We tried to narrow it down and honestly, 20 was the best we could do. It was damn hard because Hip-Hop has had some great moments take place in its relatively short existence. Well, here are the best, enjoy.

*Note: For 20-11, check HERE

10. MC Ren's, If It Ain’t Ruff & The D.O.C.'s, The Formula being played at a public skating rink.

Back in 1989 as just a youngin, I was fortunate enough to tag along with an older cousin as he went to the city’s local murder meeting place aka the skating rink. After the initial shock of actually being somewhere so violent and cool wore off, I was soon surprised again as the DJ played these two songs back to back. It was a truly a moment for me, so I parked at one of the barriers and took it in. While listening, I thought to myself, since this was a place where so many patrons were so young, how in the hell could they get away with playing records with this much cursing on them. That’s when I realized that neither of these songs had a single curse word on them. Furthermore, it was the first time I realized that gangsta rappers were much more than the profane and crude guys the media had been solely portraying them as. They were also lyricists with as much flow as the next reputable MC.

Take a little time, choose the topic and drop it
Release it, the science of makin' dope beats with
Rhythmic American poetry
Shipped it to stations, now many people know of me
I'm the D. into the O. and the O. into the C. and the C. into the period
Suckers are fearing' this…

Rhythmic American poetry, indeed, Doc.

9. ODB running on stage during a Roots performance / ODB at the Grammys exclaiming "Wu-Tang is for the children."

Can’t pick; both were equally jaw dropping and rewind worthy. Dirty was obviously drunk and/or high for both of these outbursts, but that’s beside the point. This nigga got on stage twice, once in front of the whole world and made everyone cringe like He-Man’s cat before he pulled that big ass sword out. After further reviewing those clips, I still chuckle every time I see Black Thought just concede the stage to ODB for a second and I laugh out loud every single time Big Baby Jesus exclaims,  “I went out today and bought an outfit that costed a lot of money, today...” Russell Jones was the greatest entertainer in the history of Hip-Hop and if this ain’t proof enough, I’m sorry but you need to update your criteria for entertainment, chief.

8. Jay-Z's Big Pimpin' video.

This is probably the first time (*Note: either this or number 1) I heard about how much a video cost to make before I even saw the damn clip. “You heard Jay dropped $1 mil for that Big Pimpin’ joint?” One million dollars for 4:44 of bragging? Now that’s some unnecessary nigga shit, now that’s --Hip-Hop! You’ve got your scantily clad women, Cristal, jewelry, beach, boat, Cohiba’s, ignorant entourage and anything else you could think of, right? Maybe that’s not so groundbreaking, I dunno, but the variable that secured this moment in Hip-Hop history was Damon Dash. He’s such an asshole. You just find yourself mad at him half the time, but [Rev] Keep it funky [/Run], the other half of the time, you’re laughing your ass off because he’s doing something you’d probably do if you could get away with it. That double fisted grind dance is gold, but when Dame poured that champagne on that chick I didn’t even mind Gloria Velez wasn’t on the screen the whole video.

7. Brian Baby Williams moment of reflection on B.E.T.’s How I’m Livin.

In case you’re in one of the three or so markets that don’t receive B.E.T., here’s the deal; they have a MTV Cribs rip-off called How I’m Livin, where your favorite rappers and singers get to brag for 30-minutes. Alright, so this is The Birdman's episode and he’s talking about his cars and big house with expensive rugs and top of the line Jacuzzi equipment, when he walks out to the back yard, looked out over his acre or so of land and experienced that moment of serenity where he calmly says, "I like to just relax and watch the birds...the way they just swoop down and catch a fish." HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, he really said it, just like that! You couldn’t make that shit up if you tried. Baby made it and I’m happy for him.

6. DJ Pooh leaning back in Ice Cube's Who's The Mack? video.

We refer to it all the time here, so it shouldn’t surprise you that it’s on the list. Maybe this honor should go or at least be shared with the director of the video, because his flawless editing on the piece made it perfect. Just as Ice Cube is saying,

When he tell you that he can go buck wild
For a girl like you and make it feel good
You know it's drama but it sound real good

Pooh leans back on one arm and pumps the air four times as the chick he’s trying to entice is falling victim to her inhibitions. Everyone who has ever seen the video, knows and anticipates that moment without fail. Again, the sync of the scene was perfect, but Pooh made it legendary.

