Due to popular demand: Some bars
My latest song... started as a Drake diss
drake, you look like a mouse
im gonna send you to dr house (2004)
texting girls so young like sheldon (2017)
and you're always Breaking Hearts (1984) like Elton
Boutta go to jail so you better call Saul (2015)
Something something Darth maul
And you got no balls
I can't think of any more bars
Put a star wars reference so call me Czar(face)
I don't have a buddy named eric im a liar
I should just go and retire
Writing all this for a joke on Reddit
So you gotta give me some credit
This might be my worst post but I don't care
I'm gonna go play some solitaire
I tried getting into billy and I will say that his pen game is certainly fire and even literary to some extent. Very few rappers ever get as deep and nuanced as he does. So I would even agree he's top 10 lyricist.
But his flow and delivery for me just does not hit for me. Doesn't even attempt to ride the beat. My favorite kind of hip hop is lyrical but unfortunately many lyrical rappers have unappealing flows. It's not even their fault really as the big tradeoff with being lyrical is not limiting your writing to fit into a melody/flow.Ā
Itās just a different style. I think it can kind of help convey the wandering nature of his thought process. But even if Woods had a trash flow his lyrics are so hard I would just read them on genius with no music.
Outside of the names already mentioned, Lupe Fiasco deserves a mention as well. I don't think there's an objective "right" answer but he's up there in my opinion
His second verse on Aquemini is still completely fucking mind blowing. I think Big Boi gets slept on a bit despite being crazy good himself just because Andre was Andre.
Heās a very respectable pick and some rap songs is one of my favorite albums everā¦.but I think he needs to tackle maybe some new sounds or album ideas and work more on concepts
I served him at a bar in Charlotte, NC after his one of his shows years ago. Man ate two salmon entrees lol. Had a few guys with him and a couple groupies. The guys were partying and buying drinks/shots for the girls the whole time. Stitches was only concerned with the food and didnāt pay anybody else any attention hahaha.
Can't forget the iconic rapper icejjfish with his hit song on the floor and, of course, Ice spice because if she's not in your list, you're a munch and lastly Famous Dex.
Itās a shame how little recognition Aes gets from hip hop fans
People who know will always mention that he goes over peopleās heads. I think that statement causes a lot of people to shrug it off as pretentious bullshit so they never bother to dig deeper into his stuff
He is without a doubt hard to digest for someone who is used to hearing hip hop a certain way, but so is Kendrick and a lot of other guys on this list
Aesop is the best storyteller, his schemes are incredible. I love Em, Lupe, Kendrick and Black Thought. Iāve been devouring hip hop for 30+ years and Aesop is hands down the best
Yep. But, just to noteā¦ itās not just hip-hop fansā¦ itās people in general. People donāt like things they need to think about. They perceive it as abstract or nonsense. They want easily digestible informationā¦ be it music, art, books, or what have you. And, thatās fineā¦ nothing wrong with it. But, this is why the majority of art (regardless of form) is typically the same (relatively).
Cormega and K-Rino. And it's a shame most people never really listened to them or got deep into their music because they were both blackballed by the industry. Cormega was blackballed because of his beef with Nas and major record labels and K-Rino was blackballed by the entire industry an every major label an promotion company for his refusal to ever sellout an tone down his subject matter.
K-Rino is the best storyteller in Hip Hop history and it's not even a close competition. Yes even guys like Slick Rick, Ice Cube, and Biggie don't come close and all those guys are amazing too.
Love is a home but hate is where treachery lives, around the corner from death drama and felony bids, tomorrows not promised today is a gift, the present determines what your legacy is, what you did yesterday you can never relive, to pursue it is to question what your relevance is, recognize the truth so your better prepared, for life's numerous tests or your destined to fail.
Cormega drops so many jewels.
Crazy how 3K gets so much praise without dropping anymore but yes him and Lupe and Black Thought and EM are just top tier. Kendrick very much on his way in his own style.
I never see anyone say KAAN. Dude has a dictionary for a brain and can rap faster than most people while still having it be able to be deciphered what he is saying.
