Inspect Her Deck
Skins of all colours come together as brothers
Fair.
MC Eiht is in my top 5 because of his body of work and the context under which he emerged.
Re body of work, he's got a very healthy discography spanning from the early CMW records to some of his most recent solo stuff, including Which Way iz West from a few years back which was a very good project imo. CMW is obviously a group, but for all intents and purposes, MC Eiht carried the group from an MC'ing standpoint....matter of fact he was the ONLY MC on their best album minus the one guest spot (Music to Driveby). The first 3 CMW albums are immense, and they get progressively better. M2D is a classic and you could make an argument for Straight Checkn Em. Then you have his 'solo' albums ft. CMW such as We Come Strapped and Death Threatz, which are both great great albums.
Re context, he made out a very respectable lane for himself when NWA was dominating West Coast music at the time. He was definitely influenced by them but he rapped from a different perspective and still managed to flourish despite being more underground. He's not the only rapper that fits that mould though (DJ Quik for example accomplished the same feat). I like how his music was not just about gangbanging and living in the hood etc. but also that behind some of the reckless actions (car jackings, driveby shootings etc.) there are consequences to that life.
Beyond what I stated above, I think he's got an amazing voice, and arguably one that got better with age, which is a rarity amongst rappers once they get older. They tend to lose their greatest instrument. In terms of MC skill and lyrical abilities etc., he's not the best. But he knows how to make good music and he's a poor man's Ice Cube when it comes to his visionary, storytelling style of writing, which I like.
What about your 5?
