Image via Complex Original
Rap is the ultimate music of one-upmanship. Since the days of yore, the MC's primary job on the mic has been telling other MCs, in great and florid detail, how much better he is than they are and why. Rappers have spent countless bars telling their rivals that they have more money, pull more ladies, smoke more (and better) weed, own more (and better) cars and jewelry and, of course, rap better. The game is all about positioning yourself as not just a step up, but a full ladder above the competition.
But all that trash-talk doesn't mean rappers are loathe to praise their peers. Not just their friends, but their fellow artists from all over the map. Snoop Dogg recorded a version of "La Di Da Di" as a tribute to Slick Rick, Mos Def did his own take on Slick Rick's “Children Story,” Nas put together an unauthorized biography of Rakim in “U.B.R. (Unauthorized Biography Of Rakim)." In "Til I Collpase," Eminem rapped a list of favorite nine MCs. (He put himself ninth, though it's seems likely he was making some concessions for the sake of rhyme.) And in rappers' interviews, that kind of admiration is shown more often than you might think. We'll prove it with 13 of Your Favorite Rappers Talk About Their Favorite Rappers.
Written by Reyan Ali. Addtional research by Max Goldberg (@goopygold)
RELATED: 20 Rappers Who Almost Signed To Other Labels
RELATED: The Stories Behind 15 Rappers' Rap Names
RELATED: 20 Rappers Who Aren't From Where You Think They're From
Drake
When Drake was coming up in 2010, he had lots of nice things to say about his fellow rappers. Speaking to Paper magazine that year, he cited OutKast's Andre 3000 as a major influence: "I have a shrine in my apartment dedicated to Andre. I took a door off a barn and had an artist take the lyrics from his verses [and put them] on this barndoor. As soon as you walk into my apartment, that's the first thing you see." Which is kind of surprising since Chase N. Cashe once told us he was the one who put Drake unto to OutKast and they hadn't even met until 2006.
Talking to Nardwuar, he championed Little Brother. "To say I'm a Little Brother fan would be an understatement. To say I'm a 9th Wonder fan would be an extreme understatement. And to say that Phonte is a 'good' rapper would be offensive to me—because he's probably one of the best rappers of all time in my opinion."
In a Ustream chat, he said, "I think people twist me and J. Cole's words around a lot and play us against each other, but that's one of my favorite rappers out right now."
Lastly, in a Complex cover story, he told us, "One of my favorite rappers in the world, Jeezy, is somebody who loves my music. For him to not only co-sign what I'm doing but also to want to make music with me is crazy."
The Notorious B.I.G.
As this list will show, Big Poppa is, and will probably always be, high on many rappers' best-rapper-ever lists. In a 1995 interview with Peace magazine that resurfaced online in the 2000s (there is some controversy about if the list is real, but it looks legit to us), Biggie was the one put on the hot seat and asked to share his evaluation of other rappers' skills on a scale of 1-to-10. He rated stars of all stripes, and here's how the results broke down.
Rated low to medium: E-40 (0) (E-40 later almost had Biggie killed over his comments), Spice 1 (0), R.A. the Rugged Man (2-3)
Rated medium to high: Craig Mack (4-5), Da Brat (6), DJ Quik (6-7), OutKast (6-7), Big Mike (6-7), Redman (7)
Rated high: Scarface (7-8), Snoop Dogg (8), MC Eiht (8)
Unrated: New Kingdom ("Who?"), KRS-One (negative opinion), Ice Cube (so-so), Cypress Hill (so-so), Coolio (leaning toward positive), Lil' Kim (positive), the Lady of Rage (positive), Naughty By Nature (positive), Doctor Dré/Ed Lover (positive)
Biggie awarded a perfect 10 to Nas, Jeru the Damaja, Guru, and Too $hort. "That's my dawg right there," he said, of $hort. "I love that nigga. That's my man."
Jay-Z
During a 2006 AOL fan chat, Jay-Z said, "Right now, I don't have a favorite rapper, but right now, I'm listening to Lil Wayne and T.I."
