FANS NAME EMINEM ‘BEST RAPPER ALIVE’ IN VIBE’S NOVEMBER 2008 ISSUE
– Fan Votes Give Eminem Victory Over Jay-Z
as the People’s Choice for Best Rapper in the Game –
NEW YORK, October 7, 2008 –VIBE has today announced Eminem as the winner of the Best Rapper Alive competition. The Detroit native beat out New York’s rap king Jay-Z in the Final Round with 69 percent of the votes, crowning him as the people’s choice for the true king of hip hop. The results of the contest are detailed in VIBE’sNovember 2008 issue hitting newsstands October 21st.
“It’s obviously an honor to have won the fans’ support by being voted the Best Rapper Alive,” says Eminem in response to his victory. “I don’t think that there is any one rapper that is simply the best though. Everyone who was in consideration and many others are the best at certain things, and at what they do. But since Vibe’s offering the distinction, hell yeah I’ll accept!”
The Best Rapper Alive competition gave VIBE readers the opportunity to decide who’s the best rapper in the game. This interactive, NCAA-style tournament pit the top 64 MCs recording today against each other in a head-to-head battle. Artists such as Lil Wayne, The Game, Nas, Kanye West, Rick Ross, and others competed against one another in the five-week tournament. The winners of each match-up were determined by fan votes on VIBE.com. More than 920,000 votes were cast since the contest began on July 21, 2008.
VIBE readers could also cast their vote by mailing-in brackets provided in the August 2008 REAL RAP ISSUE. More than 500 brackets were submittedwith thewinner filling out the entire bracket correctly having a chance to win a free “Best Rapper Alive” engraved iPod, courtesy of Apple. For more information, visit www.vibe.com.
About Vibe:
VIBE magazine is the definitive voice of urban culture, influencing global music, life, and style for more than eight million readers around the world. The award-winning publication is the nation’s leader in reporting entertainment, fashion, politics, and culture features for a multicultural audience in print and online. VIBE’s innovation, journalistic integrity, brand equity, and overall swagger make it the No. 1 reference choice among male and female trendsetters in small and large cities in the U.S. and abroad.
VIBE Media Group, an affiliate of the Wicks Group of Companies, LLC, is a leading music lifestyle media company that publishes VIBE magazine and produces a myriad of other VIBE branded properties including VIBE.com, V Hollywood, VIBE Yardfest, and VIBE Books, which published The New York Times bestseller Tupac Shakur. VIBE magazine was founded in 1993 by multi-talented music mogul Quincy Jones.
SWIPED FROM VIBE
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To see how they broke down the brackets, and who beat who… check it…
DROPPED BY NO
Tags: ANDRE 3000, biggie, EMINEM, Jay-z, Kanye West, Lil Wayne, Nas, PAC
October 15th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Andre 3000.
October 15th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
THE GAME COULD NEVER BEAT ANDRE.
NEVER!!!
the fans are a bunch of 12-18 year old dick smokers!
October 15th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
Lupe
October 15th, 2008 at 1:52 pm
um…when was the last time vibe had relevance within the - dare I say it - “hip hop community”?
right
Eminem tho? like really??? Must’ve took votes at a methadone clinic or something.
my vote: GHOSTFACE.
smart dumb niggas
October 15th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
nooo way! he’s good but he’s hasnt made a bigger impact on hip hop than Jay-Z, i’m sorry! he aint even over KanYe or Snoop or Lupe. yea they’re gonna have to do this again!
October 15th, 2008 at 2:57 pm
Yeah, me thinks a bunch of White boys (who are probably the main ones still actively suppoorting Vibe) are the ones who voted. This poll is almost as irrelevant as the magazine itself these days.
Three Stacks, easy. Any day. No one is fucking with him anytime soon.
October 15th, 2008 at 3:00 pm
WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME EMINEM EVEN HAD A SONG? A MIXTAPE? A GUEST SPOT?
