Pantheon
Live
Music1992–1997

The Notorious B.I.G.

Brooklyn lyricist widely considered the greatest rapper ever for his effortless flow, vivid street narratives, and complex rhyme schemes that sounded completely natural.

Origin
Brooklyn, New York
Genre
Hip-HopRap
The Notorious B.I.G.
Total Votes
Lists
1
Highest Rank
#—
The Divide

Pantheon Standing

List NameRankCombined
Top 100 Hip Hop Artists of All Time#196.0
Generational Fault Line

The Age Divide

Voters under 30 and over 35 rank The Notorious B.I.G. significantly differently across lists.

Under 30
#14
Over 35
#3

The Cultural Record

Discography

D
Dead Wrong / Whoa1999

Brooklyn lyricist widely considered the greatest rapper ever for his effortless flow, vivid street narratives, and complex rhyme schemes that sounded completely natural

B
Big Poppa1994
Single
N
Notorious V: The King of New York2021
EP
L
Life After Death1997
B
Big Poppa (Remix)1995
EP

Awards & Recognition

Grammy Awards

No Grammy data on record.

Hall of Fame

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee (2020)

2× Billboard No. 1 albums

The Case For The Notorious B.I.G.

The longevity argument alone puts them in a category of one. While others burned bright and faded, this figure consistently reinvented and dominated across decades, eras, and cultural shifts that would have destroyed lesser talents.

C
@CulturalCritic
Credentialed Voter
4,201Agreed

Technically unmatched. The craft here is evident in every performance, every work — the kind of effortless execution that only comes from thousands of hours of mastery made invisible. They make the impossible look inevitable.

R
@RecordKeeper
Populist Voter
3,842Agreed

Commercial success should never be held against artistic legacy. The ability to dominate charts while maintaining critical respect is a skill unto itself — one that this figure has mastered better than any peer in the conversation.

V
@VoteWithFacts
Credentialed Voter
2,914Agreed

Rank History

Voting Active

Ranking history for The Notorious B.I.G. will appear here as votes are cast and positions shift over time.

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