Big L was a very good rapper, but off the top of my head I can think of about 5 other guys that I'd put ahead of him. To his credit, he got better as he aged, and he was at his very best right before he died. If he lived longer, he could have risen on my list.I am sure I may get people who say this is going the popular route, but the best lyricist of all time is Nas (first 2 albums mostly). What makes him special is he is by far the best storytelling rapper of all time. He has made some of the most unique rap songs of all time; Rewind (raps a story, but in reverse order), I Gave You power (raps in the POV of a gun), and what seems to be everyone's favorite song, NY State of Mind. Early in his career his flow was FLAWLESS. He stitched rhymes together and made it flow unlike any other before or ever since. Moreso than any other rapper that I have listened to, he would use amazingly precise detail to paint a picture in your mind. He would use all kinds of metaphors, similies, and whatever else he could do to burn the picture he wanted to be in your mind. He also made 2 of the best diss songs/freestyles of all time (H to the OMO, Ether). Some of my favorite quotes:"When it's my time to go, I wait for God with the fo'-fo'" (read somewhere this was one of 2Pac's favorite lines)"I switched my motto -- instead of sayin F*ck tomorrowThat buck that bought a bottle could've struck the lotto""Cause I'm as ill as a convict who kills for phone time""With more kicks than a baby in a mother's stomach""I rap in front of more niggaz than in the slave ships""Versatile, my style switches like a faggot But not bisexual, I'm an intellectual Of rap, I'm a professional and that's no question, yo""How you like me now? I go blaowIt's that sh*t that moves crowds makin every ghetto foulI might have took your first childScarred your life, crippled your styleI gave you powerI made you buck wild""Always I'm in some sh*t, my abdomen is the clipThe barrel is my dick, uncircumcisedPull my skin back and cock me, I bust off when they unlock me""Heaven and hell, rap legend, presence is feltAnd of course N - A - S are the letters that spell . . .""Sittin in back of this chair, we hittin the roachThe smoke goes back in the blunt, the blunt gets bigger in growthJungle unrolls it, put his weed back in the jarThe blunt turns back into a cigar""Hung up the phone, then the phone rang I'm laid in the bed thinkin 'bout this pretty young thingWho left, she came back, her clothes just fell to the rugShe fell to my bed and gave me a hugI told her, "No hell"She talkin 'bout, "Me kiss"Bobbed her head then spit the nut back in my dickStarted suckin with no hands, a whole lotta spitThen got up and put her bra back on her titsGot fully dressed and told me, "Stressed really I'm"Picked up her Gucci bag and left her nigga behindWalkin through the door, she rang the bell twiceI vomited Vodka back in my glass with juice and iceThe clock went back from three, to two, to oneAnd that's about the time the story begun""(I) F*ck with your soul like ether(Will) Teach you the king you know you(Not) "God's son" across the belly(Lose) I prove you lost already""You a fan, a phony, a fake, a pussy, a StanI still whip your ass, you thirty-six in a karate classYou Tae-bo hoe, tryna' work it out, you tryna' get brolic?Ask me if I'm tryna' kick knowledgeNah, I'm tryna' kick the sh*t you need to learn thoughThat ether, that sh*t that make your soul burn slowIs he Dame Diddy, Dame Daddy or Dame Dummy?Oh, I get it, you Biggie and he's PuffyRockafeller died of AIDS, that was the end of his chapterAnd that's the guy y'all chose to name your company after?Put it together, I rock hoes, y'all rock fellasAnd now y'all try to take my spot, fellas?Philly's hot rock fellas, put you in a dry spot, fellasIn a pine box with nine shots from my glock, fellasFoxy got you hot 'cause you kept your face in her pussWhat you think, you gettin girls now 'cause of your looks?Ne-gro pleaseYou no mustache havin, with whiskers like a ratCompared to Beans you wackAnd your man stabbed Un and made you take the blameYou ass, went from Jaz to hangin with Caine, to Herb, to BigAnd, Eminem murdered you on your own sh*tYou a dick-ridin faggot, you love the attentionQueens niggas run you niggas, ask Russell SimmonsHa, R-O-C get gunned up and clapped quickJ.J. Evans get gunned up and clapped quickYour whole damn record label gunned up and clapped quickShawn Carter to Jay-Z, damn you on Jaz dickSo little shorty's gettin gunned up and clapped quickHow much of Biggie's rhymes is gon' come out your fat lips?Wanted to be on every last one of my classicsYou pop sh*t, apologize, nigga, just ask Kiss"
