35 thoughts on “No Country For Old (Rap) Men: Rappers That Refused To Fall Off”

  1. I’m not so sure I agree about G Rap or Devin. I love Devin in the rap-a-lot days but his albums since are pretty hit or miss and G Rap sounds like he’s rapping with a stroke now a days. The Beatnuts should be on this list to cause most there more recent stuff has been dope.

  2. props for puttin grand daddy i.u and devin in there.
    and i would go bezerk for some new ricky d.

  4. My bad, didn’t realize the article cited rappers.

    I’d add on masta ace here.

  5. Sean P
    Extra P
    Masta Ace
    Nas
    Mega
    Premier (PRhyme)
    JZone

  6. After reading it I’d say G Rap n IU nah..G got wordplay but too many L’s to count since his last Rawkus 12′. Maybe I should give IU another shot but after Lead Pipe idk..The Marco Polo shit ain’t impress me either..first LP still a classic though and it’s mostly the voice..
    Deck should be on this

  7. gotta throw in posdnuos & trugoy on that list.

  8. G Rap fell off after 4,5,6 imo.. And i haven’t heard a dope LL joint since ‘No Airplay’ back in 9(?)

  9. @djblenz No Airplay was 1996. Didn’t like Ill bomb?
    @mecbar Primo’s been mailing it in for years

  10. very subjective Robbie… what about AG of DITC?!?a

  11. @357NYC: I.U. has made four albums since ‘Lead Pipe,’ which even he admits wasn’t wasn’t that great.

    @DJ Blendz: They can still rap well, refardless of whether you like their recent tracks.

  13. @Sean G: Not sure how I forgot him considering I wrote a column on the very subject last year…

  15. Never fell off? Fucking G Rap fell off as soon as DJ Polo took the dookie ropes away. How the fuck do you go from being a complete artistic rapper on your first three albums to a cartoon ‘gangster’ and worse ever after? The fact that Nathaniel has never copped to ** anything ** “real” in all that time makes his cornball verses even more insufferable… But hey, I guess watched a lot of shitty movies hiding from Bill Blass or whomever ran his ass out.

    Pretending MOP didn’t fall the fuck off the last 5-6-7 years is like listening to mushmouth Combat Jack making the 1000th excuse for Jay-Z… pathetic and self-delusional though yeah, I wish MOP better too.

    Doom is a good answer, I might even throw in Chuck D… He’s not consistent, sure, but he’s never awful and look at the standard he set for himself.

    Nas “Illmatic” documentary was such dogshit he’s booted from the list, revealed nothing, Olu Dara speaks well, says nothing, Nas is just retarded and not in a dope way (though granted, he’s Thurgood Marshall compared to his ate-too-many-paintchips brother). Can’t believe knuckleheads were paying lipservice to it just for existing but I digress…

  16. @ DJ Blendz, LL’s “No Airplay” is from ’95.

    But yeah, a lot of folks left off the list for sure… AG, Cormega, De La Soul, Freddie Foxxx, Masta Ace, Percee P, Pharoahe Monch, RA The Rugged Man, Redman, Sadat X, etc.

  17. @Melvin: Good to see the anti G Rap brigade has shown up. I’m assuming you put Trag in the same boat?

  18. O.C., Black Thought and Pharoahe Monch should be at the top of this list. Honorable mention: MF Grimm and Tragedy Khadafi.

  19. @Robbie I’ll check the new IU material and post Lead Pipe output

  20. A good read Robbie, all points granted I commend you for having the energy to even give a fck in 2015. That NAS anti-fall jam slams btw.

    Keep on keep on.

  22. A Nas jam you would play to someone proclaiming Nas a complete write off or “He fell the fuck off a big cliff and bumped his head long time ago” statement. The rapping is great, beats terrific on ‘NASTY’. Clearly Nas still has it in him to make those type of records we like but ONLY WHEN HE WANTS TO. Im sure we all love hearing him rip skills over thoro tracks. I wish he would get it into his head it’s what we want from him 100%.

  24. actually the whole fucking ditc keeps representin and refuse to fall off, u cant front!!!

  27. AG been extremely hit or miss since the first solo lp. The Hidden Crate 12′ was one of the best 1,2 punches I’ve ever heard though. Kinda the same with Sadat. Never fallin off though, Ever, Tragedy!!

  28. yall know nuttin bout rap, wasup wit the love?!? kool keith is a good point tho, thanx for sayin George

  29. @”Nathaniel”dude: Glad to see you’re still here.

    Redman’s one of my top 5 but even I’ll admit that while he didn’t completely fall off, he took a slight vacay on that Reggie album. Never fell off? AZ, Black Thought, Pharoah Monch, Masta Ace and Ras Kass…

  30. black thought never lost a step or better yet its very difficult to find a wack black thought verse..

  31. Kool Keith fell off post 2000. He’s been way too inconsistent since then (and insists on mostly rapping over his own terrible beats which sound like they were made by a deaf toddler).

  32. Enjoyable article, nice one. Personally I wouldn’t buy a new recording from most of that list, apart from doom, large pro, and nas – but all of the list have made classics so they get a pass for life.

  35. O.C., Pharoah, KRS, Masta Ace should all be on this list. MOP has to come off as does LL.

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