Like just about everything else in these parts, rap operates on the Gregorian Calendar.
So if an emcee is going to go on a great 365 day run it's better to come between January and December than between July and June.
On that note, Complex has just rated the Best Rapper Alive for every year since 1979
They qualify exactly what that means:
It’s still important to consider that the Best Rapper Alive debate is different from the GOAT conversation. Being the BRA doesn't mean you’re the biggest or the most successful; it just means you're the Best at one particular moment.The list is below, and you can check their explanations here.
1979: Grandmaster Caz 1980: Kurtis Blow 1981: Kool Moe Dee 1982: Melle Mel 1983: Run 1984: Run 1985: LL Cool J 1986: KRS-One 1987: Rakim 1988: Slick Rick 1989: Big Daddy Kane 1990: Ice Cube 1991: Q-Tip 1992: Redman 1993: Snoop Dogg 1994: Nas 1995: The Notorious B.I.G. 1996: 2Pac 1997: The Notorious B.I.G. 1998: DMX 1999: Jay Z 2000: Eminem 2001: Jay Z 2002: Eminem 2003: 50 Cent 2004: T.I. 2005: Jeezy 2006: Lil' Wayne 2007: Kanye West 2008: Lil' Wayne 2009: Jay Z 2010: Kanye West 2011: Drake 2012: Drake 2013: Kendrick Lamar 2014: Nicki Minaj 2015: Drake
Five rappers, Run, The Notorious B.I.G., Eminem, Lil Wayne and Kanye West, grab two years.
Two rappers, Jay Z and Drake, have three years.
What do you think about the list?