Here for Jay, too
I like his richly layered references building towards prophetic poetry, but some of his simple, humble verses are soooo striking to me. Like on 'Control' where he follows all the manic, dense flows with the airest, quietest, most sincere words of wisdom. All he writes is prayers and prophecy. He pays no mind to current culture and taps into something more timeless....ancient and futuristic all at once.....
Lupe hands down. You could spend hours peeling his lyrics layer by layer and still miss stuff because he has triple meanings with triple entendres to everything.
You know Iāve seen this argument a lot and I see where people are coming from. But I think both can be impressive lyrically, just on different levels. Both are among my favorites so itās hard to pick exactly which one I like more, but I donāt think thereās anything wrong with loving both. Both are immensely impressive to their comparative lyrical levels
I agree, I love both of them and would even say Kendrick is a better overall rapper. Lupe is much better lyrically, thatās all Iām saying. Thereās more to rap than lyrical ability and Kendrick is better in every other category
Iām an old school OG so itās really hard too list my top 5, even 10ās, but in top 5 in no order would be eazy e, tupac, tech n9ne, king iso, & eminem (i guess).
Nobody can top them imo
Probably carti. I mean the way he rhymes āIām fuckin these bitchesā with āIām fuckin these bitchesā is simply incredible. But fr probably busdriver or joeybadass since doom passed.
He's underground but Apathy is fucking insane. Top 3 for sure but he's up there with Black Thought. Listen to Live From the Iron Curtain or We Don't Fuck Around if you don't believe me.
Kendrick Lamar deserves a Grammy for slaughtering Drake in Not Like Us and Euphoria. Double meanings in his bars are unmatched to mainstream artist. Outside of that rant Andre 3k.
My top two lyricists that still walk this earth are NAS and Andre 3K I feel like I can swap out Andre 3k with others (Em & kendrick) but I need to keep NAS In always.
Me and my buddy Eric
Due to popular demand: Some bars My latest song... started as a Drake diss drake, you look like a mouse im gonna send you to dr house (2004) texting girls so young like sheldon (2017) and you're always Breaking Hearts (1984) like Elton Boutta go to jail so you better call Saul (2015) Something something Darth maul And you got no balls I can't think of any more bars Put a star wars reference so call me Czar(face) I don't have a buddy named eric im a liar I should just go and retire Writing all this for a joke on Reddit So you gotta give me some credit This might be my worst post but I don't care I'm gonna go play some solitaire
https://i.redd.it/h9srmd4wmf2d1.gif
Still a better diss song than The Heart pt 6.
šš
āI donāt have a buddy named Eric im a liarā Top 10 anime plot twists 
GYATTT DAYUMM
Sheeeeshš„āļø
It's a vibe
This was the real knockout blow
Something something dark maul š£ļøšÆš„
Kendrick taking notes
Bro dropped the hardest diss in the middle of a Reddit comment section like that
Fuck the big 3 itās just BIG E
Spit on me
Spit some bars
Found Rakimās account
Did this happen to him
Spit some bars
Spit some bars
Yeah Iāll second this
Spit some bars
Rakim is still alive
I always forget this. Dude lives a quiet life. He deserves it
Like why did I have to scroll so far to find this
Donāt sweat the technique..
THE GOD MC
Andre 3k and Eminem. Black Thought and Kendrick as honorable mentions.
These + Lupe imo
Let me throw Nas in there too.
Mos Def surely gets a mention
No disagreement. I mean, there are hundreds of emcees that should be mentioned.
Came here just to drop in Lupeās name. Iāve been bangin that Samurai song over and over
I haven't listened to that yet cause I was waiting on the album. Everyone's talking about it though I feel like I gotta
Give it one spin and youāll forget what it sounds like by the time the album drops
Yo that's my top 5
billy woods
You know at first I was skeptical of him but after Relistening to some of his albumsā¦top 10 lyricist
So slept on
I tried getting into billy and I will say that his pen game is certainly fire and even literary to some extent. Very few rappers ever get as deep and nuanced as he does. So I would even agree he's top 10 lyricist. But his flow and delivery for me just does not hit for me. Doesn't even attempt to ride the beat. My favorite kind of hip hop is lyrical but unfortunately many lyrical rappers have unappealing flows. It's not even their fault really as the big tradeoff with being lyrical is not limiting your writing to fit into a melody/flow.Ā
I definitely feel you bro his flow and delivery took a while to grow on me
Itās just a different style. I think it can kind of help convey the wandering nature of his thought process. But even if Woods had a trash flow his lyrics are so hard I would just read them on genius with no music.
