Your Top 10 Best Male Rappers of 3rd & 4th Gen?

Male rappers only! 3rd & 4th Gen only! K-Pop idols only and not K-Hip Hop rappers to keep things fair!

I made a thread like this before a few years back, but this time, instead of having everyone posting a few suggestions and me picking and choosing from various posts the top 10 in an unscientific manner, which received some criticism, this time I’m gonna have users post their top 10 and then count all the votes myself! :P

I’ll go first!

1. Zico (Soloist/Ex-Block B)

2. RM (BTS)

3. Suga (BTS)

4. Bobby (iKON)

5. Song Minho/Mino (WINNER)

6. Changbin (Stray Kids)

7. Bang Yong Guk (Soloist/Ex-B.A.P)

8. Zelo (Soloist/Ex-B.A.P)

9. Joohoney (MONSTA X)

10. J-Hope (BTS) / Mark (NCT)

* Will make a Top 10 Female Rappers of 3rd & 4th Gen thread later

*inspired by many recents ranking threads including:

@bethesda’s Who are your favorite male dancers?

@ThePhantomThief’s AKP’s Top 100 Sexiest Women in Kpop

@chaelisayadom’s What are your top 10 4th gen best girl group visuals??

Quote from BebeCarat-0

I see almost all of my bias's have made your list!

(Thanks for making me write this, I realized how many of my bias's are rappers and how the few (like Kihyun) are vocalists lol!)

I guess minus 8 of the ones of your choosing, not relating to the Korean Hip Hop Scene do you mean kpop in general? If so, I think I would have to choose these bad boys! (I wanted to mention B.A.P's Zelo but I feel like that's kinda a given.)

Yay, great minds think alike!

You’re welcome! The pleasure is all mine!

Yeah I guess I mean Kpop in general as long as they’re idols, male, and from 3rd & 4th gen only, they’re A-OK w/me! 👌 👍 ❤️

OMG I totally forgot about Zelo but you’re right, he totally belongs here! ಠ_ಠ It’s been so long since B.A.P have released anything since they’ve been disbanded since 2019 I forgot about how amazing his “LTE” raps are! Maybe I’ll have to change my own list to include him, lol…. But who do I kick out? 😅

Quote from Lost-Guardian

My list is more or less same as yours with just few shuffling in the rankings. If Zico is considered as "3rd gen", he is certainly top 3 so I will add him in the list and remove Changbin...

OMG yeah you’re definitely right, I also keep forgetting that Zico is from 3rd gen! 😅

Also have to go back now and kick someone out of my list for Zico now too lol dammit! He’s definitely #1~

Officially changed my personal #1 to be Zico and removed Changbin from Stray Kids! (sry Changbin, lol 😂)

Let’s get some more votes in!

Quote from draggehz

icl all are garbage i used to think zico and changbin were good until i woke up

What, no way, what a hot take! Who’s your personal Top 10 then?

Quote from draggehz

i don't really listen to khiphop anymore so i can only name people like ph-1 skyminhyuk wonstein mirani lilboi

i think currently skyminhyuk is really really good

men's tear is fun too lol

if you're talking idols zico bobby changbin are ones i know that are passable but they haven't released anything good for years already

Wow daebak lol, I have heard of ph-1 and Wonstein but admit from K-Hip Hop I only really know Drunken Tiger (Tiger JK & Tasha), Tablo, and this one song by Primary w/incredible lyrics and that Smoke song from the TikTok challenge lol (which is also Dynamic Duo w/BIBI who is sort of a K-Hip Hop rapper lol right?)

There’s also some rappers that have collaborated w/Kpop artists such as Loopy and San E w/Hyoyeon from SNSD, Verbal Jint, Beenzino’s song that I found in someone’s profile once called Boogie On & On is amazing, plus I know he’s featured in a lot of Kpop songs, oh and Mad Clown did a song w/SISTAR’s Soyu that was amazing too. I have no idea if you would consider any of those to be good rappers, tho :P

I admit I agree with you on Zico’s not releasing anything good rap-wise for years part, as for Bobby I liked Cherry Blossom but admit it’s not a rap song either, and as for Changbin, I mainly know him as part of 3RACHA in Stray Kids. It’s a shame that even the best K-*POP* rappers haven’t done anything for you in recent years tho T_T Wish you luck on your K-Rap journey!

Got bored plus wanted to resume the competition and hear more people's opinions, so I calculated the votes and here's what we got so far!

Vote people, vote!

Quote from xx-jenn-xx

You want votes?

well here's more lol

Mingi - Ateez

Hyunwoo - BXB/TRCNG

Zuho - SF9

Hwiyoung - SF9

Chani - SF9

Lou - VAV

Ungjae - Imfact

Jian - Imfact

You - ABLUE

Jay - ASC2NT/DGNA

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Muzin - BAE173

J-Min - BAE173

DY - Just B

Doy - Nomad

One - Nomad

Ra.L - Trendz

Hankook - Trendz

Beomsoo - Xodiac

Davin - Xodiac

Leo - Xodiac

Now i'm done lol

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Thanks for the engagement but unfortunately I can only give 10 per user tho~ sorry xx-jenn-xx!

