Former Source & Vibe Magazine journalist Allen Wiggins reflects back on some of the most overrated albums, rappers, and moments in hip hop history.

25. Chris Brown
Sure the dude can dance and is immensely popular with the gossip sites, but in reality, he can’t sing and is hardly ever in synch with the melody of his songs. Had it not been for the Rihanna controversy that bolted him into new heights of infamy, he’d be known as the guy who can do back flips and dance around on stage like he’s running from a bee.






24.Thug Motivation 101
There’s no question this album launched Jeezy into the mainstream, but lets not pretend like this was a ‘Doggystyle’ or ‘Ready to Die’ type debut album. Was it really necessary to follow up with Thug Motivation 102 and 103, and have a 5 year anniversary party for Thug Motivation 101?.










23. The Crunk Movement
Although Lil Jon and the rest of the ATL crew dominated the radio and clubs in the mid 2000s, none of the shuckin’ and jivin’ actually translated into record sales. It came and it went without ever making a real dent on the billboard charts.








22. The Hyphy Movement
The ‘Hyphy’ movement had been simmering around the Bay Area for many years prior to transitioning into mainstream notoriety in late 2005. The Bay had it’s chance to display their own culture and lifestyle to the rest of the country, but they quickly realized that nobody cared. And the Bay hasn’t been heard from since.






21. Life After Death
The most difficult task in hip hop is to create a double CD without fillers, and as blasphemous as it is to criticize the late great B.I.G, Life After Death had too many songs that diluted the album. Strip the album down to 12 songs and you have arguably the greatest album of all time








20. Rick Ross Getting “Exposed”
Originally thought to be a career ender, Rick Ross was “exposed” as a former Miami-Dade County Sargent who accumulated more arrests than anyone in the 138th precinct where he worked. Exposed or not, it didn’t harm his career and Rozay was recently voted as the #1 MC of 2011 by MTV.






19. Jadakiss
Jadakiss reminds us of a high NFL draft pick, he gets a lot of leeway from fans hoping he will eventually reach his potential once he’s put in the right situation. But after years of assessing his progress, or lack thereof, fans have to come to the realization that maybe he’s just not that good?






18. The Saviors of New York City Hip Hop
From about 2004-2009, there were a crop of up and coming MC’s that were supposed to revitalize NYC and bring it back to prominence. Saigon, Uncle Murder, Tru Life, and Papoose were the chosen ones. However, they ultimately turned out to be victims of the New York City hype machine and didn’t really result to much. They tried to bring NYC hip hop back, but instead they set it back 10 years.




17. 50 Cent.
‘Get Rich Or Die Trying’ is an absolute classic, it changed the landscape of hip hop and forever cemented 50′s legacy. However, since then, he’s failed to even create music worth listening to. His fall from grace has been stunning. Recently, in a desperate attempt of recapturing the glory days, 50 Cent tried rewinding the times, literally: He fled to Ethiopia, which uses a ‘Coptic’ calendar and is currently 2002.

16. Underground Hip Hop
There was a time when Underground Hip Hop consisted of the likes of Black Moon, Canibus, Cormega, Ras Kass, and Immortal Technique. A place where independent artists had the ability to express their artwork without the pressures of commercialism. Now these days, the landscape is filled with a bunch of Brian Scalabrines. A bunch of nerdy rappers who instead of trying to make music naturally, go out of their way to create “real” music that ultimately sounds forced and contrived.






15. Noreaga
Every solo effort released by Noreaga since War Report has been pretty awful. He’s been exposed as a sub-par lyricist with no direction in his music. The only thing he’s done notable since 1996 is toss a flower pot at Nas’ head after Esco told him to step his rap game up.








14. The Hate ‘Nastradamus’ Receives
Nastradamus is one of the most scrutinized albums of all time. Many believed it symbolized the downfall of an iconic MC. But in reality, Nas set the standard so high with his previous albums, anything short of amazing would be viewed as a disappointment. ‘Nastradamus’ had its flaws, but its nowhere near as awful as critics make it out be.












13. Eminem
There’s no doubt Eminem is amongst the greatest lyricists of all time and his impact on the game is well documented. However, if you compare his catalog to that of his peers, Slim Shady doesn’t belong in the same category of that of a Jay Z, Nas, Rakim, Ice Cube, 2pac, Biggie. He has 1 certified classic, and a slew of sub-par albums with god awful-annoying singles.






12. Drake
There’s no real justification to have Drake on this list, we just can’t stand this guy for some reason.










11. All Eyez On Me
To be fair, the same logic used for Life After Death can be used for Pac’s 1996 double CD. Although it’s viewed as a certified classic, it was the album released just months later; ’7 Day Theory’ that cemented Pac’s legacy.














10. Hip Hop Concerts
If you think it’s bad enough listening to Plies or Lil Wayne through iTunes, try listening to them in person. The concert experience for hip hop fans is definitely the worst amongst all music genres.








9. Elliot Wilson
The self-proclaimed GOAT of journalism was single handily responsible for destroying XXL, a once respectable magazine. When he wasn’t busy dick-riding Interscope artists, he used the first few pages of XXL to pen borderline-homosexually inspired letters aimed at his other man crush, Jay Z.








8. Snoop Dogg
There’s no other rapper who’s lived off his past triumphs as much as Uncle Snoop. Sure he’s been the face of an entire coast for nearly 15 years, but he’s also hasn’t done much in that time frame other then appear on weird television shows. The Kim Kardashian of Hip Hop, Snoop has been more of a personality than a rapper since his legendary Death Row days.






7. Dre Beats
How worthless do you feel if you’re Bishop Lamont, or an artist on the Aftermath shelf when a pair of headphones got a release date before you.










6. I Used To Love H.E.R.
The fact that Common released this track during the golden era of Hip Hop warrants him a spot on this list.








5. ‘Ether’
The impact of ‘Ether’ is not up for debate, it shattered the inner core of Hov’s existence, it took him a while to rediscover his swag. However, the song itself was filled with childish insults to go along with an awful beat. There’s no denying Esco was the benefactor of a culture that loves to root for underdogs, and fans just wanted to see Goliath fall, under any circumstance.






4. Award Shows
Put this in perspective: Lil Wayne has more Grammy’s (4) than Nas, Tupac, Biggie, have Billboard Music, World Music, VMA, BET, AMA awards, COMBINED.










3. The Streets
This isn’t the 90s anymore when the perspective of the streets had a major influence on what kind of records rappers created. These days, rappers no longer seek the approval of the street audience and focus their efforts strictly towards online promotion and the 106 & Park crowd. The irrelevance of the street fan base allowed rappers such as Drake, Rick Ross, Plies and many more to flourish without any consequence or backlash.




2. Reasonable Doubt
Many Jay fans want you to believe that the Reasonable Doubt’ belongs amongst the esteemed echelon of albums such as Illmatic, Ready to Die, 7 Day Theory and such. However, the album had little to 0 impact when it first hit the shelves in 96. It was as if Hov listened to Ready to Die and created a carbon copy album filled with redundant mafioso tales. It wasn’t until 2001 or so when Hov pushed the ‘classic’ tag on this album and his fans ate it up.










1. Lil Wayne
As far as we’re concerned, Lil Wayne is trolling us all. He spits mindless dribble purposely to cause a stir and to sell records. He gets it, YMCMB get its, his critics get it, the only ones who haven’t realized it? His legion of gullible sheep, fans who believe he’s an untouchable MC that deserves his own statue outside of the Rock N Roll hall of fame.