Most Overrated Rappers of All-Time

The list of the most overrated rappers of all-time includes artists who achieved mainstream success but never reached the same heights from a critical point of view. Hip hop has been a force for three decades now, and many of the genre's biggest names have become superstars. But, as with any genre, there have also been some artists who were more successful than their talents should have allowed.

Fans of rap music are very protective of their favorites, and even such stars as Kanye West, Eminem and Snoop Dogg have been labeled overrated by some listeners. But we've passed over those artists in favor of this group of the five most overrated rappers of all-time, counted down from five to one.

5 Nelly
When he first arrived with Country Grammar, Nelly's laid-back Midwestern style brought something new to the scene. The St. Louis rapper scored hits like "#1" and "Hot in Herre," which might have been the biggest hit of 2002, with lyrics urging everyone, "It's getting hot in here, so take off all your clothes."

But since then Nelly's career has tailed off. He tried infiltrating the mainstream, which he did with duets with Kelly Rowland and even country singer Tim McGraw. But that hurt his credibility within the rap community. Nelly finally returned to the charts in 2010 with "Just a Dream," but that song is a blatant rip-off of Wyclef Jean's "Sweetest Girl (Dollar Bill)." The chorus melodies are so similar, Wyclef could probably sue if he wanted to. The lack of any fresh ideas in years earns Nelly a spot as one of the most overrated rappers.

4 Ol' Dirty Bastard
Lack of originality was never a complaint against Ol' Dirty Bastard, a founding member of Wu-Tang Clan. As a solo rapper, ODB was big enough to earn a guest spot on the remix of Mariah Carey's "Fantasy" and scored a hit with "Got Your Money." His hilarious delivery made him popular but the novelty act wore thin over the years.

ODB gained additional notoriety when he rushed the Grammy stage to interrupt Shawn Colvin's acceptance speech, claiming "Wu-Tang is for the children!" The incident brought ODB a disproportionate level of attention as compared to his skills.

3 Puff Daddy/Diddy
Puffy was unquestionably one of the biggest stars in pop music in 1997. Between his hit "Can't Nobody Hold Me Down" and his production work on Notorious B.I.G.'s Life After Death, Puffy was everywhere. After B.I.G.'s death, Puffy teamed up with Ma$e and Faith Evans on "I'll Be Missing You," a re-working of the Police's "Every Breath You Take" that became one of popular music's most successful eulogies ever. Subsequent hits included "Mo Money Mo Problems" and "Victory."

But many critics felt Puffy's rap style was boring and lacked creativity. Puffy's follow-up album Forever flopped, and he's never been able to recapture mainstream success despite multiple name changes. Musicians respect Diddy's production abilities but not his flow, making him the third most overrated rapper ever.

2 Ja Rule
The only reason Ja Rule doesn't rank as the #1 most overrated rapper of all-time is that he was never taken all that seriously as an emcee. It's amazing that, at first, he tried to be a hardcore rapper like DMX, because Ja ended up becoming the poster boy for rappers who sell out for mushy pop hits. Ja's legacy will be his collaborations on top 40 hits with Ashanti and Jennifer Lopez, which earned him some cash but not critical acclaim.

In 2004, 50 Cent mercilessly mocked Ja Rule, virtually ending Ja's career. When you're being mocked by 50 Cent, you know you're an overrated rapper. Ja Rule had the audacity to compare himself to 2Pac, which riled a lot of people.

1 50 Cent
It's still hard to believe 50 Cent ever achieved any kind of success. As Chris Rock joked, "When 50 Cent's album came out, we never heard a thing about the music. All I heard was, 'He got shot nine times!'" It seemed that 50's back story, along with his association with Eminem, propelled him to success, despite his horrible rapping style. Aside from Ma$e, 50 Cent might be the most monotone rapper in history. His biggest hit," In Da Club," is probably the most overrated single in rap music history. The entire thing is powered by six keyboard notes, while 50's nauseating voice drawled over top.

50's arrogance also led to an embarrassing moment when he and Kanye West released their albums on the same day, with Kanye's far outselling his own. Thankfully, in recent years, the overrated rapper has started taking his (lack of) talents to the movie world instead.

Overrated rappers who just missed the cut
Among the other rap artists who might qualify as overrated but didn't make our list are Andre 3000, Method Man, Dr. Dre and Fat Joe.

Sources
www.mtv.com
www.allmusic.com