Best Rapper Alive - 2014 (IF YOUR MVP CHOICE ISN'T ON POLL, MAKE A REQUEST IN THREAD)

[The Ruler 09]

I think I vaguely knew who he was from the internet...but I'd never heard any of his music up until all the K-Rino threads started popping up a few years back on here.

I've also never met anyone in real life who listens to him.
My take on it is that he was a local rapper in the 90s who slowly accumulated a large online fanbase starting in the early 2000s.
So he's in this strange position where people like Scarface look up to him and consider him a pioneer, but serious hip hop fans in the 90s, outside of TX, had no clue about him back then. I can say out in the Bay he didn't get any radio play and I never saw any of his videos on Rap City or Yo...but that's to be expected because he was 100% independent during the 90s.
I think a lot of people who got into him when he started getting notoriety on the internet didn't realize that his albums in the 90s were local to TX, or at best, regional.

This is 100% true. You picked Bizzy Bone over him recently for some year.

Did you just throw Chuck D in the bushes?

There's people on here who listened to him way before here or the 2000's. He was on a Willie D record from his album in around 92, that's Geto Boys. He was on Gangsta Nip's album of The South Park Psycho which was on Rap-A-Lot in 92 too.





Stories Of The Black Book is regarded by many as a classic, that was in 93, it inspired a lot of people in Houston in particular.

There was a time he started to become more prolific in later years because he had label issues and ish like that at times, when he started to do that in later years he became even bigger, especially from an international perspective, but in the streets in H Town in particular people were listening to him. He was a street rapper, a lot of people miss that and who S.P.C. are because of the complexity and vocabulary of the bars. If anybody listens to Stories From The Black Book (which you should by the way and will try and find a way to get to you to hear) you can see what the content is. Also prior to even that around 1986 he released a record which was 1 of the first rap records to even come out of Houston.



That's understandable, regions are different, I've personally met and know a lot of dudes that listen to him.

Oh also, DJ Screw was in his crew also, Screw did a bunch of his versions of his songs... And we know how big Screw was and he worked with Z-Ro countless times also..



^^^ That's just 1 of several.

 

[Tunez]

You said the magic words
@SpacelySprockets @Tunez

We everywhere

 

[The Ruler 09]

I think I vaguely knew who he was from the internet...but I'd never heard any of his music up until all the K-Rino threads started popping up a few years back on here.

I've also never met anyone in real life who listens to him.
My take on it is that he was a local rapper in the 90s who slowly accumulated a large online fanbase starting in the early 2000s.
So he's in this strange position where people like Scarface look up to him and consider him a pioneer, but serious hip hop fans in the 90s, outside of TX, had no clue about him back then. I can say out in the Bay he didn't get any radio play and I never saw any of his videos on Rap City or Yo...but that's to be expected because he was 100% independent during the 90s.
I think a lot of people who got into him when he started getting notoriety on the internet didn't realize that his albums in the 90s were local to TX, or at best, regional.

This is 100% true. You picked Bizzy Bone over him recently for some year.

Did you just throw Chuck D in the bushes?

Couple of points I missed, just quickly....

Yeah, people in the streets listened to him in 90's in H Town, like you said he was much bigger in Houston than in general, as he was independent, his own label and then briefly another label but they were apparently a bit shady and wanted to alter the content.

Yeah course he never got no play there as a solo artist, he didn't want to sign to Rap-A-Lot ultimately, as he wanted to keep full creative control of his music, especially since he had a lot of N.O.I related content and is down with them. He wanted complete freedom there....

"I think a lot of people who got into him when he started getting notoriety on the internet didn't realize that his albums in the 90s were local to TX, or at best, regional."

I don't think that's the case, I don't think anybody really thinks he was a national or international superstar or anything, never heard that, but I do know a bunch of people that played him in H Town during that era, so he was local certainly as an independent artist, even though he did tour internationally too, but in terms of fame am sure it wasn't like that, now his fan base is much bigger, international and diverse and there's a few reasons for that, he started dropping a high amount of quality material for 1, the concepts also, Valley Of Decision was a record I heard about a lot, he also dissed Eminem back in the day to for the racist tapes....





