It takes more skill to rap than people realize. Rap songs often come off as effortless, but it takes a lot of talent and practice to get the rhythm, flow, meter, presence, and projection. Rap has changed over the years and has a lot of subgenres. In the 1980s, hip hop had a focus on being conscientious and socially conscious. Then, in the mid to late '80s, gangsta rap began to emerge. In 2014, mumble rap took over the rap genre.
Regardless of the many directions that rap has taken, one element will always have respect: freestyling. It's hard enough within itself to write a rhyme that will captivate the world but to spit powerful bars on the spot cements a rapper into the "highly respected" category forever. Some people consider Eminem one of the greatest freestyle rappers of all time, but let's take a lot at other rappers who deserve accolades as well.
10 Tobe Nwigwe
Tobe Nwigwe is a Nigerian-American rapper who started his rap career in 2016. Every Sunday since then, he's posted an original song across social media and gained a following on YouTube and Instagram. In 2018, Nwigwe appeared on the BET Hip Hop Awards 2018 Cypher. In 2018, he appeared on Sway in the Morning, Sway Collaway's radio morning show, and freestyled in a cypher, and people called him the "master of flow" and appreciated how he rapped without profanities.
Interestingly, Nwigwe wasn't going to be a rapper. He was considered for the NFL draft but tore a ligament, and a motivational speaker convinced him to pursue a music career. In 2021, he announced that his third child was coming in a freestyle.
9 Common
Common began rapping in the late 80s, first under the name Common Sense. He was an underground rapper for a while and starting garnering more mainstream acclaim around 1994 with his second album "Resurrection." One of his notable songs from the album is "I Used to Love H.E.R." By "her," he meant hip hop and called out the direction hip hop was going in as more west coast gangsta rappers began taking over the genre. Common, like Nwigwe, has appeared on Sway in the Morning, and people have called him deep, intelligent, and even claimed that his freestyles are better than his actual tracks.
8 Snoop Dogg
West Coast rapper Snoop Dogg has been praised for how smooth, effortless, and thoughtless his freestyles seem. Nowadays, Snoop Dogg is known for his larger-than-life personality, endorsements, and for being close with Martha Stewart. However, genuine rap fans have never forgotten how well Snoop Dogg can flow off the top of the dome. In 2019, he and Jamie Fox even collaborated on a song on the spot on Sway in the Morning. People commended Snoop Dogg on how clean this song sounded.
7 Black Thought
Black Thought co-founded the hip hop group The Roots with drummer Questlove. Rap fans have regarded him as skilled and prolific. In 1987, Black Thought met Questlove and formed The Square Roots as a rapper/drummer duo. Another MC, the late Malik B., and a bass player Leonard "Hub" Hubbard, joined The Square Roots. They dropped the "square" and went by only The Roots because a folk band had the name at the time. In 2017, Black Thought rapped for ten minutes straight on Hot 97, and people questioned how he was breathing, some comparing it to the breathing skills that a trumpet player might need to have.
6 J. Cole
J. Cole is back in 2021 like he never left. He dropped his highly anticipated rap album "The Off-Season" after not releasing a rap album for three years and didn't disappoint fans whatsoever. Some call Cole one of the most influential rappers of this generation. Cole began rapping at age 12 and took rapping seriously around 2000. He, like Lamar, was inspired by Tupac as well as Canibus, Nas, and Eminem. Recently, in 2021, he freestyled over Souls of Mischief's "93 'Til Infinity" and Mike Jones's "Still Tippin'". One fan stated, "we are not worthy of his greatness."
5 Kendrick Lamar
Stars like Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, and Leonardo DiCaprio have considered Kendrick Lamar their favorite rapper. Lamar began his rapping career around 2004, but his mainstream debut album "Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City," didn't come out until 2012 and eventually reached platinum status. Lamar seeing Tupac Shakur's "California Love" music video in 1995 inspired him. In 2012, Lamar did his first freestyle with Funk Master Flex on Hot 97, and one fan stated that his bars had more metaphors than Shapeare's novels.
4 KRS-One
Rapper KRS-One's name stands for "knowledge reigns supreme over nearly everyone." His name has a lot of depth to it, and so do his lyrics. In the late 80s, he rose to prominence with the hip hop group Boogie Down Productions, and their most well-known song is "Sound of da Police." After his group member and DJ Scott La Rock was shot and killed, he continued rapping solo and has put out at least 12 albums! In 2018, KRS-One, Eminem, and Black Thought did a cypher together, and one fan claimed that every time KRS-One touches a mic, he represents the true essence of hip hop.
3 Lil' Wayne
Like Lamar and Cole, rap fans have put Lil' Wayne in many "greatest rappers of all time" lists because of his insane metaphors. People took note of Wayne's freestyle skills early in his career. On BET's Rap City tha Basement, he performed a freestyle in 2001 with his Cash Money team, and even at nineteen years old, his rap skills were top tier.
2 Busta Rhymes
Busta Rhymes, like Eminem, is known for rapping rapidly. He is the third-fastest rapper of all time, with rapper Twista breaking the Guinness Book of World Records for the fastest rapper. Rhymes' prolific lyrics are as impressive as his fast rapping to most people. In a Power 106 freestyle in 2015, Rhymes did his first radio freestyle in at least a decade, and one fan stated that he took him on a "genuine and emotional journey trip compared to younger rappers who are more superficial.
1 Jay-Z
Jay-Z is also another rapper often included in the "best rappers of all time" lists. Interestingly, Jay-Z stopped writing down his raps a long time ago. One particular song early in his career had lengthy verses, and so he learned to memorize them. In a Hot 97 freestyle Jay-Z performed over ten years ago, he said that he's no Tupac or Biggie, but he's close. Someone stated that his verse was poetry by a lyrical genius.
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