I'm sticking with alive
Chuck D
KRS-1
Rakim
Big Daddy Kane
Cube
EPMD (Sorry, I can't consider them seperate entities Eric without Paris is like H2 without the O it aint water.)
Jay-Z
LL Cool J
Kool Moe Dee
Ice T (if we include Biggie & Pac, EPMD comes off and Pac goes on.)
This list is SO right!
BUT... there are some things I would like to change.
Let's get a few things straight first:
LL Cool J can
never EVER be on this list.
NEVER!Jay-Z has not said anything worth remembering.
Kool Moe Dee is a pioneer but he doesn't make MY cut either.
Erick and Parish are a duo...
Ice-T has no reason to lie to you, he taught Mr. T to rap, has done more for Hip Hop than Jay-Z...still ain't on my short list.
Ice Cube MADE N.W.A., put the West Coast Sound on the MAP.. Not on the List
Also, we're talking Signed to Label artists, not the cats on youtube that can blow many of these "GREATS" on our lists away.
Now that we got THAT straight:
The elements we need to contemplate are
- Delivery
- Voice
- Syntax/diction
- Beats
- Content
If we can agree with these elements, it's easy to get rigid with your score.
(in no particular order)
Yasiin Bey
MF
King Asiatic Nobody's Equal
The God
The Rhyme Animal/Hard Rhymer
3 Stacks
LYTE (i din't forget)
The Teacher
The Next tier is LARGE, just saying...
...also, on the gender side of things, no MC Lyte and no Queen Latifah 
-- I really wanted the Fat Boys to be in the mix, one of their early cuts like "Jailhouse Rap", "Fat Boys", "Human beatbox pt. 1", etc.
I was also somewhat surprised that Hammer's "U can't touch this" wasn't included; historically, it's an important record, regardless of what certain people feel in retrospect about Hammer's career and the pop-implications that came into play...
No Jazzy Jeff & Fresh Prince.. I'd put "girls ain't nothing but trouble" or "Parents just don't understand" on there..
Yup! 
These records and artists are very important, but cannot be on the list. The simple fact is that they cannot compete, the elements are too tough.
Rolling Stone, Vibe, none of those magazines have ever counted.. Ask Wax Poetic!!
Eminem has skills, he may be a bitch, he may be white, he may be a culture vulture...but he has REALL skills. And I struggle with this like I struggle with acknowledging white Graff Artists. BUT THEY HAVE MAAAAD SKILLZ too, this cannot be disputed.
There is only ONE beat maker, and that is the Late Great J-Dilla. He's so dope, you gotta put him up like Dylon; Creating Hot Fi-yah! 1!2!3!4!&5!! Sure, we can throw in everyone else, but his sh*t stands alone... without an Emcee. Sure, there's an instrumental station on Pandora. That's
NOT what I'm talking about. His beats
never needed, and probably never had an emcee in mind during creation; ART! Who thought of a James Brown Instrumental? EVERYONE!
Then, who created it?
J-Dilla.
Lastly,
A "quotable" does not a HIP-HOP Icon create. Rappers that focus on quotables, quips and snarky sh*t are only focussing on a fifth of the criterion. The WHOLE "It Takes a Notion..." ALBUM was the quotable. "M.P.E" was the quotable. "Fight the Power" was the quotable. "Rebel Without a Pause"? WHAAAAAAAT!!!?? If you don't know the material, we have established the problem.
BUT, just to indulge you:
Fight the Power Verse 2-As the rhythm designed to bounce
What counts is that the rhymes
Designed to fill your mind
Now that you've realized the pride's arrived
We got to pump the stuff to make us tough
From the heart
It's a start, a work of art
To revolutionize make a change nothing's strange
People, people we are the same
No we're not the same
Cause we don't know the game
What we need is awareness, we can't get careless
You say what is this?
My beloved lets get down to business
Mental self defensive fitness
(Yo) bum rush the show
You gotta go for what you know
Make everybody see, in order to fight the powers that be
Lemme hear you say
Fight the power
Don't Believe the Hype Verse 2-Back, caught you looking for the same thing
It's a new thing, check out this I bring
Uhh, oh, the roll below the level, cause I'm living low
Next to the bass, (C'mon!), turn up the radio
They claiming I'm a criminal
But now I wonder how, some people never know
The enemy could be their friend, guardian
I'm not a hooligan, I rock the party and
Clear all the madness, I'm not a racist
Preach to teach to all (cause some they never had this)
Number one, never on the run, about the gun
I wasn't licensed to have one
The minute they see me, fear me
I'm the epitome, a public enemy
Used, abused without clues
I refuse to blow a fuse
They even had it on the news
(Kicking a hole in the speaker)
