No. 10: The Notorious B.I.G.

Though Christopher Wallace will always be linked with Tupac Shakur because of their untimely, and likely related, deaths, they're side by side on this list by mere coincidence. The Notorious B.I.G. was actually a far superior rhymer to 2Pac from a technical standpoint. There were only three things that kept him from the top-three spot that most hip-hop fans blindly hand him...

a) His discography is too small compared to everyone else in the top 10. That might not matter when comparing Biggie with the rappers in the middle of this list, but he needed more material to justify being ranked ahead of the heavyweights still to come. With apologies to Pac and everyone else just below, the top 10 is a separate tier.

b) His subject matter wasn't wide-ranging enough. For all of his prodigious talent, Biggie rarely strayed from the mid-1990s staples of braggadocio, bitches, blunts, bullets...and designer clothing.

But most importantly...

c) Much like 2Pac's artistry was somewhat noticeably stifled when he signed with Death Row, Biggie was at least partially done in by The Puffy Factor. It might not be fair to invoke guilt by association here, but it needs to be done, because a decent amount of Biggie's music carries a Puffy stain.

Don't be mad, UPS is hiring.

The influence was there from the get-go — Big's first two guest appearances after being signed were on songs by Uptown artists Heavy D and Mary J. Blige. Both were miles away from him stylistically, but it would be far from the last time that Puffy tried to shoehorn Biggie's hardcore style into a softer R&B record. Puffy no doubt increased Biggie's popularity by doing this — girls and white fans that would have had little interest in his grim crack tales tuned in for the Cristal and Coogi — but the quality and integrity of the music suffered a bit.

Biggie was at his best on the songs that had no chance of getting airplay. His first real solo track, "Party And Bullshit" (from the Who's The Man soundtrack), was a glimpse at his superstar potential but without the glitz of obvious samples and Faith Evans hooks. When Ready To Die came out, the masses flocked to singles like "Big Poppa," but the real gems were slept-on joints like "Gimme The Loot," "Machine Gun Funk" and "The What." (The classic "Juicy" managed to appeal to both crossover fans and hardcore heads.)

Ready To Die established an interesting balance — The Notorious B.I.G. (and Puffy) seemed to have struck the perfect mix of pure hip-hop and pop music. Unlike almost every platinum-selling rapper before him, Biggie kept the respect of the streets.

The album's success with that formula, though, set a dangerous precedent that ultimately started hip-hop's downward spiral in motion. Biggie's second LP, Life After Death, pushed the balancing act more toward the pop side with singles like "Mo' Money, Mo' Problems." There were still traces of the old hard edge, such as the wonderful DJ Premier-produced "Kick In The Door," but Puffy had effectively buffed all of the rough spots off of an emcee that had been much better off with the grime.

The Puffy Effect really ended hip-hop's golden edge and led us toward the glossy late-1990s era of Hype Williams videos and rented Bentleys, which led to even worse in the 2000s. (There's little doubt that the Roots' "What They Do" video is pretty much a direct shot at the Bad Boy style.) Again, it might seem a bit fair to pin any of that on Biggie, but he had the opportunity to walk away and make "real" music instead of chasing the cash. Any label would have jumped on him, and he could have worked with any producer he wanted. It's too easy to criticize with the benefit of hindsight (and the benefit of never having been quite as broke as Wallace was growing up), but his decision to go the pop route is disappointing nonetheless.

Sadly, Wallace was shot dead before he got a chance to come all the way back to his roots. Because of his popularity, fans automatically started handing him the title of Best Emcee Ever — but ironically, it was probably the music that brought him such mainstream appeal that also helped make it impossible to legitimize him as The Greatest.

He's still right up there, though.