Drake’s got a real sense of humor and just really good rhymes, really good flow. It’s easy to hate, but the guy’s a little too good for that. Everyone on my list is really funny—and that’s the thing rappers overlook.

“He’s almost like a dream MC because he’s kind of an East Coast MC with a West Coast swagger about him. You don’t really meet a lot of West Coast rappers with quotable lines. So he’s like a West Coast Nas. He’s got great confidence. He’s one of the few rappers that’s great live. He may end up being the best rapper that Dre’s had, and I know that’s blasphemous considering Dre’s had Ice Cube, Snoop, and Eminem, but this guy’s really, really good.”

“The thing about Nicki is it’s not even about her and other female rappers—she’s better than most guys. She’s just a great package. She’s got skills, she’s really beautiful, and she’s actually really funny too. If you want to just talk sh-t, about how bad you are, and who’s got a better Bentley, and how good you look, heyyy, nobody wants to follow her. She’s amazing.”

“Everybody else in music right now, some of their fans are little kids. No matter who it is, no matter how dirty, everybody in music right now has a little toe in Nickelodeon, let’s say. Whereas Rick Ross is making grownup rap. He’s making a kind of gritty, ugly, amazing music that no one’s even attempting at this point. Everybody’s trying to be so pretty. Everybody wants to be in a fashion show, and Rick Ross could give less than a f-ck.”

Jay Z’s graduated to the all-time list at this point, but Kanye is the most interesting person in the history of rap—the most interesting artist, the most interesting sounds. There’s never been a rapper with a mystique, and he’s that guy.