50. Rick Ross
49. Rev Run
48. Melle Mel
47. MC Lyte
46. Jadakiss
45. Ice-T
44. Queen Latifah
43. Bun B
42. Redman
41. E-40
40. Dr. Dre
39. Ludacris
38. Gucci Mane
37. Common
36. Mos Def
35. Future
34. Chuck D
33. Busta Rhymes
32. T.I
31. Lil Kim
30. Lauryn Hill
29. Pusha T
28. Black Thought
27. Q-Tip
26. Big Pun
25. Method Man
24. KRS-One
23. Kurtis Blowe
22. Ghostface Killah
21. DMX
20. Big Daddy Kane
19. Missy Elliot
18. Ice Cube
17. 50 Cent
16. Scarface
15. J Cole
14. LL Cool J
13. Rakim
12. Andre 3000
11. Kanye West
10. Nicki Minaj
9. Snoop Dogg
8. Drake
7. Lil Wayne
6. Biggie
5. Eminem
4. Tupac
3. Nas
2. Kendrick
1. Jay-z
They will release 10 every week with the Final 10 being released the week of Feb. 6. Celebrating 50 years of Hip-Hop
CRITERIA
From there, the teams took into account the following criteria, not in any particular order: body of work/achievements (charted singles/albums, gold/platinum certifications), cultural impact/influence (how the artist’s work fostered the genre’s evolution), longevity (years at the mic), lyrics (storytelling skills) and flow (vocal prowess