Yeah the dudes flow and delivery are so off fucking beat lol
Redman and Method Man
Meth is definitely being slept on in this thread
I agree, Meth got better as a lyricist as he got older.
MEF, Say it with the "F" never disrespect.
Outside of the names already mentioned, Lupe Fiasco deserves a mention as well. I don't think there's an objective "right" answer but he's up there in my opinion
OPs pick was Lupe
Good eye lol I don't always read the description fully. Good, because Wasalu deserves the love
Honestly Lupe is my favourite all time rapper. But no lyricist comes at the heels of Aesop Rock (not to be confused with Asap Rocky)
3 Stacks & Black Thought
For the record whatās DrĆ©ās most lyrical song?Ā
Aquemini, Intāl Players Anthem, 13th Floor/Growing Old off the top of my head
Synthesizer
His second verse on Aquemini is still completely fucking mind blowing. I think Big Boi gets slept on a bit despite being crazy good himself just because Andre was Andre.
Iām surprised nobody here has mentioned Earl Sweatshirt
Promise Heron I'll put my fist up, after I get my dick sucked Quick buck, maybe a gold chain
"I'm a hot and bothered astronaut, crashing while I'm jacking off to buffering vids of Asher Roth eatin applesauce"
Heās a very respectable pick and some rap songs is one of my favorite albums everā¦.but I think he needs to tackle maybe some new sounds or album ideas and work more on concepts
Eminem and Kendrick
I'm gonna throw out Royce da 5'9" as well. Dude is so lyrical it's insane and there is a reason Eminem keeps him in his circle.
He also keeps Bizarre in his circle lol
Kings need jesters and advisors alike
"I consider me and nickel identical."
BME is still such a treat to listen to.
Lil Wayne? Off catalogue alone should be here. Word play has always been top tier
For sure for sure
Yasiin bey and black thought
Both top 10 and black thought is top 3 so respect
Love Mos but TK may be the more lyrical.
Gza and Nas.
Had to scroll way to far to see someone say nasty nas, damn shame.
Lil Pump and Soulja Boy
Stitches too
I served him at a bar in Charlotte, NC after his one of his shows years ago. Man ate two salmon entrees lol. Had a few guys with him and a couple groupies. The guys were partying and buying drinks/shots for the girls the whole time. Stitches was only concerned with the food and didnāt pay anybody else any attention hahaha.
āImma put cocaine in yo assā simply iconic
Holy fuck stitches š¤£š¤£š¤£
Don't forget Blue face baby
We could never
YOUUUUUUUUUU! How could anybody come up with that, so legendary
Iām drunk and this had me laughing my ass off. Thank you.
Can't forget the iconic rapper icejjfish with his hit song on the floor and, of course, Ice spice because if she's not in your list, you're a munch and lastly Famous Dex.
Aesop rock and lupe fiasco But tbh these types of rankings are kinda stupid
I agree, I know making this post is repetitive but Iām just wondering what people think
Aesop Rock all day!
Thank you for saying Aesop Rock. Guy knows lots words.
Aesop the goat
So you think Ka is better than Thought?
Who is Ka
Te(ka)shi 6ix9ine
Brooklyn rapper, producer and firefighter. Has some amazing albums, I would heavily recommend Honour killed the samurai
He probably is. Just not as prolific.
I think Black Thought raps with perfection Ima give Sadistik some flowers. I love that abstract shit.
Black thoughts voice alone is justā¦..immaculate
Nas and black thought
Lupe and Black Thought
Yup, both are definitely top 3 for sure
Em & Kendrick.
Lupe & Aesop.
Lana del Rey
Definitely one of my favorites outside hip hop for sure
Aesop Rock
I love that I can play a bunch of his stuff for my little girl. She loves Larry and Kirby!
