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The "best rapper of all time" debate is one that always ignites passion, some willing to hand it to 2Pac because of his highest peaks and untimely death but forgetting that his immense output includes a lot of sub-par work; others prefer The Notorious B.I.G. because he, too, died too soon; others go back to the first masters of the genre, your street intellectuals Rakim, LL Cool J, and KRS-One. Millennials might have a soft spot for Jay-Z or Eminem, while the best voice in the game is undoubtedly Snoop Dogg, but he disqualifies himself for contenting himself with spelling his name out for over a decade, mid-career.
However, when it comes to square, 4/4, old-school rhyming, no one comes close to Ice Cube, save perhaps Everlast. Cube invented gangsta rap with N.W.A., became an even bigger star by going solo after refusing to get screwed over in a poor record deal, became a film star when he lacked inspiration in music, and came back to rap with material more incisive than ever at the turn of the millennium. Here he is, back again, doing what he does best: claiming he's the best:
That's It's My Ego, from the forthcoming album Man Down!, directed by Gabriel "Videogod" Hart.
