I'm not here to argue who is the greatest rapper of all time or who is the greatest rapper alive. I'm simply here to point out who is overvalued and overrated. Now, on this list, you won't find Lil' Boosie because lets be honest, to be overrated, you must first be rated and A LOT of rappers don't rate. In fact, one may argue that just the fact that someone is overrated means he/she is a heavyweight in the game already. This person can't be an up and comer, they are already up and the public or media is keeping them there. So without any further ado, let's round up the overusual suspects.
Snoop Dogg
Now, don't have a bow wow wow. People usually say that Snoop is an OG. Which is sort of true. I mean, he's not the original gangster rapper, nor is he the original west coast rapper. He's a guy that strapped one of hip hops most legendary record labels on his back via 2 person book bag and took everyone to school. However Snoop is seriously flawed. Just look at everything after 1996. The dee oh double gee's work on the Chronic as well as his debut album Doggystyle are classics. But so is the movie Basic Instinct and Sharon Stone wouldn't be working at all if it weren't for a spot opening up on Law & Order SVU. As hip hop fans, we tend to listen to songs and albums over and over again. People may not realize that G Thang is 17 years old. Remember Snoop's stint on No Limit? Me neither. In fact, until he reunited with The Muhfuckin' D-R-E to respell his name in the new millennium, the Dog Father was headed nowhere fast. Then Snoop hopped into the pop game and has stayed there for about 8 years now. I won't hate on Top 40 charts but there's ways to do it and ways not to. Snoop doesn't actually rap about anything now. He doesn't tell stories, he doesn't exude swagger. He just makes funny rhymes. "Cement shoes, now I'm on the move / You're family's crying, now you on the news / They can't find you, and now they miss you / Must I remind you I'm only here to twist you / Pistol whip you, dip you then flip you / Then dance to this motherfucking music we crip to / Subscribe nigga, get yo issue / Baby come close, let me see how you get loose!" I know rap isn't taken literal but from a guy who used to rap about giving his soul to the devil only to have his life fall apart to a Murder 1 charge, now he's blocking someones feet in cement, running away while the family searches for their lost love one. But then he's beating you with his gun and dancing. But there's slutty women around too, so get close. Sorry Snoooooooooooooooooooop. You just doesn't make the cut anymore. Bravo on the success on becoming a business, man. I just wish he would handle his business, damn.
Tupac Shakur
GASP! I'm not going to make concessions as I did for Snoop, instead, I'll just get right to it. Tupac's mom was a Black Panther and ran a rough life. Tupac, during his short time, attempted to create as much controversy around his life as he could. Tupac is also the most self contradicted rapper of all time. I get it. Pac was a genius. Whatever. He was a backup dancer for Digital Ground and once he got his break, he created a whole new persona of a gangsta, gangsta despite his previous time acting on stage in school plays. But everyone was gangster rapping in the 90s and Tupac was boney and didn't have a crew and his videos looked like crap crapped out by crap. But he did get shot. Isn't that just karma for a guy that pulled out a gun and then fumbled it. Then someone picked up the gun and it accidentally shot a kid in the head. Pac then ran away. I wonder if he went to write a poem about it? Perhaps he should have gone to a shooting range so he could learn to not drop firearms. Pac's biggest (pun intended) claim to fame is the so called east cost / west coast feud. I find this interesting considering Pac spent most of his life living in New York and Baltimore. However, as a person that moves a lot, I guess I can understand the appeal of finding a trustworthy barber and dry cleaner. It does make you want to pledge your allegiance. I think my favorite self contradiction about Pac is when he was convicted of gang raping a girl, and then he wrote Keep Ya Head Up where he said "And since we all came from a woman / Got our name from a woman and our game from a woman / I wonder why we take from our women / Why we rape our women, do we hate our women?" That's one of those rhetorical questions. Clearly he knows the answer is Hennessy. If Pac hadn't died, he may have gotten his head together and done something more definitive with his music but then we probably would not have had DMX and Ja Rule and I'd much rather have gotten that experience. After all, they aren't overrated. They are rated just fine.
But the most overrated rapper is...50 CENT
Go Go Go Shawty! These words still ring today. Here's the deal. Dr. Dre is the Pope of gangster rap. Dre put Eminem on. Eminem was a breath of fresh air with rhymes and flows we've never heard and is one of the best enunciator to ever touch a mic. When Jay-Z said, "Only dudes moving units Em, Pimp Juice, and us," on Excuse Me Miss, he was referring to the fact that in in the early 2000's, the only ones putting out consistent work that was selling were Eminem, Nelly, and Jay-Z. Eminem began capitalizing on his popularity and put out a D12 album that sold. Then he added bad boy 50 Cent. A guy that made a song talking about stealing from other rappers. And (wait for it)....HE GOT SHOT 9 TIMES! And he lost weight and got in shape. It's like Shaq when he joined the Miami Heat. 50 Cent was doing nothing until Eminem and Dr. Dre cosigned and produced his album. But give credit where credit is due, 50 ran with the ball. And then he brought his G-Unit crew on board and even Lloyd Banks got to put out an album (with 50 on every single track) However that was only year 1. In year 2, 50's next album sold like half of what the first sold. And the third album lost to Kanye West. And the 4th and 5th only exist in the context of the "Have a Baby By Me" and Rick Ross disses. The sales keep dropping. They don't go #1 despite the fact that Eminem and Jay-Z still are (as are Lil' Wayne, TI, and even Drake). 50 Cent's star has dropped so quick, no one in his crew can even get a label. I think it's funny when artists who have sold millions of records suddenly think major labels are bullshit. Curtis spends his time these days making not so funny cartoons and skits. Most of Fiddy's existence is on New York Station Hot 97 talking about everyone else's business. 50 does movies now and he gets Vitamin Water checks, which is fine, it just doesn't make hot, good, or even relevant. In today's world though, every media outlet needs a sound byte and 50 will give it.
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