sage francis has some pretty inventive rhymns, and good wordplay. Just listen to the track All Word, No Play. The rhymns don't really make sense, but they are some great string words.

slug is actually the emcee for the group atmosphere, which includes a producer, so hes on twice...however, best lyricist as far as the flipping words around-royce da 5'9", then theres best conscious lyricist-common sense(common before he was just common), fast rapping-percee p or busta rhymes, at least his older stuff, but overall, theres just too much to compare honestly

I don't mean this as a putdown, but don't "lyrics" require a "melody?" They are words crafted to serve a melody, aren't they? Most rap songs I've heard have no melodies...so the words would be more accurately defined as "rhymes" to a beat, not lyrics, I believe...

with every definition of a word, there is a point where it becomes obsolete, when hip hop arrived, at first it was simply rhymes as it was a freestyle, but as soon as it is written, it becomes lyrics-words that go to a beat. the definition has been re-written to fit what is currently true...it happens, no offense taken.

while i'm here i may as well represent u.k anyone heard of Lewis Parker??
production lets him down at times but as lyricly sound as they come.
or while i'm on a brittish tip Jhest?
while seeming as it's mostly american artists here i'll put forward sage Francis and Sole

I don't think I can choose one best lyricist honestly.. If I want lyrics to read in black and white then Aesop rock, Sage francis, sole, guys like that have great lyrics.. but if you wanna include incorperating the lyrics into the song to fit properly and sound good to a beat, they aren't really good choices IMO. Tupac and biggie were no where near the best LYRICISTS to rap, since they used simple rhyme schemes and a limited vocabulary, but as artists they were much better performers than guys like Aes Rock or Sage Francis. I'd have to say overall Common, Mos Def, Talib Kweli are pretty good choices.. they have the ability to be deep and complex with their lyrics without going over the top on some random bs line after line. I'm also into the old political rap so imma throw Chuck D and KRS-one out there as well.

MC Chris! xD

lol, seriously though, he owns.

""When did mediocrity and banality become a good image for your children? I want my children to listen to people who fucking ROCKED! I don't care if they died in puddles of their own vomit! I want someone who plays from his fucking HEART!" bill hicks"

That seems like he's talking about most rappers to me...and most of the people in today's industry not just New Kids OTB. Those rappers just recycle the same old crap and guess what? That IS banality. The mediocrity comes first but it manifests itself in banality. The problem is that people aren't seeing the repetition in the material and the image...please...hair metal was more profound than rap...please...die rap...DIE...

nelly,50 cent,chingy

No offense, but I think rap will become obsolete before the definition of "lyrics."