No. 26: Grand Puba

My boy Furious will be sending me an email in about four seconds telling me that I have ranked Maxwell "Grand Puba" Dixon about 25 spots too low.

The thing is, Puba actually did have the potential to at least crack the top 10. If only his solo career hadn't happened.

"No, I am not Forrest Whitaker."

When Brand Nubian's debut LP, One For All, came out at the end of 1990, it immediately established Grand Puba as one of the elite emcees on the planet. With all due respect to Lord Jamar and Sadat (then Derek) X, both of whom would almost undoubtedly be included in a top 100, One For All was Puba's baby — and that baby was almost unquestionably one of the five best hip-hop albums ever created.

While the lead single, "Slow Down" (a top-five song of all time), was a group effort, several of the other top tracks on the album were effectively solo cuts — "Step To The Rear" was a perfect example of Puba's witty flow, and he unleashed a little bit of dancehall style on "Who Can Get Busy Like This Man." There isn't a single track he appears on that Grand Puba doesn't own...and again, it's not like Jamar and Sadat sucked.

Maxwell parted ways with the group shortly thereafter, though, dropping the solo LP Reel To Reel in late 1992. While not awful, the album didn't offer much in the way of replay value, and it was viewed as a colossal disappointment to those expecting a repeat of One For All. Puba has put out three more solo albums since, with all of them being largely ignored.

He buried the hatchet with Brand Nubian eventually, rejoining the group in time for 1998's Foundation. The album was a solid effort, but Puba was no longer the single dominating force, and it became clear that his reign on the top had indeed been short like leprechauns.

But like CL Smooth just below him, Puba did more than enough during his all-too-brief peak to ensure his place here.