Five Most Overrated Rappers

Here’s another blogger’s opinion, because aren’t these snarky little lists what drives the webbernet? Without us and videos of kittens, the series of tubes from which the internet derives its power would dry up and become useless. At least, we’re pretty sure of that.

#5 -- 50 Cent

I’ll start off with an easy one here. Yeah, nobody takes 50 Cent that seriously, but he is overrated in the fact that he is not even average. 50 Cent is bad. His beats are way too similar, his metaphors are stupid. I loved that first album too, but Jesus his music went downhill after that. I suppose 50 doesn’t give a crap anymore though, seeing as of a few years ago he’ll never have to work again pretty much ever.

And he gets bonus points for being an especially atrocious actor.

#4 -- Li’l Wayne

Okay hipsters, here’s the deal: Li’l Wayne is fun, and he’s different. But please, please knock off the “he’s the greatest alive!” bullshit. He takes chances and his lyrics can be fun; I’ll give him that. In fact, I would say Li’l Wayne is even good, but at least a third of just the Wu-Tang Clan is better.

#3 -- Immortal Technique

I don’t know if Immortal Technique does this in concert, but he reminds me of the kind of rapper who points at his head when he says something really important. I appreciate that he talks about socio-economic inequality and the thievery perpetuated by record companies, but there’s that line between intelligent commentary and sanctimony, and he gleefully jumps right over it. Not to mention that anything smart he says is immediately cancelled out by his “9/11 truther” bullshit.

#2 -- Jay-Z

Okay, here’s the deal: Jay-Z is pretty good. But I’ve always felt like he’s just pretty good, not great, in all respects: he’s fun enough, he’s intelligent enough, his hooks are good enough. But I’ve just never been blown away by him. He doesn’t really, really excel in any one area. Granted, that’s not really a bad thing. If rap were basketball, Jay-Z would perennially make the All-Star team. But you’d never call him LeBron.

#1 -- Tupac, of course

I’m not just sayign this to be contrarian, or to stir up any crap. I will go to my grave thinking that Tupac was, and is, vastly overrated. If you know anything about his history, you know he was pretending to be a gangster, right? We’re talking about arts-conservatory-studying, backup-dancer-for-Digital-Underground Tupac Shakur. I wouldn’t slight him for his less-than-street background if it weren’t for all the crap I’ve always heard about this “street poet.” Tupac was prolific, and he put out a some great tracks. But please don’t delude yourself into thinking he was anything other than a calculated performance.