We’ve all heard the debate; who are the best emcees.  You probably heard cats’ arguing like their own mother was being disrespected.  When it comes to naming the top, you will hear the same names come up in most instances; Biggie, Pac, Jay-Z, Nas, Cube, Rakim, Eminem and host of others.  RareHipHop is giving you a list of emcees we consider under-rated.  These are artists that are very rarely mentioned as the best, but certainly should be acknowledged for their contributions to crafting this culture.

These emcees should be recognized for their craft.  They have inspired many and have been a part of the soundtrack that we know as good Hip-Hop.  Yes, we are talking about emcees.  Cats who have delivery and can say something lyrically slick.  We are not giving you this list in any order, but we welcome you to chime in with your thoughts.  Hit us up on Twitter or Facebook with the #UnderratedMC! 

Black Thought

Our unscientific poll had Black Thought as the most underappreciated emcee.  We know he kicks it for The Roots, but you really need to listen to him flow.  He’s the type of emcee that will make you say whoa, go back and play that s#*t again.  If you doubt us, relive this freestyle…. 

Heavy D

Next up is Heavy D, gone way too soon.  Before there was a Big Pun or Biggie, the Heavster was killing cats and taking no shorts.  Heavy was a dude that had the respect of his peers.  Not only was he dropping rhymes, he was truly out there performing.  The Diddly D master moved from hip-hop to reggae as he got older, but produced a ton of good music.  Heavy passed away on November 8, 2011.

Kool G Rap

Talk about painting pictures.  The kid with the lisp had cats shook, and listening to every word he was spitting.  When he first received some attention he was teamed up with DJ Polo.  This vet is still making music today.  

Grand Puba

Grand Puba' flexed his vocals in hip-hop for many years.  Look up this classic when he was a part of the group Masters of Ceremony, Sexy.  Puba was also a part of Brand Nubian and dropped a number of solo projects on his own. 

Big L

If you are not from the NY area, you might not be familiar with this Big L.  Part of the D.I.T.C., he is an artist that was lyrically sharp.   Career was cut short due to gun violence, but he was talented.  If you are not up on Big L, go download a few of his joints.  Unfortunately, there is not enough music released by him. 

Here’s young Jay – Z and Big L going back in a free-style session.

One of our favorites from Big L is Ebonics, we can only imagine how great he could have been.