According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Eminem is the current world record holder of the world’s fastest rapper
Twista, on the other hand is often considered to be one of the fastest rappers in the world for being able to rap 11.2 syllables in just one second. However, Busta Rhymes, and other underground rapers like Wacko have on occasions rapped as fast as their counterpart. At the end of the day, the person who you would choose to be the fastest rapper in the world may boil down to preference.
A lot of MCs rap very fast not because it is a style that moves and evokes a feeling of familiarity within present-day fans, but because it is an avenue for showing off skills. Rap music has been popular since the 70s when it was developed by inner-city Americans of African and Latino roots living in the Bronx borough of New York City. Since then, the beats and verses have evolved, with different rappers choosing different ways to showcase their talent. Some have chosen to do away with the original slow style and are now paying more attention to speed.
Who is the World’s Fastest Rapper?
For many years, great beats and badass lyrics have explained why hip hop fans are crazy about rap music and rappers, and it’s no secret that some rappers can spit words faster than some sprinters can run per minute, but the question of who the fastest rapper is is still up for debate. At the moment, no one ultimately occupies the spot of the fastest rapper in the world and it may not be easy to pick out anyone because there are a lot of artists in the music industry that can rap fast but a greater percentage of them are independent artists who are not known.
That aside, some artists have had to spit super-fast words in their songs, but their music style is not grouped as rap. Among popular rap artists, however- from Eminem to Twista to Busta Rhymes- it’s hard to deny that any of these rap stars can easily move at crazy speed while doing their thing. While some people have argued that Twista and Busta Rhymes top the list. Others would rather bet their money on Eminem.
Meet the Fastest Rappers in the World At The Moment?
Just like every other industry, the hip-hop world is filled with rappers who work hard to be better than others and one way to do this is by rapping at a faster pace than your competitors. But the question of who the fastest rapper in the world still remains unanswered. However, below are some of the rappers whose vocal speed has kept fans glued to hip-hop music aka rap.
Eminem
There’s hardly anyone who has never heard about Detroit-born rap heavyweight Marshall Bruce Mathers III, popularly known as Eminem. Named among the fastest rappers in the world, he is known, among other things, for dropping his songs with breakneck speed, for holding nothing back, and for taking no prisoners lyrically.
As opposed to many rappers, Eminem finds it easy to link many words at the same time and make them rhyme in a way that makes it seem like an easy thing to do. Thanks to his impressive ability to spit syllables in fractions of a second, the rapper’s name got inked on the Guinness World Record in 2013 following the release of his 6 minutes 4 seconds long song titled “Rap God”, which packed a whopping 1,560 words within its short time length.
With his recent album, “The Slim Shady LP,” the Rap idol doesn’t look like he’s slowing down anytime soon. So, good luck keeping up with him.
Twista
Formerly known by the stage name Tung Twista, this American rapper named Carl Terrell Mitchell started rapping when he was 12 years old and eventually grew to captivate hip hop fans with his chopper-style rapping technique. “Slow Jamz”, ” Po Pimp” and “Girl Tonite” are some of the songs he is famous for. Having held the Guinness World Record for Fastest Rap MC in 1992 for being able to rap 11.2 syllables in just one second, Twista is often considered the fastest rapper of all time.
Meanwhile, before he was crowned the world’s fastest rapper, he released “Mita Tung Twista” in which he also churned out 11.2 syllables per second. Years later, he outdid himself in the song “Victory or Death” where he rapped 12.8 syllables per second. In addition to the mentioned songs, other songs that prove Twista is among the fastest rappers in the world are “From Da Tip of My Tongue” and “Creep Fast.”
Busta Rhymes
This Brooklyn-born rap icon is game whenever it comes to spitting lyrics at an incredibly fast pace. With a rap style that comprises the use of internal rhyme and half-rhyme, coupled with the lightning speed with which he delivers his words, Busta’s songs are far from boring and his 12 awards and several nominations, including 12 Grammy nominations, is proof of this. This is also why you’ll hardly find a list of fastest rappers that’s missing his name.
