Hip Hop News: A Recap Of Who Won In Round 4 Of The Greatest Rap Crew Of All-Time Competitio (2024)

In the semifinal, a matchup between the Wu-Tang Clan and G.O.O.D. Music crew saw the winners of the East Coast and Midwest regions do battle. The Clan surged ahead past the crew they’ve worked with on albums like My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Cruel Summer, and The Man With The Iron Fists soundtrack. Before Kanye’s G.O.O.D. crew, Wu defeated Ruff Ryders, the Juice Crew, and Dreamville in previous rounds.

The Semifinal Round 4 Battle Between The West Coast & Dirty South Regional Winners

The other semifinal matchup was a closer race. The winners of the West Coast and Dirty South—Death Row Family and YMCMB squared off. In one of the tournament’s tighter competitions, the crew, including Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Tupac, and others, prevailed against the squad involving Lil Wayne, Drake, Nicki Minaj, Juvenile, Mannie Fresh, Birdman, and others. Both influential collectives represent extensive and dynamic membership, with multiple movements and eras to each. Less than 1,000 votes decided this matchup, making for the most exciting competition in the tournament thus far. Before YMCMB, Tha Row crew defeated TDE, N.W.A. & The Possé and the Hieroglyphics crew.

The Championship Round Preview

That spirit of tight competition will undoubtedly carry into the championship round. Wu-Tang Clan and the Death Row Family are contemporaries. Both crews formed in the early 1990s, and players on both squads remain all-stars over 30 years later. There were reports in several books on Death Row—including Ronin Ro’s Have Gun Will Travel that Suge Knight unsuccessfully attempted to bring the burgeoning Wu to Death Row in the mid-1990s. By 1996, Method Man joined Tupac and Tha Dogg Pound on “Got My Mind Made Up” from the diamond-certified All Eyez On Me. However, that song—also featuring Redman—omitted a recorded verse from Inspectah Deck. While the Death Row squad was the commercial juggernaut out of the gate in the early 1990s, Wu-Tang eventually found sales and mainstream recognition to match their critical acclaim and certified Hip-Hop approval. Then, in the mid-2000s, Raekwon signed with Dr. Dre (at Aftermath) where he began working on what eventually became his lauded Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…Vol. II album. Each of these squads has endured losses, including the passing of core figures like ‘Pac and O.D.B. The love between the DR family and the W is real, and lasting—long after any awkwardness in the past.

Round 5 will decide the winner of this epic celebration of Hip-Hop. Your vote could be the one that determines the champ. That’s why this round features 72 hours of voting—before the winner is announced at the 2023 BET Awards.

Go to BET.com to vote on which crew you believe should win this competition. You can also vote on Twitter and Instagram, using the hashtag #BETGreatestRapCrew and a hashtag with your favorite crew.

In recognition of Hip-Hop’s 50th anniversary, BET Digital, in partnership with Ambrosia For Heads, is celebrating the culture by hosting a bracket-style competition that allows you to determine Hip-Hop’s greatest crew.

Rather than having “experts” tell you who is the greatest of all time, this is your opportunity to collectively make that decision. After giving the opportunity to any and all fans to provide feedback on which crews should be included, 32 collectives from different regions, styles, and generations have been selected—all vying for that #1 spot. When the final battle is over and the last vote is cast, you will have determined who is your Greatest Rap Crew of All Time.

The Greatest Rap Crew of All Time launched with 32 collectives. After an exciting Round 4, the competition is officially down to the final two crews in the championship round, launching today (June 6).