The best rapper from all 50 states

Minnesota

Artist – P.O.S.

Years Active – 2001-Present

Notable Album – Audition

Sample Rhyme (from “Stand Up (Let’s Get Murdered)”):

“See, you can’t fight a feeling. I feel terrified

There’s a war against me, my friends, my fam, my pride

My life, my job, my likes and like-minded

Folks are like, “Psh” like they just don’t mind it

So I’m cool, right?

They wag the dog. We catch the lipstick

What kind of city plumber thought that he could make these old and rusty pipes fit?

Well, they don’t. I’m catching the drip

I’ll practice holdin’ my breath, then sink with the ship”

—

Long before Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton were running for president, Minneapolis’ P.O.S. (short for Pissed Off Steph) was railing against the establishment. He spent the bulk of the 00s releasing tracks like “Stand Up (Let’s Get Murdered),” a sharp-tongued critique of the (then) Bush administration and a system that seemed like it was rigged against the average American citizen.

Were his complaints overblown? Maybe a little, but you have to remember this was at the height of the post 9/11/Iraq War/Great Recession era and to those paying attention it was hard not to think that someone somewhere was getting screwed over.

The important part for our purposes is that P.O.S. made some excellent rap. It was violent and angry yet thoughtful, a worthy tribute to the 90s Rage Against the Machine and a precursor (though likely not a direct influence of) the likes of conspiratorially-minded rappers like El-P and Killer Mike.

Next: Mississippi