Yes yes ya’ll. After seven days of patiently waiting, your favorite rapper’s favorite column has returned. Every Wednesday morning TOP 5 DEAD OR ALIVE gets one of your mans and them to set the record straight on what MCs land on their top five list.
This edition we get New Jersey lyricist Joe Budden in the hot seat. Known for his choice words and the ever building buzz on his much delayed The Padded Room, Jumpoff’s choices aren’t too surprising. His reasoning and added color commentary might stir up some ish; but what else did you expect?
1. 2Pac
Joe Budden: ‘Pac is the greatest to ever do it. It’s pretty simple. He was bigger than Rap. He was an iconic figure. His albums are better than ninety percent of these albums that come out till this day. And he could paint a picture like nobody else. I didn’t care about the beef between with him and Bad Boy. I’m just glad “Hit ‘Em Up” came out of it. I just think it’s the talent, ‘Pac was a poet. So naturally he has a way words. There is no one better of conveying a message.
Like certain people rap and others really convey a message when they write. Also he was one of the most prolific writers of the generation. As far as the order of my TOP 5 DEAD OR ALIVE, ‘Pac is better than all these n****s. The rest of my list is in no specific order. I couldn’t even say what’s my favorite album by ‘Pac, I would start with Me Against The World. Dam, I was such a big big big ‘Pac I would have to go with Me Against The World.
Jay-Z
Joe Budden: Let’s go with Jay-Z. I’m too big of a Hip-Hop fan to let my personal grievances interfere with my opinion on music. Jay for all his accomplishments and his achievements, his accolades; whatever he said is the way Hip-Hop went for about ten years. He just raps better than everybody; well he did for a long long time. As far as the album I f*** with most by Jay I would say Volume 2.
Reasonable Doubt is overated. I think people across the board say Reasonable Doubt is Jay’s best album because it’s the cool thing to say. Like I remember when Reasonable Doubt came out and I remember every single; the world wasn’t going so f***ing crazy. And even till this day – it’s certainly a far cry from Ready To Die which is a classic album to me.
Ready To Die is way better than Reasonable Doubt. With Ready To Die, I was waiting on that album since “Party & Bullsh*t”. I think Reasonable Doubt had some insane tracks, don’t get it twisted, it’s a great great album, but I don’t think its Jay’s best work.
Let’s clear this up; Volume 2 is my favorite Jay-Z album. If I would have to pick his best work and this is my own opinion and I don’t care what all the bloggers and all the Hip-Hop people have to say, it would be a toss up between The Blueprint and The Black Album. I think The Black Album was almost flawless and I’m one of the few to think that. If he would have went out like that, I would have been sold because that was his best album.
To tell you the truth there are a few albums I can name better than Reasonable Doubt. It Was Written was way better than Reasonable Doubt. I liked It Was Written more than Illmatic. I don’t know, I don’t really go with what everybody tells me should be what’s best.
Eminem
Joe Budden: Eminem rhymes better than anyone on the planet, wordplay, flow; everything. It’s really that just simple. It might seem like the public is trying to get sick of him now, but the guy has been away for five or four years or however long he’s been away. They are looking at his most recent work like the sh*t that just came out that sounds like he wrote for [Dr.] Dre, I just know it seems people are trying to figure out a reason to discredit or just write off Eminem.
If he never writes another rap again, he will already out rapped anybody who has ever rapped. He rhymes syllables in the middle of the middle of the bar. He just does other things that rappers can’t do. I f*** with the second album the most (The Marshall Mathers LP).
Rest Of The List
Joe Budden: After those three, after those three it’s really a toss up for me. I always alternate between Big Daddy Kane, B.I.G., Rakim, [Kool] G. Rap, Nas – but I wouldn’t say Nas off the rip. Yeah those names are the only ones that come to mind.
THE SIDEBAR:
While Joe isn’t doing the Rap thing, he enjoys reading the paper everyday over a cup of coffee. Starbucks need not apply.