In 2001, the rapper’s song “Break Ya Neck”, produced by Dr Dre, was dropped and within the 3 minutes and 51 seconds it plays, he spits 768 words (3.32 words per second). Although it solidified his position among the fastest rappers to ever handle the microphone, it is just one of the songs where he put his rapping speed on display. In his song, “Why Stop Now”, he spit 10.5 syllables per second, in “Hello”, he peaked at 12.8 syllables per second, and in “60 Seconds Assassins”, he rapped 11.8 syllables per second.
Speaking of “Break Ya Neck”, a YouTube commenter said Busta Rhymes raps so fast that even he cannot lipsync to his own songs. Thankfully, he has no plans of slowing down anytime soon as he confirmed in February 2021 that he is almost set to dish out a new album he made with Dr Dre.
Tonedeff
Following the rap stunts he pulled at popular rap battles and the shows he opened for top artists such as Royce da 5’9” and Common, Latino rapper, Tonedeff shot to limelight. He is a highly celebrated artist in underground hip-hop, having emerged winner of several rap battles and being crowned Lollapalooza’s Last Band Standing winner in 2006. At the competition, which was his very first performance on a mainstream stage, the rapper performed so wonderfully that he transitioned from being just an underground battle star to an internationally known rapper.
Tonedeff hits such a hyper-speed while raping that’ll leave you drolling, but his skills aside, he is the founder of a record label known as QN5 Music. His 2013 song, “Crispy” shows the stuff his rap speed is made up of. It includes an instrumental that gradually increases in beat and energy every minute and eventually reaches supersonic speed and also lyrics that are rapped at the speed of light, precisely 14 syllables per minute. In the last verse, he spins things around, delivering 192 beats per minute. Employing the same style in “Demon”, he pumps out 169 syllables in 16 seconds. “Use Me” and “Cinder” are some other of his songs where he proves his speed as a rapper.
Tech N9ne
Co-founder of Strange Music record label, Aaron Dontez Yates, popularly known as Tech N9ne unleashes a sound assault whenever he is at his rap game. He uses the Chopper technique and has proven to be one of the fastest rappers alive with many of his songs among which are “Worldwide Choppers” which consists of 1543 words in just 329 seconds, “Get Me Off” in which he spits 11.5 syllables per second, and “Welcome To The Midwest” in which he raps 12.7 syllables per second.
In “Takin Online Orders” Tech N9ne lays down 912 words per minute (15.2 words per second, 12 words per beat, 76 beats per minute) and it is arguable the fastest he has ever gone. With Tech N9ne, one can’t say for sure how any of his songs will be before its release as he is reputed for switching his flow pattern with each new song. Sometimes, he starts slowly and then increases his pace rapidly, as seen in “Kill Sh*t” where he unleashes 11 syllables per second.
Aesop Rock
Yes, there’s ASAP Rocky and there’s Aesop Rock. Don’t mix up the two. The latter is not just fast whenever he steps up to rap, he also infuses more vocabulary into his songs than any other rapper and that is why The Guardian described him as the rapper with a wider vocabulary than Shakespeare.
In a bid to find out the famous hip-hop artist who had the largest vocabulary/number of unique words, Designer Matt Daniels, a data scientist, hip-hop head, and designer based in New York, gathered and analyzed data on some of them. Afterward, he counted the first 35,000 lyrics of these artists in three to five studio albums and created a hierarchy based on their use of different vocabulary.
Guess what? Aesop Rock had 7,879 unique words used, which is over 3,000 words above the average cluster of rappers that is usually within the range of 3,000 and 4,500 unique words. Speaking of how he was able to build such a heavy vocabulary bank, the kingpin of underground rap revealed that he finds new words he uses in his songs by reading science articles and news, and penning down the words that appeal to him.
