Best Rapper Alive - 1997 (IF YOUR MVP CHOICE ISN'T ON POLL, MAKE A REQUEST IN THREAD)

[kingofnyc]

Voted BIG
@kingofnyc get in here and cast your vote for Master P

 

[Inspect Her Deck]

We didn't deserve to have Black Shampoo though,

lol yeah that was a downer especially at the end of the album and following the best track on the album imo (Heaterz)

but it was a good song as a standalone....had some West Coast vibes

 

[kingofnyc]

the only way I can see the vote going against him is if someone values activity over the course of an entire year...but I don't see why that would be the case

the one album better than LAD that year was Forever...but that was an album shared amongst 9/10 MC's....and Deck only got on the poll off the strength of being MVP of that album and his Triumph verse and so on

but gotta show love to this incredible track....this is what I imagine Deck solo albums would be comprised of...

at anyone besides a wu head
saying WuTang 4eva was better then LAD

 

[Redwood]

lol yeah that was a downer especially at the end of the album and following the best track on the album imo (Heaterz)

but it was a good song as a standalone....had some West Coast vibes

The song fit Ghost better,

 

[Inspect Her Deck]

at anyone besides a wu head
saying WuTang 4eva was better then LAD

good thing I'm a Wu head


but seriously it is

 

[kingofnyc]

So was Biggie for 3/4 of the year. lol
But to your criteria, Pac released an album that year - and it was a big deal.

breh - u making no sense

if said rapper was alive for 1 day in said year he should be eligible for this list

 

[kingofnyc]

good thing I'm a Wu head


but seriously it is

wu tang nikkaz themselves would tell u
LAD >> WTF

 

[ZEB WALTON]

that's how most people felt I think

anticipation high....too high, and they were disappointed

but that album today has aged exceptionally and the rapping is A1...made 36 Chambers sound amateurish

@Ayo!-BEZ is obsessed with this joint and argues it's the greatest rapping ever recorded...I'm inclined to agree

No better lyricism shown than on wu forever.

The beats were more "opera" esque. Orchestra sounding. But rza was just doing something new. I like the production. It felt big. It felt like a movie which fit the packaging with the movie-like text on the cover.

Wu forever will always rotate as my fav album.
shyt was a gem.

Needed more dirt n more gza but a buncha my fav verses are from there.

Deck. Rza. Ghost. Ugod. Meth.Rae all killed this albuk. Everyone else did what they do.

Id out wtf over lad but as far as beat mc of 97 i gotta say biggie cause he is my goat and just made music fun.

While wtf is hardcore lyricism n storytellin. Biggie had a piece of wverything on his album. Im not mad at anyone who puts lad over wtf.

 

[Here Comes the Pain]

The Notorious BIG

 

[NoHalfWay]

:pdahell:

Believe me I don't even think Pac had the best album(s) in 96, but dude is a monumental figure and it was his last year of life and his greatest year commercially, musically, and impactfully.

We could all go for personal favorites but we all know how the poll will come. I might not even vote for Pac just to make it more interesting

 

[ZEB WALTON]

The song fit Ghost better,

Word. I always liked the beat too. And the tekitha track one of my favs. Reminds me of eye on madvillainy.

 

[mobbinfms]

I think Master P could come back and win it

 

[kingofnyc]

hat 1997 album, though great, was posthumous. Biggie only features in 1994 and 1997 and Pac in 1991, 1993, 1995 and 1996. Simple.

Thing is I can't anticipate all obstacles ahead of time so in the beginning, there was only one rule about the album. Then I ran into some objections and questions (what about mixtures especially for later years or EPs etc.) so I changed albums to PROJECTS

so I'm making changes as I go along, so long as it doesn't infringe on past polls, and so far, we're straight.

now I've never come across a posthumous situation before. So since this is the first one (you asking me about Pac), I have to make a rule about it. And I don't think it's right to put any Biggie album past LAD or Pac album past Makaveli for contention. You brought up the thing about LAD coming after Big's death, but I retorted with the argument about "creative input" and you know what I mean by that.

Let's put it like this. Big and Pac knew about LAD and Makaveli respectively. Pac did not know about RUSD, or at least didn't have a say in its release or release any singles for it or big it up/promote it and so on. I hope you see what I'm talking about.

Yeah you right about the Best of and popularity. That isn't a determining factor here.

As for Will Smith, I actually didn't have him on the initial poll, but I cannot deny someone requesting to vote for him because he is ELIGIBLE for 1997 (he released an album). My PERSONAL criteria is not to go for most popular but some people have focused on popularity and "real-life" MVP appeal or sales and so on. Each individual can choose on what factors to rate on.

I only have one rule: project must be released that year to be eligible for selection. And now my second rule: no posthumous works (and you know what I mean by that).

breh........ we already went thru this

'PROJECTS' by your own words makes.....
pac eligible for '94
(his project - Thug Life) which he predominantly was featured on the main songs

biggie eligible for '95
(his project - jr mafia conspiracy) which he predominantly was featured on the main songs

 

[mobbinfms]

I've always felt like had he lived Life After Death would have had an It Was Written like reaction (Huge on the charts but attacked for its crebility from Hip Hop heads. Not only would have gotten some hate from West Coast fans but New York was starting to have the Jiggy vs backpack civil war of 96-01.) But it would have still been a classic of sorts.

The Roots and Boot Camp were already taking shots at a Biggie in 96 when he was still alive.

 

[mobbinfms]

And then, after all that you gonna put WILL SMITH on the poll who hardly wrote anything on his album -
even though these threads are supposedly not about the popularity or success, but who were the better rappers

It's hard to take this seriously when your first post was suggesting that Wyclef should be on the poll. Not saying he had ghostwriters, but he was in no way shape or form the top rapper in 97 unless you look at record sales.