Who is the greatest rapper of all time..

[blaise]

It's kind of an unsatisfying discussion when it comes up, in my opinion. A lot of people end up saying Jay Z because of his body of work even though he never seems to be anyone's favorite MC in terms of mic skills.
Then you have guys like KRS One and Rakim whose body of work isn't as big as JayZ's but when they're at their best they're better than he is.
Same thing with PMD. His best is better than Jay Z in my opinion, but a pretty small body of good work.
I think Biggie is my favorite just in terms of mic skills. I don't think he's lyrically as strong as some others though.
My favorite rap act would probably be Tribe based on Low End Theory and Midnight Marauders. And of the two emcees I always preferred Phife.
My favorite album would probably be Paul's Boutique. There's hundreds of cool samples, clever lines and great songs. I once read Rakim say that he could make 5 albums from Paul's Boutique samples. You couldn't even make that album anymore with all the stuff they used, via the Dust Brothers.