Mt. Rushmore of Rap is Jayz, 2pac, Nas, and Biggie..(poll included)

[dora_da_destroyer]

Well every case i've heard why he should be on there is just not cutting the mustard. He's just simply not an iconic enough figure to be placed on a hip hop mt rushmore. Seems like the main argument for Nas is influence... well, everybody on my Mt. Rushmore has influenced Nas (outside of Em) And there are over a dozen rappers more influential than Nas in rap's history. So that argument just doesn't fly.
.

dude, YOUR mt rushmore is a fukking contradiction. you talk about lack of influence and only mattering to hip hop heads then name cube as a face? i'm a big cube fan and even i was too young to really be into cube when he was kicking that knowledge - i had to go back to his music when i was older to understand why he was considered a beast. a whole generation doesn't know cube outside of "today was a good day" and "friday" movies, who is he still influencing? what did he do that nas didnt? again, i'm all up for debate on this, but yall are making some real weak cases. even dre is questionable, he earned his stripes, but a producer like timbo has done just as much across genres, non-stop.



edit: and you really can't have a mt rushmore of rap, i mean it overlooks too many names, especially group members. it's inherently bias to those who established themselves from 1995-2004 when people sold millions by just putting out a record. the 4 presidents represented were about 12-15% of the presidents at that time (still about 9%), but picking four out of hundreds, just isn't going to have a consensus.

 

[Leti Cook]

I thought I'd be on the only one, but I agree Kanye should be on over Nas. Who's fukking with Kanye's catalog? All his joints range from good to classic. And the nikka can rap. I never understood how people felt like he wasn't the good of a lyricist when he been killing it from the very first album. Its not like the beats carried him. That shyt can only take you so far. Ask Timbo, Swizz, JD and all these other producer/rappers....but yeah, Kanye over Nas. Im just sayin tho'.

Em should probably be on there over Big too but that shyt don't feel right some damn reason. Maybe I'm still mad at these last like... 3 or 4 albums from Em? Damn....

 

[blackslash]

I thought I'd be on the only one, but I agree Kanye should be on over Nas. Who's fukking Kanye's catalog? All his joints range from good to classic. And the nikka can rap. I never understood how people felt like he wasn't the good of a lyricist when he been killing it from the very first album. Its not like the beats carried him. That shyt can only take you so far. Ask Timbo, Swizz, JD and all these other producer/rappers....but yeah, Kanye over Nas. Im just sayin tho'

Im saying..the amount of legit classics this nikka dropped is insane

And his influence is

But nikkaz wanna talk about some Nas

 

[NoHalfWay]

How are people trying to knock Nas off Rushmore but leave Jay on there? You nikkas is doing it wrong.

 

[blackslash]

How are people trying to knock Nas off Rushmore but leave Jay on there? You nikkas is doing it wrong.

A nikka who been in the game maintaining top tier relevance for over a decade doesn't belong there??

gtfo outta here nikka

Not to mention he's damn near everyone's favorite rapper b

 

[H.I.M.]

dude, YOUR mt rushmore is a fukking contradiction. you talk about lack of influence and only mattering to hip hop heads then name cube as a face? i'm a big cube fan and even i was too young to really be into cube when he was kicking that knowledge - i had to go back to his music when i was older to understand why he was considered a beast. a whole generation doesn't know cube outside of "today was a good day" and "friday" movies, who is he still influencing? what did he do that nas didnt? again, i'm all up for debate on this, but yall are making some real weak cases.

Cube is a household name and world renowned icon. Nas isn't.

What world are you living in breh?

Cube also played a part in restructuring the face of rap. Nas didn't.

And was FAR FAR FAR FAR FAR FAR FAR more influential to the genre than Nas.

The content of his music in which he innovated, birthed lil nikkas like Nas.

 

[prophecypro]

4 pages and it hasnt clicked to anyone why a Mt Rushmore is problematic yet the evidence is woefully obvious in some of these ignorant posts

I mean shyt, people wanna argue Nas aint iconic when this week alone on the 20th anniversary we've seen that isnt true, wanna put Kanye now (which you can, you could also put Lebron now in the basketball Mt Rushmore but in both cases you're making the argument for your era only) and cats havent mentioned a dude like say LL Cool J who probably put the blueprint for a rap superstar and is also deserving.

