Over/Under

Since I'm bored on a Friday night, and with a lull at Chez Sparkles because the little girl has finally drifted off to sleep (a little piece of advice for parents out there/my wife: don't give toddlers hot chocolate an hour before their usual bedtime), I'm going to write about -- my English professors would strangle me if they read that poor introductory device -- who I think are the most overrated and underrated hip-hop MCs and groups. I'm going to omit those whom I have little or no interest in, such as 50 Cent, Nellie, etc. Then I'm going to watch Treasure of the Sierra Madre and eat a pizza sub. Keep in mind that I genuinely dig all of the artists mentioned below, and that the subjective nature of this listing is open for more argument, debate, and gunfire than a banana republic parliamentary caucus.

Underrated:

Organized Konfusion

Every album Prince Po and Pharaoh Monch released together is a classic in my books. They needed each other. Monch's solo was great, but it in no way matched the excellence of OKs 3 albums. Stress: The Extinction Agenda is my fave, with The Equinox a close second. Damn near impossible to find any OK album, which is a shame. It's also pretty ironic that Monch's solo, which I think went gold, is likewise impossible to find, since, I believe, Toho sued Rawkus for the Godzilla sample used on "Simon Says" and got all existing copies for sale pulled from shelves.

The Artifacts

Another duo who have nothing but hate for each other these days. Yes, their 2nd and final album was just a tad above mediocre, but they were, behind OK, possibly the best MC duo of the 90s (Heltah Skeltah is probably 3rd). And like OK, the separate parts haven't come close to matching their sum. Tame One and El Da Sensei need each other like blue needs cheese. I just found out that their debut, Between A Rock & A Hard Place, was reissued. In the immortal words of Dirk Diggler, "I'm going to fucking buy [this]."

Kurious

Forgive the pun, but 1994's A Constipated Monkey was my shit. Whatever happened to Kurious? If I were filthy rich, I'd pay a private investigator to find out. Then I'd hire him to play my daughter's birthday. Kurious, not the private investigator.

3rd Bass

The Cactus Album/Tape/CD/8-Track/Whatever is a classic. Of that there can be no debate. But you know what? Their follow-up, Derelicts of Dialect, is better.

Brand Nubian

Brand Nubian's One For All is my favorite hip-hop album. Period. After Grand Puba left, Sadat X and Lord Jammar released the noteworthy (but far from classic) In God We Trust. Their 3rd album, however, is grossly underrated and was thought by many to be a flop. It isn't. It's fucking great (please forgive my million dollar words). Honestly, I could and probably will at some point write a 2000-word post on the greatness of Brand Nu. Terribly underrated and sadly forgotten whenever Top 10 albums arguments arise.

AG (Andre The Giant)

The smoothest cadence I've ever had the pleasure of listening to. When I heard last year's Handsome Boy Modeling School's White People, I actually got goosebumps hearing that flow again.

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Overrated:

GZA/Genius

Before I catch flak for this, let it be known that the GZA is one of my top 5 favorite lyricists. Dude paints pictures with his rhymes, and that's not hyperbole. Liquid Swords is among the top 20 hip-hop albums ever released.

But.

But Liquid Swords is his only great album. Words From A Genius shows the promise of a budding MC, but is ultimately just so-so and hasn't stood the test of time at all; Beneath The Surface suffers from a lack of cohesion both in song concepts and producer-wise (it's a good album, but it feels too cut-and-paste); and Legend of the Liquid Sword, besides being a truly awful album title which attempts to kindle longtime fans' affinity for GZA'a magnum opus, is basically Beneath The Surface II.

Also, he had a chance to amaze and astound us with Wu-Tang Forever, and what did we get? GZA has like 3 verses on the entire fucking (double)album! I thought the GZA was supposed to be the head!

The Grandmasters album he released recently with DJ Muggs is dope, but I'm still going to call him overrated, because I think he rested on his laurels instead of trying to evolve.

2Pac

2Pac is overrated in the same way James Dean is overrated: both were charismatic and had talent, but their greatness is always measured more by their image and less by their collective works. 2Pac edges Dean simply for the sheer output of his music, but he wasn't a great lyricist -- certainly not at the same level of his rival, the similarly-deceased Biggie Smalls -- much in the same way that James Dean wasn't that great an actor (could Dean touch Brando? No. Could 'Pac touch Big? No). Does that mean I consider Kurious to be a better artist than 2Pac? Of course not. But whenever I see his name listed amongst the great MCs of all time, it bugs me, because 2Pac the icon always takes precedence over 2Pac the recording artist. 'Pac was great, but he also did more harm than good for hip-hop.

Black Sheep

How can you drop a classic album -- as a member of the collective Native Tongues, no less -- and then just die? Non-Fiction was alright (barely), which makes it a slow death, but still. A Tribe Called Quest. The Jungle Brothers. De La Soul. Didn't Black Sheep have a responsibility to bear the torch? It's impossible for me to listen to A Wolf In Sheep's Clothing now without getting pissed off, wondering what could have been.

Chris Parnell and Andy Samberg

Lazy Sunday was dope and all, but let's wait a bit before we put them in the same echelon as Bobby Jimmy and the Critters.

Remember Rappin' Duke? Da-har, da-har.