Twisted Insane
He’s been writing rhymes since he was 12. Little wonder he became a rapper as soon as the opportunity presented itself. Known for not derailing from the chopper-style of rapping, he is among the handful of rappers in that group that maintains a logical interconnection in their songs. The San Diego-based rapper has given fans insane doses of his far-flung rap skills with songs including “A Spider In The Night” and “The Initial High”. In some of his songs, he has rapped with so much speed that at a point, it became challenging for him to pronounce words correctly, making it difficult for the untrained ears to understand.
In one of his fastest songs titled “Dome Split”, he raps 15.6 syllables per second. In “Brainsick 1.0”, he churns out 15 syllables per second, in “100 Rounds Clip”, he spits 14.1 syllables per second, and in “Chop Chop”, he raps an average of ten syllables per second in the first verse alone, which is over 50 seconds long.
Rebel XD
This Chicago-born rap star is, for sure, one of the fastest rappers the world knows and his three-time Guinness World Records is proof of that. He began his career in the music industry in 1987 and toiled for ten years before fate smiled on him and he became an internationally known figure due to his record-breaking speed rhyming, which he later beat in 1992.
Anyone who followed the Guinness World Records TV show would definitely not be confused about who Rebel XD is. The first time he held the record for the world’s fastest rapper was in 1992 when he delivered 674 syllables in 54.9 seconds. The second was in 1998 when in 54.5 seconds, he spit 683 syllables while the most recent, which is, by far, the best result recorded officially, was in 2007 when he did 852 syllables in 42 seconds (20.3 syllables per second).
Krayzie Bone
From “Heated Heavy” to “Flow Motion” to “Clash of the Titans” and a bunch of other badass songs, Krayzie Bone is undeniably one of the fastest rappers out there. He spits an average of 169 words per minute.
Before pursuing a solo career as a rapper, he was, and still is, a part of a Hip Hop music group known as Bone Thugs-n-Harmony. He was launched into the limelight following the release of his albums “Thug Mentality” and “Thug on Da Line”, both of which earned him a Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a duo or a Group for his song “Tha Crossroads” with Bone Thugs-n-Harmony and “Ridin’” with Chamillionaire.
Dizzee Rascal
London-born rapper, Dizzee Rascal, born Dylan Kwabena Mills, may not be as prominent as the rest of the bunch when it comes to the hip hop arena, but it doesn’t mean he does not deliver swift lyrics in his song verses. A pioneer of grime music, Dizzee Rascal began his music career in 2000, and with the release of his album “Boy in da Corner” three years later, he laid the foundations for the genre and also became a household name in Britain. He is easily one of the fastest rappers in the music industry is among the first grime MCs whose songs became a commercial success.
Several measurements roughly calculate Dizzee Rascal’s rapping speed as three and a half words per second. This sure gives him a spot among the fastest rappers in the rapping game but does not bring him anywhere close to the class of legends such as Eminem and Twista.
Yelawolf
It takes an incredible amount of breathing to rap at a very fast pace, and Gadsden, Alabama rapper, Yelawolf is one of those rappers who can get this done. He has released an extended play (EP), four mixtapes, and is signed to Interscope Records. Thanks to his extremely fast rapping skill, Yelawolf has earned the Chopper status. He has worked in collaboration with well-known musicians, rappers inclusive. Featuring in Tech N9ne’s “Worldwide Choppers,” he raps at an average of around 6.87 syllables per second.
One of the artists signed on to Eminem’s Shady Records, Yelawolf’s sound stands him out as his raps, though very fast, has lyrics that are easy to understand and are mixed with emotional melodies.
Watsky
While Watsky may be part of the new crop of rappers on the Hip Hop scene, his rap skills are nothing short of impressive. In 2011, he drew a great deal of attention after a video titled “Pale kid raps fast”, in which he shows off his fast-rap skills, went viral. Born George Virden Watsky, the native of San Francisco, California, started out as a slam poet as a 15-year-old high school student and emerged winner of around twelve slams in the Bay Area.
