Poll What era had the best lyricist, late 90's or early mid 00's?

[mryounggun]

To this day, the majority of the shit I listen to is from the mid 90s. Full stop.

 

[Disanthrope]

97-99 is the late 90’s. You had Canibus, Mos Def, Talib, Pun, Common, Black Thought, Ras Kass, to name a few. Who were the mid 00 lyricist? Fab, Banks, Killer Mike, Cassidy?

That 2002/03 class was hard tho. Banks. Graph. Saigon... Budden lmao

 

[ZMaKEa]

The early to mid 00s

Mainstream
Lupe Fiasco
Lil Wayne
Eminem
Jay Z
Nas
Outkast
Clipse

Underground
One Be Lo
Lil Brother
Royce
Elzhi
Louis Logic
MF DOOM
Joe Budden

In terms of rapping technique and shit like that, from the underground/backpacker/mixtape shit to the mainstream, the 00-06 was GOAT.

After that, it became the dark age with ringtone rap and snap/crunk music.

 

[konceptjones]

Pac is a lyricist bro. Dont do that (insert Daylyt Gif)

Not really. His words speak to emotion, which resonates with folks but dude was never, ever considered a lyrical heavyweight.

 

[Fightbackmode2005]

Late 90's without a doubt.

Late 90's gave us Rakim's "The 18th Letter", KRS was still bringin' heat, The Wu dropped Forever, Tha Alkaholiks, Heiro, and 'nem was still active, OC, all of BCC, and way too many other lyricists were still heavy in the streets.

I mean, compare 90's Fat Joe to early 00's Fat Joe. Dude straight up dumbed it down after 2000.

Thank you! Finally someone who knows about those 'left-coast' cats. The whole Hieroglyphics crew are supreme lyricists. No one is touching them. And the B-side to Biggie's 'Life After Death' is a lyrical masterpiece.

And don't sleep on E-40, Brotha Lynch Hung, and The Hobo Junction.