A crazy flow is guaranteed to stick with you for ages. Unless you’re the literary type who is keenly attuned with the lyrics, you’re most likely going to capture the beat and a rapper’s flow first. Thus, when a flow is incredible, it’ll stand out that much more and will likely make you a fan for life. Modern examples range from Kendrick Lamar’s elusive, athletic flow to Gunna’s buttery stream-of-consciousness.
But who are the cream of the crop? Which rappers have some of the best flows of all time? Noisey has selected six rappers across hip-hop history with unparalleled flows. As a result, we’ll see how different regions tackle their slang and deliveries in the most magnetic ways.
Six Artists With The Most Iconic Flows of All Time
The Notorious B.I.G.
Biggie arguably mastered what it means to flow on a rap song. He had this buoyancy to his pace and rhythm that made him malleable to any kind of record. Bad Boy era, shiny suit era, grizzled street anthems, or more haunting tapestries, Biggie had a pocket for all of it. He could rap fast or slow, and it never acted at the expense of his lyricism. “Notorious Thugs” demonstrates this idea seamlessly, weaving around Bone Thugs-N-Harmony’s airy melodies and keeping up with their windy rhythms. Had Biggie lived long enough, we would’ve seen him continue to challenge his palette on a variety of different rap songs. He would’ve mastered them all, too.
Project Pat
To call Project Pat’s flow dexterous is a gross understatement. He would bend words on a whim in order to not only bend a rhyme scheme, but occasionally contort the rhythm entirely. Rappers were fascinated by him and by Three 6 Mafia, enamored by how they challenged hip-hop conventions, and eventually adopted the triplet flow. But as many tried to imitate, no one could duplicate Project Pat.
Juvenile
New Orleans artists rap with the DNA of Jazz flowing in their veins. There’s an unconventionality in flow, pacing, and lingo that distinguishes NOLA’s own from everyone else on the planet. Juvenile is one of those Louisiana rappers who embody this quality best, especially on a record like “Ha”, where his flow scats like a moody club in a haze of cigarette smoke. Rappers like Juvie, with his deep Cajun drawl, created a distinct avenue for New Orleans rappers to thrive.
Rakim
Rakim’s flow was so legendary that it revolutionized hip-hop. Earlier in the 80s, there was a formal way of emceeing. If you couldn’t rock the party, you weren’t really rapping. Even acts like Run DMC had a big, explosive formula for rocking the mic. But Rakim challenged the conventions of rapping with a visceral edge and incomparable cool. It’s like a basketball player inventing the crossover. You’d think it was cheating if it didn’t look so beautiful and effortless.
Suga Free
No one has ever sounded like Suga Free before or after him. Plenty of people have put on a cartoonish pimp demeanor to try to match what he did effortlessly. But the way he weaved casual slick talk with a measured, precise flow made the Gardena-born rapper inimitable. Moreover, he was far too sharp and colorful in his lyrics to be a mere gimmick. A lesser rapper would’ve leaned all the way into the character, casting a shadow over the talent. Instead, Suga Free became one of the greatest West Coast rappers of all time by being wholly himself.
Twista
Speed isn’t everything in a good flow. Oftentimes, the technically impressive word stitching can feel like empty calories. The language itself can be meaningless or nonsensical. But the quick pace allows it to come across as impressive and impactful when it’s really not.
But then there are artists like Twista, a rapper with a breakneck speed who also weaves in some outrageous lyricism. Take “Adrenaline Rush” and how he uses his whiplash speed in spurts like an SMG. Or play “Slow Jamz” and see how he quickly rattled off a litany of lines, all building to a breakdown to end a rhyme scheme. Twista altered the way we understood fast rapping, lessons that rappers are still struggling to apply today.
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