Top 10 MC's of the decade - Low Two's to BET

BET, you never fail to let us down. It was bad enough you couldn't make me watch your Hip Hop Awards and even worse when they failed to make up for the BET Awards not mentioning Guru's passing by only a 1-min tribute with no playing of his music. Now you've made a list that screams "Please pay attention to us, we know how to respect a genre."

Yet, you sucked me in to write a rebuttal. Stupidity should be ignored but I can't help it.

The criteria was simple. MC's who debuted in 1999. Already it's a problem. How can you judge the best of an era without including MC's who impacted the decade that may have come before it started? By the way, the 21st century started in 2000/2001 depending on who you ask. And why not just call it Best of the Decade?

Here's their list. Eminem, Wayne, Kanye West, 50 Cent, T.I., Ludacris, Drake, Young Jeezy, Jadakiss, Rick Ross. This face says it all.

Ummm where do we start?

Based on their stupid criteria - Jadakiss should be DQ'ed since he was with the Lox in 1997. Props for mentioning him cause he's slept on. And Drake?? Really? I didn't realize having a great 2009 placed him above Nelly or Fabolous. By the way, how did those 2 get omitted?

I'm gonna do 2 things. Make a list based on their "criteria" then do a real list with some real explanations. I started on Twitter but I need to tweak it more. Most of my generation can do better since we grew up watching music from 2000-on extra closely

My list on BET criteria. Eminem, Nelly, Kanye West, 50 Cent, Ludacris,  T.I., Lil Wayne, Ja Rule, Fabolous, Mos Def (with Missy Elliot sitting just outside).

Not only did they omit Nelly - one of the best selling rappers of the decade and definitely one of the most influential on slang and fashion - their criteria also forgot Mos Def, who dropped his classic debut in 1999 that went gold on an indie label. Regardless of his output since, that one album is worth his placing.

I rank my list on simple qualities - skills, album sales, critical acclaim, influence, impact, longevity, consistency. That means that rappers who made an impact from 2000-2004 should be given more preference since their impact can be analyzed much more. Ja Rule might be remembered for being part of 50's stepping stone to greatness but from 01-03, he was as big an artist as anyone in hip-hop and brought back R&B/hip-hop collabs.

The REAL list is as follows: (Honorable Mention: The Game, Ja Rule, Missy Elliot, Talib Kweli, Lupe Fiasco, Young Jeezy)

1. Eminem - Do we have to say why? Biggest selling rapper of the decade, oodles of hits (Stan's a well-used term), 2 well-revered albums and an Oscar. 2002 was as big a year for any artist in musical history. Plenty of respect. Encore/Relapse aside, nobody comes close except...

2. Jay-Z - The Blueprint's the album of the decade. Went from great rapper to respected legend. Plenty of hits, arguably the world's most known rapper. Blueprint, Black Album and American Gangster are great albums. Fashion, culture. He's even become heavily overrated but that doesn't knock his accomplishments.

3. Nas - The feud with Jay-Z restored his career from being forgotten. Catalogue might be the strongest/most consistent of the decade minus Street's Disciple. Last two albums went #1. Reminded everyone why he's one of the greatest lyricists/storytellers. Ether has become a term for embarrassing/clowning the mess out of someone.

4. Nelly - Single handedly put St. Louis on the map. One of the biggest rappers from 2000-2004 with hits and albums. Had everybody speaking country slang before Lil Jon. Apple Bottom Jeans became a fashion statement. His career tailed off quickly as it started but 21 million sold is 21 million sold.

5. Kanye - Production aside for this argument. One of the most acclaimed debuts in recent music history. Each album has sold more in its 1st week except for 808 and Heartbreaks. Arguably the biggest rapper out right now besides Lil Wayne. Each album has been highly acclaimed (depending on 808) and he has one of the biggest hits of the decade (Gold Digger). Dudes wore preppy clothes because of him and the emo-rap owes him a debt.

6. 50 Cent - His album/hit quality has dropped off since 2007 but from 2003-07, no rapper was bigger. Hits, album sales, Vitamin Water, brought back the streets into rap, Great songwriter. Greatest debut in the game since Snoop Dogg. Video games, movies. One of the best rap singles of the decade with "In Da Club." Also increased awareness of mixtapes in mainstream.

7. Ludacris - Definition of Consistency. More Top 10 albums than anybody in the decade. 14 million sold with plenty of hits. Arguably the king of guest verses. Skills have gotten better with each album and the balance of comedy, party and serious hits make him one of the most well-rounded MC's in the mainstream.

8. T.I. - Nearly the same career trajectory as Luda minus 2 years. Two jail stints aside, he helped bring Swizz Beatz back (for better or worse). King and Paper Trail solidified him as one of the biggest stars in rap. Almost influenced the new generation of trap-rap but he's shown himself to be more versatile lyrically and content-wise than his proteges.