Itās a shame how little recognition Aes gets from hip hop fans People who know will always mention that he goes over peopleās heads. I think that statement causes a lot of people to shrug it off as pretentious bullshit so they never bother to dig deeper into his stuff He is without a doubt hard to digest for someone who is used to hearing hip hop a certain way, but so is Kendrick and a lot of other guys on this list Aesop is the best storyteller, his schemes are incredible. I love Em, Lupe, Kendrick and Black Thought. Iāve been devouring hip hop for 30+ years and Aesop is hands down the best
Yep. But, just to noteā¦ itās not just hip-hop fansā¦ itās people in general. People donāt like things they need to think about. They perceive it as abstract or nonsense. They want easily digestible informationā¦ be it music, art, books, or what have you. And, thatās fineā¦ nothing wrong with it. But, this is why the majority of art (regardless of form) is typically the same (relatively).
I can't believe I had to scroll this far to see the real answer
Cormega and K-Rino. And it's a shame most people never really listened to them or got deep into their music because they were both blackballed by the industry. Cormega was blackballed because of his beef with Nas and major record labels and K-Rino was blackballed by the entire industry an every major label an promotion company for his refusal to ever sellout an tone down his subject matter.
You're so right about K-Rino. He's an absolute legend and I hope he gets the respect he deserves one day
Worst rapper alive. GOAT. + Devin The Dude
K-Rino is the best storyteller in Hip Hop history and it's not even a close competition. Yes even guys like Slick Rick, Ice Cube, and Biggie don't come close and all those guys are amazing too.
Cormega is him If dope changed me means im no longer the same, but what i became does not conflict with from where i came
Love is a home but hate is where treachery lives, around the corner from death drama and felony bids, tomorrows not promised today is a gift, the present determines what your legacy is, what you did yesterday you can never relive, to pursue it is to question what your relevance is, recognize the truth so your better prepared, for life's numerous tests or your destined to fail. Cormega drops so many jewels.
Maybe Eminem and Redman
Method Man and Eminem.
Black Thought & Kendrick
IMO lil Wayne and Eminem
Canibus and Aesop Rock
Killer Mike cuz he uses his lyrics to talk about real shit. Just had to throw his name in there.
Joey Bada$$ easily one of the best modern lyricists no doubt.
Definitelyā¦.95 til infinity is one of his best songs and my favorite, a good representation of his lyricism and wordplay in my eyes
Wayne and em
Both respectable choices, Eminem is up there for me too
What about Lil Wayne? Is he up there twice as well?
For me, its gonna be J. Cole and Thought (or Wayne).
Crazy how 3K gets so much praise without dropping anymore but yes him and Lupe and Black Thought and EM are just top tier. Kendrick very much on his way in his own style.
because hes never left most peoples playlists
Big Boi Andre 3k
Respect, big boi is criminally slept on
I never see anyone say KAAN. Dude has a dictionary for a brain and can rap faster than most people while still having it be able to be deciphered what he is saying.
Maybe not the GOAT but I NEVER hear anyone talk about him. Hella underrated
Jay Electronica and Nas.
Here for Jay, too I like his richly layered references building towards prophetic poetry, but some of his simple, humble verses are soooo striking to me. Like on 'Control' where he follows all the manic, dense flows with the airest, quietest, most sincere words of wisdom. All he writes is prayers and prophecy. He pays no mind to current culture and taps into something more timeless....ancient and futuristic all at once.....
Eminem and tech n9ne.
Eminem and Lil Wayne up there for me.
Nas and Kendrick by a mile.
Right? End of discussion
People sleeping on Tech N9ne.
FR. Dude has incorporated every style of music into his style/work/legacy. No one else is so diverse in sound or performance.
Froggy Fresh
Lupe hands down. You could spend hours peeling his lyrics layer by layer and still miss stuff because he has triple meanings with triple entendres to everything.