And of course the rise of the internet helped shine a lot on a lot of independent artists and he's certainly toured internationally and does shows all the time. Ultimately though, the point was it's not just on the internet, cause people at those shows, national and international, in H town as I said he inspired many artists also, internet wasn't even prominent like that back in them days.

 

[BmoreGorilla]

There's people on here who listened to him way before here or the 2000's. He was on a Willie D record from his album in around 92, that's Geto Boys. He was on Gangsta Nip's album of The South Park Psycho which was on Rap-A-Lot in 92 too.





Stories Of The Black Book is regarded by many as a classic, that was in 93, it inspired a lot of people in Houston in particular.

There was a time he started to become more prolific in later years because he had label issues and ish like that at times, when he started to do that in later years he became even bigger, especially from an international perspective, but in the streets in H Town in particular people were listening to him. He was a street rapper, a lot of people miss that and who S.P.C. are because of the complexity and vocabulary of the bars. If anybody listens to Stories From The Black Book (which you should by the way and will try and find a way to get to you to hear) you can see what the content is. Also prior to even that around 1986 he released a record which was 1 of the first rap records to even come out of Houston.



That's understandable, regions are different, I've personally met and know a lot of dudes that listen to him.

Oh also, DJ Screw was in his crew also, Screw did a bunch of his versions of his songs... And we know how big Screw was and he worked with Z-Ro countless times also..



^^^ That's just 1 of several.

So can we just admit he's a regional rapper who had his fanbase grow due to the net? Its no shade on him but he was never anywhere close to being the top rapper in any year

 

[The Ruler 09]

So can we just admit he's a regional rapper who had his fanbase grow due to the net? Its no shade on him but he was never anywhere close to being the top rapper in any year

There's nothing to "admit", never said he was the most famous rapper. If the question was most famous rapper of the year I wouldn't have voted him for ANY year, as it's supposed to be the BEST, I voted him on years I felt he dropped the best project/showed the best skills of that year, which is what was supposed to do..

 

[Inspect Her Deck]

That's only half of K-Rino's discography

That legit made me

 

[MikeyC]

Easy choice.

 

[Inspect Her Deck]

@Juggalo Fred kxng crooked added

 

[I love Latina women]

Kendrick

 

[Dirty D]

Awful year

I vote Azalea Banks

 

[Inspect Her Deck]

Awful year

I vote Azalea Banks

Added

 

[The Ruler 09]

Im not taking anything away from K Rino but he keeps being brought up in discussions with legends and he isn't one

He isn't 1 to you, but Scarface, DJ Premier and people that ARE Hip Hop of THAT calibre think he is. I also personally feel absolutely he is a legend, therefore he will be kept being brought up as a legend by me and many others who feel that way, including other legends, to me that determines who really is, the calibre of the people who feel that way and their credibility and knowledge, Premo got to be 1 of the most knowledgeable people around, so is Chuck D and Scarface is certified also, in nearly every interview I've seen of him he's referred to as a legend. So it's undeniable many people think of him as a legend, as that's a fact, but you don't have to feel any type of way about anything, but you also don't get to dictate who Premo, Bun B, Face, Z-Ro or anybody infact feels is a legend. Premo heard about K-Rino BACK in the day too. Anyway I got 2 alerts from you, I'm not sure which 1 was first as I haven't checked yet, but we can leave it at where we left it.

djpremierThe Legend K-Rino...I've been wantin' to meet this man for many years and he came to see PRhyme perform last night. He is a true Houston, Texas MC with skills...He still releases albums every few months and his wordplay is serious. Ask Scarface, Bun B and any other legends about him. He's the truth. He is also featured on the upcoming NYGz LP and we only met by phone and emails. This is a bucket list moment right cheaa... @prhyme_official @royceda59 @trillog @brothermob #courtesy #datsoundgood #PRhymeTour #premierwuzhere

 

[mobbinfms]

There's people on here who listened to him way before here or the 2000's. He was on a Willie D record from his album in around 92, that's Geto Boys. He was on Gangsta Nip's album of The South Park Psycho which was on Rap-A-Lot in 92 too.





