Chris Rock is a firm believer in the school of thought that you can understand a person simply from their five favourite rappers. In fact, he even made a whole comedy around this premise, and the comedian has even shared his own.
It’s safe to say that the comic is perched firmly in the pantheon of greats in his profession. Rock can cause belly laughs to ripple anywhere he takes to the stage, and there’s not one act in the world who would want to follow him at a comedy club. To put it like this, if there’s anybody who knows what it takes to be talented when armed with a mic, then it’s Chris Rock, and he’s a true hip-hop aficionado.
His startling career started back when he was a teenager in the ’80s, which led to him securing his big break when in 1990, he earned a role as a cast member on Saturday Night Live. That allowed Rock the opportunity to elevate his career, and soon enough, he had millions of Americans in hysterics by his antics every week.
It only took him a couple of years at Studio 8H before outgrowing his role and dominating the comedy scene. In the late ’90s, Rock’s Bigger and Blacker special made him the most revered comic in the States, which is a status that he’s managed to maintain over the last 20 years.
Hip-hop is a subject that he regularly integrates into his stage shows and has been a rare defendant of the genre in the mainstream. In 2014, Rock even revealed that Jay-Z, Nas, Ghetto Boys’ Scarface, Rakim from Eric B, and Biggie were his five all-time favourite MCs. He also provided a notable mention for LL Cool J, who narrowly missed out.
Unsurprisingly, Rock has shown love for these artists before, and once speaking to Rolling Stone, he named Jay-Z’s Reasonable Doubt as one of his favourite albums of all time.
“I love this CD and I hate it,” Rock says. “I love it ’cause it’s Jay’s best record – best beats, best flow – and I hate it ’cause since it came out every rap record is trying to copy it. What Jay-Z did with Reasonable Doubt is take the Scarface formula and pretty it up for New York. Reasonable Doubt is his real The Blueprint. I still listen to it.”
Meanwhile, in the same piece, he expressed his adoration for Rakim, saying, “If I ever have a son, his middle name will be Rakim.” Praise doesn’t get much higher than that, although he’s still yet to have a son and make good on his promise.
Chris Rock’s favourite rappers
- Jay-Z
- Nas
- Ghetto Boys’ Scarface
- Rakim from Eric B
- Biggie Smalls
