This may actually be the hardest top 10 I will ever do because I could make this a top 50 list and someone will still be upset that someone they like missed the list.

So I will stick with a top 10 because a list like this deserves to be exclusive and elite.

Greatness deserves to be elite.

This list, however, isn't just greatness, it's the greatest.

The Ten Greatest Rappers of All-Time.

In terms of the criteria, I'm going use five aspects used to determine what makes rappers great. These criteria are Cadence, Charisma, Lyrics, Success, and Versatility. They will all be on a scale of 0-100, although most of these will be in the 85-100 range.

*Note: Influence is not one of the factors, so just because a rapper helped influence the genre or influencing a few other rappers who would become great doesn't earn points. For the most part, these rappers will be viewed in a vacuum. I say for the most part because when it comes to deciding between two rappers certain things like joint-tracks and diss-tracks will be considered for a sort of head-to-head tie-breaker.

For example, Pimp C was great during his twenty-year career with cadence, charisma, and lyrics that deserve consideration for greatest of all-time, but he never had the success of some rappers on this list and was more of a one-trick pony. I don't mean that in a degrading way, his one-trick was better than most modern rappers can even come close to, but there is something to be said for a rapper that can switch style and flow on the drop of a dime, let alone actually doing it.

Also, this is great rappers, not greatest groups, crews/labels, or duos. This means the members of groups like N.W.A., OutKast, T.D.E., and Wu-Tang Clan will be judged as individuals. I'll probably do list for the aforementioned categories as well, but for I am focusing on the greatest rappers.

So let's break down the ten greatest rappers of all-time.

10. Kendrick Lamar:

Charisma: 91

Lyrics: 93

Success: 82

Versatility: 90

"King" Kendrick Lamar has been earning that nickname over the past decade, and may top this list one-day, but he's got decades to go before he can challenge the top of this list. Lamar may have a lot to prove still, but he takes every opportunity to prove that he is one of the greatest. He has an approach any beat and do something special with it, but he still has room to improve, which is insane given his accomplishments so far.

9. Snoop Dogg:

Cadence: 89

Charisma: 95

Lyrics: 88

Success: 90

Versatility: 93

Snoop isn't the type of rapper to spit the hardest, or the fastest, but he has a style all his own that he applies to every track he is on. He has one of the smoothest deliveries in rap, and he has used it to become one of the most-successful rappers of all-time. Dr. Dre helped make Snoop Dogg into a star, but Snoop isn't on the level of the two other legends that worked the legendary producer.

8. Ice Cube:

Cadence: 88

Charisma: 90

Lyrics: 97

Success: 90

Versatility: 92

Ice Cube wrote/helped write almost all of N.W.A.s' songs, his songs, and some songs for other artists that are legendary in rap history. Ice Cube had a similar approach to Ghostface Killah, or rather Ghostface had a similar approach to him, in that most of his songs are in attack mode, which is a forward, aggressive cadence that Cube nailed, but it was limited. Given that Ice Cube went on to write and star in movies, he was limited in his rap career from a length standpoint, but his song-writing with Dre's producing was legendary.

7. Andre 3000:

Cadence: 95

Charisma: 100

Lyrics: 90

Success: 90

Versatility: 90

Andre 3000, along with his fellow OutKast member Big Boi, changed rap forever when they emerged from Atlanta as the Kings of Southern Rap. Andre 3000 used his overload of charisma and ability to deliver with one of the cleanest cadences is rap history. He may not have the most complex metaphors, platinum plaques, or a myriad of styles, but "Mr. 3000" is the head of his class when it comes to personality.

6. Rakim:

Cadence: 95

Charisma: 95

Lyrics: 95

Success: 90

Versatility: 90

Rakim may be the most influential rapper of all-time, but like I said at the beginning, I'm looking at all these rappers in a vacuum, which is why influence wasn't a factor for the rating system. Rakim and Eric B. might be the greatest duo of all-time, but when they were apart, neither was very successful. Rakim is a great rapper, but without Eric B. as his DJ, he isn't on the level of some of the rappers below him on this list, let alone the rappers in the top five.