I’m sorry, but when the page scrolled up and I saw that picture that HAS to be a promo from like, 1999, I got mad.
If he’s the greatest rapper alive, then I am declaring Christopher Williams the greatest R&B singer alive. And Ms. Jackson, my first grade teacher, is the greatest educator alive. Like Eminiem, I have not heard from them since the 1990s.
October 15th, 2008 at 3:25 pm
BUT WHAT DO U CONSIDER WHEN COMING UP WITH THE #1 RAPPER ?
for me i consider: lyrics, style, delivery, stage presence, freestyle, material & overall swag.
andre 3000 is all that and then some.
3000>everyone else.
THE GAME BEATING OUT BUSTA THO? hahahahaha
October 15th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
Two things:
1) VIBE doesn’t matter. Period. So why does everyone act like this has weight? Who cares?
2) I’m gonna play the devil’s advocate for a sec. Eminem has 2 of the best selling hip hop albums of all time, outselling dudes like Jay-Z and Kanye easy. He made some of the best rap songs of all time. I’d guess he’s got at least 3 in the top-50, maybe top-25.
Obviously, he isn’t even in the top 20 NOW, but there is a definite possibility that he has accomplished the most out of any emcee alive. Having said that, I’d still put Jay-Z ahead of him. Hopefully, I’ll be putting ‘Ye in front of both those guys in a couple of years.
October 15th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
First off, Em’s ill as fuck - anyone trying to deny his talent is out of their mind, but polls mean nothing, and attempting to determine who’s “the best” at anything is a mind numbingly futile activity and Em’s statement reflects that…..
October 15th, 2008 at 4:29 pm
I’m glad to see alot of you guys saying Andre 3000, I agree with Jay and Nas behind him.
October 15th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
nope. lupe my dudes.
October 15th, 2008 at 5:13 pm
I Cannot Stand Eminem As An MC And As A Human Being, His Voice Irritates Me And Makes Me Angry That He Made The Decision To Start A Rap Carrier And Any Connection People Make With Him And Hip Hop Makes Me Sick.
The Only Reason He Sold More Album Then The Likes Of Jay-Z, Kanye Or Lupe Is Because All Those White Kids You Have In The US Who Like Eminem Because They Think He Invented Hip Hop And Is The Only White MC, The Same White Kids Who Purchase The Latest Billboard Top 100 Albums Because Its Popular And Everyone Else Is Doing It.
The Best MC’s Are Any Underground Hip-Hop MC (Grayskul Or Aesop Rock) And Lupe Fiasco
October 15th, 2008 at 6:19 pm
So many MCs missing from this tourney. Last time I checked, RZA and GZA were still alive, where were they? Dre? Aesop? k-os?
- The Game beating Andre is a flatout joke.
- I love Lupe, but he took out Q 78-22, c’mon….
- Nas losing to Em by double digits… c’mon.
I’m just happy Wayne didn’t get to the Final Four, at least the voting public was smart enough to leave him out.
For me, the top 4 looks like this:
- Jay-Z
- Andre 3000
- Nas
- GZA (he’s still alive!!!)
October 15th, 2008 at 6:23 pm
eminem. jay-z. lupe. andre. black thought. nas. and early busta is at least worth an honorable mention! but still though. VIBE as a magazine matters, but the best rapper alive competitions don’t. cuz you can’t ever rank them. biggie dropped just two albums (and i know lupe has too, but his mixtape game is bonkers. BONKERS!). he could be in the running, too.
but yea, that’s my list right now. if i brought my FAVORITES into the whole thing, then the list would be completely different. but those mc’s i’ve listed are the most skilled, i would say.
if you wanna argue, http://DCtoBC.com. find me there. for real.
October 15th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
My favorite Hip-Hop personality is and will probably always be Pharrel. His style and versatility are amazing. Not to mention he’s 1/2 of the Neptunes.
