Jim Jones Versus Diddy: The Play-In Battle

Way to help kill Hip-Hop VIBE...
You guys oughta be ashamed of yourself putting some people on here and leaving other's out...
I was under the impression that this was the "Best Rapper Alive" competion and not the "Most Commercial Rapper Alive" competition...

July 20, 2008 at 5:52 pm

I also registered just to point out the realz and to be honest, this contest is a disappointment to any true fan of rap. now i aint saying everyone on the list is disappointing, i mean, there are some deserving names on the list such as: crooked i, ice cube, and just basically all the innovators, veterans, phenoms, and all the big contributers to "real rap" who made it on the list, but c'mon VIBE, whatz up wit' these whack names on this bracket list??? i mean, c'mon, wherez tha real rapperz at ? c'mon flo rida? soulja boy? shawty lo? young dro? rich boy? bow wow? lil mama? that aint even all the ones i want to name. i aint hating but this contest should be called something else 4 real. i mean, everyone who posted a comment has a good point on here. this is a popularity contest, or more like a contest for ratings and publicity, which goes to show how the rap game has become so tainted with money and popularity that its become harder and harder to distinguish whats real. because realness, in my opinion, is the essence of what rap is, nawh'mean? because theres a sense of gain when you hear "real rap" feel me? cuz u can feel from it, relate to it, learn from it, grow up to it, be inspired from it, feel at ease from it, be reminded from it, and just basically live to it because it provides that outlet, feel me? and thatz the realz on what i think. sorry VIBE, but I think more thought should have went into this contest (from a realness point of view of course).

July 20, 2008 at 1:48 pm

I registered for this site just to point out how completely horrible this contest "bracket" is. Ok this is the best rapper alive right? I missed some funerals so I'd like to say RIP to:
DJ Quik; LL Cool J, KRS-1, Rakim, DMX, Ice T, Eve, Guru, AZ, Prodigy, Kurput, Will Smith, Queen Latifah, MC Lyte, Slick Rick, all members of the Goodie Mob, Big Daddy Kane, Rev Run, Shyne, Too Short, MJG, Da Brat, Phife Dawg, All the members of Bone, Mack 10, M-1, Willie D, CL Smooth, Chuck D, stic.man, Memphis Bleek, Erick Sermon, Lil Flip, Remy Ma, Treach, Slim Thug and Shawna.

I know I missed more than a handful and I know not all these are rappers that should be in the top 64 necessarily but really Lil Mama? Bow Wow? Rich Boy? Soulja Boy? Flo Rida? Really????? No.....Really?????

July 20, 2008 at 2:04 am

Young Dee is a f**kin clown........its a BEST RAPPER ALIVE competition......Big L is dead son and he has been for years......dumbass uneducated motherf**ks

July 19, 2008 at 11:56 pm

Come on vibe lets be real, is this a contest for the best rapper or the best performing artist?
These are two completely different categories and if you’re going to proclaim the best rapper alive then you need to put the best rappers in the brackets. There is no Rakim, LL cool J, KRS One, MC Lyte, Big daddy Kane. If you’re going to exclude the legends of Hip-hop them let the legends of hip hop vote and determine who the next generation winner is. What you’re placing here is a disgrace to Hip-Hop; it’s a popularity contest for who is hot now. Not a real comparison of who is the best rapper verse for verse.
Do us all a favor and call this what it really is, “the best commercial artist who is hot now contest.”

July 19, 2008 at 9:15 pm

Young Dee is retarded. It is a list of people who are making music now. None of them are making music now. Eminem or Lupe is going to win

July 19, 2008 at 12:36 pm

diddy made more songs and this list is horriable snoop vs bow wow hahahahaha

July 19, 2008 at 12:21 pm

luda

July 19, 2008 at 12:15 pm

vibe hit & miss wit sum of tha ppl on this list. they also hit & miss wit tha seedin of tha rappers. bottom line is this is a opinion thing which makes it more of a popularity contest than a best rapper alive tournament. all i got 2 say is im not sayin soulja boy killed hip-hop butif he make it out tha 1st rd over Em, Hip-hop is not only dead but rollin in its grave