5. Jay-Z:

Cadence: 90

Charisma: 95

Lyrics: 95

Success: 100

Versatility: 90

Jay-Z is the most successful rapper of all-time from the standpoint of awards, and is near the top from a commercial standpoint. Picking among the top five is why I put that head-to-head tiebreaker rule in place because, despite King Hova's success and ability, the four other Kings of Rap ahead of him owned him when they went toe-to-toe. That's not to say that Jay-Z is a slouch by any means, to hold the crown of the King of New York rap at any point in history is an amazing feat, and Jay-Z has written some of the best rap anthems ever with tracks like 99 Problems and Empire State of Mind.

4. Nas:

Cadence: 90

Charisma: 95

Lyrics: 100

Success: 90

Versatility: 95

Nas vs Jay-Z for the throne of New York, and really the whole East Coast, rap is the second best beef in hip-hop history, but that's only if you call the East vs West beef as one giant one rather than dividing it into the individual beefs. Nas and Jay-Z elevated each other to new heights, with Nas returning to the form that made him the first King of New York, Rakim preferred the moniker of "The God MC," and he delivered the best diss track of all-time in Ether. When "The Don" raps, the people should listen because Nas has earned his place as the best pure lyricist in rap history.

3. 2Pac:

Cadence: 90

Charisma: 95

Lyrics: 100

Success: 95

Versatility: 100

I might not ever be allowed back in California after this, but make no mistake that being the third greatest does not mean that Tupac Shakur wasn't great, it's just of the top three, he had the most "flaws" to hold him back. Where Nas is the best pure lyricist in rap history, 2Pac was the best pure songwriter in rap history, with the distinction coming from Pac's versatility helping him do more than craft great verses, but put together entire albums that felt like something that was beyond rap. That kind of leads into one of his "flaws," in that there were times were he felt less like a rapper, and more like an artist beyond any genre, which combined with his relatively short career leads some to doubt his rap credentials in comparison to the two who sit above him.

2. The Notorious B.I.G.:

Cadence: 95

Charisma: 100

Lyrics: 99

Success: 90

Versatility: 100

Now before you click off this article because of who is number two, and as a result who is number one, let me break down why Biggie falls here. Biggie Smalls was really only on top for two and a half years, but during that quarter-decade he was putting out hit after hit after hit while took on all comers for the crowns of the King of New York, the King of the East, and the King of Hip-Hop. While 2Pac was almost unchallenged in the West at his peak, Biggie ruled over New York at its best during his beef with 2Pac and the West, and Biggie was only able hold his spot because he was that charismatic, lyrically sound, and the ability to write anthems, gangsta rap, and any other genre of rap he wanted too, but he short career and size put him in a similar situation as a rapper who missed this list in Big Pun, in that they both died so early in their careers that they couldn't have the success of their counterparts.

1. Eminem:

Cadence: 100

Charisma: 95

Lyrics: 99

Success: 100

Versatility: 100

Eminem, Marshall Mathers, Slim Shady, Em, Slim, Rap God, or whatever else you wanna call him really only needs one name: G.O.A.T. He is the most versatile, technically sound, and complex rappers to ever grab a microphone, and he proved it on tracks from My Name Is to Without Me to Stan to Lose Yourself to Rap God with his origins being in battle rap. He has the commercial and award success to match anyone else in music history, let alone rap, and his lyricism comes close to that of Nas and 2Pac with a talent for metaphors that is unmatched.

Basically, Eminem doesn't really have a hole in his rap game, with his two "flaws" being that he raps about a lot of things that are dark, controversial, and borderline psychotic which alienates people, including his own fans, and that he doesn't always perform at the best of his ability. Whether it was due to personal issues taking him away at his peak, or just not putting in his best effort, Eminem has had moments where you wonder if he still has it. Then he comes back with a verse like his one on Caterpillar, and it's a reminder that no matter the name he is using, what group he is performing with (D12, Bad Meets Evil, Slaughterhouse), or who he is performing with (Jay-Z on Renegade, Biggie Smalls and Puff Daddy on Dead Wrong, 2Pac on One Day at a Time, and Drake, Kanye West, and Lil Wayne on Forever), Eminem is the greatest rapper of all-time.