My #5 is Fathom 9 because I have always been fond of scientific & intricate lyricism. Plus, his beats are pretty fly too. Only reason why he only ranks 5 is because I can’t bump his music casually around most w/o them looking at me like wtf O.o???
#4 for me is Fridae Blaque. He, imo, is a new spin of the more hood side of Memphis emcees who’ll rap about the dope game w/ decent punchlines, similes & metaphors. speaking both of the positives & negatives of that kind of life (for too long rappers have been too one sided about that life). Dude an all around great MC
#3 is Jason da Hater. I think of him as Memphis’s own KRS One, uplifting, encouraging & teaching. Showing Memphis in a more positive light. It’s also cool 2 hear an emcee who doesn’t need to use profanity & still be a damn good lyricist. Plus his corniness at times add to his charm
#2 is Virghost. I first heard him back in 2012 when he was featured on the team memphis cypher #3. What 2 say about ghost??? You can hear that mane passion on every track he’s on, commanding your attention when ever he’s on the mic. From project to project, he gets better & better, The Memphiasco (as good as it was) was trumped by Trial N Error. Trial N Error was trumped by Live From The Other Side & the same can be said about that album compared to Summer In September.
My #1 is the Memphis 10 legend. Playa Fly. He may not be as lyrical as the aforementioned MCs I listed but their no denying his influence on them. Fly was my earliest definition of what an MC was suppose 2 be. I mean honestly, who was rapping in Memphis in the early, mid & late 90s like Fly??? Nobody. Where Three 6, Frayser Click, Mo Chedda where all about f-----g females, pimping, hustling, killing, Fly talked about his nappy hair & grill, having a good time & just trying to be the best rapper he could be. He spit w/ a almost furious passion w/ that deep a-s, gravelly voice unlike most underground who had that same lazy delivery & rhyme scheme.
And those are my top 5 favorite & most lyrical MCs out of Memphis
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