WOW! This was impossible. How do people make lists like this? There were a LOT of songs that I was convinced were going to be in the top 100 that ended up not making it. My list is my opinion. So obviously it doesn't matter. This exercise is already a success in my book, because I have been introduced to many great songs in the process, not to mention a greater appreciation for artists who I have failed to truly give a shot in the past.
I have decided to break up this top 100 list into three parts. The first part will be honorable mentions and the back 20. The second part will be the middle 50, and the last part will be the top 20. There is only one reason for this: I'm pretty sure no one would read however long one post would end up being.
My process for picking the songs is a mix of what I consider good, what I like, what is classic, and most importantly an emphasis on lyrics. For the most part, I leaned towards older songs, both because I think they are better and because newer songs haven't withstood the test of time that older songs have. There are 12 songs from the 1980s, 24 songs in the 2000s, and the rest are from the 1990s. In particular, 42 songs are from 1992-1996 alone, including 5 of the top six songs (though weirdly zero of the rest of the top ten)
The actual ranking of these songs doesn't matter for the most part. If you think I put a lot of thought into why I put a song 24th instead of 25th, you are mistaken. The important thing is that I put it on this list. It made the cut. But I definitely did not burden myself with each individual ranking. So if you think the 65th song is better than the 20th song, you're probably right. The specific rankings work better if it's a group of people more than one individual person. But I definitely sympathize with sites that try this now and understand why they all seem to suck. It's not an easy thing to do at all.
To begin the honorable mentions, here is a brief and incomplete list of artists that I think are good, have been good before, or some people consider them good that did not have any songs make the top 100 (not including artists who are featured on a song that made the list):
50 Cent
Big Daddy Kane
Big Pun
Blackalicious
Black Star
Brand Nubian
Chance the Rapper
Clipse
De La Soul
Drake
The Game
Ice T
Kid Cudi
Lil Wayne
Ludacris
Jay Electronica
J. Cole
Macklemore
MC Lyte
MF Doom
Too $hort
Xzibit
That's a pretty good list. None of them even speak on any of the songs I have. More than a few had a song that I thought would land on this list, but got cut in the process. Also, I strayed away from the instrumentals of hip hop so no DJ Shadow. I'm not sure he would have made my list anyway, but trying to fit in instrumental hip hop would make an already difficult list even more so.
I didn't exactly create a limit of songs one artist could have on this list, but I did kind of do that. In my head. For instance, I'm pretty sure Christopher Wallace would have more songs on this list if I didn't sort of limit his songs. I could have plausibly put just about the entire Ready to Die album on here and that's not as fun as including as many artists as possible. (In fact, you take about the five best albums or so in rap and they could plausibly have half the songs on this list. That's probably a little high but not by a whole lot.)
Honorable Mentions
"Rapper's Delight" - The Sugarhill Gang
I had this idea that I was going to put this at #100 and it was a great plan until the final cuts had to be made and I did not want to cut another song. Ultimately I decided that I was only putting this on there because it was the first ever commercial hip hop song and not because I actually thought it was one of the 100 best. Plus there's the whole "at least one verse was completely stolen" thing.
"Nuthing but a G Thang" - Dr. Dre
Ok so you probably expected this on the list. I expected this on the list. Truth be told, lyrically, this is not that great. That's not really why anyone listens to this song, but Snoop half-assed the lyrics. "The Next Episode" isn't on the list either. GET AT ME
"The Real Slim Shady" - Eminem
This should probably be on the list, but I chose to condense all Slim Shady persona songs into one selection, because they blend together in quality to me. This does NOT mean I only chose one Eminem song, you crazy Stans.
Every single song on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Yeah I don't know what to tell you guys. I considered a few songs from it, but somehow none made the cut. Kanye is not particularly well-represented here. I like Kanye a lot too. It's just the way it goes.
"White Lines" - Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five
This beat is amazing. It would make my top 20 beats all-time. God this really needed to find its way on this list somehow.
"Just a Friend" - Biz Markie
This is a good example of a song I was certain would make my top 100 list until it didn't. I think my mom singing along to it was what made me decide to cut it.
"They Want EFX" - Das EFX
I also wanted to include this on the list to represent their weird genre of absolutely nonsense lyrics that somehow made a great song, but ultimately the nonsense lyrics prevented me from keeping it.
"Sounds of Da Police" - KRS-ONE
WHOOP WHOOP! I like this song a lot, but the fact that it hits less hard than a certain NWA song and has roughly the same message is why I left it off.
