Great overall producer, marketer and general hip hop powerhouse, but one of the greatest rappers? The way Nas embarrassed him back in the early 00s put an end to any claim he might have had.
Music Greatest living rapper?
- Thread starter Pickle85
- Start date
Great overall producer, marketer and general hip hop powerhouse, but one of the greatest rappers? The way Nas embarrassed him back in the early 00s put an end to any claim he might have had.
Nas.
He's still making albums of a high quality.
He's still making albums of a high quality.
It’s Kano and I’m tired of everyone pretending it isn’t
Depends what the criteria is. Q-Tip, Black Thought, Andre 3000, Nas all still about but the most important rapper right now for me is Kendrick Lamar. To Pimp a Butterfly probably in my all time top 5 hip hop records. This is all subjective though!
He's not even the best of them.
Absolutely not
And their solo catalogs aren't even comparable, Ghost is streets ahead. Method's flow is God tier but that's it.
I'd say he's the greatest Wu artist for
1. Being a top tier emcee on 36 Chambers, Wu-Tang Forever and the period between (on his solo album and guest verses in others). Wouldn't say he's the best emcee in this period but it's debatable between Rae, Ghost and GZA (maybe Deck)
2. Not falling off badly after Wu-Tang Forever. This is undebatable: he has the best catalog of any Wu member/affiliate released after Wu-Tang Forever. Supreme Clientele, Fishscale...
I didn't even realise MF Doom was dead. I was about to come in and ask why he hadn't been brought up by anyone. Completely missed me. feck.
In what way? Ether vs Takeover is a Nas win in one battle so don't see how that makes someone lose validity in being considered one of the best. Both continued to make great music after that and imo if you went through each body of work album for album Jay z quite unanimously comes out on top.
Who makes greater cars, Bugatti or Toyota? ( A bit disrespectful towards Ghost, who I hold in high regards, but to me flow goes over "body of work" any time of the day).Absolutely not
And their solo catalogs aren't even comparable, Ghost is streets ahead. Method's flow is God tier but that's it.
And about Jay, he's had one memorable line "Kelis sings that she brings all the boys to the yard, Nas goes and tatoos the bitch on his arm". (Ok maybe 2: I'ma hustler you can tell, I'll sell water to a well)
Yet I do still wonder what he's personally guilty of:
Well, obviously i dont agree, but why dont you think that?
He played a HUGE part in making hip hop spread out to the world and in to the livingrooms.
They were shaping up to be one of the biggest rivalries and that track totally and unequivocally ended it, despite Jay Z's best efforts to save some face.
Sure Nas has made some shit but longevity isn't a big factor in hip hop when some of the best ever have such short discographies. Forget Ill and Stillmatic since they are at the top of any pile, but in God's Son and It Was Written Nas has another two albums which best anything short of the The Blueprint.
My head says Kendrick, but my heart says Andre 3000. I don think there is any rapper in the world who every time they drop a feature, not even a song, will just make the whole hip hop community drop everything and take note.
Disagree wholeheartedly outside of a few exceptions Biggie, Big L, Pun etc.... If the artist is still able to put out music and still be considered one the best in his genre over decades of being around then that has to count for more.
Illmatic/Reasonable doubt both classics
Stillmatic/Blueprint both classics
That is a 50 Cent lyric
You have quite obviously not listened to much Jay Z with the other chosen line as a standout, too.
That is a 50 Cent lyric
You have quite obviously not listened to much Jay Z with the other chosen line as a standout, too.
See, even jigga's greatest lines were written by 50
! I listened to the blueprint now and then back when it came out but yeah i'm not the biggest fan. I used to listen to mixtapes a lot more than any artists individual albums (back when they were a thing) and have listened to him via those prior to blueprint but he's just never been my cup of tea. Could never hold a candle to someone like Nas, Big L or Biggie and was destroyed on hot 97.I like complicated rhyme patterns as much as anyone but sometimes the easy lines with simple truth to it is the greatest put down. RA killed it on agent orange but no one would call him the greatest either despite his technical abilities (And the song might be called uncommon valor not agent orange, my mind is old).
Edit: One other thing I gotta get off my chest: Do some of you people believe 2pac is the first, last or only rapper to get killed
Last edited:
@11101 would like to backtrack a little on the discography's seems it a little closer than i initially thought. Time goes so fast you forget when certain shit is released but still think The Black album is better than God's Son, Street's disciple > Kingdom come, American Gangster > Hip Hop is dead, The Blueprint 3/Untitled both have redeeming qualities but both aren't top tier albums, would say BP3 as it was most people introduction to Cole and had some decent tracks on there.
