Eminem win's Vibe's "Best Rapper Alive" contest.


Over 920,000 votes later, VIBE announces the winner of it’s first annual Best Rapper Alive tournament

When VIBE decided to let the people decide The Best Rapper Alive, we just wanted to have a little fun. But with a final tally exceeding 920,000 votes, it’s safe to say we touched a nerve. Since the competition began on July 21, the NCAA tournament – style bracket sparked bedlam. T.I.? Nas? Joe Budden? Rick Ross? Decisions had to be – and were – made.

In the early rounds there were few upsets, as most of the higher-seeded competitors triumphed. Until the final eight MCs remained, it looked as though all four No. 1 seeds – Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, Eminem, and Andre 3000 – would land in the final four. But then, the bark of underdogs could be heard in the distance.

The lesser of the two upsets took place in the Big Punisher bracket. Andre was defeated by No. 3 seed The Game, just as his album, LAX (Geffen), was impacting nationwide. In the Pimp C bracket, Lil Wayne, the man who many thought would take home the title, lost to Ludacris, also a No. 3 seed. Unfortunately for The Game and Luda die-hards, Cinderella would not be anyone’s date to the big dance. Jay-Z and Eminem easily beat out Ludacris and Game respectively, setting up a titanic final matchup. In the end, Eminem prevailed in a surprising landslide victory. Despite no proper album releases, since 2004’s, Encore (Shady/Aftermath/Interscope), 69 percent of the votes went to Detroit’s native son easily outpacing office favorite Jay-Z’s 31 percent.

“It’s obviously an honor to have won the fans’ support by being voted the Best Rapper Alive,” Eminem said in response to his victory. “I don’t think that there is any one rapper that is simply the best though. Everyone who was in consideration and many others are the best at certain things, and at what they do. But since VIBE’s offering the distinction, hell yeah I’ll accept!”

But no matter the victor, one thing was clear: The debate about who The Best Rapper Alive is (or is not) lives on. We just might have to do it again next year.

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