Everyone is going by their personal perspective which is lacking some years or other regions and thats why you can never have a Mt Rushmore

 

[Wacky D]

mt rushmore of hip-hop:
kool herc
russell simmons
grandmastter flash
afrikka bambatta

mt rushmore of rappers:
run dmc
eric b & rakim
2pac
either grandmaster caz or ll cool j

 

[prophecypro]

Cube is a household name and world renowned icon. Nas isn't.

What world are you living in breh?

Cube also played a part in restructuring the face of rap. Nas didn't.

And was FAR FAR FAR FAR FAR FAR FAR more influential to the genre than Nas.

The content of his music in which he innovated, birthed lil nikkas like Nas.

I agree Cube is iconic but so is Nas and as far as legacy preservation look how many people argue for Nas to be on there top 10 but forget about Cube and LL. You have to think why that is. After Cube's 4th album he was just seen as the movie guy and that's where people forgot about how much of a force he was in the 90s and is impact
With Nas we saw with Life is Good that nearly 20 years on he still gets it in and hes been far more careful in recent years to preserve his legacy which is why we have so many things hes doing for Illmatic's 20th anniversary this week alone on TV

 

[NoHalfWay]

A nikka who been in the game maintaining top tier relevance for over a decade doesn't belong there??

gtfo outta here nikka

Not to mention he's damn near everyone's favorite rapper b

Top tier in relevance yet hasn't done anything genre defining since 2001-2003.

Which was the whole beef with Nas/retirement phase. And he lost to Nas.

 

[The Dust King]

Putting Nas on a "Hip Hop Mt. Rushmore" is an absolute joke. He may be popular among hardcore hip hop heads, but he isn't a transcendent figure in rap in the slightest. I would say 50, Em or Snoop have more of a case of being on a "hip hop mt rushmore" than Nas. And most definitely Cube or Dre.



That would be correct. Also, the heads on Mt. Rushmore represent the most influential, innovative & iconic figures in American politics.

Based on this metric, a hip-hop Mt Rushmore would have to look something like this.

LL Cool J (1st Platinum hip-hop artist, one of the 1st to give the genre wide ranging credibility and a large cross section of fans)

Ice Cube/Dr. Dre on one head (changed the content of rap music forever)

2Pac (Most iconic and recognizable face worldwide in the genre)

Eminem (100 Million albums sold, nuff said)

your list is not even comparable to mine. first off nobody gets two heads as one. get that B.S. the fck outta here.

also this is HIPHOP and before dre gay ass gets up ther a DJ would preceed him and we aren't doing DJs its MCs.

Again, my list is the precedent; Melle mel, Rakim, 2pac & Nas

they set the bar for the decade they prospered in

melle = 70s/80s
rakim = 80s/90s
2pac = 90s
nas = 90s, 2000's

That's the Mt. Rushmore of a New York centric person lol

its true everyone on my list is from NYC but hey this is where its from

 

[blackslash]

Top tier in relevance yet hasn't done anything genre defining since 2001-2003.

Which was the whole beef with Nas/retirement phase. And he lost to Nas.

genre defining?? explain what that means to me or are u just throwing out random phrases to give Hov an L

 

[Nomad1]

if your dealing with facts then you would know mt rushmore represents the "history" of the nation and is named after a prominent new york attorney.

hence the name of the mountain should be called Mt. Osse and faces on it would be Melle Mel, Rakim, 2Pac & Nas

Im taking about impact, longevity, catalogue, and popularity. Not just certain aspects. Rakim and Melle don't have the whole package like Big and Jayz.

 

[dora_da_destroyer]

Cube is a household name and world renowned icon. Nas isn't.

What world are you living in breh?

Cube also played a part in restructuring the face of rap. Nas didn't.

And was FAR FAR FAR FAR FAR FAR FAR more influential to the genre than Nas.

The content of his music in which he innovated, birthed lil nikkas like Nas.

really? explain yourself on the bolded, because i actually see this in reverse...and you're reaching with the underlined, cube is that nikka, but objectively, his reach has not lasted as long as that of nas, sorry. even (some of) these ADD kids today will acknowledge nas's lyrics, they've never heard a cube record...even schoolboy q - LA bred said he hadn't heard a cube record (think it was cube). you're wrong, but feel free to have him on your mt rushmore, he earned his, but to say musically he's more relevant and influential than nas, no. his influence on the music stopped in the mid/late 90's

 

[NoHalfWay]

genre defining?? explain what that means to me or are u just throwing out random phrases to give Hov an L

Genre defining, you know, something eventful that everyone will remember. Changed the genre.

Hov hasn't done nothing but sell a lot of records for over a decade.