July 18, 2008 at 5:52 pm

vibe hit & miss wit sum of tha ppl on this list. they also hit & miss wit tha seedin of tha rappers. bottom line is this is a opinion thing which makes it more of a popularity contest than a best rapper alive tournament. all i got 2 say is im not sayin soulja boy killed hip-hop butif he make it out tha 1st rd over Em, Hip-hop is not only dead but rollin in its grave

July 18, 2008 at 5:44 pm

vibe hit & miss wit sum of tha ppl on this list. they also hit & miss wit tha seedin of tha rappers. bottom line is this is a opinion thing which makes it more of a popularity contest than a best rapper alive tournament. all i got 2 say is im not sayin soulja boy killed hip-hop butif he make it out tha 1st rd over Em, Hip-hop is not only dead but rollin in its grave

July 18, 2008 at 5:39 pm

diz list iz a disappointment! Rick Ross shouldn't be on tha list, nor should Soulja boy, Flo Rida or Lil'Mama. whut about Dark Man X, LL, Rakim or BIG L

July 18, 2008 at 3:19 pm

the list is flawed in some aspects, and AZ definitely deserves to be on it. Lauren Hill does deserve to be on it, listen to the stuff from the fugees, she killed those tracks,.

July 17, 2008 at 8:06 pm

How can AZ not be listed in this tournament?? AZ is by far one of the illest rappers alive!! Fam been droppin dime albums for over ten years strong. Half these rappers careers are "shorter the leprechauns". The reason he so underrated is because of articles like this that dont give him his due respect. Sorry Vibe you got this one wrong. Hip Hop aint dead but it damn sure is on life support.

July 17, 2008 at 7:25 pm

Top 10 of all time the list includes LL Cool J please someone at VIBE make a correction ASAP

July 17, 2008 at 3:27 pm

LL Cool J not on this list is a JOKE and any fool saying Solja Boy is better than Eminem is crazy

July 17, 2008 at 3:00 pm

You've gotta be f**kin' kiddin' me with this piss poor list. How you gonna have lil mama but no Eve, Soulja Boy but no DMX, and a slew of other new artist who haven't even earned the right to be mentioned in the same breath as the living legends they are going up against or the fallen ones whos divisions you've placed them in. I understand that ya'll are trying to draw a good crowd for this event but hasn't hip hop sold out enough for the sake of money and spot light? If this is the Best Rapper Alive Tournament then it needs to be straight gritty, no beat, no hooks no nothin' just and Emcee and his most venomous weapon...his words. I already know that the greats are going to be assasinated by the younger crowd who is going to judge the Hottest rapper and not the Best rapper. This shit is crazy...this is why Hip Hop is dead. Final Four Should Be: Nas, Jay-Z, Lupe, Em (or at least some variation of that) Final Four will actually be: Lil Wayne, Jay-Z, Soulja Boy, Rick Ross (or some variation of that)

July 17, 2008 at 8:40 am

You've gotta be f**kin' kiddin' me with this piss poor list. How you gonna have lil mama but no Eve, Soulja Boy but no DMX, and a slew of other new artist who haven't even earned the right to be mentioned in the same breath as the living legends they are going up against or the fallen ones whos divisions you've placed them in. I understand that ya'll are trying to draw a good crowd for this event but hasn't hip hop sold out enough for the sake of money and spot light? If this is the Best Rapper Alive Tournament then it needs to be straight gritty, no beat, no hooks no nothin' just and Emcee and his most venomous weapon...his words. I already know that the greats are going to be assasinated by the younger crowd who is going to judge the Hottest rapper and not the Best rapper. This shit is crazy...this is why Hip Hop is dead. Final Four Should Be: Nas, Jay-Z, Lupe, Em (or at least some variation of that) Final Four will actually be: Lil Wayne, Jay-Z, Soulja Boy, Rick Ross (or some variation of that)

July 17, 2008 at 8:39 am

best rapper alive = Crooked I

if you think differently, then you need to go listen to your omarion and bow wow albums...fukin stans...lyrically no one can see this guy.

July 17, 2008 at 6:04 am

Like i said wayne's hot, i mean he stepped his game up crazy and deserves to be considered. But how many albums did it take NAS or JAY-Z to get that kind of respect. To me i think BUSTA BUSTA should have been a higher seed like KISS, but its ESCO then JIGGA. The only good thing about this list is, PLIES isn't considered a better then SOULJA BOY or LIL MAMA.

