Do you mean rap/hip-hop acts and artist in general or just MCs?

if it goes to hip hop my vote would either be DJ Shadow, or DJ CutChemist, lovely!

MCs

The m e t h o d man absolutely savage on Tical. Tuna from jurassic five has got some serious lyrics too.

Debbie Harry! nah just kidding, but Rapture is a fun track and not as cringeworthy as some make out. OK, I'm gonna come across a bit old school here, but my fave MCs would probably be Q-Tip, Afrika Bambataa and Melle Mel (even if its purely for "the message" and "white lines"). I'm not really a big rap/hip hop fan and have limited interest in and knowledge of the genre after it and the related genre of Electro were no longer really intertwined, even then I tend to pay more attention to DJs like Grandmaster Flash than MCs.

Q-Tip is great, although I loved Breathe and Stop until for some reason, there were 15 remixes on all radio stations at once for about 2 months last year. That really did my head in. I guess Mike Skinner can be added to my list above.

Jay-Z - he's still the king of NY Nas - because of "Illmatic" Common - a really thrilling rhymer MIA - i can't get her new album out of my head Missy Elliott - as much for her wordplay as the freaky sounds around them Dead Prez - they rock so hard Mos Def - that first album still rules Kanye West - very smart boy Haiku D'Etat - last years big hip-hop discovery for me Clipse - u gotta love that "Lord Willin'" album Lord Finesse - old skool cool

My favourite 21 MC's in the World who are still making good records today (In no particular order); Posdnous (De La Soul) Slug (Atmosphere) Ghostface Killah Percee P MF Doom Common J-Live Gift Of The Gab (Blackalicious) Andre 3000 (Outkast) Louis Logic Del The Funky Homosapien Edan Pharoahe Monch Roots Manuva J-Zone Sage Francis Murs Mr Lif Lyrics Born Nas Chali 2na My favourite 21 MC's in the World who are haven't done anything good in a while (In no particular order); Rakim CL Smooth Chubb Rock Big L Big Daddy Kane Masta Ace Kool G Rap The Pharcyde (I can't seperate the four MC's) KRS One Jeru The Damaja Mos Def Ol Dirty Bastard Mad Skillz Chuck D Kool Keith Dres (Black Sheep) Notorious BIG Method Man Melle Mel Q-Tip Biz Markie With regards to the MCs already mentioned in this post; I admit that Daylight is a classic tune but 99% of the time Aesop Rock does my head in. I don't know any MC Solaar tunes besides Solarr Pleure but that's a quality record so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. Jay-Z is only behind 2-Pac in terms of being the most over rated MC ever. For every quality tune he writes like 99 Problems he writes at least a dozen sh*t ones. Tical had some great tunes on it but Method Man's been on auto pilot ever since. Chali 2na's deadly in small doses but his solo album was a stinker. As much as I love Q-Tip he'll never sound as good as he did with Phife Dawg back in his Tribe days. Common is one of the greatest MCs of all time and his last two singles have been his best in a while. Nas lost the plot for years after Illmatic but he's released a string of quality 12"s since Made You Look. MIA, Clipse and Missy Elliott are all just average MCs who collaborate with excellent producers. Mos Def's been on a horrible downward slope for a while now. He just doesn't sound like the same MC who recorded Black on Both Sides. Ever since they released Hip Hop Dead Prez have been struggling with their quality control and Kanye West is a far better producer than he is MC, remember Rhymefest wrote Jesus Walks. I don't know much Haiku D'Etat stuff so I'll have to do some further investigation on that one. Oh Lord Finesse is quality.

I'll second Gift of Gab, despite his dodgy solo album last year the Blackalicious material is still fantastic. And I gotta mention Zach De La Rocha, if only for the first RATM album.

definately second Mr Lif. if you want to hear the best MC Solaar stuff, get the live double album: La Tour de la Question. His best studio album (IMO) is Prose Combat. Other MCs: I quite like Daara J at the moment. The worst rap of recent time HAS to be Lil Wayne's dirge in Destinys Child 'Soldier'

interesting the lack of chick rappers on all these lists. aside from MIA and missy elliott (who were quickly dissed as average and only mattering cos of what producers they use), it seems we're dead set about chicks with mics. anyone care to draw some deep, relevant points from this about sexism and the role of females in hip-hop? on another tip - una mentioned Daara J - they're amazing and their "Boomerang" album is fantastic, proof that good hiphop can come from anywhere (Sengal, in their case). for more senegelase verbals, check out Positive Black Soul. plus there's also a US crew called Atmosphere who are well worth checking out - a cool album called "7evens Travels" (not so sure bout spelling) as for the worst MC of all time, it has to be Sage Francis. Dude sucks, has no flow and is a really whiney little eejit

off the top of my head probably: Pharcyde Public Enemy Charli 2na anyone from Anticon records Rakaa(Dilated Peoples) Blak Twang Biz Markie Common Jeru the Damaja Master Ace BlakStar Rakim Chi Ali Rodney p Kool Moe Dee Run Dmc

yeah, Atmosphere is great

link dont work stroller

I've changed the link it should be working now.

In no particular order, rappers/rap acts: Mos Def Jean Gray NWA Common Jurassic 5 Talib Kweli Rakim Blackalicious Tribe called Quest Busta Rhymes Outkast Public Enemy Roots Manuva

i have to say crunchie im so excited and i just cant hide it im about to lose control and i think i like it oh yeah!