"I Don't Give it a Fuck" - Bo$$
I have no idea why this song isn't more well-known. Apparently her career took a hit when it was revealed she was in an upper-class family and went to a private school. That 8 mile final battle was no joke man.
"Ain't No Half Steppin" - Big Daddy Kane
Apparently, there used to be a debate over Big Daddy Kane and KRS-One being the best rapper. I honestly have no idea how it was a debate as KRS-One is clearly better to me. (I also don't think either were the best at their times but that's another point.) With that said, this song makes me understand a little.
All the songs that didn't end up making the list on Illmatic and Ready to Die
It needed to be said.
#101 "Ride Wit Me" - Nelly
Album: Country Grammar
Year: 2000
Yeah I'm that guy. I have a Top 100 songs list with 101 songs. Easy explanation here. I am from St. Louis. Nelly needed to be on this list. I don't think I need to explain myself further.
#100 "Ambitionz as a Ridah" - 2Pac
Album: All Eyez on Me
Year: 1996
I'm not the biggest 2Pac fan. I'm one of those people who cannot fathom how the majority of people consider him the best rapper ever (Well I understand it. He died. Thus legend status.) Nonetheless, the man had some great individual songs. I consider this one of them (obviously).
#99 "Born Killer" - Scarface
Album: Mr. Scarface is Back
Year: 1991
This list poorly represents how much I like Scarface. On some days, he's in my top five rappers, usually on the days after I've listened to him. (That #5 spot changes all the time) So I had to have a song from his excellent solo debut album. "Your Ass Got Took" was also strongly considered from that album.
#98 "Rosa Parks" - Outkast
Album: Aquemini
Year: 1998
Outkast has a lot of songs on here considering I didn't get really into them until I began this quest. I have nothing to add except that this song landed them in legal trouble with Rosa Park's estate. Probably could have came up with a different name since this has nothing do with her.
#97 "Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)" - Digable Planets
Album: Reachin' (A New Refutation of Time and Space)
Year: 1993
Never has a title been more appropriate for a song than "Rebirth of Slick" because damn this song epitomizes slick.
#96 "No Rest for the Weary" - Blue Scholars
Album: Blue Scholars
Year: 2004
The title and the lyrics in the song allude to the working class people who continuously get screwed over by schools, wars, etc. Definitely a song where you should pay attention to the lyrics, but they picked a good beat so people who don't want to would probably still enjoy the song.
#95 "Tennessee" - Arrested Development
Album: 3 Years, 5 Months, And 2 Days In The Life Of...
Year: 1992
This is the standout track on their very good debut album. Speech (couldn't think of a more creative rap name than Speech??!) finds himself lost and this track is his process of trying to find himself. He ultimately concludes he needs to find himself in the place where he grew up, Tennessee. If you're a gangsta rap hater, Arrested Development agrees with you and you might like them.
#94 "Mass Appeal" - Gang Starr
Album: Hard to Earn
Year: 1994
DJ Premier is the greatest. This is about rappers who sell out to get mass appeal. It's also about showing off Guru's lyrical skill. All rap songs should in some way be showing off their lyrical skill in my opinion.
#93 "93 Til Infinity" - Souls of Mischief
Album: 93 Til Infinity
Year: 1993 (duh)
Amidst the difficulty in placing songs on the top 100 and where, I have to take advantage of an obvious ranking for a song called "93 Til Infinity." That is literally the only reason it is at this spot. It wouldn't be a lot higher though if it was just called "Til Infinity."
#92 "Clint Eastwood" - Gorillaz
Album: Gorillaz
Year: 2001
How do I show my appreciation for both Gorillaz (aka Blur lead singer Damon Albarn) and Del the Funky Homosapien? I know! In all seriousness, both of them are awesome and I'm glad I could kind of cheat and still have Del on this list without having a solo song by him (which I tried).
#91 "Trapped" - 2Pac
Album: 2Pacalypse Now
Year: 1991
Hot take: This is 2Pac's best album. Unburdened by the terribleness that is the Outlawz, there are no weak songs. (As a side note, you won't be seeing "Hit Em Up" on here because the Outlawz have three of the five verses). This song essentially says that, whether in prison or out of it, he's trapped because he's a black man in a poor neighborhood.
#90 "Undying Love" - Nas
Album: I Am...
Year: 1999
Well, this song is dark. This is a first-person account of a man who plans to propose to his girlfriend and finds her cheating. Needless to say, things do not go well. I posted a lyric video as my link because you should probably pay close attention to them.
