The top ten most underrated rappers (supposedly)

No way can Luda be underrated. If anything he's overrated. The guy's sold a gazillion records. I think it's hard to be underrated when you're considered one of the biggest stars in hip-hop.

I think it's a solid list.

An understandable argument but as many records as he sells, there are still relatively few people who seem to actually appreciate his lyrical abilities. He's the funny guy with the tight beats and everyone likes his music, but when you hear people debating who the best lyricists are, his name almost never comes up though its rarely combated once it does. More to the point, Black Thought is on those list fairly frequently, so I still feel like if he can be called underrated, Luda still can too. He's the popular comedian who no one realizes is actually a great dramatic actor.

Like you said, this sort of list is going to be up to widespead debate. Overall, it's not a bad list. The biggest issue is going to be that everybody has a different interpretation of what "under-rated" actually means.

Guys like T.I. and Ludacris have had multiple platinum albums and monster singles. But all that success has somewhat masked that their lyrical abilities are somewhat overlooked.

Meanwhile, some super-talented MCs develop a large following by hip-hop fans but struggle to break through into the mainstream for whatever reason. To me, it's like Common Sense before "The Light" came out. A lot of the rappers on the about.com list seem to fit into this category.

Then there are the MCs that are just plain overlooked because of the company that they keep, like Sheek Louch. He's a solid MC but he'll almost always be like the 3rd D-Block/LOX member behind Jada and Styles P.

Personally, my list would definitely include AZ, Masta Ace and Royce da 5'9. I also feel that guys like O.C., Pharoahe Monch and Slug merit some consideration. I'd also think about Joell Ortiz and Crooked I, but neither of them has the body or work of these other people on the list. It's nice to see Sean P on the list since I love the BCC. The last guy I'd throw on is Jeru the Damaja, but he's fallen off considerably, even from a lyrical standpoint (and you can't blame THAT on his fallout with Preemo).

Sheek? Okay, now we're gonna have to scrap ;-)

You definitely hit it on the head though; it's hard to really define what "underrated" actually means, tying back into my Ludacris stance. Good addition with Jeru, and I might be tempted to throw Skillz, Peedi Crakk, E. Ness, Lord Have Mercy and Rah Digga up for debate as well.

Ludacris underrated?Luda has no flow whatsoever and has terrible lyrics.Hes overrated and not just mildly overrated he is one of the most overrated rappers of all time.

styles p for sure is underrated and jadakiss because people now a dais only listen to people that make alot of money or have videos on BET n ish, since styles p and jada dont really make so much singles they r overlooked by EVERYONE you cant be underrated if u making money and winning awards n ish. saying luda is underrated is liek saying kobe or lebron r underrated lol
like come on now

all of you have made some good points,but most underrated rappers are comfortable being underrated,infact some of them even prefer it!but can-i-bus has got to be thee most underated rapper of all time hands down i mean dude got like 6 albums that most dont even know about.....the only next 2 underrated mc's i can name would be royce da 5'9 and joe buddens these cats right here are highly overlooked especially jumpoff joe buddens hes a problem.....

I can't agree with joe buddens cuz he's honestly trash but cassidy is very talented,Lloyd banks is hugely underrated for the fact that he's under 50's shadow but his mixtapes are crazy, also jadakiss is very underrated and T.I is crazy on the pen and pad

Wait....underrated on people like Luda and T.I. is wasted. You wanna know who is really underrated??? The Clipse, Little Brother (yes the whole damn group!) and Buckshot. I could make a Top 100 list of underrated MC's. Hell we can even go old school.....remember Eastern Conference Records? Mighty Mi and Mr. Eon...two white boys puttin' it down with story telling and beats way before Em.....and don't get me started on Skillz......whew!!!!

I would want to see lil boosie on this list. if you listen to all his music you see how much hes done and his killa message

My nigga Styles P is underrated.

i hate you for bringing up lil boosie

Z-Ro and Lil KeKe both of them boys got killa flow

wow, im surprised no one has mentioned Immortal Technique...guy is a beast on the mic and doesnt even need a record deal

don't forget fab

immortal technique should be on there. and jada.

yo to say lil boosie, is quite disrespectful. hes garbage. nas is really underrated so is my man styles P and Jadakiss. Luda is not underrated, to me hes garbage, but still is better than LIL BOOSIE. im still laughing over this! If u think lil boosie is good, you must think hurricane chris is better than WAYNE! hahahahaha

Z-Ro, Lil' Keke, Immortal Technique, and I dont know how many other people feel this way but I like Mos Def

i think Evil pimp should be near the top of that list 2b honest. With Immortal Technique and Necro..........Sabac and slick rick prehaps at the bottom of the list. Or just peeking 2c if they might just fit on(thats my opinion)

What the hell is wrong with yall just cuse someone mention lil boosie dont mean shiit... so what all yall thats pro Z-ro and Anti boosie are fuucked up especially when yall think ro hates boosie I went watched him perform in houston and he said to go support boosie and webbie so what up now niggas yall dont no if boosie suck yall aint listed to every song he made

List is kool. You def can't mention UNDERRATED without thinking about AZ! Now, that's a cat that's underrated. As for the hiphop murderers mentioning Lil' Boosie being underrated, "do you listen to raps or you just skim through it"? JADAKISS is underrated. KOOL G RAP is underrated. If you know hiphop, then you know these are the top 3 most underrated of ALL TIME! Even though Nas name still ring bells, I feel like NAS is underrated! Duke deserves more props than he gets!

- HipHopOG -