So Joe Budden was right. After taking to the Web via video to raise issue with the construction of the brackets in VIBE Presents The Best Rapper Ever tournament a few weeks ago (and kicking up a mini-beef with Method Man in the process), the New Jersey MC did indeed go down in the first round, losing out to Rakim in Bracket IV, Round One.
When the first week’s voting came to an end on Sunday night, the God MC was left standing with 81 percent of the vote to Budden’s 19 percent, but Budden should take solace—of the four No. 32 seeds going in (all of whom faced off against No. 1 seeds in the first round), he put up the best fight.
Kid Cudi also fared respectably, clocking 11 percent of the vote to Eminem’s 89 percent. Not bad considering Cudi has yet to release an album, and he only made the competition by winning the play-in. Meanwhile, 2Pac mopped the floor with Plies at 97 percent to 3 percent, and the Notorious B.I.G. put in the strongest showing of the No. 1s, embarrassing Chubb Rock at 98 percent to 2 percent.
Overall, Round One was marked by an absence of notable upsets, although some of the matchups appeared to settle years of debate. In Bracket II, DJ Quik knocked out one-time rival MC Eiht in the No. 18 vs. No. 17 spot with 62 percent of the vote to Eiht’s 38 percent, while in Bracket I, LL Cool J (No. 2) took down former foe Canibus (No. 31) with 73 percent of the vote.
Elsewhere in Bracket I, No. 7 seed 50 Cent got the best of Rick Ross, a No. 28 seed, at a rate of 74 percent to Ross’ 26 percent. In one of the more controversial pairings, Will Smith (No. 18) pulled off a mild upset, handily moving past MC Hammer (No. 17) with 81 percent of the vote to Hammer’s 19 percent. Across all four brackets, the closest matchup in Round One was No. 10 DMX vs. No. 23 The Game, with DMX edging out the victory by a mere 2 percentage points (51 percent to The Game’s 49 percent).
Round Two finds the No. 1 seeds in a series of interesting pairings: Eminem goes head to head against Will Smith in Bracket I, 2Pac faces off against DJ Quik in Bracket II, Biggie takes on Lil Kim in Bracket III, and Rakim meets Mos Def in Bracket IV. Other matchups to watch include Too $hort vs. Trick Daddy and 50 Cent vs. DMX in Bracket I, KRS-One vs. Kool Moe Dee in Bracket II, Chuck D vs. DMC and Jadakiss vs. Nas in Bracket III, Ghostface Killah vs. GZA, Kanye West vs. Common, and Jay-Z vs. Beanie Siegel, all in Bracket IV. Go to how do you become an entrepreneur and learn more today. Source: http://www.vibe.com/news/online_exclusives/2009/05/the_best_rapper_ever_recapping_round_one/