top 10 underrated MCs

"Rappers spit rhymes that're mostly illegal
Emcees spit rhymes to uplift their people." - KRS-One


"He ain't no MC. He's a rapper!"- Me

I've said that a thousand times before. And I'll continue to say it...especially nowadays. When you consider the fact that real hip hop has faded away, I'm sure I'll continue to say it. However, I can and will always recognize a real MC. Today, I have compiled my own list of MCs. These aren't your average MCs. In fact, these MCs are better than average...but extremely underrated. So, you won't find Jay Z, Eminem, or NaS on this list because they get their just due. These MCs are some of best that hip hop has to offer yet they are underrated. This list is based on their lyrics, delivery, storytelling and flow.

In no particular order...to kick off HIP HOP WEEK on the 12th Planet...I present to you my top 10 underrated MCs

Black Thought (Philly) - The front man for the Roots has always has always held his own...

Asphalt to the cement, your trash talk, delete it
I blast off then lay 'em out like a Tempur-Pedic
It's Black Thought, for certain I'ma win eventually
This unsung, underrated, under-appreciated
The one them underachievers had underestimated
Finally graduated, I'm one of the most hated

Scarface (Houston) - He's one of the first true MCs to hail from the South...

Now as I walk into the studio, to do this with Jig'
I got a phone call from one of my nigs
Said my homeboy Reek, he just lost one of his kids
And when I heard that I just broke into tears
And see in the second hand; you don't really know how this is
But when it hits that close to home you feel the pain at the crib
So I called mine, and saddened my wife with the bad news
Now we both depressed, countin our blessings cause Brad's two
Prayin for young souls to laugh atlife through the stars
Lovin your kids just like you was ours
And I'm hurtin for you dog; but ain't nobody pain is like yours
I just know that heaven'll open these doors
And ain't no bright side to losin lifel; but you can view it like this
God's got open hands homey, he in the midst.. of good company
Who loves all and hates not one
And one day you gon' be wit your son
I could've rapped about my hard times on this song
But heaven knows I woulda been wrong


AZ (NYC) - I call him the Gift and the Curse. He delivered one of hip hop's hottest 16 bars on NaS' Life's A Bitch...and that verse and his subsequent ones haven't delivered the commercial success that he deserves...

Visualizin the realism of life and actuality
Fuck who's the baddest a person's status depends on salary
And my mentality is, money orientated
I'm destined to live the dream for all my peeps who never made it
cause yeah, we were beginners in the hood as five percenters
But somethin must of got in us cause all of us turned to sinners
Now some, restin in peace and some are sittin in San Quentin
Others such as myself are tryin to carry on tradition
Keepin the schwepervesence street ghetto essence inside us
Cause it provides us with the proper insight to guide us
Even though, we know somehow we all gotta go
but as long as we leavin thievin we'll be leavin with some kind of dough
so, and to that day we expire and turn to vapors
me and my capers-ll be somewhere stackin plenty papers
Keepin it real, packin steel, gettin high
Cause life's a bitch and then you die

Bun B (Houston) - One half of the group UndergroundKingz (UGK). Bun B is a spitter. When you listen to Bun, you learn. Period.

I wonder if it's a better place for the innocent kids
In the ghetto they gotta suffer for shit that they ain't did
By no fault of they own, goin through struggles and strife
Havin to deal with a fucked up life (that's cold)
I know they thinkin nobody knows, or nobody cares
Why can't nobody see the shit, when everybody stares
Man we losin the children, we losin the youth
Cause you motherfuckers won't tell 'em the truth
So they runnin 'round unprepared, and uninformed
It's understood that's why the hood is dumpin on 'em
We gotta show 'em it's a better way (F'REAL) at any cost
Cause they the future if we don't save 'em then we already lost


Ras Kass (LA) - This rhymer may never blaze the charts but real hip hoppers appreciate what he brings to the game.

