Yenyewe, hapo sina sauti.

Imagine, n years later, Rakim bado anaroga. This time, he gangs up with fellow rhymers, Nas and KRS-One and newbie, Kanye West.

Rakim, Nas, KRS-One & Kanye West - Classic

[Msoto Advisory: You'll need headphones for this one - the loop is too deadly!]

Rakim defines a classic as...
Timeless, so age don't count in the bull****
When your flow stays submerged in the fountain of youth.

@Sheep. This dude is too ill!

@youcanstopus
Haven't heard Nas collabo with Damian (its Distant Relatives, right?)

Will piratebay it this weekend then let you know.

Read this thread and went back to my crate for the BE album.Common does it for me any day though Universal mind control was a let down.

Method Man(plus Red of course and the greater Def squad crew} ranks highly on my list alongside Lauryn Hill(Mis-education as well as the unplugged albums). Their collabo(Meth + Lauryn) in 'so much to say http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dE0hWB0rvGs just crowned it all...
I certainly cant take anything away from Nas,Rakim(Guess who's back),Scarface,Mos Def,Talib Kweli,THE ROOTS...I'm diggin the crates!

I beg to differ.
Hip hop is not gangster rap. Hip hop is so much more and according to the real father of hip hop Afrika Bhaambata hip hop id Dj, Lyrisist, B-boy dancing, flow and poetry.
Hip hop is different things for different people. For some hip hop is gangster rap which doesnt really cut it for me. For me a great hip hop artist is one who make you feel good, makes you think - mmmhhh! and inspires you.
Lauryn hill is the shit. She is/was what is good and great about hip hop.
Eazy E well he did popularize gangsta rap. But other than that he was not a poet or lyricist. All his songs were written by ice cube and MC ren of the NWA. As one of the greats he is not. As a footnote in the history of hip hop yes! And im afraid history will not look down on him in a positive light.
@ Kishindo I think your choice of music is simalr to mine with a little less scarface and some more tribe called quest, some digable planets and maybe some dead presidents.
In all this list my favourites of all time and i can honestly say there flow is as fresh now as it was over 10 years ago. Ladies and gentlemen please put give a round of applause for

KALAMASHAKA
I pump up some k-shaka when i want that pick me up at the end of the day, over the weekend when im not working and the sun is shining some k-shaka will get me in the zone. This guys are the ultimate group and there rhymes compare and exceed a lot of names on this thread!!!!

@ Msoto and all Yeah! if we are talking bout Lyrist then Rakim def takes the crown.

For me when people talk bout Rap/hip hop we need to identify why it is where it is today and hence when i talked bout NWA, Public Enemy.However we all need to acknowledge Run Dmc and most importantly Jam Master Jay, now he was something, ill tracks from jamaica Avenue..I still bop my head on Saturdays with the sun to my face listening to Raising hell!!