Ranking Fabolous’ First Week Album Sales
Fabolous has just been spending the past two decades of his career quietly killing the rap game with his famed punchlines and enduring lyrical skills.
Ranking Ludacris’ First Week Album Sales
Ludacris is one of the greatest and most consistent rappers to come out of the South, there’s no doubt about it.
Ranking Missy Elliott’s First Week Album Sales
Missy Elliott is so slept-on in hip hop culture that it’s a crime. Not only is she one of the most innovative and exciting artists in history, she’s put out five platinum albums , that are a testament…
Ranking Nicki Minaj’s First Week Album Sales
Coming up in the game during the late 2000s off a series a mixtapes, including the breakout Beam Me Up Scotty , Nicki Minaj was positioned to be a force in the music world after signing to Young…
Ranking Mac Miller’s First Week Album Sales
When Mac Miller dropped his debut album, Blue Slide Park , in 2011, it topped the Billboard charts with 144,000 sold in its first week, making it the first independent album to go number one since 1995.
Ranking Lil Wayne’s First Week Album Sales
Making his solo debut in 1999 with Tha Block Is Hot , Lil Wayne’s prolificness hasn’t been matched by any other rapper at his level.
Top Five: The Best Rappers Alive of 2016
Honourable mentions Common Notable releases: Q-Tip Notable releases: Drake Notable releases: Danny Brown Notable releases: Kevin Gates Notable releases: Kanye West Notable releases: 5. Kendrick Lamar Notable releases: Key guest appearances: 4. J. Cole Notable releases: Key guest…
Top Five: The Best Rappers Alive of 2000
Honourable mentions: Jadakiss Beanie Sigel Prodigy Styles P 5. Big Boi Notable releases: Key guest appearances: 4. Jay-Z Notable releases: Key guest appearances: 3. Andre 3000 Notable releases: Key guest appearances: 2. Ghostface Killah Notable releases: Key guest…
Top Five: The Best Rappers Alive of 2002
Honourable mentions: Xzibit El-P Styles P Pusha T Missy Elliott Talib Kweli 5. Jay-Z Notable releases: Key guest appearances: 4. 50 Cent Notable releases: Guess Who’s Back?, 50 Cent Is the Future (with G-Unit), No Mercy, No Fear…
Top Five: The Best Rappers Alive of 2004
Top Five: The Best Rappers Alive of 2004 Honourable mentions: Masta Ace Nas Snoop Dogg 50 Cent Black Thought On the X track of the The Roots X album, The Tipping Point, Black Thought starts rapping, then you…
Top Five: The Best Rappers Alive of 1988
Honourable mentions: Biz Markie MC Lyte Kool G Rap Kool Keith 5. Ice Cube Notable releases: Key guest appearances: 4. Chuck D Notable releases: Key guest appearances: 3. Rakim Notable releases: Key guest appearances: 2. Big Daddy Kane…
Top Five: The Best Rappers Alive of 1996
For our Best Rappers Alive series, we take a look at the top five best rappers, year by year – ranking them on projects dropped, guest verses and overall impact.
