Drake's brand of genre blending turned him into the measuring stick for Hip Hop’s rising popularity to the top of mainstream music.

He selflessly shared his wave to lift many boats

3/3

06. J. Cole

- Debut Year: 2011

- Recommended Project: The Warm-Up

- 5 Studio Albums, 3 mixtapes
- # of Classic Albums/Tapes: 2 (FNL, 2014 FHD)

Impact/Influence:

1/3

Impact/Influence:

The first & flagship mc for the then newly formed Roc Nation Entertainment Co, J. Cole entered the last decade as the epitome of the Post-Kanye Hip Hop world. If Ye was the dropout, Cole could’ve titled himself the “College Graduate”, as he carried

2/3

the relatability of his predecessor, with the street wisdom of his label boss, & a traditional lyricism that'd been largely absent from the forefront

Seldom fashionable, Cole's inspired a more peaceful era with his grounded everyman persona that defies a competitive tradition.

05. Young Jeezy

- Debut Year: 2005

- Recommended Project: Lets Get It: Thug Motivation 101

- 9 Studio albums, 18 mixtapes

- # of Classic Albums/Tapes: 3 ( Trap Or Die, Lets Get It: Thug Motivation 101, The Inspiration Thug Motivation 102)

- Impact/Influence:

1/3

- Impact/Influence:

Jeezy is a crucial link between T.I.P & the modern Trap Sound. T.I. was the first to marry the iconic 808s "trap drums" with the southern dope boy lifestyle, but still competed with the North via slick East Coast-inspired flows & production

2/3

Impact/Influence Con't:

Jeezy carved the lane of minimalism, popularizing ad-lips to compliment a slowered, more direct delivery, over heavy bass.

Snow made Trap music darker, at a time when the streets were being pushed back, ensuring the sub-genre's dominance to this day

04. The Game

- Debut Year: 2005

- Recommended Project: LAX

- 9 Studio Albums, 14 mixtapes

- # of Classic Albums: 1 (The Documentary)

- Impact/Influence:

1/3

Impact/Influence:

Since their aren't a bunch of "Game babies" running around this man's importance goes underappreciated

Enough wit that

The Game carried the West Coast on his back, at a time when Ye, 50, T.I. & Wayne were all in their prime

His consistency kept

the door open for future West Coast talent, who The Game *personally discovered & looked after while they grinded through the underground rap circuit & L.A. streets

Nipsey, YG, Schoolboy, K. Dot, Reason, Cozz..

Okay, maybe there are some "Game babies", nvm

3. Kendrick Lamar

- Debut Year: 2011

- Recommended Project: Good Kid, Maad City

- 4 Studio Albums, 1 Compilation album, 1 Soundtrack album, 4 Mixtapes, 1 Ep

- # of Classic Albums: 2 (GKMC & TPAB)

- Impact/Influence:

1/4

Impact/Influence:

We tend to look for a rapper's influence by tracing their style through new artists, but Kendrick's influence goes beyond spawning offspring

Coming up in the "Ring-tone rap" era, K. Dot single-handedly shifted the mainstream's focus from

2/4

a single's dominant industry back to the culture's primary measurement of an artist's greatness: The album.

Good Kid Maad City was, for it's generation, the introduction to the concept album, indeed the album as a whole, that had become deprioritized by newer artists

3/4

Stylistically, K. Dot represents for the modern era, what Ice Cube & Nas meant for the golden age: a perfect balance of the socio-political with the observations of gang culture, which lead Hip Hop to the summit of critical acclaim & recognition by mainstream media in US society

02. Roc Marciano

- Debut Year: 2010

- Recommended Project: Marcberg

- 9 Studio albums, 1 Instrumental, 1 Mixtape

- # of Classic Albums: 2 (Marcberg & Reloaded)

- Impact/Influence:

1/3

- Impact/Influence:

Independent legacies are far more difficult to build, & often take longer to recognize, which is why reverence for the God-Father cannot be exaggerated, as his pioneering drumless, 70's Pimp film inspired production paved the way for

2/3

virtually all of the street-wise braggadocia & gutter stories hitting the indie circuit in recent years

Roc proved that street rap didn't need mainstream approval to thrive, with the likes of Ka, Knowledge, Boldy, Hus, Griselda, Stove God etc rising from the soil he trotted.

01. Lupe Fiasco

- Debut Year: 2006

- Recommended Projects: Fahrenheit 1/15: The Truth Is Among Us, Food & Liquor, Tetsuo & Youth, Drogas Wave)

- 7 Studio albums, 7 Mixtapes, 1 Ep

- # of Classic Albums: 4 (F&L, The Cool, T&Y, Drogas Wave)

- Impact/Influence:

1/4

- Impact/Influence:

Lupe 's singular goal has been to stretch the boundaries of creative & technical writing in Hip Hop to it's utmost limit, & as far as any other human being should be concerned, he damn well has accomplished as much

There is no form of literary device

2/4

that Lupe has not mastered & advanced, even in combination with one another, creating whole songs so layered & concepts so unique that most of his fans are still deciphering them years after release.

Inspiring technicians like Ab-Soul, & Flatbush Zombies, while elevating3/4

the concept album to the mainstream, Lupe continues to live outside of norms.

The goal of competitive Emceein', as I've understood the tradition, has been too say what's never been said, or say what's been said in a *way it's never been said.

Lupe Fiasco is the Ultimate Emcee

- See breakdown of the first 32 bars of "Mural", for evidence of Lupe Fiasco's unmatched technical ability