"Drafting of the poets, I'm the number seven pick."

A day before my 13th birthday, A Tribe Called Quest released Midnight Marauders, a classic album with a classic cover and classic lyrics and classic songs.¹

On “Oh My God,” Q-Tip declares “drafting of the poets, I’m the #7 pick.” While likely a reference to the letter G and it’s significance in the Five Percent Nation, it brings up an interesting hypothetical; who were the six rappers drafted ahead of Tip? What if this were an actual draft?

Let’s dream up some ground rules.

• Professional sports drafts are annual. Therefore I am going to limit the talent pool to rappers who debuted in 1990. Here is a list of hip-hop albums released in 1990. From this list, the following artists released debut albums in 1990

  • Low Profile (WC and DJ Aladdin)

  • Lord Finesse

  • Above The Law (Cold 187um, KMG the Illustrator, Go Mack, and DJ Total K-Oss)

  • Digital Underground (let’s consider Shock G/Humpty Hump, and Money B)

  • The Dogs (Disco Rick, Keith Bell, Labrant Dennis, and Fergus "Cracked Up" Smith)

  • A Tribe Called Quest (Q-Tip, Phife, Jarobi, and Ali Shaheed)

  • Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E. (Gawtti, Kobra, Monsta O, and Murder One)

  • X Clan (Brother J, Professor X, Paradise, Sugar Shaft)

  • Ice Cube

  • K-Solo

  • Poor Righteous Teachers (Wise Intelligent and others)

  • Compton’s Most Wanted (MC Eiht and others)

  • Kid Sensation

  • Kid Frost

  • Tragedy Khadafi

  • MC Choice

  • Luke

  • D-Nice

  • Masta Ace

  • CPO

  • Poison Clan (JT Money and more)

  • Father MC

  • Grandaddy IU

  • Brand Nubian (Sadat X, Grand Puba, and Lord Jamar)

  • Paris

• We have to cut the emcees who had already achieved success as a member of another group, sorry Ice Cube, Luke, and Grand Puba. You are not rookies. You played in the ABA for a couple of seasons. Still remaining:

  • Low Profile (WC and DJ Aladdin)

  • Lord Finesse

  • Above The Law (Cold 187um, KMG the Illustrator, Go Mack, and DJ Total K-Oss)

  • Digital Underground (let’s consider Shock G, Humpty Hump, and Money B)

  • The Dogs (Disco Rick, Keith Bell, Labrant Dennis, and Fergus "Cracked Up" Smith)

  • A Tribe Called Quest (Q-Tip, Phife, Jarobi, and Ali Shaheed)

  • Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E. (Gawtti, Kobra, Monsta O, and Murder One)

  • X Clan (Brother J, Professor X, Paradise, Sugar Shaft)

  • K-Solo

  • Poor Righteous Teachers (Wise Intelligent and others)

  • Compton’s Most Wanted (MC Eiht and others)

  • Kid Sensation

  • Kid Frost

  • Tragedy Khadafi

  • MC Choice

  • D-Nice

  • Masta Ace

  • CPO

  • Poison Clan (JT Money and more)

  • Father MC

  • Grandaddy IU

  • Brand Nubian (Sadat X and Lord Jamar)

  • Paris

  • Kid Rock

• This is about poets so let’s cut the DJs and producers. Also, let’s narrow down our list to the most critically acclaimed and/or successful emcees.

  • WC

  • Lord Finesse

  • Shock G/Humpty Hump

  • Q-Tip

  • Phife

  • K-Solo

  • Wise Intelligent

  • MC Eiht

  • Kid Sensation

  • Kid Frost

  • Tragedy Khadafi

  • D-Nice

  • Masta Ace

  • JT Money

  • Father MC

  • Grandaddy IU

  • Sadat X

  • Lord Jamar

  • Paris

  • Kid Rock

If the National Rap League were picking green room attendees for the draft, it would be the above rappers. Here is how this totally imaginary draft would have shaken out, complete with the scouting report at the time of the draft and a career retrospective.

1. ELEKTRA RECORDS selects Sadat X.

   Scouting report: Dazzling natural talent. Elite voice. No glaring weaknesses.

   Career retrospective and NBA comparison: Absolute elite talent who was ready to play at a high caliber level immediately but did not work on his game and stagnated. Often accused of laziness; Ben Simmons.

2. COLD CHILLIN selects Masta Ace.

   Scouting report: Amazing all around game, above average lyricist, humor, flow, voice.

   Career retrospective and NBA comparison: Immediately starred for a long period of time, demonstrating various skills, inexplicably disappearing, and reemerging with a different yet ultimately effective niche game; Carmelo Anthony.

3. JIVE RECORDS selects Kid Rock.

   Scouting report: Decent talent. Popular with fans due to reasons.

   Career retrospective and NBA comparison: Originally signed because “of reasons,” he stagnated for years before embracing specific talents and thriving; JJ Redick²

4. Wild Pitch selects Lord Finesse

   Scouting report: One of the funniest rappers ever. Distinctive voice and flow. Secretly, a world class producer.

   Career retrospective and NBA comparison: Flawless career although superfans hoped for a more output; Brandon Roy.

5. Orpheus Records selects MC Eiht.

   Scouting report: Dominant in one category, voice, but also above average in many aspects like charisma and and storytelling.

   How it turned out with NBA comparison: Great career that was highly respected but deserved more credit ultimately. Tough, gritty and known for repping LA; Michael Cooper

6. Tommy Boy Records selects Shock G/Humpty Hump

   Scouting report: Super creative, flashy player with solid skills. Funny in a goofy way. How it turned out with NBA comparison: Solid, impressiv career but with one major moment; Cedric Maxwell.

7. Jive Records selects Q-Tip.

   Scouting report: No weaknesses. Elite rapper and producer. Improves teammates in ways not shown in box score.

   How it turned out with NBA comparison: One of the most storied careers in history. Star on multiple championship teams and key contributor to others. Equally comfortable as a star or bit player; Tim Duncan.

1. and classic skits.

2. I’m sorry JJ.