Busta Rhymes has revealed his personal favorite rapper, naming Roc Marciano as the artist he feels is “most underrated” in Hip-Hop today.
The veteran rap star was recently asked by SPIN to pick his favorite underrated rapper in celebration of Hip-Hop 50. He chose Marciano based on his opinion that a lot of his peers are afraid of collaborating with him out of fear of being lyrically outclassed by the Hempstead, Long Island, native. “Roc Marciano,” Busta simply said of his selection. “A lot of people are scared to rhyme with him.”
The 51-year-old has spoken glowingly about Roc Marciano on numerous occasions, continuously listing him among the most elite spitters he’s ever worked with. In 2018, he even included the tenured wordsmith in his personal top five list of rappers in the history of Hip-Hop.
“When I say Roc Marci is my top five MC ever, there’s a whole lot of science behind that,” Busta said during an appearance at one of the rapper’s live shows. “The God Roc Marciano is a godsend… The precision, his ability to be an incredible architect with words. The man is a craftsman with the pen.”
He continued, adding, “Roc Marci exemplifies a timeless greatness, and there’s a lot of great ni**as that’s afraid to rhyme with him,” he said. And then, he repeated his statement once more for good measure: “There’s a lot of great n**gas that’s afraid to rhyme with him.”
Enlisted as a member of the Flipmode Squad during the late ’90s, Roc Marciano first made waves with his appearance on Busta’s 2000 album Anarchy on “The Heist” featuring Ghostface Killah and Raekwon. Forming the rap group The U.N. shortly after, Roc Marciano’s output was sporadic during the ’00s, but he saw a resurgence with his critically-acclaimed solo debut Marcberg in 2010. Since then, he has released several solo albums and collaborative projects, including his most recent drop The Elephant Man’s Bones with The Alchemist in 2022.
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