My Top Ten Emcees: Top Three

Hokay. Top three emcees on my list. I know for a fact that two of these emcees are incredibly lesser known, but for the sake of hittin' ya'll up with a little sumfin' new...take a taste o' dis.

3. Pharoahe Monch
- I look forward to hearing Mr. Monch speak every time he's on a track. In my opinion, in 2006, "Desire" was the best album of the year. It just came with everything for me. But even before this, I heard Pharoahe Monch on Linkin Park's remix album "Reanimation". The track was called "High Voltage", and it was dope. I loved it. From first listen. Why? There are a number of reasons. I had never anyone flow like that before. And it made sense. I mean, I knew what he was talking about. It took a few listens, but ...seriously. A few things stood out to me, aside from his trademark quick-lipped witty lyricism:
1) His command of the English Language
2)His...sense of humor?
I don't know what it is, really. I mean, I feel like I'd be repeating myself. I'll just let you kids figure it out.



2. ManChild of Mars iLL
- Honestly, the battle for number one is a toughy. ManChild is something else. Seriously, this man is a mess. He is the root of all my lyrical envy. I mean, when you say something like "married to Hip-Hop, call me Jazz's son in law/even on the cloudiest day, buddy, i'm sonnin' ya'll"...you get respect from me. Nuff respect. Paired with Dj Dust, Mars iLL is like the new Gang Starr.

And that's not even the only reason why I love me some Mars iLL. Believe it or not, this is a Christian Hip-Hop Group. And it is truly a beautiful thing to hear a flow that has no negativity. I can't really describe how nice it is to hear something that is blessed, without the unnecessary language, gunshot references, excessive punchlines and lack of energy or passion. This negro is real. Well...he ain't no negro. Well...you know what I mean.

And it'd be kinda wrong of me to just pick one quotable. There is no way I could just pick one. He is chock full of them, and each one means something terribly beautiful.



I'll put it like this.
Artists take classes about daVinci...
Writers take classes about Poe and Frost...
Emcees should take classes on ManChild. Period.

And the spot for NUMBER ONE EMCEE ON MY LIST is...

1. Ahmad Jones of 4th Avenue Jones -

Ya'll done gone and forgot about Ahmad.

I know ya'll all saw "The Wood". And you can all sing along with this eternal piece of hip-hop history. "Back in the day, when I was young, I'm not a kid anymore, but some days, I sit and wish I was a kid again...".



Yeah. You sang along, didn't you?

Well, fear not. Ahmad is alive and well. Actually, he's doing great. He and his band 4th Avenue Jones have been stirring things up for a minute. And Ahmad, as one-half of the vocals for this band (the other half is his wife, Tena Jones), is still as sick as ever. Sick meaning ill. Meaning nice. Meaning really really really good. Meaning that Hip-Hop might have a new favorite band.

I wish there was a way that I could buy his album for EVERY MUSIC FAN ALIVE. And I mean that. Everyone should be exposed to the 4th Avenue Jones crew. I mean, they should recycle their "Plies" nonsense and open their ears up to some HipRockSoul.

Ahmad's flow is nothing short of lyrical. He's not over the top or hard to listen to. When he grabs the microphone, you know this man has something to say...with a little more. He, like ManChild, are just utterly and completely real. No fronting or profiling. No faking the funk or talking junk. Just. Real.

And the HipRockSoul philosophy? Yeah. If you doubt it, you should check it out. Imagine Black Eyed Peas, BlackStar and...a pinch of Linkin Park. If you don't like, you should question whether you've been listening to music all along.

Hear me when I say, picking a number one spot was hard. But luckily enough, they knew that I would have a problem in picking between the two, so they went ahead and made a track with BOTH OF THEM ON IT, almost like it was made just for me.

So. I leave you with an earful of some o' dis' niceness right chere.