Four years later, at an event promoting his book Decoded, someone stepped up to ask Jay to pick his top five, dead or alive (excluding himself). He chose Biggie first. "Well, I guess I would choose him because of his ability to tell stories, to be humorous, to be dead serious. He just had it all," Jay said. "I would choose 'Pac because his fire will overcome. What he doesn't have in technical skills will be overcome by passion. If you listen to that 'Tunnel' verse where Big is saying 'MC Hammer and them 357 women' and then you hear how ['Pac] comes on, he just screams on the track, like his passion could put a lot of guys to sleep." Kool G Rap, KRS-One, Eminem, and Nas also made his roster.
Wiz Khalifa
Like Drake, when he was coming up, Wiz was happy to spread the love and gush about his favorites. In a 2011 interview with Red Bull, he first mentioned Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. "I liked their style and just how unique they were, and of course their harmonies, how they used all that and kept it unique. Their style was original," he said, naming "1st Of tha Month," "If I Could Teach the World" and "U Ain't Bone" as his favorite songs.
Next up was Cam'ron, for his creativity and confidence, and Big Daddy Kane for his flow, style and swag, especially considering his old-school status. Biggie took the no. 4 spot for his lyricism, depth and picture-painting ability. And then, Snoop Dogg, who Wiz would go on to work with on the movie Mac + Devin Go to High School, for swag and consistency. "He always stayed the same person, too," he said, "So you know exactly what to expect from him."
J. Cole
"Obviously, 2Pac's my favorite rapper of all time," said J. Cole in a 2011 interview on San Francisco radio station Wild 94.9. "And then we go to—no particular order after that—Nas, Jay, Eminem and... I'ma say André 3000, right? Just cause, y'know, super-duper storyteller, creative flows."
Speaking at Harvard this past February, he brought up Nas, Eminem, Canibus, Big Pun and Jay-Z as important influences on him when he was growing up.
2 Chainz
The former Tity Boi shared his top five list on an interview with Wild 94.9, too. "Scarface would be on there," he said. "André 3000, and probably Nas, Biggie and Pac." That's five, and show's host Ness Nitty was about to stop him, when he kept going. "I gotta say Jay, too."
Pusha T
In an interview with Nardwuar in April, Pusha T was given a copy of 1988's Long Live the Kane, and his eyes lit up. (As is their wont.) "First of all, I came to the conclusion that Big Daddy Kane was my favorite rapper just recently while I was creating Wrath of Caine," he said. "'Wrath of Kane' was the record that he did that made me be like, 'You know what? He wins. Big Daddy Kane is probably one of the flyest, most influential rappers.' That was probably the record that made me say that he was my favorite rapper of all time, like the best. Better than Rakim, which is a debate that I've been going through my whole life, as a youth and hip-hop addict."
Wale
Everyone knows where Wale's tastes fall on the comedy spectrum, what with his mixtape series based on Seinfeld, and his recruiting Jerry himself for a cameo appearnce on his recent album, The Gifted. But in a 2009 interview with okayplayerTV, he opened up about his favorite artists rapwise. The Roots' Black Thought was no. 1 on his list. "I be around a lot of rappers," he said, admitting to chronic case of star struckness. "But still with him, I can call him whenever I want and just be like 'What up,' but I don't, you know what I'm saying? Because he's Black Thought to me. He's somebody else." After Black Thought, Wale listed Jay-Z, AZ, K'naan, Little Brother, and Royce da 5'9"/Slaughterhouse as faves.
Meek Mill
In a 2012 interview with the Bay Area's Wild 94.9, Meek broke down his rap-star dream team, in no particular order, as Biggie, 2Pac, Jay-Z, Nas and Lil Wayne. Speaking to Billboard that same year about teaming up with Nas "Maybach Curtains," the Philly rapper was effusive with his praise. "Nas is one of the best rappers ever. Just having him in the studio, that's a big thing to me. I grew up listening to this guy," Meek said. "I came and I played the beat for him and he liked my music, so we just vibed out."
T.I.
