On Tuesday, we published a story in which Run-DMC — the group that MTV News honored as the Greatest Hip-Hop Group of All Time — talked at length about the list. Public Enemy's Chuck D weighed in too (PE came in at #3), as did both members of Outkast (#4).
In fact, we got so many responses, reactions and recollections (see "Kanye, Run-DMC, Outkast, Justin Sound Off On Our Top 10 Hip-Hop Groups") that we had to save some for a second story.
Nas, the king from Queens, New York, couldn't say enough about his fellow borough natives, the Kings of Rock. "Run-DMC had all the influence on me. I'd never seen rappers on MTV before I seen Run-DMC," he said. "I never seen guys from the block doing it the way they did. It meant a whole lot for me to see brothers from Queens coming out and taking over. Run-DMC to me is, like, the biggest: They were way ahead of their time. DMC was my favorite lyricist. I used to practice writing rhymes like him, saying rhymes like him, wishing one day I'd have all that stuff he had: everything from the Cadillac, to the Adidas he wore, to his style."
(See Run-DMC's Run chop it up with Public Enemy's Chuck D about the big list.)
On the other hand, Ice Cube (formerly of #2 group N.W.A) said it would be tough for him to narrow a list of the greatest hip-hop groups down to 10, but he knows a few names would be in there. "Oh man, you gotta say Public Enemy, you gotta say Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five, Run-DMC, I put Wu-Tang up there too — a dangerous group," he tallied. "I would have the Geto Boys up there. I would have Outkast up there. It's kinda too hard to name 'em all — there's a lot of dope groups, you know — and of course N.W.A.
"I'm still pinching myself," he continued. "I'm living the dream when it comes to being a part of hip-hop. As a youngster I just wanted to just be a part of the music, and with N.W.A we really came from the heart; we came from a place where we didn't know how successful we was going to be. We didn't know if that music was even gonna make it out the neighborhood, and for us to kinda open up artistry all over the world ... Without N.W.A, would you have 'The Osbournes' or 'The Sopranos' and [other] things that pushed the envelope? I don't think you would without N.W.A, because N.W.A let everybody, every artist, know you could be yourself and sell records and make money and make a living at it. I'm happy to be in that position. I feel good about it but I also look to the people that came before us on the West Coast, [like early '80s dance-rap duo] the L.A. Dream Team."
Grand Puba of Brand Nubian (see "Honorable Mention") said there was a certain pair of MCs from Queens who could get down lyrically. "Definitely their music, their whole vibe, their persona, the whole package was just different on the scene," he said of A Tribe Called Quest. "It was a real peaceful vibe. Q-Tip was taking words and riding the rhythm. His voice tone was like an instrument. Phife, he had so much lyrical skill, he knew how to spit. They were unbelievable. Back then, everybody had their own identity. It was more put into the craft as opposed to deadlines and being rushed. You did what you felt and took your time. You really got to put your all into a project. That's what made the music more classic."
Krayzie Bone from Bone Thugs-N-Harmony (see "Honorable Mention") said it was amazing to hear how Eazy-E, the man who discovered his group, used to put it down with his OG collective. "The first time I heard N.W.A had to be like '87 or '88," he recalled. "My man called me over his house and was like, 'Listen to these dudes. This is finin' to be the sh-- that's bumpin' this summer.' The song was 'Dope Man.' I was tripping on how they were talking on the record. It was totally real. We had some real sh-- we could relate to, sh-- we were doing on the streets. A lot of people definitely thought they was gonna be gone once Ice Cube left, but they showed and proved that one person don't stop no show. Their best album to me was N---az4life. To me that's a classic. They really got into their music and learned more about what they was doing by the N---az4life album. Eazy-E was a character. He always had something up his sleeve, looking for the next best thing. That's why he felt Bone so much — we was totally different from what he had seen."
If you listen to his lyrics, it's obviously that Game is a student of hip-hop, especially hip-hop coming from his home state of California. "N.W.A? I'm from Compton, and I'm biased," he said. "R.I.P. to Eazy-E; I'm the protégé to Dr. Dre. He gave me my start and my opportunity. Even before that opportunity, I was a young boy living in Compton. Although [I didn't hear much] rap in the early stages of my life, I was influenced by them because I didn't have a father in my house. So it was N.W.A — they were heavily influential in my household among me and my brothers — and the whole of Compton. To be from Compton when they dropped Straight Outta Compton, 100 Miles and Runnin', and they had Cube and Dre and Ren and Eazy, that was big for me. Those are my idols. They should have been #1 [on the list]. The only [other] group I could see at #1 is Run-DMC. Shout to Run, R.I.P. to Jam Master Jay, but N.W.A. is still #1 in my book."
Even the groups who landed in the Honorable Mention list (see "Honorable Mention") are getting love. Bun B of UGK said Mobb Deep reigned in the South as well as the North. "I first heard the Mobb on [1993's] Juvenile Hell album," the Texas legend recalled. "To me it was different. They was the first little n---as speaking for little n---as, who really didn't have no voice back then. They really had to get up under older guys and wait. I respected the fact they didn't have no older guys co-signing them. [On the Infamous album,] I think I felt like everybody did when I heard 'Shook Ones': 'What the f--- is this?' I had just moved to Atlanta and I remember calling Andre 3000 the day I got the album. He was sitting listening to it at the same time I was. All we could talk about is that 'Godfather Intro.' I was like, 'These cats are really on it.' These guys were young in age and playing the big-boy game well.
"Groups like M.O.P., Mobb Deep, 8Ball and MJG, UGK — we stick to our code," he continued. "None of these groups were based on gimmicks; none of these groups were co-signed. We came up on our own grind, our own sound. As times changed and music changed, we stuck to our guns. If you listen to [Mobb Deep's] Prodigy rhyme in 1995 and Prodigy rhyme in 2005, you gonna hear the same vocal tone, the same reflection, the same attitude, the same point of view he's speaking on."
Erick Sermon of EPMD gave it up for a fellow Long Island trio who made a serious impact in hip-hop: De La Soul. "The first time I heard De La, I was at this girl's crib and 'Potholes in My Lawn' came on. I was like, 'Oh sh--!' You know how hard that was?" a clearly excited Sermon remembered. "I was like, 'Who are these n---as?!' Come to find out they were from Amityville and I used to be one town from them in Wyandanch. That whole Long Island sh-- was ill," he continued. "I heard Rakim first and that's when I knew I was going to be a rapper. Then when De La Soul came out, I was like, 'They are crazy.' They had a whole funk [element] too: Prince Paul sampled Parliament's 'Freak of the Week' for them for 'Me, Myself and I.' "
"De La Soul are just a consistent group," he concluded. "Back then, rap was unique. We come from the school of originality in hip-hop — everybody was different. I can name six groups that came with their own sh-- back in the golden era. De La was one of them. The combination of them and Prince Paul, and the whole 'Daisy Age' — that sh-- was funky."
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