Quote from xx-jenn-xx

maybe someone else will love them too lol

Gee, I hope so!

Quote from xx-jenn-xx

So many good rappers in groups!!

Yass, ikr!!

Quote from xx-jenn-xx

now if you would have asked for 2nd gen there'd be no contest here

it's definitely Dongwoo from Infinite no cap lol

Dongwoo is my bias wrecker in Infinite (bias is Woohyun cuz he's a hot vocal god) and his hip hop subunit w/Hoya Infinite H still have some of my favorite music in all of Kpop (tho they're no longer a thing). He is such an ace & all-rounder, could be the main rapper, main dancer, AND main vocal in most groups! Same w/Hoya! (too bad he's an ex-member now~ )

I think in terms of pure rap ability, Dongwoo & Hoya are good for idol rappers and even wrote many of their own raps, but there are better rappers in 2nd gen like GD and T.O.P from Big Bang, and probably more that I'm forgetting cuz it's almost 3am over here, but Dongwoo & Hoya are probably up there for 2nd gen rappers, and definitely among the top of the top for all-rounders in Kpop, periodt! They belong in lists with the likes of Taemin from SHINee and Jungkook from BTS~

Quote from xx-jenn-xx

Woohyun is god...

that's my man

i'm woohyun obsessed like you don't even understand lol

i see woohyun merch i buy woohyun merch...i see woohyun shirts, don't fit me? don't care i buy.

i have issues LOL

But I totally agree, when I first found Infinite i was like wait....wait a minute....isn't that a rapper, how the fuck is he singing so good? what the hell....Dongwoo is just a silent smoking gun that man. I love his voice so much plus his personality.

I miss Hoya as well, I wish he would come back now that they have Infinite company but he wanted to make music in a different style and thus he went solo. sad times

I am not a fan of Big Bang or any of their solo work same with shinee unfortunately. Though I do like Key...and some of Taemin's songs. lol

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OMG, there are Woohyun shirts?! Send me one lol!

Dongwoo is the epitome of talent in KPop and an angel and just hilarious

Yeah it is sad times cuz Hoya's not there for all of Infinite's anniversary music releases and reunions, but it's alright I guess cuz he's doing alright in his solo stuff w/the dancing competition shows 'n all~ (tho I admit I don't really keep up w/those and just listen to his solo music that he releases on YT every now and then and follow him on Instagram~ Did you listen to his last song Night in LA? I loved it!)

I'm not a VIP or Shawol or anything but I'm a 2nd gen Kpop stan and I do have a healthy amount of respect for both Big Bang & SHINee lol. Tho I def used to think Big Bang were overrated during their heyday, now that times have changed I just miss everyone in 2nd gen lol.

You been into Kpop since 2nd gen or just a rare awesome breed of 3rd/4th gen fans who's familiar w/ & a big fan of some of their legendary artists like Infinite, lol?

Quote from Zicofan000

Some would consider ZICO 2nd gen ( I personally say 3rd). But yeah I pretty much agree with the top 4-5 of your list

Yeah since Block B had their first big hit NalinA in 2012 which is the same year as EXO debuted, whom people place in 3rd gen, I say Zico's 3rd gen too. Tho I can see the argument for 2.5 gen (same as some people place EXO in).

Great so can I place you down for votes for the top 5 then? Zico, RM, Suga, Bobby, Mino?

Quote from xx-jenn-xx

i was on japan mercari and i found some infinite japan dvd's that came with shirts and one was woohyun's and then another dvd had shirts that came with it and specific colors went with specific members so i got it 'cause...woohyun

asian sizes will NEVER fit me...but if it's woohyun i want it lol

like this one comes with L shirt but i got one with woohyun lol

https://neokyo.com/en/product/mercari/m16665309674

there's also a dvd that comes with a random totebag but i have YET to find woohyun's it's driving me insane

tote bag looks like this

https://neokyo.com/en/product/mercari/m74707334642

this is the set i got with a blue one which represented woohyun

https://neokyo.com/en/product/mercari/m44659887946

As for 2nd gen yeah i appreciate them, key is like dongwoo to me! lol. good times and real talent.

I even liked the old U-Kiss songs.

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Wow awesome! A "Dis Is Infinite" bag lmao! Loved that shoW~ And yeah technically that's a Hoya shirt but I would gladly take any of them!

Key is a hilarious diva fashionista girl group dance master and he's so talented too! I really loved his album Bad Love.

U-Kiss omg yeah I used to like some of their songs too! My faves are Dora Dora, Standing Still, and Stop Girl~

Quote from xx-jenn-xx

I haven't watched the show i don't even know if there's english subs on my dvd's i just want the bag so bad lol.

of course i'm happy with any member but woohyun is priority lol.

Key is funny i love him.

