No. 18: Jay-Z

Yeah, I said it.

Here's where I undoubtedly start catching some heat. I'm well aware that there is a growing segment of the hip-hop populace that believes Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter is the greatest rapper of all time. If you're not in that group, you're most likely in the group that believes Jay-Z ranks just behind Biggie and Tupac and ranks merely as the greatest living rapper of all time.

Sorry, folks, but you're all way the fuck off base.

You'll likely attack anyone ranked above Jay-Z by saying they didn't sell as many records...but again, if record sales mattered, then joke rappers like Vanilla Ice, Hammer and Lil' Wayne would all be in the top 10. Sales don't mean shit here.

Here are a few of the other counter-arguments, in no particular order:

a) Jay-Z was on the receiving end of the most vicious dis track of all time ("Ether"), losing an incredibly one-sided battle despite starting it and trying to finish it.

b) Jay-Z effectively named himself after another rapper (his mentor, Jaz-O). You can't ride a dick like that and be No. 1. Or even close.

c) Jay-Z's best work (his first LP, Reasonable Doubt) was little more than a decent carbon copy of what the best New York rappers of the time were doing. You'll struggle to find a great and original Jay-Z work. He never broke any new ground. Listen to his big-label debut (Big Daddy Kane's "Show And Prove") — his style is a regurgitation of what several others were doing. That hasn't changed much.

d) Jay-Z is very rich, sure. And I know that having money supposedly impacts somebody's greatness these days. But business acumen has nothing to do with the rankings. If it did, Master P and Puffy would be in the top five.

and, most importantly...

Shit...I can't argue with any of that. But I'm rich.

e) Jay-Z failed to live up to his enormous potential in terms of making consistently good music. He may have gotten more money and fame that way, but his discography is tainted. Hard Knock Life was an awful album, a blatant cash grab...and nearly everything he's done since could be labeled the same way.

I'd rather have seen Jay hang it up early than let his considerable talent go unused on bullshit songs like "Change Clothes." Had he retired or been killed just before In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 came out — just like the man (Biggie) he so closely emulated — he'd probably have placed about eight to 10 spots higher. Reasonable Doubt was every bit as good as Ready To Die and better than any Tupac Shakur album...but neither of them lived long enough to churn out as much pop bullshit as Jay did.

At his best, Jay is tremendous — I loved "Ain't No N****" despite the presence of Foxy Brown, and he's smooth as shit on songs like "Who You Wit II." But his worst is unforgivably wack sellout garbage, and that's what the majority of his career has tilted toward. I'll admit that I didn't mind crappy pop songs like "Can I Get A..." and "Give It To Me" when I was in the cluuuuub dancing and shit. But as a true hip-hop head who values lyrics and rhyme schemes over all, that shit doesn't cut it.

If you want to try arguing that Jay-Z should be ranked higher than 18 based on impact, that's an even easier argument. Snoop Dogg, KRS-One and LL Cool J are ranked 21 through 23 and all had at least as big an impact, if not greater. As previously stated, Jay didn't break any new ground. None.

Very few rappers could get away with putting out as much bullshit as Jay-Z has and still be ranked this highly. I tried to strike a balance between an incredibly high ceiling that was rarely reached and a dirty-ass floor that he visited with alarming frequency. All of the rappers listed above Jay-Z have a much stronger résumé than he did and/or would win a battle against Jay-Z. One already did so convincingly.

Basically...18 is more than fair. Sorry.