Finding the GOAT: These MCs Are Going to Round 4

The polls have closed and, after a fiercely competitive and unpredictable Round 3, there are only 21 MCs remaining in the quest to name Hip-Hop’s greatest MC, as determined by you.

Since Round 1 began in September, more than 200 MCs have been considered and millions of Hip-Hop fans have weighed in on who should advance through the rounds. Round 3 featured some dramatic upsets (DOOM defeated Jay Z) and some battles that literally came down to just over a handful of votes (Black Thought over Method Man).

As we mentioned at the top of Round 3, the MC who won by the biggest margin in the Round would receive a bye in Round 4, and that distinction goes to Rakim. Round 4 will be the last Round where there are brackets based on eras. After that round, all barriers will fall in the march to name one MC who is the greatest of all-time, regardless of the era in which that MC came to prominence.

Round 4 begins tomorrow (4/13), and, in addition to recaps of each artist’s career, each battle will feature full mixtapes of the MCs’ material. Also, as with Round 3, the winner by the biggest margin in Round 4 will receive a bye in Round 5. More surprises will be in store for each subsequent round.

Here’s a look at the last-standing MCs and their margins of victory.

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Black Thought over Method Man (50.3% to 49.7%)

Erick Sermon over Dr. Dre (53% to 47%)

Big K.R.I.T. over Action Bronson (54% to 46%)

DOOM over Jay Z (54% to 46%)

Andre 3000 over Q-Tip (59% to 41%)

Guru over Snoop Dogg (61% to 39%)

Tupac over Ice Cube (63% to 37%)

Busta Rhymes over Jadakiss (64% to 36%)

Big Daddy Kane over Kool G Rap (65% to 35%)

Ludacris over Game (68% to 32%)

Eminem over Talib Kweli (70% to 30%)

Notorious B.I.G. over Big Pun (73% to 27%)

DMX over Joe Budden (74% to 26%)

Nas over Ghostface Killah (77% to 23%)

Mos Def over Kanye West (78% to 22%)

KRS-One over Chuck D (79% to 21%)

Scarface over Bun B (79% to 21%)

Redman over Phife Dawg (80% to 20%)

LL Cool J over DMC (80% to 20%)

Kendrick Lamar over Drake (81% to 19%)

Rakim over Slick Rick (82% to 18%)

Related: Here’s a Recap of the Finding the GOAT Competition and a Detailed Explanation of How the MCs Were Selected