8. Odd Future
OFWGKTA is like the Oklahoma City Thunder back in 2012: A core group with enough talent to build a dynasty that sadly splintered before bringing home a championship. But could a crew that made its name by pushing the limits of NSFW rap reconcile that aesthetic with the soulful turns taken by Frank Ocean, Syd Tha Kid, and Tyler, The Creator? We may never know — and maybe that’s for the best.
7. St. Lunatics
One of the great tragedies in rap is when a crew sends their most charismatic member to kick in the industry door — and then fails to convince anyone that they’re anything more than hypemen for the aforementioned charismatic MC (in this case, Nelly). Doesn’t mean we need “Air Force Twos,” though!
6. Theodore Unit
In the vast and sprawling cosmos known as the Wu-Tang Universe, just about every core member has a side project. (Yup, even U-God; meet the Hillside Scramblers!) But with Ghostface and his homies actually pulling it together to drop a whole album of Pretty Toney outtakes, the T-T-T-T-T Unit gets the dubious honor of making this list. The real question is, who was the Wu’s dopest White boy — Shawn Wigs or Remedy? JK, no one cares.
5. Playaz Circle
Respect to Dolla Boy, but only one of these two rappers matured from a duffle bag boy into a duffle bag man — and there’s no looking back for Tity Boi, better known as 2 Chainz. (Also, this duo’s acronymed name — Preparing Legal Assets (for) Years (from) A (to) Z — just doesn’t make any sense.)
4. Da Band
Reunion television special? We’d be on time for that! But the only way we’d be excited for new music from P. Diddy’s Frankensteined reality TV rap group is if it featured Dave Chappelle, in character, rapping as Dylan. You trying to get some of this hot fire?
3. D12
Let’s see. Denaun Porter became a good-ass producer, and Bizarre seemed to have decent taste in shower caps. Anyone else got anything?
2. Lord Tariq and Peter Gunz
Tariq had bars — he held his own alongside The Notorious One on Pudgee’s “Think Big” — but it’s hard to remember this BX duo for anything beyond the shamelessly redubbed-to-flatter-local-markets “Uptown Baby.” Unless you count Gunz becoming a Love & Hip-Hop mainstay, which we don’t.
1. The Throne
Sure, the idea sounds sweet on paper — Jay-Z and Kanye West, back at it again for another dosage of sophisticated ignorance. But it’s 2020; do you really wanna hear one-percenter raps from Hov alongside Yeezy going full MAGA?
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