- Notorious B.I.G. – He used to read Word Up Magazine
- MC Hammer – Owner of the world’s largest collection of parachute pants
- ?uestlove – Half-man, half-funkybeard drummer
- Amanda Diva – Spandex-wearing soul-rappah
- Noreaga – Good MC, bad reggaeton dancer
- Jay Electronica – Follow him now or he’ll melt your brain in your sleep!
- Eli Porter – Winner of the greatest freestyle battle ever
- Sickamore – Famous hip-hop DJ, also addicted to burger
- Countbass D – One of the illest producers on the mic
- Q-Tip – Nasal-voiced ATCQ frontman
- DJ Green Lantern – The Evil Greenius
- Wale – First rapper from the underwater
- MC Lyte – GFOAT
- Just Blaze – The Megatron Don of beatsmithing
- Donny Goines – If you don’t know his name he’s not working hard enough
- Charles Hamilton – The reason Brooklyn tourism hit an all-time high in 2008
- Black Milk – Detroit’s newest, funkiest, nastiest, illest, producer
- A-Trak – Only dates chicks with mile-long acrylic nails
- DJ Semtex – The Explosive One!
- Joe Budden – The Internet’s favorite rapper
- DJ Enuff – Loves music, hates music business
- Pacific Division – Victims of The Grown Kid Syndrome
- Double-O (Kidz in the Hall) – Cave Spelunker and Tectonic Plate explorer
- Naledge (Kidz in the Hall) – Chicago makes smart rappers too, you know
- Kid Sister – Feisty femme fatale with a penchant for fancy fingertips
- Mick Boogie – Globe-trotting hip-hop DJ
- Clinton Sparks – Get Familiar!
- Bavu Blakes – It’s Bah-VOO. Say it with me, Bah-VOO!
- Illmind – Producer guy from Jersey
- Rhymefest – Never met a beat he couldn’t pummel into submission
- Khrysis – Producer guy from North Kakalaka
- Nina B – BK femcee
- Skyzoo – Premier thinks he’s nice, so he must be
- 6th Sense – Heavy Obama supporter
- Yak Ballz – Hip-hop’s first Scifentologist
- Murs – Touring machine
- Mickey Factz – Bespectacled rapper from Bronx, NY and big fan of Mortal Kombat
- Von Pea – Dictionary-toting MC from Brooklynati
- Don Cannon – Only slightly less influential than Jimmy Iovine
- Cashless – Deadly on the 1’s & 2’s
- Jean Grae – Better than your favorite female rapper
- Oddisee – Producer guy who happens to be sick on any tempo
- Chino XL – Deadly with the pen
- B-Real – The Hip-Hop Chuck Norris
- Soulbrotha – Had to write a song about Twitter to make this list
- Rukus – Deadly on the mic
- Phonte – Part time Little Brother MC, part time sanga
- Big Pooh – That other guy in Little Brother
- John Brown – Undisputed king of Burbology
- Shaq – Sometime rapper, sometime baller. Always quotatious
