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Okay so how many of us have had this thrown in your face, who is the hottest MC of all time. I don’t know about you, but I have had this question asked to me at least a thousand times. Actually this question in my opinion really started to have a real movement back in umm, 1994! If I am not mistaken that year Biggie, Nas, Tupac, Wu and Redman all dropped albums that really started this debate. I could be wrong and maybe it’s the generation I am from, but no matter your age or where you hail from, this question has been asked over and over. So with that said I am sure each and every reader of this article can drop a top 5 greatest mc’s off the top of their dome with ease.
So now really dig into your Hip Hop knowledge and tell me, who are the most top 5 influential rap artist to date. By this I mean besides lyrical skills, how many artist do you know that push the envelope for a cause that they believe in? Not all things evolve around a tight beat and 16 bars, there are other causes in this world that we must face, be it a cause for the preservation of Hip Hop or a cause for the preservation of mankind.
Ahh, so I guess now you really have to think. It is not as easy as spitting out your top 5 greatest MC list is it? Finally a question to my Hip Hop heads that is gonna make you really do some real soul searching.
Nevertheless here is my top 5 most influential rap artist to date. This is not in any particular order.
Chuck D: Rapper, author, and producer. He helped create politically and socially conscious rap music in the late 1980s as the leader of the rap group Public Enemy.
Chuck D is extremely politically active; he co-hosted Unfiltered on Air America Radio, testified before Congress in support of peer-to-peer MP3 sharing, and was involved in a 2004 rap political convention. He continues to be an activist, publisher, lecturer, and producer. Addressing the negative views associated with rap music.
Wyclef Jean: Jean’s musical breakthrough was as part of The Refugee Camp (The Fugees), a three-member group that included Lauryn Hill and Prakazrel “Pras” Michel. Jean is Pras’s cousin and a fellow Haitian immigrant. The Fugees signed to Ruffhouse Records, which released the group’s debut album, Blunted on Reality. In 2005, Jean established the Yéle Haiti Foundation. In its first year of operation, the foundation, with funding by Comcel, provided scholarships to 3,600 children in Gonaïves, Haiti, after the devastation by Hurricane Jeanne. In its second year of operation, it is almost doubling the amount of the scholarships and spreading them throughout Haiti, providing tuition in 5 regions. The foundation aims to provide 6,800 scholarships to children in Port-au-Prince, Gonaïves, Les Cayes, Port-de-Paix, and Cap-Haïtien. In January 2010, along with his uncle Raymond Joseph, Haitian ambassador to the US, Wyclef issued an appeal for international aid following the devastating 2010 Haiti earthquake.
Tupac Shakur: An American rapper. He has sold 75 million albums to date and is one of the best-selling music artists in the world. In addition to his status as a top-selling recording artist; Shakur was a promising actor and a social activist. Shakur’s music and philosophy is rooted in many American, African-American, and World entities, including the Black Panther Party, Black nationalism, egalitarianism, and liberty. His debut album, 2Pacalypse Now, revealed the socially conscious side of Shakur. On this album, Shakur attacked social injustice, poverty and police brutality on songs “Brenda’s Got a Baby”, “Trapped” and “Part Time Mutha”.
KRS-1: Over his career, he has been known by several pseudonyms including “Kris Parker”, “The Blastmaster”, “The Teacha”, and “The Philosopher” At the 2008 BET Awards, KRS-One was the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award for all his work and effort towards the Stop the Violence Movement as well as the overall pioneering of hip-hop music and culture. The Stop the Violence Movement was formed by KRS-One in 1988/1989 in response to violence in the hip hop and black communities.
Dead Prez: An underground political hip hop duo composed of Stic.man and M-1. They are known for their confrontational style combined with socialist and pan-Africanist lyrics. These lyrics tend to focus on revolution, institutional racism, critical pedagogy, police,capitalism, education, prison systems, religion, activism against governmental repression, and corporate control over the media, especially hip-hop record labels.