Top 5 fever continues, and this time, Dave East is the latest to pay it forward. "Who inspires you?" asks Nick Cannon, speaking with the New York lyricist on Power 106. "Dave East's top 5, it ain't gotta be the greatest of all time. It's just the top 5 that you listen to, that you fuck with." East reflects for a moment, before setting things off with one of his friends and collaborators. "Styles P," he says, prompting an excitable ouuuuuu from Nick Cannon. "P, Nas, Hov," he continues, keeping the New York state of mind strong. "Biggie."
While he waits for the final pick, Cannon once again expresses joy at the inclusion of Styles. "Not even, like, Jada," says Cannon. "I love Kiss, but SP my favorite rapper," says East. "One more? Pac. I put Pac." Nick Cannon is damn near giddy. "That top 5, as a lyricist, I put that against anybody's Top 5" he gushes. East turns the table on him, inquiring about Cannon's own Top 5 Dead Or Alive. "In no order," begins Nick, "Pac, Hov - actually fuck it, I'ma do order. My number one is Pac, hands down. Number 2, Eminem. People get surprised that I say that shit."
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Dave East interjects - "[Em] be in and out of my top five. Sometimes I say Em, sometimes I won't." Cannon compares him to Elvis. "You can't deny the numbers, you can't deny the impact. All his kids that he birthed." "He birthed a culture," says East, before praising his bars. "You can't rap with him." "And the fact, his cadence!" praises Nick. "Em is different," says East. "It be clear, you can hear him." "When he really want to switch his shit up, he's ill," continues Cannon. "I'll give him that. I'll give him number two. Then I'll go Hov. Then I'ma go Cube."
East respects the choice, but does inquire about "which Cube," implying a stylistic difference. Cannon doesn't discriminate in that regard. As for his last pick? Cannon opts for Andre 3000, though he remains tempted to bestow the honor to Drake. Perhaps the passage of time will shift his opinion. Check out the discussion below, around the twelve-minute mark.