rudy (top), Murder Dice (seated)Your Favorite Rapper’s Favorite Rapper is a semi-regular feature on Reverb, in which we track down some of [y]our favorite MCs/rap artists and ask them to blab about their personal favorites.

Spaced-out party-rap duo Slow Dance is the subject of the latest installment of YFRFR. The tag team plays a fundraiser show for the Robert Vasen Foundation Saturday night at Nectar Lounge with Radiation City and Sons of Huns. If any of this sounds entertaining, you should be there.If you had to pick one (which you do), who is your favorite rapper of all time?Murder Dice: EL-P or Rik Rude.Rudy: I’m not sure who my favorite rapper is, but I know who my favorite athlete rapper is. Allen Iverson, no doubt. His rap moniker was Jewels. Shaq had some jams too, especially “Shoot, Pass, Slam”. His lyrics had such truth to them. “Do you want me to shoot it? (NOOO) Do you want me to pass it? (NOOOO) Do you want me to slam it? (YAAAA!!!!)”. It was like he was reading my mind.El-PNot many people know this, but I am very likely the world’s foremost expert on the athlete rap genre. I have a mixtape out called ‘Skills Beyond the Game’ that you can download for free. It features a ton of famous athlete rappers, and also some sleepers that haven’t been in the limelight since NBA Jam (Cedric Ceballos, Dana Barros, Malik Sealy, etc).What makes them so cool?MD: EL-P’s music speaks to the blissful disgust I feel about everything around me.R: You have to really know the history of the athlete rap genre to understand why Allen Iverson (Jewels) was so revolutionary. The songs at the time were so watered down. For example:•Daryl Strawberry released “Chocolate Strawberry”. I would totally expect him to be on the drug-induced, ODB, wile-the-fuck-out tip. But he kept it too mainstream and didn’t take any artistic risks.•Deion Sanders had a song with MC Hammer (totally inevitable) called “Straight to MyFeet”, which was on the Street Fighter soundtrack. The beat was filthy but didn’t fit theStreet Fighter vibe. It was definitely the finishing move of Hammer’s rap career (zing!)•Chris Webber put out “Too Much Drama”. The most provocative line was, “They blind,I’m braille, so feel me”. That’s pretty much all you need to know about the quality of thatrecord.And then Allen Iverson came out and dropped some straight hood shit. Over some raw beats. Talking about murdering people and everything. It was just something athletes weren’t supposed to do. But he risked it all and did it anyway. And it sounded pretty dope too.What is their best album and why?MD: Fantastic Damage changed my perspective on what music can be… its one of those records that equally inspires you but makes you want to quit cause its sheer perfection.R: AI’s only album was scrapped because it was deemed too offensive.Nod to anyone locally?MD: Don’t sleep on the Mind Movers crew.R: Gary Payton was on this mixtape called “B-Balls Best Kept Secrets”. And of course he kills it. A wily vet like that always comes through, on the court and on the mic. SW