Top 10 Best Freestyle Rappers
October 1, 2008 by Tom
A lot of people are good at rapping when they take their time to write rhymes but some of those people aren’t as good off the top of their head when freestyling. Well, I’ve compiled my list of top 10 freestyle rappers in my eyes. If you disagree, let me know who you think are the best!
My list (no particular order):
1. Canibus – Probably one of the sickest lyricists out there and his freestyling ability is off the chart. He may have fell off due to the battle he had with LL Cool J years back but let’s face it, LL Cool J had someone ghostwrite his lyrics anyways. Besides, just because someone gets beaten in a battle doesn’t mean they’re bad. For instance, Jay-Z got ripped by Nas but it doesn’t mean Jay-Z isn’t a good rapper.
2. Big L – The late, great underground emcee was one of the best freestyle rappers out there. He was overlooked by some but you can’t deny his ability to freestyle off the top of his head. I’m not the only one who thought this but he was better at freestyling than writing songs and hits. It’s the truth and you guys know it!
3. Eminem – Yes, believe it or not but Eminem is a good freestyle rapper and he came up as a battle rapper so that’s a dangerous mix. Before he started doing goofy songs and semi-singing, he was freestyle battling his way up to stardom.
4. Jin – He’s probably best known as Jin from Freestyle Friday on BET’s 106 & Park show but this underrated Asian rapper rips emcees with his freestyle battle raps better than anyone out there. I wouldn’t go with the Asian jokes either because he’ll just flip the script and use it against you.
5. KRS-One – One of the originators, KRS-One never made it big but his freestyling and battling made him one of the greatest emcees of all-time. His punch lines would just have you thinking like “damn, that’s sick!”
6. Jay-Z – Yup, the Hawaiian shirt wearing Jay-Z was once a freestyler like would rip most people. Matter of fact, he still is! I mean, he basically freestyles his entire songs anyways because he spits it all on one take. If that isn’t skill, I don’t know what is! Look at all his platinum albums!
7. Snoop Dogg- Before he was spittin’ that mellow style, he was rippin’ and flippin’ it. He came up on gangsta rap and he is one of the best freestyle rappers on the west coast! Don’t get that doggystyle twisted, I bet he’ll rip most rappers out there in a freestyle battle now.
8. Notorius B.I.G. – Not only does he fight for the crown of greatest rapper of all-time but if you never heard Biggie freestyle, well, you’re missing out. The late, great rapper takes his distinct flow from his songs and he does the same with freestyling.
9 .Immortal Technique – One of the best underground rappers and one of the best political rappers out there now, Technique mixes crazy knowledge with punch lines and sticks it all into his rhymes. Believe me, he won’t sell out and go commercial and he’ll still be one of the sickest emcees underground… EVER!
10. Lil’ Wayne – I know, I know, most people think he’s too commercial now but if you ever listened to his underground mixtapes, he freestyled most, if not, all of that. Even when he was with the Hot Boyz, he was the lone star holding that group up, then he went solo and took over the rap industry.
Those are my picks and I’m sure it was different 5-10 years ago and I’m sure it’ll be different next year, but right now, those are my top 10 best freestyle rappers.
Pretty good article, but one thing I noticed - who gives a shit if they’re commercial or not? I know rappers don’t, because they jump at the first chance to sign a contract - that’s why all of them start rapping in the first place.
Why are people against going “commercial” (or as some like to call it “selling out”)? I think a better word for “selling out” is “success”.
If you had the chance to take a deal, and pass, then you sir, are a first class retard.
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I though that was a good list till I saw lil wayne there?You lost all cred with that one cause DMX actually beat jay-z in a battle so you know he could beat wayne in a bettle.Plus if you compared lil waynes freestyleing skills to loe louis freestyling skills you would be blown away and even cassidy is a better freestyler than wayne.Wayne repeats himself way to much and sounds like he got a sock in his mouth when he aint got that filter to clean up his voice.You heard of eyedea he could rip lil wayne to shreds he basically freestyles everything.
Including lil wayne?Come on you should no better lil wayne is okay and all but he aint a elite freestyle rapper or even a good one.
and weezy was juvaniles hype man with the hot boys not the boss.Even B.G was ranked ahead of weezy and juvi used to write all of lil waynes lyrics on the hot boys album and juvi wrote more than half of “the block is hot”.So hell no weezy was not the lone star holding up the hot boys it was juvi wayne was the weed carrier back then.c1 is good and c2 is good but c3 was as bubblegum as it gets plus lights out is the most pathetic piece of medical waste I have ever heard.Hot boys sucked anyway thank of it like D12 if eminem wasnt in D12 and they replaced him with a guy who I ranked 93 spots below him on my greatest rappers list (juvi) and thats about what the hot boys were they were there just to keep juvis profile high between albums.Lil waynes slightly better than proof from D12 who was the only decent member of that group not named eminem.But I like lil wayne he just aint top 10 good or even close he got some skills though no doubt he just needs to focus a little harder on his work and stay on subject and he would shoot up all the way to 98 or 100 on my greatest rapper list.
Heard of loe louis?He would eat lil wayne alive and have him cryin back to his daddy.There is a diffrence between a well rounded emcee and being a amazing battle rapper.Theres lots of well rounded emcees that aint battle rappers,but those underground fans get annoying they always gotta talk shit if the dude isnt some unkwon battle rapper that you talk about they trip out and dont recognize them as good.Now Lil wayne is only average and most people have figured out that lil wayne hires writers and has always had a writer.With the hot boys juvanile wrote for him and when juvi left then gillie wrote for him.Hard to take him seriously and he aint an elite battle rapper and if he was to straight up battle alot of people he would get murdered.Plus you can tell that his mixtape freestyles had already been written you can always tell a pre-written freestyle or one off the top of the dome.Jigga used to battle around new york and had alot of sucess he even beat busta rhymes and nearly all these broke ass nobody freestylers those back packers bring up.Im am so damn glad you didnt mention pac though,you have no idea how happy I was when he wasnt ranked in the top 10,he used to battle with some success but he was never an eltie battle rapper.
U ARE RETARDED FABOLOUS AND CASSIDY R DA BEST FAGGOT
I PUMP CARCK U WEAR MY CHIAN FOR A MONTH UD BE HUNTCHBACK
wtf are you serious??wheres chamillionaire he would kill any of them in a freestyle contest listen to mixtape 1-4 and 5 coming out soon