Themselves are relatively new, and the music created by the group is like nothing else out there. They use absurd time signatures that blow my mind when Dose is able to rap his bizarre poetry over them. Ghostface did a lot for the business; that's true.

But should that have any bearing on who's more talent? Their overall popularity?

And OF COURSE all of the voting on this poll is going to be subjective. But with that said, why does it really matter who people prefer? They prefer a given artist for a reason, so that's something in and of itself.

Meh. To be honest I've never been that impressed by Ghostface Killah. De La Soul I like and came very close to voting for but when I really thought about it I realized that I do actually enjoy Themselves a lot more.

So, like, everyone did a good job assuming a predictable role.

There's the ridiculous "chill out, man" argument which avoids my point completely--the "chill out, man" argument is almost as bad as "it's my opinion, and you can't change it! it's just an opinion!"

There's the silly "if you don't like it, git out" perspective. Really? Why? How about, if I don't like it, I share that viewpoint.

And then a couple people come off as illiterate, making assumptions like me having a problem with people having subjective taste for the dumbest reasons. When did I say you weren't allowed to prefer Themselves to Ghostface Killah? When did I even imply that Ghost was better because of popularity? I didn't, I'm well aware of the popular opinion's irrelevance and disagreeing with it (in case you couldn't notice). And by the way, Phanastasio, while it is true that Ghostface Killah did do more for the business of hip hop than Themselves, I don't care, and that's not the point I was making. I used the word "art" on purpose, so why did you change it to "business?"

http://blog.silive.com/marooned/2007...illah-du01.jpg

ya dig?

I gots love for Zumbi and Amp Live.

Zion-I
Ghostface
De La

There are two types of voters, I'm a little bit like you are. We vote for the person/artist that was more influential to hip hop even if it's not our favorite artist in the poll but we respect what they did for hip hop in general.

Then there are the voters that just vote for whomever they like regardless of that fact.

at the end of the day it's all their personal opinion and there is nothing you can do about it. Yeah there are going to be some whack ass winners because of this but that doesn't matter. It's not like this has any merits outside of MB. It is just something fun to do. The discussion comes in when people explain a bit why they voted for who they voted for and only if they want to.

I see why you are raging but you don't really need to, it's not worth it.

I really apologize for replacing your intentional use of "art" with "business"; it wasn't my intention to put words in your mouth, sir.

I will say that I'm not necessarily as into Ghostface Killah as you are, and I really do acknowledge what are, quite likely my shortcomings in that regard. I have heard a great deal of his material, but I really am more well-versed in the works released by Themselves, as they are one the groups which aided significantly in my love of hip-hop.

Hip-hop legitimately is an art, and I didn't mean to imply otherwise about Ghostface Killah. I was merely acknowledging my personal preferences, and not aiming to offend.

I can understand your viewpoint, but personally, Themselves have been a greater inspiration to me.

1. The poll is about the best rapper, not the rappers who have contributed the most to the art.

2. De La and Ghostface have been around longer so it only makes sense that they've contributed more to the art because they've had more time to contribute in the first place.

3. Personal opinions ALWAYS come into play. Everyone is biased, even you.

1. It's obviously not about "the best rapper," because these polls include producers and groups (including members that aren't rappers). I'm guessing it's more about voting for your personal favorite, which is a really pointless topic. (Yeah, a list of random incomparable artists--vote for your favorite! Yay! We've accomplished nothing!)

2. What? That's not the point at all. They've done more for the art because they made better art, and they did that within less time in their career than Themselves or Zion I have been around. Like, take the first 5 years of De La and Ghost's career vs. all 10 years Themselves/Zion I have been around. It's not like Themselves and Zion I are brand new groups that don't have a body of work to compare against other artists.

edit: Here's a better way to explain this: okay, Themselves have been around for about 11 years. Zion I released their first album in 2000 but were around since '97; let's give them 10 years to be nice. Take Zion I and Themselves' first ten years vs. Ghost or De La's (take away Ghost's last 8 years or so, and De La's last... 13 or 14? either way...); Ghost and De La would still have innovated and contributed more to the art than the former 2 acts (I feel kind of bad saying this about Dose, though; he's an incredibly original and respectable artist, and I absolutely love a lot of his work, but Ghost and De La would come first).

3. What's your fucking point? How many times do I have to say I KNOW THAT PEOPLE HAVE PERSONAL FAVORITES. I REALIZE THIS. HOWEVER, IT IS POINTLESS TO PIT RANDOM ARTISTS AGAINST EACH OTHER AND TELL PEOPLE TO "VOTE FOR THE BEST ONE." It's just a stupid way of handling art, really.

You say "Yay! We've accomplished nothing!" like voting for who we think influenced Hip-Hop more would have accomplished something.

If every forum always voted for "Who influenced the most" we'd always end up with the same couple rappers.