Jay Z: During a 2006 AOL fan chat, Jay-Z said, "Right now, I don't have a favorite rapper, but right now, I'm listening to Lil Wayne and T.I."
Four years later, at an event promoting his book Decoded, someone stepped up to ask Jay to pick his top five, dead or alive, excluding himself. He chose Biggie first. "Well, I guess I would choose him because of his ability to tell stories, to be humorous, to be dead serious. He just had it all," Jay said
"I would choose 'Pac because his fire will overcome. What he doesn't have in technical skills will be overcome by passion. If you listen to that 'Tunnel' verse where Big is saying 'MC Hammer and them 357 women' and then you hear how 'Pac comes on, he just screams on the track, like his passion could put a lot of guys to sleep." Kool G Rap, KRS-One, Eminem, and Nas also made his roster
Meek Mill: In a 2012 interview with the Bay Area's Wild 94.9, Meek broke down his rap-star dream team, in no particular order, as Biggie, 2Pac, Jay-Z, Nas and Lil Wayne. Speaking to Billboard that same year about teaming up with Nas "Maybach Curtains," the Philly rapper was effusive with his praise. "Nas is one of the best rappers ever
Just having him in the studio, that's a big thing to me. I grew up listening to this guy," Meek said. "I came and I played the beat for him and he liked my music, so we just vibed out."
Kendrick Lamar: Top-five lists aren't always the easiest thing to rattle off if you're emotionally invested in the subject, but Kendrick Lamar had a particularly tough time coming up with one during his conversation with Erykah Badu for Interview magazine in May. Badu asked him to name his top five rappers. In order, Lamar chose Jay-Z, Nas, 2Pac, Snoop Dogg and The Notorious B.I.G
"But that leaves off Eminem and André," he said, pondering the possibility of changing the category to a top 10. To the first seven, he added Rakim and Kurupt but then fretted over the last slot. Lamar's first choice was Method Man, but then he realized he couldn't leave out one more adding, "Will you give me DMX?" Yes. But he had to lose one, so Method Man was dropped down to an 'alternate' slot
Kanye West: In 2007, Kanye and 50 Cent shared headlines leading up to the simultaneus release of both of their third solo albums, West's Graduation and Fiddy's Curtis. In an effort to spark a rivalry and spur sales 50 threw down a gauntlet. "If Kanye West sells more records than 50 Cent on September 11," he proclaimed. "I'll no longer write music. I'll write music and work with my other artists, but I won't put out any more solo albums."
West, on the other hand, kept things classy. "50 is one of those rappers that I said was the end all be all of what rap what supposed to be. Like a true iconic rapper," he said in a January 2009 interview with Bossip. "He was my favorite rapper since Mase when he dropped, and when I used to be around him, he was one of the few people that I was like really fan of. I was nervous in the studio working on beats and hoping that I could do a good beat for him
So, for me as a fan of him, I felt like if he said something negative and tried to make it like I'm negative, it's almost like if a little kid walks up to you at the airport and is like, 'Man, I love you so much,' and then you spit on him. It's like, 'I don't know if I love you as much as I used to,' as you wipe the spit off your face, but you still play their music."
In a recent New York Times interview, Kanye also brought up J-Kwon and his track "Tipsy," saying, "People would think that's like a lower-quality, less intellectual form of hip-hop, but that's always my No. 1."
However, years ago, on the song "Bonnie & Clyde Freestyle" he rhymed, "My favorite rapper is Makaveli, Nas and Jay-Z/Eminem, Mase, Biggie Smalls and me." And who can forget Yeezy also saying that he's his own favorite rapper during a video interview a few years back?