Top Five: The Best Rappers Alive of 2005
5. 50 Cent Notable releases: Key guest appearances: 4. Lil Wayne Notable releases: Key guest appearances: 3. The Game Notable releases: Key guest appearances: 2. Common Notable releases: Key guest appearances: 1. Young Jeezy Notable releases: Key guest…
Top Five: The Best Rappers Alive of 2006
Honourable mentions: Nas Young Jeezy Busta Rhymes Black Thought The Game 5. Lupe Fiasco Notable releases: Key guest appearances: 4. Pusha T Notable releases: Key guest appearances: 3. Ghostface Killah Notable releases: Fishscale, More Fish Key guest appearances: …
Top Five: The Best Rappers Alive of 1991
Honourable mentions: DJ Quik Guru Ice-T Nas Yes, that’s right, Nas is on the honourable mentions for best rappers alive in 1991 off of one verse. Phife Dawg 2Pac Dres B-Real 5. Busta Rhymes Notable releases: Key guest…
Top Five: The Best Rappers Alive of 1993
Honourable mentions: GZA Inspectah Deck Raekwon Buckshot While revisionist history has Wu-Tang getting a lot of the credit for revitalising the East Coast, the truth is groups like Black Moon, Smif-N-Wessun and Onyx played a huge role Big…
Top Five: The Best Rappers Alive of 1997
Honourable mentions: Common Scarface Inspectah Deck Missy Elliott Rakim Over five years since his last album with Eric B., and over a decade since he changed the rapping landscape with the one-two punch of Eric B President and…
Top Five: The Best Rappers Alive of 1998
The Best Rappers Alive of 1998 Honourable mentions: Method Man Redman Busta Rhymes Mos Def N.O.R.E. 5. Inspectah Deck Notable releases: N/A Key guest appearances: Big Pun – “Tres Leches (Triboro Trilogy)”, Killah Priest – “Cross My Heart”, Gang…
Top Five: The Best Rappers Alive of 1999
Honourable mentions: Prodigy Method Man Redman Pharoahe Monch Black Thought 5. Mos Def Notable releases: Key guest appearances: 4. Nas Notable releases: Key guest appearances: 3. DMX Notable releases: Key guest appearances: 2. Eminem Notable releases: Key guest…
Top Five: The Best Rappers Alive of 2001
Honourable mentions: Masta Ace T.I. Beanie Sigel Fabolous Cormega 5. Ludacris Notable releases: Key guest appearances: 4. Jadakiss Notable releases: Key guest appearances: 3. Nas Notable releases: Key guest appearances: 2. Eminem Notable releases: Key guest appearances: 1.…
Top Five: The Best Rappers Alive of 2003
Honourable mentions: Fabolous T.I. Cam’ron Canibus The name Canibus might prompt jokes amongst rap fans these days, but there was a time when his name inspired faith in lyrical rappity rap. For his fifth studio album, Canibus recorded…
Top Five: The Best Rappers Alive of 1989
Honourable mentions: KRS-One Biz Markie Freddie Foxxx 5. Chuck D Notable releases: Key guest appearances: 4. Ice-T Notable releases: Key guest appearances: 3. Kool G Rap Notable releases: Key guest appearances: 2. The D.O.C. Notable releases: Key guest…
Top Five: The Best Rappers Alive of 1990
Honourable mentions: Q-Tip Kool G Rap 5. Lord Finesse Notable releases: Key guest appearances: 4. Rakim Notable releases: Key guest appearances: 3. Chuck D Notable releases: Key guest appearances: 2. LL Cool J Notable releases: Key guest appearances: …
Top Five: The Best Rappers Alive of 1992
Honourable mentions: CL Smooth Rakim DJ Quik Lord Finesse 5. KRS-One Notable releases: Key guest appearances: 4. Kool G Rap Notable releases: Key guest appearances: 3. Ice Cube Notable releases: Key guest appearances: 2. Snoop Dogg Notable releases:…
Top Five: The Best Rappers Alive of 1994
For our Best Rappers Alive series, we take a look at the top five best rappers, year by year – ranking them on projects dropped, guest verses and overall impact.
Ranking Lupe Fiasco’s First Week Album Sales
From his debut as one of the most hyped up major label artists of the 2000s to his current independent run, we look at Lupe Fiasco’s rankings for his first week album sales.
The 50 Greatest Third Albums in Hip Hop History
The third album holds a special place in an artist’s catalogue. Really, if you think about, it’s the third album that really makes the artist.
27 Hip Hop Beats that were Meant for Another Rapper
Have you ever listened to a hip hop song and imagined another rapper over it? Chances are, that beat probably made its way to a bunch of artists before settling on the one.
Ranking Snoop Dogg’s First Week Album Sales
Rap fans have short-term memories. Before Pac and Big, or Eminem and 50, or Wayne and Drake, there was no other rapper in the world bigger than Snoop Dogg.
Ranking Big Sean’s First Week Album Sales
While Big Sean hasn’t ascended to the levels of his peers like Drake, Kendrick, or J. Cole, the Detroit rapper has amassed a solid catalogue over the past 10 years that are both critically and commercially successful, and…
The Best Beat Switches in a Hip Hop Song
A great beat switch in a rap song can be a magical thing. Think about the first time you listened to Jay-Z’s “A Million and One Questions” and Premo flipped the beat right on the line “Motherfuckers can’t…
The 20 Greatest Drum Breaks & Breakbeats in Hip Hop History
Since the beginning of the culture, hip hop has revolved around discovering rare records and sampling the dopest breakbeats.
