Rap Report Card From the 1990s Grading Jay-Z, DMX and Others Goes Viral
A new set of rappers enter into the OG realm as the generations pass and it's always interesting to hear their thoughts on the newcomers. A rap report card from the late 1990s, done by 1980's MC Kool Moe Dee, has surfaced the internet from Ego Trip's Book of Rap Lists, released in 1999, and there are grades for a host of rap veterans from Jay-Z to DMX.
U.K. scratch DJ Jimbo Jones shared a tweet on Sunday (Jan. 8), which included the report card with rappers from the 1980s and 1990s, and how Kool Moe Dee felt about their overall skillsets as artists.
Jones captioned the post, "Back in the 80s, Kool Moe Dee did a report cards with grades for rappers on the inner sleeve of the ‘How You Like Me Now’ LP. Ego Trip got him to do another one at the end of the 90s. Fun reading."
On the card, there are 10 different criteria that are ranked on a scale from one to 10 and an accumulated total. The categories include vocabulary, articulation, creativity, originality, versatility, voice, records, stage presence, sticking to themes and innovating rhythms.
The first on the list is Hov, who scored sevens for vocabulary and versatility, nines for articulation, creativity, sticking to themes and innovating rhymes, eights for originality and voice, six for stage presence and a 10 for records. Altogether, Jigga had an 82, which leveled out to a solid B.
Below Jay-Z on the list is DMX, who had slightly higher numbers. Like Hov, X received sevens for vocabulary and versatility, nines for articulation, records and sticking to themes and 10s for originality, stage presence and innovating rhythms. The late rapper's final score was an 89, with a letter grade of B+.
The straight A students included Busta Rhymes, Treach of Naughty by Nature, Method Man, Tupac Shakur and Mystikal. Lauryn Hill and The Notorious B.I.G. were given an A+ with nines and 10s across the board.
The lowest score was a C+ and one of the rhymers to par at average was Ma$e. However, his then-rapping partner-in-crime, Diddy, received a B, with his lowest grade coming in the originality category. Puff was given a seven.
Lil' Kim, an XXL Awards board member, and Foxy Brown both received Bs, with Kim's tabulation coming out to an 83 while Fox Boogie had an 82.
This afternoon (Jan. 10), Jimbo Jones wrote another tweet in response to the rap report cards going viral.
"It’s crazy how my post has made it to so many places! It’s all love ❤️ All from my ego trip’s book of rap lists (second copy after the first one disintegrated) 😂," he typed.
The report card from the 1980s included the grader himself, Kool Moe Dee, with a 95, Melle Mel (95), LL Cool J (90), Rakim—although it's spelled Rahkim—(91), KRS-One (90) and many more.
Book of Rap Lists is the work of Ego Trip, which is made up of Gabe Alvarez, Sacha Jenkins, Elliott Wilson and Brent L. Rollins.
Do you agree with these scores?