Snoop Dogg’s considered by many to be the best emcee of all time. With hits such as ‘Gin And Juice’ and ‘Drop It Like It’s Hot’ his catalogue contains some of hip-hop’s biggest hits. However, to the emcee himself (real name Calvin Broadus), he is not the best.
As a Long Beach native raised during the 1980s, Snoop Dogg witnessed the birth of West Coast rap during the middle of the decade. However, he was also aware of the fantastic music coming out of New York during this period, with Def Jam ruling the charts.
In 2020, Snoop was asked about his top ten during an appearance on the New York radio show The Breakfast Club. In his conversation with the hosts, he clarified that he wouldn’t include Eminem in his top ten, which took many fans by surprise, and his language was very incendiary.
Referencing Eminem, Snoop stated, “Eminem, the great White hope. White rappers had zero respect in rap. Let’s keep that one thou-wow. None. He [Dr Dre] has probably put Eminem in the position to where he could be one of the top 10 rappers ever. I don’t think so.” Broadus continued to explain that he believed Eminem’s legendary status was purely a result of his association with Dr Dre.
However, he made it evident that as a 1980s kid, there are so many legends from that era that Eminem can’t touch, asserting, “There’s some n*ggas in the 1980s that he can’t f*ck with…like Rakim, like Big Daddy Kane, like KRS-One, like LL Cool J. Shall I go on? Like Ice Cube. You understand me? I ain’t got no time to play. It is what it is!”
Fans again were surprised he didn’t pay homage to Dr Dre, Jay-Z, Nas or any of his 1990s peers. However, following the interview, the Doggystyle musician took to Instagram to reveal his top ten, which really reassured fans that Broadus is just loyal to the icons of the 1980s.
Addressing his fans and other artists, Snoop wrote, “A lot nigg*z been cryin’ about me leaving people off my top 10 without. Even seeing my sh*t, so here it is. FYI, notice how none of my peers or m. Cs after me are on the list respect ya. Gz is what I was taught. If u offended, you’ll get over it. I get left off a lot of top 10s. I’m not even on this one.”
You can see Snoop Dogg’s 10 favourite rappers of all time below.