The 100 Greatest Hip-Hop / Rap Songs Of All Time (80-61) Oct 07 '09 (Updated Oct 12 '09)    Write an essay on this topic. Tweet Popular Products in Music Jersey Boys [Original Broadway Cast Recording] by Original Broadway Cast From $8 Mai by Eri Sugai From $4 The Bottom Line The 100 Greatest Hip-Hop / Rap Songs Of All Time (80-61) And so we continue with the next 20 on our Top 100 Rap / Hip Hop Songs of all time. We've already had a horde of classics round out the top 100 from Boogie Down Productions, Kanye West, Jeru the Damaja, Rakim, Mos Def, Big Pun and more. Who will make the list this time? Take a look: 80. Dr. Dre & Snoop Doggy Dogg - Nuthin But A G Thang - What more can be said. This was the song that changed rap from the "scratch scratch sample" style to people actually seeing hip hop records as clean, bouncy records. This was the song that pioneered the G-Funk sound. This was the song that put Snoop Doggy Dogg on the map as well as the entire Death Row record label. An unforgettable classic. 79. The Pharcyde - Passin Me By - The Pharcyde remains one of rap's most slept on acts. This song, from 1992's Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde was the true stand-out song from that album. J-Swift's incredible bounce mixed with top-notch storytelling from SlimKid, Booty Brown, Fatlip, and Imani Wilcox makes this a song that you MUST listen to ASAP if you havent. 78. Method Man f/ Mary J. Blige - You're All I Need - While I felt Tical was overrated tripe, there is no denying the impact on Meth and Mary's career from this single and just the sheer quality of it. Meth rapping about being a real man for his woman in an era where women were seen as sex objects in rap makes this Meth's most meaningful song - perhaps ever. 77. De La Soul - Stakes is High - A slept-on and underrated song by the legendary De La Soul. This features the best rapping from the trio that I may have ever heard and without a single doubt in my mind - J-Dilla's best beat ever. Forget all of that Slum Village garbage, J-Dilla brought a classic here. 76. The Game f/ 50 Cent - Hate It Or Love It - As much as I hate the Game, I can't hate on this song. This was the first time when I said - wow - 50 has some lyrical talent, and with Game delivering the best verse of his career on here - there's a reason why this was loved by both the mainstream and underground - cause it's hot fire. 75. Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five - The Message - One of the most important songs in rap history. Grandmaster Melle Mel changed the game literally. This was the first song where people saw rap music as poetic as opposed to just another form of lyrical singing. This song PAVED THE WAY for 90% of the songs on this list and for that - it HAS to make it. Besides that - it's easily one of the best songs ever made - hip hop or not. 74. Ice Cube - No Vaseline - Probably the greatest diss track ever made. Ice Cube's raw anger and passion on here was completely unrivaled in comparison to future diss tracks that Cube would produce. You can tell he had this bottled up and brother - what a climax. 73. DMX - Let Me Fly - Either let him fly - or give him death. This is the same message as "Getting Rich or Dying Trying", except more poetic, with Dark Man X's ambitions coming to fruition. Another classic from It's Dark... And Hell is Hot 72. Cam'Ron - D-Rugs - Before 50's "A Baltimore Love Thing", Cam'Ron did it on his incredible Confessions of Fire debut album. Cam's rapping on here is stellar and backed by a haunting and sombre beat and melancholy story - it still stands as Cam's best song. 71. Naughty by Nature - OPP - A song that everybody on Earth knows. Nothing was bigger in the early 90s than MC Hammer, Vanilla Ice, and OPP and this stands as a classic song and a song that made NBN richer than ever. If you are reading this - you've heard the song. 70. The Roots - Distortion to Static - Malik B shines over even Black Thought on this awesome track from the Roots' sophomore album Do You Want More?". One of the truest hip-hop tracks and the definition of dope brag rap. 69. Bone Thugs & Harmony - Righteous Ones - It hurt me to cut so many Bone songs from the list because they truly made a lot of inspirational and introspective material throughout their careers. This song, the first real track from the oft-slept on BTNH: Ressurection album was a banger due to awesome verses from Flesh, Layzie, and a historic verse from Bizzy which was so blazingly fast it made Twista look like a tortoise. This is a classic - stop sleeping! 68. Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth - T.R.O.Y. - There are those that feel that this song should be NUMBER ONE. Pete Rock's brilliant assortment of trumpets and harmonic sampling is simply spectacular, and C.L. Smooth's touching tribute to Troy "Trouble T-Roy" Dixon, who died in 1990 make this essential listening. 67. Puff Daddy f/ 112 & Faith Evans - I'll Be Missin You - Like "T.R.O.Y.", this is also a song dedicated to a fallen soldier. The late Notorious B.I.G.'s best friend Sean "P. Diddy" Combs and his wife Faith Evans are joined by R&B foursome 112 to tribute the fallen Biggie Smalls in Puff's most heartwarming song ever, sampling the Police's legendary "Every Breath You Take", with Faith singing her rear end off in mournful sadness. This song is almost worth all the B.S. Puff's put us through since. 66. Cormega - Live Ya Life - Still sleeping on Cormega? I wanted Mega on the list and he's done soooo many awesome songs that it was legit tough to figure out which one was his best because he's such a versatile emcee with so much peotic talent. But to me, "Live Ya LIfe" from The True Meaning edges out the remaining Mega songs as his best ever - storytelling, poetry, and emotional background singing to assorted keys make this epic in nature and full of heart. 65. A Tribe Called Quest - Electric Relaxation - I had to fight with myself to pick which Tribe song I like the best and quite frankly - this is the easiest song to listen to with the best lyrics and the best overall feel of the entire Tribe discography. 64. Raekwon f/ Ghostface & Cappucino - Ice Cream - The song that put Cappadonna on the map... ... okay so that isn't necessarily a good thing but damn - what a classic. This was one of the signature early 90s Wu tracks that helped put the company on the map and was the most popular single from Raekwon The Chef's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx. 63. Eminem - Sing for the Moment - I still feel The Eminem Show is one of the most slept on albums by heads (obviously not by the mainstream - it's a diamond record) and the standout track was this powerful and socially conscious music defender. This was the era when Eminem bridged the gap between being a sharp lyricist and a candid storyteller. ”Entertainment is changin, intertwinin with gangsters In the land of the killers a sinner's mind is a sanctum Holy or unnholy, only have one homie Only this gun - lonely cause don't anyone know me Yet everybody just feels like they can relate I guess words are a motherfucker, they can be great or they can degrate; or even worse, they can teach hate It's like these kids hang on every single statement we make” 62. Scarface - No Tears - This song might be known for more being the opening song from "Office Space" than a Scarface song, but I love it. I was fighting with myself to think which Scarface song I like the most, and it was a tie between this and two others, but "No Tears" is the rawest of the bunch. With such immortal lines as "I see this killer up inside of me // I can't talk to my mother so I talk to my DIARY", Face's borderline psychotic escapades places this firmly at #62. 61. Eric B & Rakim - Follow The Leader - A lot of people feel "Paid in Full" was their magnum opus and although that was definitely a monumental and influential hip hop classic, but there's no doubt that this is the duo's best songs. Rakim's razor sharp tongue slices the track in half as you hear the traditional cutting and scratching beat get taken to a new level. But is this the best song from Eric B. and Rakim. Maybe... or maybe not. Stay tuned. The 100 Greatest Hip Hop Songs Of All Time The Foreword / Honorable Mentions 100- 81 80- 61 60- 41 40- 21 20- 1

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