Do You Agree? Joe Budden Argues Aretha Franklin & Whitney Houston Do NOT Belong in the Top 5 of Billboard’s ‘Best R&B Artists of All Time’ List

It’s been nearly two weeks since Billboard unveiled the top 10 of its polarizing ‘Best R&B Artists of All Time‘ list, but the eye-popping ranking is still fueling several debates across social media.

One of the more headline-grabbing chats on the topic came courtesy of a recent episode of Joe Budden‘s eponymous podcast and saw its star go head-to-head with newest cast member / award-winning author, professor, activist, and television personality Marc Lamont Hill about Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin‘s inclusion in the top 5.

Details inside.

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Hill – a self-proclaimed “Aretha stan” – was fighting for his life against fellow podcast cast members as they argued Franklin’s impact was limited to her generation and, as a result, should not have seen her named the #2 best R&B artist of all time by Billboard.

“Aretha Franklin is not a top 3 choice,” Budden relayed before explaining his belief was due to the magnitude of the other names mentioned in the top 10. “You could honestly swap her and R. Kelly’s spot.”

And while most of the cast agreed with Joe’s assessment, Marc wasn’t having it.

“Aretha Franklin is probably the greatest singer of the 20th century. She usually gets voted as such. But, if you look at her catalog – it’s insane,” Hill shared before running down the Queen’s discography of hits across several decades.

Defending her against his fellow podcaster’s suggestion Godfather of Soul James Brown should’ve also ranked higher, Marc crutched his argument on Franklin’s versatility and ability to rework other artists’ songs as her own (e.g. ‘Respect,’ ‘Say A Little Prayer,’ ‘Eleanor Rigby,’ etc.).

Budden, however, retorted with the assertion that versatility and covers were not the metric being judged and – as such – Whitney Houston should also have been left outside of the top 5.

By the conversation’s end, the ‘Pump It Up’ rapper seemed to have a change of heart about Franklin thanks to Marc’s adamance, but the other podcaster’s weren’t so easily convinced and still maintained R. Kelly has had more impact than the Queen of Soul – especially to the current generation of R&B lovers.

Hear the full argument below.