Top 5 Rappers I Can't Take Seriously Anymore

It's not that they are lyrically incompetent or their production sounds like crap, it's the fact that deviations from a rapper's music career have gotten me to push the skip button whenever their song comes up on my iTunes. I used to like these artists but somewhere along the line I lost respect for them. Without further ado, here is my top 5:

5. Diddy

His name changes from Puff Daddy to P Diddy to Diddy were annoying but his public display

as a cutthroat boss and manager was broadcasted 1 too many times on TV. He hosted 3 seasons of "Making the Band" and 2 seasons of "I Want to Work for Diddy" where he tried to portray a hardcore businessman and after a while, it just got old and boring. His music after his MTV/VH1 stints was irrelevant to me and even some of his work on his early Bad Boy days was tainted.

4. Xzibit

Never was a huge fan of his work but I always respected his albums that brought him success such as Man vs. Machine and Restless.

But then he hosted the infamous MTV series called "Pimp My Ride" where he would help random people trick the cars from a piece of junk to an over-accesorized vehicle that was begging to be stolen. The show helped enforced stereotypes about hip hop like materialism and Xzibit did nothing to help it except gawk at how large the rims were or how many TVs they had fit into the dashboard. Also, his laugh was really annoying.

3. Waka Flocka Flame - Who am I kidding, I've never took this guy seriously.

2. MC Guru (R.I.P.)

This is the one that breaks my heart. I absolutely loved Gang Starr and all 6 albums the duo put out. Gangstarr really set a precedence for how duos should perform, with DJ Premier producing some of the illest tracks and Guru smoothly rapping on top of any beat.

Guru eventually parted ways up with Premo and went on to produce a moderately successful album series, Jazzmattaz Vol I-IV (with each release being less popular than the previous). What completely ruined his reputation for me was his album, Baldhead Slick & da Click. It was an atrocious attempt at trying to reinvent and redefine his career. In a nutshell, he basically became a commercial sellout by trading in his intelligent and thought-provoking lyrics for a more mainstream view on life that included drugs, violence, and women. I really wish I hadn't listened to Baldhead Slick & da Click as it completely lowered my respect for Guru's earlier work in Gangstarr. I guess ignorance really is bliss.

1. Ice Cube

Notorious for his influence on West Coast rap, Ice Cube set a standard for gangster rap. His hits such as "It was a Good Day" and "Check Yo Self" along with others, embodied the very real and hard lifestyle of living on the poorer side of town. It wasn't until very recently his reputation as a thug seemed to unravel.

Ice Cube starred in the family comedy film, "Are We There Yet?" and was a far stretch from rapping about guns and whatnot. The film was a success financially (raking in $80+ million) but received terrible reviews. In what was a monetary decision, Ice Cube made a sequel to the movie and even dragged out the concept into a TV series. But what ticks me off the most is how he returned to the rap game with boldly titled album "I am the West" as if he never starred in the PG film/tv series in the first place! Am I really supposed to forget all the childish content Ice Cube made and rebrand him as a thug?

Yeah, I didn't think so.

Honorable Mentions: Ice T and Kanye West