“Finding the GOAT Group,” the fourth installment of Ambrosia For Heads’ annual competition series features Hip-Hop’s greatest collectives vying for the #1 spot. Sixty-two groups were pre-selected by a panel of experts, and one slot was reserved for a wild-card entry, including the possibility for write-in candidates, to ensure no deserving band of MCs and DJs was neglected. The 2018 contest consists of seven rounds, NCAA basketball-tournament style, leading to a Top 32, then the Sweet 16 and so on, until one winner is determined. For each match-up, two groups are pitted against one another with a ballot to decide which one advances to the next round.

Voting for Round 3 is complete, making way for an Elite 8 like no other. Two of the ballots were extremely close. OutKast edged out Bone Thugs-n-Harmony by less than 1% margin of victory in a nail-biter for fans of both outfits. Meanwhile, another Ruthless Records act, N.W.A., defeated Mobb Deep by approximately 1% as well. The most sizable victory was a Soul Assassins crew execution, as Wu-Tang Clan outed Cypress Hill from the tourney, with a 86% to 14% win.

Who Is The Greatest Hip-Hop Group Of All Time? YOU Decide.

Approaching Round 4, there are five New York City-based Hip-Hop groups (including transplants Gang Starr). Two of those squads, Run-D.M.C. and A.T.C.Q., are from the borough of Queens. There is also representation from Compton, California and Atlanta, Georgia. The Roots, who relocated to the Big Apple in the last decade, will take Philadelphia, Pennsylvania into the “Elite 8.”

Here are the “elite” 8 Hip-Hop groups still in the tournament (listed alphabetically):

A Tribe Called Quest (defeated De La Soul)

Gang Starr (defeated Eric B. & Rakim)

N.W.A. (defeated Mobb Deep)

OutKast (defeated Bone Thugs-n-Harmony)

Public Enemy (defeated Boogie Down Productions)

The Roots (defeated Black Star)

Run-D.M.C. (defeated Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth)

Wu-Tang Clan (defeated Cypress Hill)

Round 4 begins Tuesday (September 4).