Top 20 Hip Hop Crews

In Hip Hop other than having talent be it emceeing, beatboxing, DJing, or Breaking; you had to have a crew … a posse, as Hip Hop Music started to take over more and more artists had crews, crews of all kinds and fans would identify with them and treat them almost as sports teams, I decided to rank 20 of the more accomplished and popular crews in Hip Hop.

I didn’t go too old, and I didn’t include The Zulu nation (that would be cheating lol) instead I went with notable members or accomplishment/influence on the genre … and once we hit the top 10 (later) Overall dopeness

With all that being said, here’s 20 – 11 –>

20. The Commission

I’m giving the Commission some shine here though they never actually formed
The brain child of The Notorious BIG and shoutoted out in the beginning of “What’s Beef” on his ‘Life After Death’ album the members were to include
BIG aka Frank White
Jay-Z aka Iceberg slim
Charli Baltimore
Lil Cease aka Casear Leo de Janeiro
Lance Rivera aka Uncle Paulie
…and Puff Daddy using the name P Diddy

We can only imagine how nice the songs and subsequent album could’ve been

19. Flavor Unit

The Flavor Unit was a true crew doing more than just rhyme they had a ton of DJs and it turned into a management company
Started by DJ Mark the 45 King (shoutouts to the 900 number) the crew evolved way beyond its members, the reason it’s so low is because the actual members of the crew’s music wasn’t as strong as others

The original members were:
DJ Mark the 45 King
Lakim Shabazz
Queen Latifah
Apache
Chill Rob G
Lord Alibaski
Latee
Shoutouts to The Rotten Rascals, The Almighty R.S.O (Benzino’s original crew), and Zhane

18. The Hilltop Hustlers

Led and created by emcee Steady B, the Philly based crew made a lot of noise in the mid/late 80s they never made an album together but the group Steady formed CEB were able to make “Countin Endless Bank” in ’92
Other things of note: Steady B and Cool C of The Hilltop are currently serving life sentences with no parole and the latter on death row, EST (of Three Times Dope) went on to write “Baby Boy”, “Cater to you”, and “Dangerously in love” among others for Beyonce

Members: Steady B, Cool C, Three Times Dope, Da Youngstas, and Menatlly Gifted

17. State Property

Philly continued to represent on into the 90s with State Property, led by Beanie Sigel he brought us two albums, a clothing line and two movies after linking up with Jay-Z and Roc-A-Fella records
Members: Beanie Sigel, Freeway, Oschino and Sparks, The Young Gunz, and Peedi Crackk

16. Flip Mode Squad

The Flip Mode Squad had some promise, headed and created by Busta Rhymes it was used as a vehicle to showcase and introduce new talent under his umbrella most notably Rah Digga who at the time was one of the top female hip hop artists out
Rampage and Spliff star were also introduced as well as Lord Have Mercy, Lord Have had one of the more original/interesting styles of rhyme but was never really showcased or given shine on albums
the majority of the original members has since left and been replaced with a bunch of no names and unnoticeables

The original members were featured in the 1998 album “The Imperial”

Members: Busta Rhymes, Spliff Star, Rah Digga, Rampage, Lord Have Mercey, Baby Sham,

15. The Diplomats

Anchored by Cam’Ron the Dipset first got their shine on his 2000 release: Sports, Drugs, and Entertainment and even more so on Come home with me due mainly to the singles “Oh Boy” and “Hey Ma”
They were signed to Roc-a-fella records and later created their own imprint … also the crew has released multiple mixtapes and singles under the Dipset name “Diplomatic Immunity”

Members: Cam’ron, Jim Jones, Freekey Zekey, Juelz Santana

14. Terror Squad

The Terror Squad came out in 1998 introduced by Bronx rapper Fat Joe on his album “Don Cartagena (his best album)
They didn’t make classic songs together, they did release an album “The Album” in 1999 what made the collective strong was the late great Big Pun, one of the illest lyricists to ever do it
After Pun’s passing Remy Ma and Tony Sunshine joined the group but the crew’s banner was really being flown and upheld by Pun after he left The Squad was done (Even with the lean Back song)

Original Members: Fat Joe, Big Pun, Armageddon, Triple Seis, and Prospect

13. G Unit

The G Unit are here because they ran things in rap for a year and a half, fueled by the sudden super-stardom of 50 Cent and his debut “Get Rich or Dye Tryin” G Unit was everywhere, the mix tapes they dropped were like crack on the streets they had their own mix tape DJ
Really no 50 no G Unit but for that small time they had the radios on lock, clothing lines, etc. I was personally never a fan but … props

Members: 50 Cent, Tony Yayo, Lloyd Banks, Young Buck

12. Dungeon Family

The Dungeon Family is more of a collective instead of an actual crew, they have songwriters, producers, and rappers. They get props because of Outkast and Goodie Mob
I believe other acts such as Mista, Cool Breeze, Sleepy Brown, as well as Joi and Slimm Calhoun are also members they made one album together “Even in Darkness” in 2001

Members: Outkast, Cee Lo, Sleepy Brown, Goodie Mob, Backbone, Big Rube, Future

11. Cash Money Millionaires

Because of the single success of Juvenile and his “ha” song and the album 400 Degreez we were given The Cash Money Millionaires, regardless of your opinion of their music or influence on the genre you have to admit that they had an impact
They had their own established artists and then extended to Cash Money records and signed acts from all over looking to resurrect their careers
The Hot Boys and the Big Tymers together took over southern rap where No Limit left off

Album (And Movie): Baller Blockin’
Members: Juvenile, Lil Wayne, Mannie Fresh, B.G., The Birdman, Young Turk

For The Top 10 Click Here!