July 16, 2008 at 11:25 pm

i dont agree wit some of the match-ups they got... nor do i agree with some of the artist they got.. soulja boy, flo rida, lauryn hill (beautiful voice though) , lil mama, shawty lo, rich boy, paul wall, chamillionare, and a few others shouldnt be on tha list. and they forgot a lot of greats and under rated rappers... krayzie bone (bone thugs-n- harmony), phonte (little brother), ll cool j, big l, dmx, styles p, and many more... they should go back and remake these brackets.... but jay-z is the best rapper alive... but much respect to nas...

July 16, 2008 at 11:18 pm

u got to be out of ur mind if you think this is legit. about 32 of the 64 are staight garbage. I thought it was best rapper alive...in that case Crooked I, lil mama,soulja boy and you know the rest that should not even be in the top 200. My son can rap better than them. What happended to X, Rza, Gza, LL only to name a few. Hell canibus should be on here before those clowns...TOTALLY BOGUS. IF anyone has any sense the winner will be HOV or NAS hands down. Everyone else sit way below, Sorry EM and LUDA...

July 16, 2008 at 5:41 pm

OMG! What is wrong with ch'all? Where is LL? Where is RZA? DMX...ok, I know he's got his problems nowadays, but who doesn't? And I won't even GO there about Puff being up IN here at ALL...SMDH

July 16, 2008 at 2:05 pm

OMG! What is wrong with ch'all? Where is LL? Where is RZA? DMX...ok, I know he's got his problems nowadays, but who doesn't? And I won't even GO there about Puff being up IN here at ALL...SMDH

July 16, 2008 at 12:59 pm

Jay z a POP artist every song and every album wasn't pure hip hop do the history go listen to his song.



p.s GODSON BEATS THEM ALL

July 16, 2008 at 8:50 am

listen like everyone has been saying a bunch of this bracket is just stupid. There are Greats on there but subpar people are in place of Greats like already mentioned. It really stupid that Talib goes up against Mos Def. Method Vs. Redman just stupid.
But people are saying hottest rapper lil wayne but not best. but who has had more success with multiple albums? Jay Z so far prolly claims the title in the next year it will be lil wayne. If you say he's not then you havent heard all his mixtapes. snoop comes close but MY top 4 Lil wayne Nas Jay z Andre 3000.
Thank God it's only a best rapper Alive cuz everyone knows it'd be PAC if he was still living.

July 15, 2008 at 11:31 pm

NAS beats them all to me it came down to Kayne and NAS and NAS takes it all

July 15, 2008 at 10:47 pm

Now i like lil wayne but their is a big difference between being the HOTTEST rapper alive then being the BEST. Im truly disappointed about this list. It is horrible! Soulja Boy, Nelly, Flo Rida, Killer Mike, Joe Budden, and thats just in the "TUPAC" bracket. Come on people, if T.I. takes out LUDA and it doesn't all come down to THE TAKEOVA or ETHER then hip-hop truly is dead. Based on the list, we the fans or vibe mag shouldn't deicide who the best is. Sure it's fun too narrow it down, but it should be done by 20-30 hip hop greats whether it be a rapper or DJ, producer, like you know..........Dr.Dre Rakim DMX MOBB DEEP LL COOL J TOO SHORT. Let us see who are favorite rappers favorite rappers are.

July 15, 2008 at 6:09 pm

Why are you all getting so upset in the comments with the Diddy vs. Jimmy category? Any idiot who looked at the bracket can see that this is the "sacrificial lamb" category. Whoever wins, be it Diddy or Jimmy will be facing HOV in the opening round and will get trounced out anyway. This is just a formality. Neither will make it anywhere past this initial head2head. Calm down.....

July 15, 2008 at 12:01 pm

diddy aint no rapper he producer/pop artist wit his toothpick eating self

July 15, 2008 at 9:44 am

listen up this list would be correct if it had ll cool j i it but other dan dat im black but im not iggnorant and dats why i see why yall put some young people like bow wow, lil mama ,soulja boy yall did dat for 2 reasons cuz yall got business minds and yall know dat older people arent the only ones that r gonna vote and the other reason is because yung rappers take a lot of shit frum da older rappers so i can see why wanted 2 show dem sum respect and put dem in as a good rapper jus outa respect but yall did forget a lot of hard hiters like beanie sigel,ll cool j,david banner[he should replace diddy], yung joc, lil flip, z-ro, eve, hell rell, prodigy, havoc come on now redo dis shit yo!!!..lol real talk doe yall all ready no who gone win ice cube!!