These are my favorite u-kiss songs

Screenshot_2.pngScreenshot_3.png

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Ohh I don't know most of those songs besides Neverland & Standing Still, but I can see you really are a true U-Kiss fan since that's a lot, lol! And all over their sub-units, solos & Japanese stuff even too~

Quote from Zicofan000

Yeah but ZICO was an underground rapper way before block debut.

Would say after ZICO its changbin, then bobby, Mino, RM, suga. For some reason I'm not impressed with Suga's rapping/bars

Omg yeah you're right, I forgot but he was even in that undergroup hip hop duo w/RM way before RM's debut too called Runch Randa. In terms of Kpop idol-dom I count him as somewhere around 2nd-3rd gen since Block B did debut in 2011 after all, but people will yell at me if I don't include him in this thread, so into 3rd gen he goes I guess~  

My sister is a huge Suga stan and would probably literally marry him if he ever learned English and stopped living full-time in South Korea (and even met her and had any interest in us plebs to begin with, lol), plus he's a member of my bias group, so I feel bad for saying this, but tbh I kinda know how you feel about Suga. He's definitely one of the best rappers in Kpop, but some people think he's better than RM and tbh I think that makes him a little overrated. He may rap faster than him, but just being faster is not everything in rap.

I will def put you down for those guys. Thanks for voting!

Quote from xx-jenn-xx

i liked them in the beginning and when JUN was there but jun is gone and their music is weird now lol. sad times. plus the dudes all left for stupid reasons and then they had their anniversary and brought the 2 dudes back that left on weird terms and i'm like wtf u doing u-kiss lol

Huh, I think Jun had just been added as a new member when I stopped paying attention to U-Kiss, I feel really old, lol Tbh I didn't really like Jun, but tbh I didn't know much about him, either, so I can't really say much about it. All I know is Eli left then I suddenly saw him in acting gigs and variety shows or sth and now he was back all of a sudden for their 15th anniversary lol. I did recently check out their new stuff and like their new song Morse Code, tho, it feels super 2nd gen-coded and makes me feel super nostalgic. Idk the reasons or circumstances why the members left, so for me it was just nice to see familar faces from an old 2nd gen group I used to casually like back together making music again 10 years later after I last remembered paying attention to them, lol.

Was it like Jessica-level reasons why they left, lol?

Quote from xx-jenn-xx

had to dig on who and why they left

NH Media announced that U-KISS would debut in the US soon, however this was cancelled due to the termination of member contracts. Alexander and Kibum announced that they would be leaving U-KISS for personal reasons. Kibum was revealed to be "kicked" out of the group because the company felt he was lacking, while NH Media stated that Alexander would leave to focus on his studies. Alexander denied this was the reason but did not give the real reason as to why he was leaving U-KISS.

I remember i read somewhere that one of them bad mouthed the members and shit. so i found it extremely weird they all came back again.

I also Love Jun, great actor and great vocals

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Yeah, badmouthing members does leave a bad taste in your mouth Not sure I would want that member back in my favorite group again, either. Then again, I would still do anything to get an OT9 comeback from SNSD again w/Jessica despite all the bad-mouthing she's done on them, so that' s probably just lipservice from me~

Thanks for doing all the research, xx-jenn-xx ! Will have to check out that song by Jun later when it's not 5:30am over here anymore~

Quote from Selynn

Well, I like Changbin and Soyeon from the new generation, I think these two have the best rap flows. Suga and RM from the 3rd generation of course. 2nd generation YG rappers.

Yes, YG 2nd gen rappers represent! ✊ "We we we da, we da leaders / You ain't in the game, you're just cheerleaders~" 🎶

Definitely Soyeon is the top of the line for new generation female rappers, I'll have to make a new thread for them later if this thread does well enough! Tho I might have to add Baemon to the mix, which is confusing because they're from 5th gen~

I always thought the Stray Kids rapline is really good but don't know much about the individual members, but I heard Changbin is doing the hardcarrying there, so I will definitely have to check out more from Changbin since everybody in this thread keeps mentioning him~

Quote from xx-jenn-xx

Unfortunately Jun not being in U-Kiss makes it hard to get into them now lol. But that's because I found them DUE to him. since I joined kpop in 2020 lol. but yeah it's quite weird and interesting.

Almost like KNK not being the same without some of it's core members *coughs* Seoham *coughs*

but i still like inseong so we'll see what they do...they got a new member supposed to be new music coming...somewhere

it's 2:40 am for me almost lol so not far behind you only 3 hours :P

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Wow! You really *ARE* an awesome and rare 4th gen fan w/an appreciation for 2nd gen artists! Well, I hope for your sake that Jun comes back again someday to U-Kiss so you can properly get into them and add them to your 40+-artist-long list of favorite boy bands that you stan!

I remember thinking KNK were really talented and hot a few years ago Sucks that they lost some of their members. Are they still popular?

Wow, then I guess we should *both* probably hit the hay soon so we can properly function during the day!

Alright, since it *IS* almost 6am here now, with that, I'll come back later today probably in like 12-ish hours, so for now knock yourselves out w/votes and discussion XD Hopefully I'll have some more votes to tally by the time i come back!