9. Lil Wayne - 2000-2004 he was a Cash Money sideman. Carter 1 and Go DJ started getting him national notice. Dedication 2 mixtape, along with others, added to it, leading to Carter 3 selling a million. He makes the list because of his slow, uphill grind to fame and unbelievable explosion the last 4 years. Influenced style. Arguably the biggest player in terms of rap now. Time will tell where he heads in the next decade.

10. Fabolous - Once hailed as the next LL for his balance of street jams (Breathe, Holla Back) and ladies jams (Cant Let You Go, Baby). Last 5 years have been hit or miss but his last album went #1 last year.

Most underrated MC of the decade. Ghostface Killah. Check his catalog - Supreme Clintele and Fishscale are two of the best albums of the decade. Most of his albums were critically acclaimed. If he had more hits, he'd slide right in at No. 10 easily.

Sadly there's no women on here. Eve had a good run but you can't mention her - like BET did on their Top 15 - without mentioning Missy Elliot, who had more hits and critical acclaim from 2001-2005. Had Missy dropped 1-2 albums in the last 5 years - her position would be earned. It's a reminder that female MC's are on the decline.

Everyone will have their biases and opinions with their lists. There's no problem with that but make sure your lists are well-informed and reflect everything that happened. BET failed again to honor our culture which is like saying water is wet but still I somehow expected more.

Hip Hop 101: Worth the Extra Credit

The Hip Hop 101 Festival yesterday at the L.A. Sports Arena was a great display of true hip-hop culture. First off, as a growing fan of the culture, I love any hip-hop show that focuses on more than just the MC (hence why I hit up Rock The Bells every year) and this was no different. The various dance crews for the pre-show entertainment were pretty dope, from popping to krumping to b-boying/girling, everything was represented. It was a trip because I saw one of my friend's krump crews up there.

There was also some graffiti in the area and you really have to stop and appreciate the work people put into their art. All from an aerosol can on a blank canvas. I'll never forgot going to New York in 2005 and seeing all the great murals on this one bball court near 106th and Park across from Spanish Harlem.

Back to the show, MixMaster Mike was supposed to come through but something was wrong with his equipment or something. But the house music was pretty tight (except for when they played "Crank That" and "Walk It Out"...I guess it really represented all facets of hip-hop). Finally after two and a half hours of pre-show and music and corny hosting from Stomp the Yard's Columbus Short, we finally got to see some action with Janelle Monae

She performed about 3 songs but somebody must have forgotten to do sound check because I could barely make out anything she said in the first joint. Outside of that, she def. showed her Outkast/Erykah Badu influence. Watching her prance around the stage reminded of Howlin Pelle from the Hives but she has serious chops. It wasn't bad to see her walk through the crowd either during her last song. Def. set the concert portion of the evening off right.

I guess Keri Hilson wasn't gonna be there after all because up next was the pride of Chi-town himself, Common. And even though Universal Mind Control was a step back in his career, he made the album came alive during his set, which jumped off with "Go"

"Sex 4 Suga" meshed well from "I Want You," "Punch-Drunk Love" sounded fly with the band behind him and he also found time to break out joints from Finding Forever (Driving Me Wild, The People). He also broke out the classics ("I Still Love H.E.R.", "The Light", "Come Close", his verse from "Get Em High) but in keeping with the theme, he paid tribute to the artform.

He did verses from classic hip-hop songs (Nuthin But A G Thang, Juicy, CREAM, Bonita Applebaum, Passin Me By), let the DJ get some shine and finally closed out with "Universal Mind Control" with some b-boys and girls. Watching that definitely let you know where he got inspiration from for that song - as he performed, the breakers did their thing and he even got in on the fun just like he did when I saw him in 2006. That was easily the highlight of the show and felt like an old-school flair.

Before that dude named Luda came out, we saw hip-hop's influence around the globe with a breakdancing crew from around the world...United Skillz with b-boys and b-girls from around the country (Cali, NY) and the world (France, Japan and Canada). During their show, me and my peeps moved down from the gen. admission seats to the floor and got all the way up to the front to see LUDACRIS do his thing. I had seen him at the San Diego Street Scene in 2004 and even though me and my friend were pretty far back, the energy was electric. This time was so much better.

It jumped off with "Everybody Hates Chris" and he ran through the classics (Southern Hospitality, What's Your Fantasy, Area Codes, Stand Up) and new joints (1 More Drink, his verse from "Dey Know"). I was surprised at what he didn't do though (Get Back, almost nothing from "Release Therapy," "What Them Girls Like") but I guess when you have an extensive catalog like his, there's a lot of cuts you can skip and still keep the party hot.

It was also a DTP affair as Lil' Fate was his hypeman and Shawnna came thru to do her remix of "Whats Your Fantasy" and of course, "Gettin Some..." He ended with a DJ set (kinda eh) and "Move" featuring I-20 coming out for his verse.

Overall, I say Hip Hop 101 is def. a class I'll take again next year (minus the corny host except for the 1st dude who asked the crowd some good hip-hop ?'s) because it's not just about having dope MC's, it's about the essence of the culture. DJ'ing, b-boying, graph writing and of course, the MC (c) Slick Rick.