To MC or not to MC?
Beyond B.E.T. and MTV exists me
Origin
Cause God created man and man created hip hop
I declined to participate until I was orientated
I heard 50,000 drivebys
And 49,999 was lies
No surprise, as the sun rises
Thine eyes have seen the light
But we stalk the night
I expose like an overbite
In limbo I lamp
Rape the lady kill the tramp
The wrong action for the motive
So now
Give me 50,000 black angry role models
Take me to DC I'll throw the first fuckin' bottle
Cause I don't give a fuck about a menial existence
And I don't give a fuck about nonviolent resistance
Civil right will not suffice
In the name of Jesus Christ they got my Soul On Ice

Mos Def (NYC) - The Mighty Mos Def is the guy who my 67 yr old uncle Joey says is "the best in the game...bar none."

Like I got, sixteen to thirty-two bars to rock it
but only 15% of profits, ever see my pockets like
sixty-nine billion in the last twenty years
spent on national defense but folks still live in fear

Big L (NYC) - Gunfire ended his life before hip hop really knew who he was. Before he left, I knew who he was!

Yo, yo
A burglary is a jook, a woof's a crook
Mobb Deep already explained the meanin' of shook
If you caught a felony, you caught a F
If you got killed, you got left
If you got the dragon, you got bad breath
If you 730, that mean you crazy
Hit me on the hip means page me
Angel dust is sherm, if you got AIDS, you got the germ
If a chick gave you a disease, then you got burned
Max mean to relax, guns and pistols is gats
Condoms is hats, critters is cracks
The food you eat is your grub
A victim's a mark
A sweat box is a small club, your tick is your heart
Your apartment is your pad
Your old man is your dad
The studio is the lab and heated is mad
I know you like the way I'm freakin' it
I talk with slang and I'ma never stop speakin' it

Cee-lo (Atlanta) - He's famous for being 1/2 of Knarls Barkley. But he got it started rhyming (and singing) as the lead man for Goodie MoB

I get off on an extension or compare comprehension
I'm in a classroom of my own, I'm too far gone for competition
Yet I'm never obnoxious with my obvious ambition
Perfectly imperfect is my dimension's definition
I engage my pen pierces the page so that it bleeds my intention
With honorable mention of God's divine intervention
I'm incredible I'm inevitable and there's no possible prevention
I'll hardly (have to) scream my dream and I'll have your undivided attention
The powers that be will be beaten into submission
And you will be able to see my revolution on television
You'll get an aneurysm fuckin around with my head on collision
With the power to get you dead and half the dead risen


Redman (Newark, NJ) - His rhymes can be funny...yet clever. Reggie Noble always brings it.

I don't tote guns I tote funds
While you still puzzled how my antidote runs
Your whole vocabulary's played out, admit it
Still wack if it came out my mouth and I spit it
You remind me of school on a Sunday
No class, beatin all King's down
doin over seventy, in a Hyundai, blast
Give em a good reason to open Alcatraz
Back, nobody got the Red shook
Been a weirdo everysince the doctor said PUSH
Def Squad skills make it hard to overlook me
That's why them hardcore promoters still book me
You shook G

Royce da 5'9" (Detroit) - He's that dude that makes you listen to his verse 2 or 3 times just to see what he said

I'm a product of when a nigga momma gives up
Cryin layin in the trash with the lid shut
Ain't got no family, my mind is tender
My - daddy's invisible, my moms is Brenda
Uhh (uhh) if I survive I'ma grow into what
society considers trash, the rope is to us
That mean I'm hangin myself by livin
The noose is gettin murdered, that or goin to prison
My mind's controlled 'fore I learn mind control
What you call livin life, I call dyin slow (slow)
I'm genetically predisposed
The reaper the only thing that can ease my soul
Freezin cold – feelin like
I was given life, and if I take it at least I chose
I'll probably be in heaven when the pain stops
'Til then all I'm hearin is wind and raindrops

Did I leave someone off the list who you think should be here?

Your thoughts...