But as far as best alive, I love Andre 3000 but Lupe just came on the scene and he’s contending with all of these people, and in my opinion, beating them. I’m sure you guys have heard “Gotta Eat” and appreciated the wordplay, delivery, beat, and Lupe’s own unique brand of swag.
October 15th, 2008 at 7:39 pm
hip hop lost.
October 15th, 2008 at 10:25 pm
Just looking at their mass APPEAL as mc’s, I can understand why the FANS voted have Eminem as #1. I like Jay-Z better as #1, but I didn’t vote so… yea, I guess I’m going to have to live with the outcome.
October 15th, 2008 at 10:43 pm
HAHAHAHAH They Voted Eminem Better Than Ghostaface HAHAHA THATS A JOKE, And 50 Cent Better Than Nas AHAHAHAHAHAHA Thats A Joke
October 16th, 2008 at 12:30 am
ghostface
October 16th, 2008 at 7:37 am
Oooohhh this is always a toughie. This is like discussing politics or abortion at the dinner table.
Bottom line for me: 3 STAX. Setting aside my OutKast bias since they’re my fave, you have to factor in longevity. And to me, Dre’s verses are nearly 100% infallible throughout his career. Jay is a strong contender behind Dre.
And I love so many emcees and I effs w/Ghost hard too but Andre is just on his own planet.
Lupe is cool but he treated A Tribe Called Quest (blasphemy) and he’s too new to take the crown.
And it’s Vibe yall, their audience is different than Blind I. Eminem is talented, but he’s not on any list of mine.
October 16th, 2008 at 9:50 am
Rakim, KRS, and Big Daddy Kane? Last time I checked, none of them had died. But I guess the article wouldn’t have been as eye-catching if it was called, “The Greatest Rapper Alive, who made a relevant record this decade”. Too wordy, too real.
October 16th, 2008 at 10:05 am
“The Greatest Rapper Alive, who made a relevant record this decade”
MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
tight!
October 17th, 2008 at 12:12 am
i feel like everybody on 3 stacks’ johnson just got on him after he started throwing out those verses on remixes like frisbees. but he’s definitely among the elite.
eminem is a G because i’ll listen to him flow over any beat. hot, wack, etc. you rarely hear of people talking about the production on an eminem track. in fact, you never hear of production and eminem unless somebody’s talking about eminem’s beats, meaning the ones he’s made for himself and others. but he spits bars regardless of the circumstance.
is asher’s career over? not at all. his niche is completely different than em’s. em has black and white people. a whole lotta white people. and he’s more family unfriendly. which makes a lot of people like him even more. asher has one mixtape and some loose change. but he’s already gained respect from hip hop’s elite / powerful (drama, and some), plus he’s about to get on some vicious collabs. mark my words.
in fact, i actually want someone to mark those words. i bet he collabs with someone craaazy on the next track he puts out.
but yeah, em is a beast. definitely among the elite. who cares who voted him there. the winner normally has a case for winning. unless it’s mccain. or bush. those guys don’t.
i fucking love blind i for the damn kids. tell those blind i’s that i’m cool with them being blind. seeing is overrated, anyway. ask stevie. or ray. but i like stevie more, his tracks were so much more vicious. sorry to the ray fans in advance.
October 17th, 2008 at 12:12 am
and yes. that IS racoon mario in my icon. fuck wit it.
October 17th, 2008 at 7:59 am
lmao@”and yes. that IS racoon mario in my icon”
i think i speak for the entire staff when i say that we all say 3 stacks NOT based on his appearances on remixes or various mixtapes here n there. NO. NOT AT ALL.
We been up on him (no gay sex) since ATLiens. We were up on Kast since Southerplayalistic… but it wasnt till ATLiens where we were able to truly appreciate what it was he was doing. if you look @ his whole track record (no pun intended) then you will see his progression.
and FYI…
Elzhi>Eminem
Black Thought>Eminem