“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 have been pre-selected by a panel of experts, and one slot will be reserved for a wild-card entry (which has been determined), including the possibility for write-in candidates, to ensure no deserving band of MCs and DJs is 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. Though there will be an enormous amount of debate in comments, on social media, in barbershops and text messages, which we encourage, only votes cast in the official ballot count.

Two of Rap’s most menacing crews clash in the Sweet 16. N.W.A. only released two albums and a compilation in less than five years. Right as Ni**az Wit’ Attitudes broke up, Mobb Deep’s Prodigy and Havoc started making serious moves across the country. This duo enjoyed more than 20 years together, making eight official albums through a brief breakup and P’s incarceration. For a brief time, M-O-B-B was under the same umbrella as N.W.A.’s Dr. Dre, resulting in the “Outta Control (Remix).” However, both of these celebrated crews must butt heads, with only one survivor. This will not be an easy match-up, so make sure your vote counts.

Mobb Deep

(defeated The LOX in Round 2, 79% to 21%)
(defeated Black Moon in Round 1, 83% to 17%)

With a legacy that goes back over 25 years, Havoc and Prodigy are Queens, New York kings. The duo is responsible for some of the most iconic sounds in ’90s Hip-Hop, bringing the grimy, rugged feel of the Big Apple streets to life through their beats and rhymes. First getting widespread acclaim with their 1995 sophomore album, The Infamous, Mobb Deep went on to release a string of classics, surviving feuds with legends like Tupac, JAY-Z, and Nas, and coming out with a legacy that almost all Heads seem to respect. The pair spent the 2000s going for more mainstream appeal with a stint on G-Unit Records, splitting up in pursuit of solo careers, and reuniting for one last album together before the untimely passing of Prodigy in 2017. Possibly with more music in the cannon, Mobb Deep will forever be synonymous with Queens Hip-Hop.

N.W.A.

(defeated Geto Boys in Round 2, 76% to 24%)
(defeated UGK in Round 1, 67% to 33%)

When Hip-Hop Heads think of West Coast groups, N.W.A. steps forth is one of the first and most impactful. The Compton, California-based quintet of Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, Ice Cube, MC Ren, and DJ Yella ushered Gangsta Rap to the mainstream consciousness during the late 1980s, spawning classic material both as a group and separated as solo artists. The group’s proper debut, Straight Outta Compton, produced songs that were monumental and made some of the boldest statements Rap music has ever witnessed: “F*ck Tha Police,” “Gangsta Gangsta,” and “Straight Outta Compton.” In between the pageantry of gun-toting, carousing, misogynist gangsters on the edge of sanity, Ni**az Wit Attitudes could speak for the voiceless far beyond Hub City. Arguably, the collective lost its best lyricist (Cube) after just one album. By 1991, the remaining four disbanded. In less than four years, leader Eazy-E was diagnosed with AIDS and passed away shortly after. In just two albums and a compilation, these brothers gave Gangsta Rap an Attitude that still rings strong.

Here Are The 16 Hip-Hop Groups Competing To Be Named The Best Of All-Time

So who is the better Hip-Hop group? Make sure you vote above.