I have trouble narrowing down who I think qualifies as the greatest rapper of all-time.

B.I.G. is definitely one of the greats and, since he died so young, he has a strong, albeit small, catalog. As such, it's tough for me to not think about if he had lived and what music he would have made. Would he have remained consistent or dropped some duds, like, oh I don't know, Jay-Z?

All I can say is outside of personal preference, I definitely put B.I.G. in the top 5.

Such a tough call...but probably Rakim, Kool G Rap, Jay-Z and... I can't think of a fifth. Ugh what an awful East Coast bias I have.

I might throw Pharoahe Monch or Black Thought as my fifth.

As far as my personal top 5, it's a rotating list that usual features these: Black Thought, Mos Def, Pharoahe Monch, Ghostface, and Kool G Rap with Jay-Z and Nas shuffling in every so often.

Here's mine:

1. Nasty Nas (almost solely for Illmatic, since I think that's the only truly perfect hip-hop album)

2. Biggie

3. Jay-Z 

4. Tupac

5. Ghostface

Biggie is the greatest.

Kane is my favorite.

@Dipseth

Most underrated rapper ever. usually in the top 5, but rarely never 1. i like rakim, but to me kane was better.

he was the rapper's rapper before that term even existed. the smoothest rapper ever with the most swagger. so versatile. it could be  a slow love jam and the prince of darkness  could get the girls out of their panties or it could be a straight battle track.