July 15, 2008 at 8:36 am

If your going to claim the best rapper alive you need to have the best rappers in the brackets. Where is
LL Cool J
Eve
RZA
and why are you putting TALIB vrs MOS Def and Meth Vrs Redman in round 1 ? Thats like North Carolina Vrs Duke in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Split them up and see what they can do in other brackets. Some of the matchups are good but your missing some of the best lyricist and in there place they have some sub par rappers. To be real to qualify the contenders should have a minimum of 3 records under there belt. That would eliminate some of the fluff you have placed in here.

July 15, 2008 at 8:31 am

If your going to claim the best rapper alive you need to have the best rappers in the brackets. Where is
LL Cool J
Eve
RZA
and why are you putting TALIB vrs MOS Def and Meth Vrs Redman in round 1 ? Thats like North Carolina Vrs Duke in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Split them up and see what they can do in other brackets. Some of the matchups are good but your missing some of the best lyricist and in there place they have some sub par rappers. To be real to qualify the contenders should have a minimum of 3 records under there belt. That would eliminate some of the fluff you have placed in here.

July 15, 2008 at 8:27 am

do you know they open their blog on a free ukblackfriends dot com. they must

hope their fans go there to support them, but their pics in the blog are reeally

good.

July 15, 2008 at 8:25 am

oh ^ neither jim jones or diddy are rappers.

jim jones was only able to live of max b's ghostwriting for so long.

diddy, no comment.

July 15, 2008 at 3:56 am

this list is horrible. it should actually not include rap legends in my opionin since it is really only going to push the most popular CURRENT rappers out now.
i can see the likes of nas, scarface, and jay z getting killed by the likes of wayne, rick ross and jezzzy. please. if anyone could top the legends above it would be andre 3000 but he just does not have enough of his own individual catalog. granted, he has the classic outkast collection when he murks big boi on every song. no disrespect

if it ever gets to REAL LYRICS like years ago, half of the list would NOT be on here.


Truthfully, the best rapper is still jay z until he dies. he created and claimed and owned the saying.
what yall going to do give someone's Muhammed Ali's title as "the greatest"?!? please

July 15, 2008 at 3:31 am

I jus got the issue and this list is flawed! Nas a #2 seed!!! Lil Wayne ahead of him??? Who made this list 5 year olds? You talkin about the greatest lyricist ever!!! I cant believe this ... reminds me of sam bowie over michael jordan

July 14, 2008 at 7:56 pm

I agree with HiLite, where is L.L. Cool J. and EVE, this list is flawed!!!!!!!!!

July 14, 2008 at 5:18 pm

One more question...if Diddy is on the list then why isn't his play in verus Jermaine Dupri or Lil' Jon?

And lastly...why Mos & Kweli square off 1st along with, Ghostface & Raekwon, Meth & Red, Common & Black, Face & 8Ball...

this whole thing is a bogus!

July 14, 2008 at 12:58 pm

are you guys serious? cause i'm lookin at the field of 65 and some of these kats shouldn't be on the list! the entire list is very flawed! looking at the list i'm surprised Benzino ain't on the list!
start with:
Lauryn Hill (if she's a rapper then what about Akon & T-Pain)
Lil' Mama (what has she done)
Lil Boosie
Webbie
Devin the Dude (that has to be a joke!)
Shawty Lo (who?)
Soulja Boy (please call Ice T for me)
Flo Rida (one hit wonda)
Killer Mike (please!)
Pusha T (NO!)
Rich Boy (Hell NO!)
Crooked I (who again?)

Where is:
LL Cool J (he is still living right and he is the GOAT)
Will Smith (anyone heard of him?)
DMX (how de hell u live X off?)
Joell Ortiz (hottest kat in the game, hands down!)
Freeway
Black Milk
Hell Rell
Any of the guys from Little Brother
RZA/GZA
EVE (no EVE but Lil Mama is on the list?)

July 14, 2008 at 12:46 pm