I've been watching the voting in this tourney (which is a shocker since I pretty much ignore most of these threads), but to those of you getting pissed off about Run DMC and NWA not getting votes and Outkast getting them : were Run DMC and NWA great rappers or were they innovators? I ask this because NWA is considered great because they introduced/popularized gangsta rap with the rest of middle America. Does that make them good rappers in terms of their skills? Yeah, NWA had Dre and Cube, but back then it was Eazy E that was fronting the group and quite frankly ... Eazy really wasn't a great rapper. They're still one of my favorite rap groups of all time. "Dopeman" is still one of the greatest raps ever - not for any display of lyrical ability, but it was for that bass beat in the background. "Straight Outta Compton" is still probably one of the greatest rap albums put out - but not for any display of great ability (other than maybe the background beats on some of the tracks), but for bringing gangsta rap to the forefront and causing a stir in middle-class America. But if that makes for a great rap group, then hell, 2 Live Crew should be ranked right up there with NWA. So when you vote for a group like NWA, are you voting for them because of their popularity for bringing rap to the forefront or are you voting for them because they actually had lyrical ability. If it's for lyrical ability, are they better than D.O.C.? Are they better than Bone Thugs? Those are both groups discovered by Eazy E and NWA that I thought were better than NWA. They are definitely not better than Eminem who I think runs circles around Eazy in terms of flow and lyrics. I'm willing to bet if NWA were out now, you guys would be dissing them just like so many of you diss Eminem. I also never bought the idea that a group is great because its members went on to be great, either. The Deele had Babyface and LA Reid as two of its members - does that make The Deele a great group? No - Babyface was better on his own. LA Reid was better on his own. You guys may have a point in saying Run DMC should still be around. I think they had ability. They were among the godfathers of rap, but... are they among the greatest? Hmm... back from that era, Eric B & Rakim, LL Cool J, Public Enemy, etc. were all better, IMHO. The one that's a travesty in this voting is Public Enemy not still in the running. Chuck D's vocals were great... the music was vicious... the bass hit... the lyrics had meaning... one of the 2 or 3 greatest hip hop acts of all time.
I meant I agreed with what your points were. I liked Tupac. I just didn't know a lot of his stuff. I was a lot more into country music when his career was big. But P.E. and Run DMC should definitely still be here. Oh well.
I submit a protest vote of the Beastie Boys (who should have won the whole darn thing) over 2pac and M&M. The other side goes to NWA.
