Best would be someone with a voice changing tones, who raps from the heart about things that they've experience, good rhymes, smart lyrics, and good has different styles such as angry rap, fun rap, sad rap...etc. This is my opinion and my list is based on it.

My top 15 rappers (In no order, because I can't crown any one person the king, due to different eras/styles)

2Pac - Great lyrics, and rapped from the heart about personal experiences. Amazing voice, really connects with his audience. Brought a real sense of emotion to music, and is still effecting music more than most musicians 10+ years after his death. My favorite rapper ever, and I could make this a 50 page article just based on his talent, but I'll try not to ramble too much haha.
Big Pun - Most potential for a rapper ever, and I believe the most underrated too. He is reguarded as one the best, and only got to release one album prior to his death. You can't match his style, and his flow was the only of it's kind.
KRS-One -King of the Underground. Never went mainstream and stuck to his roots, KRS-One has had a huge influence in rap. Paved the way for late 80's rapping.
Big L - Took a different step to a more sadistic style of rap. Crazy free styling, amazing lyrics. Sad he died before he could have been huge. Proved himself with the best, especially when he showed up Jay Z, whom many claim to be the king of hip hop in "7 Minute Freestyle".
Eminem - Widely known as the King of Battle Rap. Absolute Lyrical Genius, doesn't have any limits when he speaks his mind, and also raps from the heart. Doesn't let his skin color effect his music. Fucking amazing.
Jay Z - Has a huge fan support and huge wealth, and not for nothing. Hasn't changed much since he started, just got a little less hood, which I'm fine with. Good lyrics, always does songs with great artist. Probably my least favorite out of my top though. Has more rappers trying to copy his style than fat kids trying to eat cookies. I'd go to say he's the most consistent rapper ever.
Lil Wayne - I'm going to get flamed for it, because everyone hops on the "Lets hate weezy cuz he aint Pac" bandwagon. The dude has crazy record sales, amazing beats, usually good lyrics, a noteable voice (although it's autotuned sometimes), and can rap in many different styles. Whether people like it or not, he's helping to keep rap alive. Granted it's a new style and everyone may miss the old raps of the 90's to 00's, he's one of the best of a new era.
Redman - My favorite and many others favorite Comedic Rapper. Has a lot of charisma, and consistently drops gold/platinum records. Always tries new styles so his material is never boring.
Biggie - My favorite lyrical rapper hands down. Fun to listen to, and has a great mixture of street music and fun music. He loves it when you call him big papa. Everyone knows him, and I think he would have been the best rapper ever had he not met his fate at a young age.
Kid Cudi - Most people wont agree at all, but I admire him because he raps about shit true to himself weather people like it or not. Just about anyone can relate to at least one of his songs, and he stays away from the bullshit rap about money and cars mostly. He isn't one of the best yet, but I believe he will be soon so I'm throwing him in here early.
Chuck D - One of the first rappers to take on controversial subjects and challenge the government via music. I like to think of him as the Mark Twain of music simply because he talked about issues know one else would. Crazy voice, amazing lyrics.
Andre 3000 - Lyrically insane. He'll attack the newer generation on a song for the stupid shit they rap about, and they wont even understand it was a diss. He's made classic's in OutKast.
Rakim- One of the most influential rappers of all time. Used things like life, religion as his central topic. Set the standards for rappers today, and almost any rapper will site him as an inspiration. He completely made rap in many people opinion. A god.
Nas- Often sited as the rebirth of Rakim, Nas is an amazing rapper. IllMatic, StillMatic, God's Son...etc. Also took out Jay Z in a battle. Lyrically amazing, with a great flow.
GZA- Best rapper in the Wu Tang Clan, which is one of the most influential groups in music history. Never went mainstream, and oddly made huge success because of this. Had a very charismatic flow, and always turned heads when people heard his raps.

Well, that's it. Most people will hate on me for throwing it Big L, Weezy, Cudi, Redman...etc. I don't care, my personal list with valid reasons

So, what's your top?

This post was edited by EcLiiPzE on Sep 15 2010 04:15pm

a lot of fail

pathetic faggot

lil wayne? are you fucking kidding?

and what the fuck? do you know what mainstream means?

This post was edited by NMU on Sep 15 2010 04:07pm

gotta be 50 cent

Figured I'd get retarded replies like this with no reason as to why they dislike my choice.
Yes, Lil Wayne. Whether you want to be like every person who hates him and wont acknowledge his impact on rap today, he has a lot of impact. He's the leader of possibly the most successful rap group today, and has helped paved the way for up and coming artists. Do I think he's on the level of Tupac and Chuck D, no. However he does deserve a lot of credit for his influence on todays rap. Just because you're trying to be cool and wont acknowledge commercial success and mainstream music doesn't mean it's not influential.

Yes, I do. Mainstream is music loved by the masses, and made popular though playing consistently on the radio, youtube...etc.
Michael Jackson was mainstream but many people still loved him, which is the same as Weezy. Wayne isn't on the musical level as MJ at all, but he still deserves credit. Stop trying to be orginal and underground when you just state things over and over about how old music was great. I agree, but you can't just not acknowledge the new game today.

cannibal corpsez da best rapper... noob

The only impact Lil Wayne has made on rap and hip hop is solidifying the notion that you don't need to be a good rapper to be "#1". His flow and beats are mediocre at best, and the less said about his lyrical content, the better. He's made it clear that if you buy into your own self-absorbed delusions, millions of sheep will flock to you.

He's paved the way for up and coming artists? Shit, he's allowed even LESS talented, more gimmicky artists like Drake and T-Pain to become famous.

Nobody is trying to be cool or jump on a bandwagon here - Lil Wayne just doesn't deserve to be anywhere close to a list of the "best rappers of all time".

Andre 3000 is mai nigga