Being an Atlanta man, Tip is all but obligated to dap OutKast. In 2003's "Bezzle," he gave shout-outs to ATL's finest duo (plus Eazy-E, Ice Cube, Scarface and others). Nine years later, he was speaking to Los Angeles' Power 106 when a conversation on Three Stacks (OutKast's André "3000" Banjamin) appearing on the T.I. tune "Sorry" segued into a discussion on T.I.'s four favorite MCs. "You gotta get Eminem, Jay, Three Stacks, Lil Wayne," he said, pointing out Andre in particular. "You cannot disregard his contributions and his skill set. You got to acknowledge that."
Speaking to Ebony in 2010, T.I. listed five celebrities he admired for their business acumen, with only one name from his favorite rappers' list crossing over. Master P, Russell Simmons, Will Smith and Diddy made that second list, plus Jay-Z. "He done the rap shit to the best it could be done," T.I. said. "He's done it better than anyone who's ever done it."
Jadakiss
You get a lot of waffling when you ask rappers for these lists, but Jadakiss has his picks on lock—appropriate for a rppaer who has a record called Top 5 Dead or Alive due in October. In a recent Fuse interview, Jada declared that his list "definitely, without a doubt" consists of the Notorious B.I.G., Tupac, Jay-Z, Nas and Styles P.
Also, to answer a question you probably never asked: Jaewon, Jadakiss' son, has a couple of favorite rappers, too. He's a massive fan of J. Cole and A$AP Rocky (A$AP even performed at Jaewon's sweet 16th late last year)—so much so that Jadakiss has said he is likely to throw one of the two onto Top 5.
Kanye West
In 2007, Kanye and 50 Cent shared headlines leading up to the simultaneus release of both of their third solo albums, West's Graduation and Fiddy's Curtis. In an effort to spark a rivalry (and spur sales) 50 thre down a gauntlet. "If Kanye West sells more records than 50 Cent on September 11," he proclaimed. "I'll no longer write music. I'll write music and work with my other artists, but I won't put out any more solo albums." (50 would lose the sales-off, 957,000 to 691,000, but welch on his bet, releasing his fourth solo album Before I Self Destruct in November 2009.)
West, on the other hand, kept things classy. "50 is one of those rappers that I said was the end all be all of what rap what supposed to be. Like a true iconic rapper," he said in a January 2009 interview with Bossip. "He was my favorite rapper since Mase when he dropped, and when I used to be around him, he was one of the few people that I was like really fan of. I was nervous in the studio working on beats and hoping that I could do a good beat for him. ... So, for me as a fan of him, I felt like if he said something negative and tried to make it like I'm negative, it's almost like if a little kid walks up to you at the airport and is like, 'Man, I love you so much,' and then you spit on him. It's like, 'I don't know if I love you as much as I used to,' as you wipe the spit off your face, but you still play their music."
In a recent New York Times interview, Kanye also brought up J-Kwon and his track "Tipsy," saying, "People would think that's like a lower-quality, less intellectual form of hip-hop, but that's always my No. 1."
However, years ago, on the song "Bonnie & Clyde Freestyle" he rhymed, "My favorite rapper is Makaveli, Nas and Jay-Z/Eminem, Mase, Biggie Smalls and me." And who can forget Yeezy also saying that he's his own favorite rapper during a video interview a few years back?
Kendrick Lamar
Top-five lists aren't always the easiest thing to rattle off if you're emotionally invested in the subject, but Kendrick Lamar had a particularly tough time coming up with one during his conversation with Erykah Badu for Interview magazine in May. Badu asked him to name his top five rappers. Lamar chose Jay-Z, Nas, Tupac, Snoop Dogg and The Notorious B.I.G.
"But that leaves off Eminem and André," he said, pondering the possibility of changing the category to a top 10. To the first seven, he added Rakim and Kurupt but then fretted over the last slot. Lamar's first choice was Method Man, but then he realized he couldn't leave out one more adding, "Will you give me DMX?" Yes. But he had to lose one, so Method Man was dropped down to an "alternate" slot.