#5 - 50 Cent

#5

50 Cent

Curtis Jackson aka 50 Cent is not best known for his unmatched lyricism and skillful delivery. No, he's best known for surviving being shot 9 times. 50 Cent's rapping skills are beyond sub-par and his mumble mouthed rap style is the laziest display of "rapping" ever seen in a multi-platinum selling artist.

50 Cent's success is due mostly in part to Eminem cosigning him and using him as a prop to gain more street credibility for Shady records at a time when Eminem's street cred was being questioned. 50 Cent's fame gradually decreased over time as fans got tired of not being given any substantive music but instead cheap rap beefs and the retelling of his, "I got shot 9 times" story. 

Nowadays 50 Cent focuses on trolling other celebrities on Instagram videos and has seemed to come to terms with the fact that he's now a has-been with bankruptcy issues. He makes this list solely because his whole career was based on street hype and fake beefs and millions of people were dumb enough to equate his street persona with him being a rapper worthy of the musical success he achieved. How quickly it wore off...

#4 - Drake

#4

Drake

What's there to say about Drake being overrated? It's often questioned how he's even accepted in American Hip Hop in the first place. Being raised as an upper middle-class Jewish kid in Canada isn't exactly the typical upbringing for commercially successful MC's. Drake's music appeals to a new generation of rap fans that don't seem to care about artistic authenticity. There was a time when if you were going to be a rapper, you had to actually be from some sort of struggle and write your own raps.

Drake's lack of authenticity is the topic of much debate and the fact that he's even the least bit successful is enough for him to be overrated. His public persona has morphed into an NBA groupie and "the guy that makes super soft and emotional rap songs". 

People give Drake credit for being an outstanding rapper but the truth of the matter is that he doesn't even write his own material and he was an actor before he was a rapper. Drake is an industry creation created to generate sales and the formula has worked so much that he actually is listed among the top MC's of our time even when he has no artistic integrity.  

#3 - Lil' Wayne

#3

Lil' Wayne

"The best rapper alive, since the best rapper retired" was a statement made by Lil' Wayne in the song "Bring It Back" when Jay Z had gone into a fake retirement just to promote himself. The statement resonated with the impressionable masses of fake Hip Hop fans and they ultimately bought into it and crowned Lil' Wayne the best rapper alive for an exhausting decade. 

Lil' Wayne is arguably one of the most shallow MC's in history. His raps are rife with odd, pause worthy references to feces and other suspect lines. His vocal range is about as wide as a supermodel's hips and his artistic contribution to humanity is an insult. 

There's really not much to say about Lil' Wayne being an overrated MC as this seems to be general knowledge of everyone with an IQ over 100. With his career finally waning, it's refreshing to know that we will no longer have to be inundated with songs from this impish turd about threesomes and poop metaphors. 

#2 - Eminem

#2

Eminem

Eminem makes #2 on this list for a few reasons. Although his talent and life story definitely reserve him a spot as a noteworthy MC, him being often referred to as the undeniably best MC in history is tiring and untrue. People often forget about the numerous amounts of filler songs and overall terrible music that Eminem has released. One song that comes to mind is, "Fack". The song is one of the shittiest songs in Hip Hop history and is the fault of one Marshall Mathers. 

There is a racial bias towards Eminem that becomes obvious when you realize that a lot of people are racially motivated in claiming Eminem is the best rapper ever. For the best rapper in history to be a white man, would be very pride inspiring for the latent racists that just happen to listen to rap only if it's done by a white guy. This bias is clear by the fact that Eminem often gets radio rotation on rock radio stations where no other rap acts would ever get played.  

It cannot be denied that Eminem is a remarkably original MC but the hype surrounding him is exaggerated. Often noted in battle rap as the best battle rapper in history, Eminem's battle rap career was short lived and the last actual battle rap competition he was in, he came in 2nd place and this was before he was famous with all the hype. 

#1 - Jay Z

#1

Jay Z

While Jay Z has had an unusual amount of success in the world of Hip Hop, one can only listen to his work and wonder why. It seemed that after Biggie was killed in 1997, there was a void in New York that would have to be filled by a new "King of New York". With Jay Z in the right place at the right time, he became widely accepted as the new "best rapper alive". This notion was mostly perpetuated by New York media around the turn of the century and the belief became widespread due to the repetition of the notion.

Jay Z is a mediocre MC with a whiny, nasally voice that consistently raps about the cocaine trade no matter how far removed from the hood he is. His subject matter is very limited and his fame and public celebrity persona have eclipsed his actual catalog of musical work. More people talk about Jay Z in reference to his relationship with Beyonce than they do about his actual music.

The only people that subscribe to the thought that Jay Z is the best rapper alive are people that are from Brooklyn, New York or the type of people that get their world news from sites like Bossip and channels like BET.

Jay Z is #1 on this due to the amount of his success in contrast with him being overrated and undeserving of the title of "best rapper alive".