I actually prefer Life is good too Magna Carta but i know quite a few people would disagree but 4:44 shits on Nasir.
I actually prefer Life is good too Magna Carta but i know quite a few people would disagree but 4:44 shits on Nasir.
Drake
Jay Z
Lil Wayne
Nas
Eminem
or
Snoop
Ice Cube
Busta
Kendrick
Jadakiss
or
JID
Dave
Joyner Lucas
Pusha T
J cole
Jay Z
Lil Wayne
Nas
Eminem
or
Snoop
Ice Cube
Busta
Kendrick
Jadakiss
or
JID
Dave
Joyner Lucas
Pusha T
J cole
I really like Snoop and I agree with you, but in my opinion I could probably name 20 more influential artists, that is not to say that Snoop isn't influential, just that others are more so.
Fair enough. I might be biased loving west coast hip hop.
Chuck D
No you are absolutely not, and your viewpoint is closer to the truth. And even if biased... tell me this thread doesn't have an extreme East Coast (mainly NY) bias!
Toyota! But to each his own
Jay has had 2 memorable lines... ever?
not even residents of Queensbridge are this biasedThere always is when talking about hip hop. Specially when talking history. West coast, and maybe even more, the south, is often overlooked.
This is true. For some reason, i just haven't been able to get myself to really love Outkast, for instance.
Even on his greatest song it's the kids singing that was memorable.Toyota! But to each his own
Jay has had 2 memorable lines... ever?
(Btw. I have already stated that it's all down to personal taste and anyone is free to differ. But if tested I'm ready for any e-fight! Gonna be gone for about 3h now though.)
Last edited:
From what I said about Snoop not being in the top 20 most influential artists, there are several of the West Coast artists that I would have above him.
Ice Cube, Dr Dre, Eazy-E, Ice-T, Chuck D and 2Pac (he is seen as more West than East regardless of where he was born). Snoop for me comes it at number 7. It just so happens that Rap originated in the East Coast, so of course there are going to be more influential artists from the East than West.
Just because I said Snoop is not in the top 20 most influential artists, doesn't take away from the fact he was a huge influence in the industry.
Only a couple of mentions for Andre 3000, him and Outkast in general are always slept on in these conversations, when they should be near the top. Unlike nearly every other rapper in this discussion, I feel like it'll be a long time before we see another Outkast. Nobody captures what they do in their music.
Jay is lucky the likes of Biggie and Big L aren't around, the man bit and schemed his way to the top. No doubt he has some bangers, but i have no love for the guy.
Is Led Zeppelin still alive? If so then, him.
1. Nas
2. Biggie
3. Jay Z
4. Mos Def
5. Lloyd Banks
2. Biggie
3. Jay Z
4. Mos Def
5. Lloyd Banks
Their influence is easily forgotten at times, always blows my mind how quickly people throw Jay-Z into their lists and Outkast are nowhere to be seen
If you like pop rap then maybe. You can't be the greatest rapper when you literally cried on radio because you lost a rap beef
Coi Leroy must be in this conversation by now.
Possibly the worst song I've ever heard and its on every fecking radio station at the moment. Nick one of the greateat hip hop tracks of all time and sing 'Girls is players too' on repeat over the top of it.
Possibly the worst song I've ever heard and its on every fecking radio station at the moment. Nick one of the greateat hip hop tracks of all time and sing 'Girls is players too' on repeat over the top of it.
Saw this image on FB and thought of this thread
The lack of Kanye in this thread is kinda strange. MBTDF is one of the greatest albums of all time, at the very least he is in the debate.
1. Jay-Z is not pop rap
2. Nas had his forays into commercial music (remember Nastradamus?)
3. Nas won the battle but it was quality music from both sides leading up to and after the songs that mark the beef. Takeover is one of the greatest diss songs ever written (everyone thought Nas was done after it). We:ll skip over Supa Ugly... But Blueprint 2 was a nice parting shot (is it Oochie Wally or is it One Mic?)
Who even remembers Takeover!? (Even there his best line is stolen from Scorcese)
Last edited:
What do people think of Inspectah Deck? I always see Method Man, Raekwon and Ghostface Killa as high on lists, but from interviews, most of Wu Tang have Inspectah Deck as the best rapper of the group.
Yet another hip hop thread on the internet where people feel the need to comment on Jay Z's catalogue of music without having actually listened to it beyond what they've heard on the radio, it seems.
Memphis D