I'm sorry, but I have 2 things to say. Actually, 3 now that I see Sarah's post.
1. I'm tired of hearing all of this about Lil Wayne being the best rapper (alive). This is a bold claim that he repeatedly makes, but it is completely unheard of. There are plenty more that top him, and all of the ones (other than Jay-Z) aren't on here. First off, his lyrics aren't developed as well as many other artists. This is mainly apparent on
Tha Carter II, where he uses most of his rhymes as sounding out one word to make it sound like the previous line. A rapper, in my opinion, is "allowed" to do this a few times, but not as much as he does in the album. Also, his flow is exceptional and tops MANY rappers in the industry (that are alive), although there are many better that I can think of. Jay-Z, Dr. Dre (although he has lost his major talent shown in
The Chronic in '92, he's still got it), Ice Cube (same as Dre, only he started to slip after his album
Lethal Injection), Chamillionaire (his mixtapes top the major-record debut
The Sound of Revenge), Lil Flip, Eminem (although I do enjoy the "younger" or "earlier" version of his career much more than the latter), many of the deceased rappers (2Pac, B.I.G., Eazy-E, Ol' Dirty dolphin noise, and many others), Method Man, Redman, Ludacris (
), E-40, T.I. (I don't like him too much, but yeah), 50 Cent (only his first CD - don't ***** at me for saying this), Nas, Mase, EVERYONE from The Roots, Slim Thug (nobody's really heard about him, but he's up past Mr. Carter), Kanye, the Clipse (HELL YEAH), UGK (Pimp-C and Bun-B), and even another from Cash Money Records: Juvenile. There are many others, but I always have a hard time picking and choosing so many things that I know, mainly specific ones and preferences and such (like if you were to ask me who my favorite artists were). You should probably hear some of these guys sometime, then compare them to Lil Wayne.
2. You'd obviously have to make an endless poll in order to capture the "best rapper alive" title. That obviously isn't possible, though.
3.
Oh, and Rae, you told me you were starting to get used to rap! Do I have to play that 50 Cent screaming recording again?!?!