Rappers of All Time

Crowned #1 on Billboard and Vibe's 2023 '50 Greatest Rappers of All Time' list; a 24-time Grammy winner and the first solo rapper inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (2021).

Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017 and ranked among Rolling Stone's greatest artists; has sold over 75 million records worldwide, one of the best-selling music artists of all time.

Routinely cited by critics as one of the most skilled lyricists ever; his double album 'Life After Death' is RIAA-certified Diamond (11x platinum), among the best-selling rap albums ever.

Only rapper to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music (2018, for 'DAMN.'); a 22-time Grammy winner who headlined the 2025 Super Bowl LIX halftime show.

As half of OutKast, he delivered some of the most technically dazzling and inventive verses in rap history, from 'Aquemini' to 'Elevators' to his scene-stealing guest spots. Widely cited by peers and critics as one of the greatest pure lyricists ever.

The masked supervillain redefined underground rap with dense internal-rhyme schemes and surreal wordplay on classics like 'Madvillainy' and 'MM..FOOD'. A rapper's rapper whose influence has only grown since his passing.

The most RIAA-certified singles artist in history; 'The Eminem Show' and 'The Marshall Mathers LP' are each certified Diamond (10x platinum) by the RIAA.

His 1994 debut 'Illmatic' is routinely named the greatest hip-hop album of all time and was added to the Library of Congress National Recording Registry in 2020; he won his first Grammy for 'King's Disease' in 2021.

Credited by critics and MCs as a pioneer of internal rhyme and multisyllabic flow; ranked #4 on MTV's 'Greatest MCs of All Time' and tops many technical-skill lists.

The Wu-Tang standout paired vivid, stream-of-consciousness storytelling with raw emotion across solo classics like 'Supreme Clientele' and 'Fishscale'. One of the most respected pens of the '90s and beyond.

The first Latino solo rapper to go platinum, his breath control and multisyllabic rhyme density on 'Capital Punishment' set a technical bar that MCs still study today. Gone too soon but immortal.

A genre-bending innovator whose futuristic production and inventive flows made her one of the best-selling and most influential female rappers ever, and the first female rapper inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Holds the record for the most Billboard Hot 100 entries of any artist and the most number-one Hot 100 hits by a rapper, though critics rank him below the genre's lyrical greats; his commercial dominance is undisputed.

His 1993 debut 'Doggystyle' entered the Billboard 200 at number one; a global pop-culture icon who co-headlined the 2022 Super Bowl LVI halftime show.

'Tha Carter III' sold over a million copies in its first week (2008) and won the Grammy for Best Rap Album; he holds more Billboard Hot 100 entries than Elvis Presley.

A consistent, introspective lyricist with multiple platinum albums (including the guest-free 'KOD' and '2014 Forest Hills Drive') and a reputation for narrative depth. A defining voice of the 2010s.

His 2003 debut 'Get Rich or Die Tryin'' was the year's best-selling album and is RIAA-certified multi-platinum, but his critical standing declined after the 2000s, keeping him below the perennial-great tier.

Named the greatest female rapper of all time by Billboard/Vibe's 2023 list and the highest-charting woman rapper on the Hot 100, though critics place her overall catalog below the genre's top ranks.

'Crank That (Soulja Boy)' hit #1 on the Hot 100 in 2007 and earned a Grammy nomination, but he is routinely cited in critical retrospectives as a symbol of ringtone-era novelty rather than lyrical craft.

'Ice Ice Baby' was the first hip-hop single to top the Billboard Hot 100 (1990), but he is widely regarded as the genre's most notorious one-hit novelty act and panned in nearly every critical retrospective.