The 15 Greatest Guest Rappers of All Time
Picking the greatest guest rappers of all time is a monumental task. Especially when you think of how many great rappers have kicked off their careers with a dope feature verse – whether it’s Nas in 1991, Nicki…
33 Rappers Who Have Dropped Three or More Certified Classic Albums
If you’re ever itching to have an argument with a hip hop head, here’s a surefire way to do it – start a debate with them about how many classic records their favourite rapper has dropped .
Ranking Jay-Z’s Best-Selling Albums of All Time
“Truthfully I wanna rhyme like Common Sense, but I did 5 mill’ – I ain’t been rhyming like Common since.” Before Hov was Hov, he was an independent rapper with a distribution deal through Priority Records hustling his…
The 15 Greatest Jadakiss Guest Verses of All Time
For the past two decades, Jadakiss has been an indispensable part of New York hip hop, his raspy flow and murderous punchlines holding strong for the Mecca while everybody else switches up.
The 50 Biggest First Week Album Sales In Hip Hop History
With the impending sales battle between Kanye’s Donda ( which moved 372,000 in its first week of sales ) and Drake’s Certified Lover Boy , there’s been a lot of talk about hip hop first week sales numbers.
54 Rap Songs That Use the Same Sample
Since the beginning of the culture, hip hop music has been built off the back of sampling other genres.
Ranking Travis Scott’s First Week Album Sales
Over the past few years, Travis Scott has vaulted into the upper echelon of rap superstars, most notably after the release of his 2018 magnum opus.
Song Battle Vol. 1: ‘Ready to Die’ vs. ‘Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…’
Welcome to the inaugural Song Battle series, where we take two classic hip hop albums and pit them against each other, song for song.
The Best Rap Bars in Hip Hop History
What distinguishes a good rap bar from a great one? What elements elevate a rap bar to become one of the most memorable in hip hop’s rich history? As we travel through the depths of hip hop, we…
24 Rappers and Their First Number One Song On the Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 number one song is the holy grail of pop music achievement. It took hip hop over a decade to its first number one song on the charts , and that was a Vanilla Ice…
A History of 56 Verified Hip Hop Songs Written By Ghostwriters
Hip hop has a long and controversial history with ghostwriters. While other music genres generally don’t make a big deal about who writes what, rap’s particular focus on penmanship and personal accounts has made ghostwriting a touch topic.
Ranking Migos’ First Week Album Sales
The impact of Migos extends far beyond their studio albums. Years before they dropped their 2017 masterpiece, Culture , they were defining an Atlanta rap generation with mixtapes like Y.R.N. (Young Rich Niggas) , No Label 2 and…
50 Rappers and Their Best-Selling Albums of All Time
Platinum plaques and chart-topping albums don’t mean everything in hip hop, but they do mean a lot, despite what people want to think.
26 Rappers and Their Best & Worst Reviewed Albums
Like Jay-Z once said – “Do you fools listen to music or do you just skim through it?” While rap reviews may not hold the same weight today as they did back in The Source days, it’s still…
Ranking The Notorious B.I.G.’s First Week Album Sales
As one of the greatest rappers to ever touch the mic , Biggie had accomplished more in his time than other rappers in their entire career; almost singlehandedly shifting hip-hop’s attention from the West Coast back to New…
Ranking Jadakiss’ First Week Album Sales
Jadakiss has always been one of the most consistent and respected MCs in the game. With a catalogue that spans back to the late ’90s, the Yonkers rapper is still in today’s conversation about the best rappers alive.
Ranking A$AP Rocky’s First Week Album Sales
A$AP Rocky has always seemed like rapping was just a hobby for him, something that he was really good at, but never fully focused on. As one of the best rappers of the 2010s , Rocky firmly established…
The 32 Greatest Hip Hop Producer Line-Ups of All Time
Before Nas gathered up DJ Premier, Pete Rock, Large Professor and Q-Tip for the game-changing Illmatic , hip hop were dominated by one producer albums.
