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When legendary rapper Ice-T set out to make his new documentary, Something From Nothing: The Art of Rap, which debuted last week, he fully committed himself to the endeavor; much like a rapper’s approach to creating era-defying hip-hop, Ice-T looked at the whole picture laid before him. He wasn’t going to simply talk to the modern-day big-wigs; he was fully prepared to analyzing the full spectrum of the game — from the global superstars to the early pioneers of hip-hop. WIth this in-depth look at the evolution of rap now in theaters, we felt it was only appropriate for this edition of Flashback Friday to pick out a handful of the standout MCs — Rakim, Dr. Dre, Nas, Eminem and Kanye West — featured in The Art of Rap that gave Ice-T their unique perspective on the musical genre and culture that continues to reward them.

Rakim

Among hip-hop heads, Rakim is a rap diety. As one-half of iconic duo Eric B. & Rakim, the NYC-bred MC would release one of hip-hop’s most enduring and universally revered albums after recruited, and subsequently signed to Island Records by a young Russell Simmons. Paid in Full, a 1987 release from the duo, cemented their legacy just as it was getting started. Rakim flipped the script on what was the hip-hop norm of the time: rather than a loud, brash delivery, Rakim’s flow was relaxed and stoic, and every line was crisp, pronounced and profound. While he may not have received the same extent of commercial accolades as some of his contemporary peers, Rakim still remains widely considered one of hip-hop’s most talented and prolific talents.

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Dr. Dre

It’s easy to forget but Dr. Dre, born Andre Carter, first rose to fame as a DJ; he was the featured turntablist for the highly influential electro-rap outfit, World Class Wreckin’ Cru before joining seminal gangster rap crew, N.W.A., where he spun, produced and rapped. But it was his post-N.W.A move, the crafting and releasing of The Chronic, a hip-hop relic, that sealed his legend. The low-down swing and brash bravado of cuts like “Nothing But A G Thing and “Let Me Ride,” both featuring another blossoming talent, Snoop Doggy Dogg, gave Dre the worldwide acclaim that allowed him to later sign a young Detroit talent named Marshall Mathers. And soon after he released his spectacular sophomore effort, 2001. Sure, it’s been over a decade since Dre has dropped a full-length, and his next release, Detox, has long become hip-hop’s Chinese Democracy, but there’s no denying the man remains a titan of the game.

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Nas

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Nasir Jones, better known by his stage name, Nas, was catching buzz years before his game-changing 1994 debut, Illmatic; his guest spot on a 1991 cut, “Live at the Barbecue,” hip-hop trio Main Source, alerted the then-booming industry that a new voice was coming into play. Flavorful, gnarly grit and channeled aggression were fast becoming staples of the scene, but Nas upped the storytelling ante. He’s dropped rhymes from all phases of life, form birth (“Fetus”) to death (“Amongst Kings”) and everything in between. Above all, Nas’ cadences snuck in and out of the beat; a trait of lyrical delivery largely unseen in the game before his arrival. What’s more, the man has remained relevant for nearly two decades: his forthcoming tenth studio albu, Life Is Good, remains one of the year’s most-anticipated releases.

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Eminem

Interscope

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When Eminem’s debut album, The Slim Shady LP, was released in 1999, the Detroit native instantly became at the same time one of the most revered and divide figures in popular music. The man born Marshall Mathers did, and has never made any excuses for his blatant — oftentimes vulgar — rhymes. But it was his honesty, coupled with a poet-like grasp on vocabulary, an astounding display of complex rhyme schemes and multisyllabic riffs, and his ear for rhythm and melody that floored the hip-hop universe. Furthermore, Eminem, who would later release critcially-acclaimed releases from The Marshall Mathers LP to his most recent, Recovery, helped make rap a mainstream commodity: being a white MC, and unequivocally the most talented to date, he was able to bridge a cultural gap that had long segregated the genre. And in doing so, Eminem not only delivered rap to the masses, but was given the largest stage possible to flaunt his craft.

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Kanye West

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Celebrity has a way of casting a shadow over a person’s artistic genius. It’s undeniable that Kanye West, who first emerged as a producer for Jay-Z’s Roc-A-Fella Records and worked with artists from Jigga to Mary J. Blige, has become one of the most recognizable and equal-parts controversial names in hip-hop. But let us not forget that it was West’s expansive musical palatte– and his incorporation of genres as far-reaching as arena rock and elctro to R&B and trip hop into his cuts — that not only made a standout out of his debut, 2004’s The College Dropout, but that also has allowed him to continually flip the script and reinvent his style over the past decade (see: 808’s and Heartbreaks as well as his brilliant 2010 release, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, for reference). There’s a reason the world hangs on West’s every move; the man is a modern-day musical innovator.

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