Best MC: Atlanta

It's funny how quickly Atlanta showed up on the national scene in hip hop.  It seemed that for so long the only places that ever got mention were New York and L.A.  Then Southerplayalisticadillacmuzik came out.  I remember laughing at the video because it was so low budget.  I was on my East coast.  I was even talking like I was from New York.  That all changed after Outkast came out and kicked the door in for southern rappers.  It was amazing to see who they brought with them.  From what we saw, the world was completely different to southern rappers.  The music was more laid back and funkier.  I had never heard anything like that before.  I was listening to Nas, Wu-Tang Clan, Mobb Deep, Keith Murray, A Tribe Called Quest, etc. at the time.  That album came out in 1994.  It's funny how time flies.  Now I have my southern accent back.  A few years ago, a conversation was started about hip hop being dead.  Only southern rappers were offended by that because at the time they were running hip hop.  Honestly the majority of southern rappers aren't lyricists.  They mainly have a style that attracts fans.  I'm not saying that there are southern lyricists.  Mike Bigga, T.I. Cee-Lo...Goodie Mob, Bun B, Scarface, so on and so forth.  But in this argument, I have to split up my favorite group of all time.  Big Boi vs. Andre 3000.  Outkast.  The pimp and the poet.  I know Andre doesn't really rap anymore, but when he does it's amazing.  That's why I have to give this one to him.  He fluctuates between the second and third spot on my top five, dead or alive.  He will never fall lower than three (Nas will never fall from the top, of course).  What makes him awesome is his creativity.  You could tell he was the driving force behind the direction that Outkast started going in when you listen to their separate solo albums.  Big Boi doesn't push the envelope as much when he's by himself.  There have only been a few "wow" moments for me in hip hop.  One was when the video for "Hey ya" was premiered.  I remember being at home waiting impatiently for it to come on.  Back then, it was a big deal when a huge artist had a new album and video coming out.  Outkast was big, but that video put them on another level.  That also led to the only time that I have ever watched The Grammy's.  I was hoping that Oukast would win album of the year.  Of course it was the last category of the night.  When they won, it felt like I won I was so happy.  I, like everyone else, wants to hear more from Outkast.  I don't think that we've heard the best from them.  They still have something that the game needs right now.  It has grown stagnant.  I think that is the reason that Andre has drifted away.  He's bored.  He admitted it on "Mighty O".  After all these years, he is still my favorite MC from Atlanta.  Even though he has unofficially retired, he is still by far the best.  My thumbs are getting tired from constantly going around in circles, waiting.  What I want may never happen.  Until I hear otherwise, I'll keep waiting for Atlanta's best MC to show up.