Jay-Z has claimed on several occasions that he is the Mike Jordan of rap and honestly, he probably is. But the great thing about Hip-Hop that I wish we could do with hoops is that you can actually compare rappers of different generations. I was listening to Lil’ Wayne's new joint with Gucci Mane where he claims he’s the best to ever do it and I thought, “damn, is he right?”
After a week of Hov bashing, I figured I’d continue the theme. LSCFoot brought up two REALLY great points of criticism of Hov that I think apply to more than just his latest offering: “no development of his style” and “nothing pushing any preconceived notions of what a superior lyricist should sound like”. In the past 5 years, if you could name a rapper that has done both of these things, who would it be? If you answered Kanye or Wayne, I would have to agree.
Now I’m not saying that you have to do an alternative record (808s and Wayne’s upcoming rock joint count, the joint Hov did with Linkin Park does not) that’s not hip hop, but watching Wayne develop from “wobbledy wobbledy” to “I’m richer than Nicole and I’m a lion like her daddy” has been mind blowing. Kanye has emerged as one of the most creative artists in any genre and like he said “now he look at me like, Damn dog you where I am…” I’m just thinking, can’t I compare Jay with these young cats? They’re all still rapping and making music. No injuries or conditioning issues prevent it so in Hip-Hop, if you still rapping, you better be doing it well.
Hov continues to put out great music, but lately, Ye and Weezy have elevated the game to places we didn’t think possible. Who thought a legit rapper could make an album where all he does is sing (Jus says 3 Stacks did it first but that’s sans autotune and he was spittin a little) and what other rapper has done a legit rock album? As long as everybody is still rapping, there are standards that are applied across the board. The Jiggaman is probably the closest to “the greatest” but there are cats hot on his heels and if he sticks around long enough for one of these cats to catch/surpass him, what will it look like?
Friday, June 19, 2009
4 Bars- G.O.A.T.?
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1 comments:
Yeah when you talk about GOATs you definitely have to account for the evolution of the game. But that can be difficult too.
there are 40 year olds out there that no matter who comes out they will never be greater than Rakim. And they are right.
there are 30 year olds that no matter what, there will be no one better than Biggie
And when the current 20 year olds become 30 they may never admit that another rapper is better than Lil' Wayne.
For me the greatest rapper is 2Pac and I don't know what it can take for me to shake that notion.
I actually think sports are easier because of statistics. You either scored 30 points or you scored 40. But can you really equate cadence and flow to the point where you can make an objective decision? I dunno.
I think today's rappers are better than rappers 30 years ago if for no other reason than they were inspired by the pioneers and added to their styles.
Its tough. You probably have to give the current title to Hov but who knows, in 5 years it might be Waynes.
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