Timbaland Talks Empire & Greatest Rapper Ever On ESPN

[Mad Good Dro]

Timbaland has been in the game for a minute now, so when he shares his thoughts on the best rapper of all time, his opinion has some weight. The celebrated producer was the guest on ESPN's First Take today, and the question came up -- to which Timbo offered a pretty nuanced take. Tim started things off by saying "both of them are not here today," alluding to Biggie and Tupac, but things quickly got into a lively discussion that involved Rakim, Jay Z and more.

Tim also shared some insight into how he records songs for the hit show Empire, explaining that there isn't much revision going on, so he has to make sure the idea is a solid one early on.

So, who IS the greatest of all time?

 

[JustCKing]

I hated the fact that they kept bringing Jay Z up even after Tim was adamant with his decision. He was about to even say Rakim and they still kept bringing Jay into it even when he explained that him saying Jay would be biased.

 

[pointproven214]

pac goat for me and always will be for me.

 

[FeloniousMonk]

Rakim.

Ya fav emcee, emcee.

 

[letti cook]

pac goat for me and always will be for me.

same..shyt is kinda cliche..but i legit cant put nobody over dude

 

[504Slim]

 

[pointproven214]

same..shyt is kinda cliche..but i legit cant put nobody over dude

how is it cliche because to me it ain't cliche when it was cliche to have biggie jay-z or nas over him for years it took years for dudes to realize how dope dude was in his prime.

 

[Cryptocurrency Scarface]

@ rapper I would do things to qerim but she andeffed up and he corrected them

 

[letti cook]

how is it cliche because to me it ain't cliche when it was cliche to have biggie jay-z or nas over him for years it took years for dudes to realize how dope dude was in his prime.

im trying to figure out how to explain this but it aint coming together...but basically i just mean in the sense of having a goat or a top5 that most people would have. Pac and Big been gone for damn near 20 years now, so its at the point where having them in a top 5 can be kinda you know? Like, Skip picked Biggie as the goat. Pac, Big, and Jay can come off like cop out answers sometimes and I say that as a nikka with Pac and Jay as my 1 and 2.

 

[Artificial Intelligence]

.......................

 

[pointproven214]

im trying to figure out how to explain this but it aint coming together...but basically i just mean in the sense of having a goat or a top5 that most people would have. Pac and Big been gone for damn near 20 years now, so its at the point where having them in a top 5 can be kinda you know? Like, Skip picked Biggie as the goat. Pac, Big, and Jay can come off like cop out answers sometimes and I say that as a nikka with Pac and Jay as my 1 and 2.

the thing about all time list is this it's all time meaning there are mc's that came before biggie and pac and after them.

 

[Da King]

What he say?

 

[Pop123]

There is no best mc, smh, when will people realize that there is no way to objectively gauge something that is totally subjective? It's all preference. If you have/had some longevity and are highly respected then you can be considered the best mc, and those two characteristics exist in at least 30 nikkas. If I said Ra, or G Rap, or Nas, or Pac, or Hov, or Cube, or Face, or LL, or Ghost, or 3000, or Eminem, or Kane, or even somebody like Kanye or Wayne, how can u objectively prove me wrong? Such a pointless discussion. You can add hit records into the mix but Drake got more of those than all of those nigs I just named, and?

 

[No1]

There is no best mc, smh, when will people realize that there is no way to objectively gauge something that is totally subjective? It's all preference. If you have/had some longevity and are highly respected then you can be considered the best mc, and those two characteristics exist in at least 30 nikkas. If I said Ra, or G Rap, or Nas, or Pac, or Hov, or Cube, or Face, or Ghost, or 3000, or Eminem, or even somebody like Kanye or Wayne, how can u objectively prove me wrong? Such a pointless discussion. You can add hit records into the mix but Drake got more of those than all of those nigs I just named, and?

This is ignorant and is a means of backing out for people afraid to debate. We establish criteria and go based off that. What is subjective is the criteria and you can argue why you believe something should count. Following your logic we can never rank or rate anything. That is boring and sorry of cowardly. More importantly some things become standards over time.

 

[prophecypro]

This is ignorant and is a means of backing out for people afraid to debate. We establish criteria and go based off that. What is subjective is the criteria and you can argue why you believe something should count. Following your logic we can never rank or rate anything. That is boring and sorry of cowardly. More importantly some things become standards over time.

It just ends up being people spending more time discrediting some greats that as you go deeper into the argument, they end up losing perspective and appreciating the good of what they've done or even allow themselves to get into their stuff. Lets be real these debates always come down to discredting the other rapper that aint your number 1.

Or as I call it: since 2001