Arguably. He was probably the best east coast MC from 1991-1993 (He had comp Puba, Lord Finesse), until Redman took the crown in 1993, and then Nas took the crown from him.
Big
Jay
Ice Cube
Snoop
Pac
Nas
Redman
Prodigy
Scarface
Ras Kass
To me are the ones clearly over him. But if someone wanted to replace him with Kass, I'm not mad.
(Edit: I forgot KRS-One, Pun, Big L....damn never mind)
he's in there breh. easily. its a question thats not worded clearly. if you name the top 10 mc's in the 90's no. but if you name MC's who were were top 10 at some point in the 90's thats different. its like asking was Iverson a top 10 player in the 90's..without thinking a lot of people will say YEAH! but he was only top 10 in 98 and 99. but if you make an all - 1990's top 10 team he wont be on there. that was MJ, Barkley, Malone, Pippen, Shaq, etc....
by the time Treach hit his stride, he had surpassed LL and Ra. Then Big, Jay, Nas, Mobb, and even Pac hadnt hit their strides yet, they didnt start popping off til 94'-95"
so you are correct...his was in competition with with Cube, Face, Puba, etc...but still had strong showing throughout the 90's. because of this thread went back and listened to Poverty's Paradise and shyt was a classic.
if you are saying the top 10 from the 90's period some of the guys being listed in the thread wouldnt even make it. like people in here forgetting about X. his 2 year run may have been strong enough to bump some dudes on these lists. he was bigger than Jay.