5. Biggie: "We Did It Brooklyn!" / Suge Knight: "If you don't want your CEO dancing aaaaalll in your videos, ComeTaDeathRow!" at the 1995 Source Awards.

My aunt used to eat pickles with peppermints. I thought it was the most disgusting thing in the world, but she said it was a perfect union of sweet and sour offsetting each other. I still refuse to try that nasty shit, but after viewing the 1995 Source Awards, I tabbed it a “pickle and peppermint moment.” With Biggie happily celebrating his win and Suge conniving and planting an evil seed within the Hip-Hop nation, it signified the triumph and struggle of the culture we love so much. While we probably all wish the murders of Biggie & ‘Pac could be reversed, I don’t at all wish these two moments to be reversed.

 

4. Tupac spitting on the camera / walking out of court like George Jefferson.

If you haven’t noticed, the greatest moments in Hip-Hop are largely based upon the brashness and rebelliousness of MC’s that raises the concerns of suburban middle America. Perhaps Hip-Hop’s most important and memorable figure took those concerns and turned them into a nightmare with his behavior every time he saw a camera. I can just see some 40-something dad in Omaha sitting down for some corn beef and hash seeing this guy spitting on a camera in front of a courtroom. He probably shit himself.

3. Nas Leaking Ether on Jay-Z's birthday.

If I had to choose an MC to head a special tactics unit in battle, it’d be Nasir Jones, easily. Upon getting fucking creamed by Jay-Z and his release of Takeover, no one and I mean not even Jungle Jones, thought Nas would comeback in such a resounding fashion. Never mind Ether being one of the greatest diss records ever in rap history; never mind it becoming part of rap’s dialect (ex: “He got Ether’d, yo!”); and never mind the buzz it created being unmatched by a diss song since, but the fact that Nas leaked the napalm bomb into the streets on Jay’s birthday prompting Shawn Corey Carter to double time it to Baseline Studios and come up with a "response" to attempt to stop the bleeding was just incredible. It’s the underdog knocking the self proclaimed people’s champ the fuck off his rocker on his born day. How calculating, how egotistical, how cruel, how…Hip-Hop.     

2. Run DMC collaborating with Aerosmith on Walk This Way.

This was THE breakthrough for Hip-Hop. Before this record, no one knew for sure if the genre could crossover and if that larger mass would buy it. I think it’s the most important song in the history of Hip-Hop. Maybe not the best, but the most important, without a doubt. It made people other than the ones inherent the culture take notice. Just look at its effect on the world of music today, everything is a friggin collaboration.

1. Puffy spitting Cristal at the camera twice during the Hate Me Now video.

There’s no way you could convince me this isn’t the greatest moment in Hip-Hop history.  You might be asking what separates this overpriced champagne moment from Damon Dash’s in the Big Pimpin’ video and it’s so obvious; the randomness. Puff spits that shit out of nowhere. One second he’s laughing next to Nas, and the next he’s having a damn fit spitting at the camera. “For what?” I asked, when I first saw it. “Good lord, he’s a world class asshole. Why is a guy with all this money, fame and choice of female spitting at the camera with such venom for no damn reason?” And the answer is simply, because it’s what he wants to do and he can. That’s what Hip-Hop is all about, doing what you want, when you want at the drop of a dime. It’s why every other rapper has a conscious song followed by a strip club anthem, why in every other interview MC whoeverthefuck says they love their momma right after they say they don’t love no hoe’s and why even the most calculated humble rapper is a complete asshole every time you see them out in public. This is the culture and it is what it is. Don’t be mad because Puff let us in on how it really is. And if you didn’t know before, this IS how it is; it’s cocky, kind, arrogant, angry, funny, friendly and changes like southern California weather from afternoon to evening. Like it or not, this IS Hip-Hop, and it won’t stop, "eh-eh, eh-eh."