In 2006, his talent eventually started to receive be praised both nationally and internationally when he won the Youth Speaks Grand Slam Poetry Competition, and was also named champion of the Brave New Voices International Poetry Slam Competition. Subsequently, Watsky transformed his slam poetry skills into outstanding musical artistry.
He has since participated in many rap battles and has six studio albums to his credit. Just like a lot of rappers, his flair for poetry sets him apart as a super-talented lyricist and even though he is fast, his lyrics are clear.
Logic
His lyrics may not always sound logical to you, but you can’t take away the fact that this rapper can control his diaphragm long enough to take you on an impressive fast rap ride. He started his rap career in 2010 with the release of the mixtape titled “Young, Broke & Infamous”, and later became popular following his 2011 mixtape series, “Young Sinatra”. As a result of the success the third iteration of the series enjoyed, Logic landed a recording deal with Def Jam Recordings.
His mainstream popularity would subsequently follow in 2017 with the release of the album, “Everybody”. On the track “100 Miles and Running,” The 34 rapper beats the fastest verse of Eminem’s “Rap God” as he pumps out 69 words in less than nine seconds.
Outsider
Arguably, South Korea-born Shin Ok-Cheol, more popular by his stage name ‘Outsider’, is not only among the fastest rappers in Korea but also in the world. He kicked off his music career in 2004 as an underground rapper and is known for the speed he exhibits in many of his songs. According to reports, he can pump out over 22 syllables per second and he also raps 721 syllables in 51 seconds (that’s roughly 14.13 syllables per second). A number of publications also report that his rapping rate can go as high as 16.25 syllables per second.
Although he raps at a crazy speed, Outsider remains not so popular due to the fact that his songs are mostly done in Korean.
In 2015, Outsider and Twista put their speed to the test to determine who raps faster with a joint single called “Star Warz”. You can play the video above to find out who the winner is.
Who Has the Fastest Rap Song?
When it comes to the rap song with the fastest rap verse, Eminem takes the top spot. His 2013 single, “Rap God” which was released via YouTube boasts of a string of about 6.46 words per second, and in the fastest verse, he raps 9.6 syllables per second. It landed in the Guinness World Record for the highest number of words in a hit single. But following his release of “Godzilla” in 2020, “Rap God” took a back seat.
On “Godzilla”, Eminem unleashes 224 words and a total of 330 syllables in a short space of 31 seconds, which equates to 10.65 syllables and 7.23 words per second. Meanwhile, the average person speaks about 1.67 – 2.67 words and 4-5 syllables per second, just in case you don’t understand why it’s a big deal. The third verse of the song is said to be the fastest verse ever in a rap song with syllables totaling 10.65 per second (equivalent to 300 words in 30 seconds). It is also said to be faster than Eminem’s feature on “Majesty”, a song by Nicki Minaj where he was able to spill 85 words in 12 seconds.
Is Twista Faster Than Eminem?
Speed is something these two Hip Hop artists definitely have when it comes to displaying their rap skills. As for who is faster, it depends on your take on it. In 1992, “Overnight Celebrity” rapper, Twista, was listed as the World’s Fastest Rapper in the Guinness Book of World Records for being able to spew 598 syllables in 55 seconds. Eminem on the other hand smashed the Hip Hop scene with the hit single, “Rap God”, where he raps 97 words per second. The song was listed in the Guinness World Records for the highest number of words in a hit single. This height was topped by his release of Godzilla in 2020 which produces 7.23 words per second.
Is Watsky Faster Than Eminem and Twista?
We have established that Twista and Eminem are crazy fast rappers, but what about Watsky who has blown away minds with his ability to rap on and on for hours? In 2020, Watsky set the Guinness World Record for the longest rapping marathon; doing his thing for 33 hours 33 minutes, and 19 seconds. This surpassed the previous record held by rapper Pablo Alverez who rapped for 25 hours and 56 minutes. So, as to the answer to if Watsky raps faster than Twista and Eminem, it depends on how you decide to look at it.
