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Joe Budden made waves this week by landing at number 3 on an all-time greatest rappers list that went viral -- but some other greats got snubbed big time ... so say Flo Rida.

We got the Florida-grown MC in NYC, where our camera guy asked what he made of a Top 50 list put out by some podcasters that pissed off the hip-hop community -- because they put JB at no. 3, only below Jay-Z and Nas ... and above A LOT of other artists.

Flo says he tries to stay away from rankings like this, since "best" is in the eye of the beholder ... and no one person is going to always agree.

That said, our photog puts homeboy on the spot and asks him to name a few rappers he considers to be the cream of the crop -- and he finally caves ... for him, it's Pac.

He also acknowledges Biggie and Eminem as probably needing to be higher on an all-time greatest list too -- they got relegated to no. 8 and 28, respectively -- considering their versatility and how influential they've been. Seems trailblazers are important to Flo.