VH1's Greatest Hip Hop songs

[fighthefutureofhd]

i haven't kept with hip hop like a lot here and it's not been something i was into really. college rock and all that encompassed was my thing. but i always kept my ear open to hip-hop and dug all the old school hip-hop. hip-hop these days has strayed too far from its roots. i really think in the 80's and early 90's hip-hop was a real art form, but when real big buttloads of money could be made from hip-hop it started becoming less relevant like it was originally. i don't have any favorite songs, but there are several artists that i admired. here's a short list:

l.l. cool j
beastie boys
arrested development
queen latifah
run dmc
public enemy
mc lyte
salt n' peppa
ice-t
digable planets
common
mos def
the roots


i can't really think of any others at the moment. i'm sure i'm missing some.