Tyga picks the greatest rappers of all time: “Generational influence”
Compton emcee Tyga first broke onto the scene in 2009 as part of Lil Wayne’s Young Money collective, and alongside his crewmates Drake, Nicki Minaj, and others, quickly began to enter the mainstream.
Following the release of We Are Young Money, Tyga shortly entered the charts with his club anthem, ‘Rack City’. Released as the second single of his debut album, Careless World: Rise of the Last King, the DJ Mustard-produced track was Tyga’s first entry into Billboard’s top ten.
The song’s music video, featuring Blac Chyna, saw the rapper (real name Micheal Stevenson) quickly enter a relationship with the model and reality TV star. Over the years, although Tyga hasn’t achieved the same success as his YMCMB, he has been at the centre of various relationships with stars, including Black Chyna and even Kylie Jenner.
With songs such as ‘Hookah’ featuring Young Thug and his nine-times platinum 2018 single ‘Taste’, Tyga has been a mainstay in hip-hop since the 2010s and, last year, the Compton native took to Twitter/X to name who he believes are some of the greatest rappers.
Praising his former Young Money counterpart Nicki Minaj, Stevenson called her the best female rapper ever and cited her punchlines, delivery, and beat choice as some of the main reasons why. Tweeting directly to his followers, the emcee wrote, “Nicki is the best female rapper of all time. No one comes close! Worldplay, punchlines, delivery, pockets, beat selection, creativity. Inflictions.”
The rapper tweeted it shortly after Minaj’s Pink Friday 2 single, ‘Red Ruby Da Sleaze,’ debuted at number-one on the Billboard Hot Rap Songs chart. Akin to her 2022 single ‘Super Freaky Girl’.
Following up, Tyga then named his two best MCs ever, writing, “Lil Wayne & Eminem are the best rappers of all time! Lyrical wordplay, delivery, flow, pockets, originality, raw, intentional, clarity, generational influence.”
Despite the current trend for dunking on influential rappers, it is hard to look back at the careers of Wayne and Eminem and not recognise the game-changing albums and songs they have released. Eminem, in particular, is often derided for not having tracks that the streets would play out in their cars, driving around. But that still doesn’t scrub away the heat he brought to hip-hop.
You can see Tyga’s tweets below.