#89 "Feel Me Flow" - Naughty by Nature
Album: Poverty's Paradise
Year: 1995
In terms of Naughty by Nature songs that feature impressive lyrical skill and great flow, it was between this and "Yoke the Joker." ("OPP" was not considered because the verses are literally just a guide on what OPP means) I have a greater attachment to this song for whatever reason so this won fairly easily.
#88 "One Day" - UGK
Album: Ridin' Dirty
Year: 1996
This song just sounds sooooo nice. It's pleasant listening to this song. It tackles maybe one of the most cliche, common topics in rap music: living for today, because one day you'll die and you might as well live good while you're living. Ronnie Spencer has a great voice for the hook.
#87 "Reunited" - The Wu-Tang Clan
Album: Wu-Tang Forever
Year: 1997
From Wu-Tang's second album, this song is about what just about every Wu-Tang song is about: not really anything but showing off each member's lyrical skill. And damn. This song actually features none of my favorite Wu Tang members! No Raekwon, no Ghostface, and no Inspectah Deck. Which really goes to show that there is no weak member in this group.
#86 "Make My" - The Roots
Album: undun
Year: 2011
In 2011, The Roots released a concept album called Undun, which is basically about a guy who chooses crime and living for today and paying the consequences later. Like I said, it's just about the most cliche topic in rap. This album distinguishes itself because it's The Roots so the music is fantastic and the album is told in reverse chronological order. This particular song features a great guest verse from the then up-and-coming Big KRIT.
#85 "The Ruler's Back" - Slick Rick
Album: The Great Adventures of Slick Rick
Year: 1988
Slick Rick is another artist that isn't represented enough in this list to show my love for him. Seriously, this list was difficult. If you want an idea on his impact on hip hop, he's apparently been sampled the most of any hip hop artist ever. This song could presumably have been a few other songs from The Great Adventures of Slick Rick, but this one got lucky.
#84 "Ready or Not" - The Fugees
Album: The Score
Year: 1996
"Killing Me Softly" is a beautiful song, but it's not a rap song so you will not see that here. This beat would not sound out of place on a Weeknd record. I much prefer listening to Lauryn Hill over The Weeknd. By a lot.
#83 "Criminology" - Raekwon
Album: Only Built 4 Cuban Linx
Year: 1996
Fair warning: This is the second Wu-Tang song, whether by an individual or by the group, and it's not going to be close to the last one I pick. So if you don't like the Wu-Tang, you might not like this list. You probably don't like rap though if that's the case, because who the hell doesn't like the Wu-Tang? Anyway Only Built 4 Cuban Linx is probably the best solo album by any member. It's close. Every song has Raekwon and Ghostface Killah and those are two of my favorites of the group so I am biased.
#82 "Ready to Die" - Notorious B.I.G.
Album: Ready to Die
Year: 1994
Not that it matters, but if you're a huge Biggie fan, I'll break the news to you now: Life After Death is shut out. I considered a few songs, but I'm actually not that big of a fan overall of that album (relatively speaking of course). On to the good news: Ready to Die is very much all over this list. So it's appropriate that the first song to be revealed to you guys is the song named after the album. I think the song's content is fairly obvious.
#81 "Da Rockwilder" - Method Man, Redman
Album: Blackout!
Year: 1999
I fully subscribe to the "more is less" theory, favoring short songs that are fantastic throughout over longer songs that tend to drag. But this song is too damn short! This is some of the best "blast in your car" music ever and it's over just like that.
#80 "Alright" - Kendrick Lamar
Album: To Pimp a Butterfly
Year: 2015
Welcome to Round Three of "I wish I could have included more songs by this artist to indicate how much I enjoy listening to them." To Pimp A Butterfly is one of the best and most underrated rap albums ever. I have a feeling history will look very kindly upon this album (not that it was poorly received or anything). This provides a cathartic song of sorts in the context of the album. I don't know if this is a political song, but it has turned into one. Judging by the music video, it was intended as one too. The verses outline the struggle and injustices and the chorus responds, enthusiastically and optimistically, that things are going to be alright. Hope in the face of hopelessness is what gets people through the day.
That concludes part one of my Top 100 Rap Songs. Is it just me or is the back 20 REALLY good? Nearly each song I ended up covering made me think "Damn do I have this too low?" I hope that's something I say for every song on this list honestly. Either I shortchanged the back 20 or there really are this many amazing rap songs. I guess you'll find out soon...
No comments:
Post a Comment