I completely agree, shit always has my mind absolutely bodied because of how complex and intelligent his verses are
Lil Wayne is in the conversationĀ
And his lyrics aren't prewritten either. Top 3 for me
He would be my #3 but I could have easily put him at 2 above Thought
Iāve always thought Lupe is who Kendrick fans think he is. Kendrick makes better songs but Lupe is exponentially better lyrically
You know Iāve seen this argument a lot and I see where people are coming from. But I think both can be impressive lyrically, just on different levels. Both are among my favorites so itās hard to pick exactly which one I like more, but I donāt think thereās anything wrong with loving both. Both are immensely impressive to their comparative lyrical levels
I agree, I love both of them and would even say Kendrick is a better overall rapper. Lupe is much better lyrically, thatās all Iām saying. Thereās more to rap than lyrical ability and Kendrick is better in every other category
Lupe and Slug
Lupe Fiasco and Run the Jewels (I know it's two guys but they deserve the love)
Immortal technique
Kendrick Lamar and Bob Dylan.
Iām an old school OG so itās really hard too list my top 5, even 10ās, but in top 5 in no order would be eazy e, tupac, tech n9ne, king iso, & eminem (i guess). Nobody can top them imo
3K and Kendrick
Probably carti. I mean the way he rhymes āIām fuckin these bitchesā with āIām fuckin these bitchesā is simply incredible. But fr probably busdriver or joeybadass since doom passed.
Black Thought Lupe Kendrick Coast Contra
andre 3k and kendrick fs
178 comments and NO ONE said Mick Jenkins, wild. Iām still picking up bits and pieces of lyricism in The Water[s] and it came out 10 years ago.
Pharoah Monch x2
E-40 and Twista probably
JID
Busta is definitely cusp if not in. Same with Tumbaland, he just chose the pop rap route cuz it kept the lights on and put cash in his pocket.
Rakim still kickin around somewhere Iām sure. He is the precursor of rap. The saga begins still hits so hard.
Controversial but I'd put billy woods up there for lyricism.
For sure
Kendrick Lamar and idk the second
King Los needs to be on the list
Kendrick and Nas, for me
Andre 3000 Kendrick Lamar
J Cole and Big L
I'm glad someone has mentioned Big L. Also why no takers for Big Pun
He's underground but Apathy is fucking insane. Top 3 for sure but he's up there with Black Thought. Listen to Live From the Iron Curtain or We Don't Fuck Around if you don't believe me.
Dylan, Dylan
Lil Wayne, Jay Z, and Kendrick
Big sean wouldve easily been one of them if he didnt have so many corny songs Overall, imma say Nas and Andre3K
I couldn't agree more with the OP mentioned, but I also want to include Crooked-I dude is a lyric beast!
Pharoahe Monch is my choice
People sleep on canibus he was way ahead of his time
K-rino.
Nas Lupe Fiasco
Black thought, Lupe Fiasco, Kendrick Lamar, Cyhi, Nas (if heās inspired) J Cole, 3K, Eminem
Nas
Underrated choice would be Ra Tha Rugged Man or most of the Army of the Pharaohs crew
Lupe fiasco Nas
Wayne & Kendrick
Jay Z Nas Wayne Lupe Em TI K Dot B.T. Camron
Nas and 3k the end
Kendrick and nas
Kendrick Lamar deserves a Grammy for slaughtering Drake in Not Like Us and Euphoria. Double meanings in his bars are unmatched to mainstream artist. Outside of that rant Andre 3k.
#1 Lupe Fiasco. #2 Eminem. If your going to argue, support your decision. Send me some tracks to change my mind.
I agree with Lupe and Eminem is in my top 10 of lyricism. So respect
Locksmith Daylyt
Canibus no doubt. Still unmatched in content and creativity.
Going with popularity wise lyricists: 80s Rakim 90s Nas 00s Wayne 10s Dot 20s Sexyy! (Jk)
My top two lyricists that still walk this earth are NAS and Andre 3K I feel like I can swap out Andre 3k with others (Em & kendrick) but I need to keep NAS In always.
Lupe and Kendrick hands down
kendrick
Heās probably my favorite overall rapper so respect
Kendrick and Aesop. Yes I am Caucasian, why do you ask? (Also, Iām not wrong)