Stories Of The Black Book is regarded by many as a classic, that was in 93, it inspired a lot of people in Houston in particular.

There was a time he started to become more prolific in later years because he had label issues and ish like that at times, when he started to do that in later years he became even bigger, especially from an international perspective, but in the streets in H Town in particular people were listening to him. He was a street rapper, a lot of people miss that and who S.P.C. are because of the complexity and vocabulary of the bars. If anybody listens to Stories From The Black Book (which you should by the way and will try and find a way to get to you to hear) you can see what the content is. Also prior to even that around 1986 he released a record which was 1 of the first rap records to even come out of Houston.



That's understandable, regions are different, I've personally met and know a lot of dudes that listen to him.

Oh also, DJ Screw was in his crew also, Screw did a bunch of his versions of his songs... And we know how big Screw was and he worked with Z-Ro countless times also..



^^^ That's just 1 of several.

Couple of points I missed, just quickly....

Yeah, people in the streets listened to him in 90's in H Town, like you said he was much bigger in Houston than in general, as he was independent, his own label and then briefly another label but they were apparently a bit shady and wanted to alter the content.

Yeah course he never got no play there as a solo artist, he didn't want to sign to Rap-A-Lot ultimately, as he wanted to keep full creative control of his music, especially since he had a lot of N.O.I related content and is down with them. He wanted complete freedom there....

"I think a lot of people who got into him when he started getting notoriety on the internet didn't realize that his albums in the 90s were local to TX, or at best, regional."

I don't think that's the case, I don't think anybody really thinks he was a national or international superstar or anything, never heard that, but I do know a bunch of people that played him in H Town during that era, so he was local certainly as an independent artist, even though he did tour internationally too, but in terms of fame am sure it wasn't like that, now his fan base is much bigger, international and diverse and there's a few reasons for that, he started dropping a high amount of quality material for 1, the concepts also, Valley Of Decision was a record I heard about a lot, he also dissed Eminem back in the day to for the racist tapes....





And of course the rise of the internet helped shine a lot on a lot of independent artists and he's certainly toured internationally and does shows all the time. Ultimately though, the point was it's not just on the internet, cause people at those shows, national and international, in H town as I said he inspired many artists also, internet wasn't even prominent like that back in them days.

Sounds like we more or less on the same page.
Yeah I agree that he would have had national exposure from having verses on the Willie D and Gangsta NIP albums.
That's a good point. But I don't think that helped break him through to the point where most hip hop fans knew about him in the 90s, primarily b/c those weren't big albums.

 

[Illuminatos]

 

[BmoreGorilla]

He isn't 1 to you, but Scarface, DJ Premier and people that ARE Hip Hop of THAT calibre think he is. I also personally feel absolutely he is a legend, therefore he will be kept being brought up as a legend by me and many others who feel that way, including other legends, to me that determines who really is, the calibre of the people who feel that way and their credibility and knowledge, Premo got to be 1 of the most knowledgeable people around, so is Chuck D and Scarface is certified also, in nearly every interview I've seen of him he's referred to as a legend. So it's undeniable many people think of him as a legend, as that's a fact, but you don't have to feel any type of way about anything, but you also don't get to dictate who Premo, Bun B, Face, Z-Ro or anybody infact feels is a legend. Premo heard about K-Rino BACK in the day too. Anyway I got 2 alerts from you, I'm not sure which 1 was first as I haven't checked yet, but we can leave it at where we left it.

djpremierThe Legend K-Rino...I've been wantin' to meet this man for many years and he came to see PRhyme perform last night. He is a true Houston, Texas MC with skills...He still releases albums every few months and his wordplay is serious. Ask Scarface, Bun B and any other legends about him. He's the truth. He is also featured on the upcoming NYGz LP and we only met by phone and emails. This is a bucket list moment right cheaa... @prhyme_official @royceda59 @trillog @brothermob #courtesy #datsoundgood #PRhymeTour #premierwuzhere

How can you be a legend with little to no impact on the game? What are his consensus classics? What are his legendary verses? Who did he influence?