Best Rapper Alive - 1998

[Inspect Her Deck]

This is the first official thread for a series I'll call 'Best Rapper Alive'. Basically, in this thread (http://www.thecoli.com/threads/revi...list-how-can-we-make-it-more-accurate.465427/), I discussed Complex's article that covered this very issue.

I thought we'd do a Coli spin on things and vote for who we believe to be the rap MVP of each year. I will be going from 1985-2015 but the threads won't be made in ascending or descending order. Just random.

Basically, I will be listing contenders as poll options for MVP of any given year and y'all get one vote to vote for your MVP.

POINT SYSTEM
I will only reward the top 5 finishers of each poll.

1st place = 10 points
2nd place = 5 points
3rd place = 3 points
4th place = 2 points
5th place = 1 point

The reason the remaining 4 places matter is because when all is said and done, I'll be tallying up points to see who finishes in the top 10 ever. This is done to reward consistent top 5 placers in multiple years even if they never won the MVP for one given year.

CONTENDER PRE-REQUISITES
There's only one real pre-requisite. You must have an album released in that year. This matters more to me than it does to you guys since I'm making the poll options, but just so y'all know this is the angle I'm coming from. Snoop Dogg cannot be in contention for 1995 for example.

As for groups and duos, if there's a standout member I will put them for contention if I deem them worthy enough e.g. Andre 3000 for 1998 or Ice Cube for 1988.

As for number of contenders per thread, it will depend on the year. A year like 1994 will likely have 10-15 contenders (max poll option is 15), but for 1985 it could be 5-6 only.

If your desired contender for any year is not one of the poll options and you plan to vote for that person, please make it known in the thread so I can add a poll option. DO NOT complain about an artist missing if you don't have intentions to vote for him/her.

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1998 is on the agenda for this one.

I thought I'd also make a new hashtag for y'all to follow, so you can keep up to date with every thread release. Let's go with #BRAColi.

 

[Ashtrey]

D-M-X

 

[Inspect Her Deck]

#BRAColi

#tpc

what a stacked year

best album for me is Aquemini but since responsibilities and credits are shared between two rappers, I don't think I can give it definitively to either OutKast member

it comes down to Big Pun or DMX

DMX was more prolific and this year was really where he rose to superstardom

can't ignore Jay-Z's highest selling album but this wasn't his strongest effort in terms of quality

gonna give it to DMX, who released one classic and one other solid album all within the same year

 

[mobbinfms]

This is a tough year brehs.

 

[MidnightMercenary]

Can't decide between Andre 3000, Big Pun or DMX
I need good arguments for each side then I'll compare.

 

[Deltron]

tough choice...gotta let it cook for a bit

 

[Fukwatutalkinwatisaylaw]

Juvenile or DMX.. And how u choosing the winner sounds kinda bias to me

 

[Inspect Her Deck]

Can't decide between Andre 3000, Big Pun or DMX
I need good arguments for each side then I'll compare.

if it's a case of best rapper on the best album, then Andre would be the pick I think

but he didn't make a substantial impact on a solo level

DMX just exploded imo and Big Pun too to a lesser extent

Ruff Ryder's Anthem and Slippin' were two huge songs, each off a different album

the album itself was exceptional...DMX really came across as a more aggressive Pac, whilst being able to display the same level of introspection and general emotion portrayal. Execution of themes of good/evil and God/devil were flawless. Just amazing shyt all round.

Big Pun was arguably the most impressive rapper of the year. Capital Punishment is one of the most well rounded albums ever with R&B smooth type shyt, straight bars and murderous rhyming, significant guest features (Prodigy, Rebel INS, Wyclef etc.)

then you have people like HOV and Redman who you can't ignore totally imo...DJ Quik released one of his best sounding albums. It's tough bro.

 

[Inspect Her Deck]

Juvenile or DMX.. And how u choosing the winner sounds kinda bias to me

I'm choosing it based on votes breh. Nothing bias about it. Y'all decide the outcome.

 

[mobbinfms]

Juvenile or DMX.. And how u choosing the winner sounds kinda bias to me

Bias how?

 

[Inspect Her Deck]

What do we make of Guru's performance on Moment of Truth? Probably Gang Starr's best album in a decade of incredible releases competing against Step in the Arena, Daily Operation and Hard to Earn.

I think Guru sounded very near his best on MoT. He gotta be up there.

 

[MidnightMercenary]

if it's a case of best rapper on the best album, then Andre would be the pick I think

but he didn't make a substantial impact on a solo level

DMX just exploded imo and Big Pun too to a lesser extent

Ruff Ryder's Anthem and Slippin' were two huge songs, each off a different album

the album itself was exceptional...DMX really came across as a more aggressive Pac, whilst being able to display the same level of introspection and general emotion portrayal. Execution of themes of good/evil and God/devil were flawless. Just amazing shyt all round.

Big Pun was arguably the most impressive rapper of the year. Capital Punishment is one of the most well rounded albums ever with R&B smooth type shyt, straight bars and murderous rhyming, significant guest features (Prodigy, Rebel INS, Wyclef etc.)

then you have people like HOV and Redman who you can't ignore totally imo...DJ Quik released one of his best sounding albums. It's tough bro.

Great points bro

I'm reading up on Aquemini and it looks like it did very well too. It debuted at 2 on the Billboard 200 and sold around 227,000 copies first week. It also seems to be the most acclaimed nowadays out of the 3

Because I love Aquemini so much it makes me wanna vote Outkast but then again Big Pun was better on the technical side than Andre and DMX was the probably the hottest rapper of the year.

This year might just be the hardest competition yet

 

[MidnightMercenary]

What do we make of Guru's performance on Moment of Truth? Probably Gang Starr's best album in a decade of incredible releases competing against Step in the Arena, Daily Operation and Hard to Earn.

I think Guru sounded very near his best on MoT. He gotta be up there.

MoT is amazing. My second favorite album of 1998.

 

[The Ruler 09]

Definitely Big Pun. Guru would have been second choice from the poll.

 

[Inspect Her Deck]

Great points bro

I'm reading up on Aquemini and it looks like it did very well too. It debuted at 2 on the Billboard 200 and sold around 227,000 copies first week. It also seems to be the most acclaimed nowadays out of the 3

Because I love Aquemini so much it makes me wanna vote Outkast but then again Big Pun was better on the technical side than Andre and DMX was the probably the hottest rapper of the year.

This year might just be the hardest competition yet

yeah Aquemini did terrifically well but Big Boi will always be responsible for half

I actually thought he was shafted in the 94 votes getting none will Andre got 1 or 2

anyway....when I think of 1998 DMX comes to mind