"Every field has its greats. The giants that loom as their peers watch hopelessly and enviously from down below. But even among these, there always exists a greatest of all time. GOAT for short, if you will. Titans that make short work of other purported giants. Basketball has Michael Jordan. RPGs, Final Fantasy VII. Charcuterie , prosciutto. Bro chick flicks, Good Will Hunting. Humanity, the goddess, Tina Fey.
Hip hop has many artists who can make a very good case for this GOAT spot but only one can bring forth a complete case. Jay-Z. Jay-HOVA. Mr. Shawn Carter Knowles. He has the skill to hang with any other GOAT candidate but also has the longevity, the discography, the popularity, the hit songs, the business suave, the hot wife, and the special x factor to show for said skill. I mean, the man's career has been relevant in three different decades now. If this were Matthew 25:14-30, Jay would be the guy who received 10 talents, made back a million more, and told the master peace (which, if you think about it, is kinda what happened with him and Jaz-O). Now, as with any field, there are always going to be people who will argue against the reigning GOAT. Here's my quick dispute to some of the more common candidates that are frequently brought up as potential throne challengers, saving the biggest for last.
Kanye West: Ye is a very well rounded artist and in this aspect, he does best Jay-Z. However, let's be real. If Jay is Michael Jordan, Kanye West is Kobe Bryant. The wannabe successor that draws as much criticism as he does praise. West and Bryant both have a huge ego, a difficult to deal with personality, a repertoire of insane interview quotes, an insane work ethic, and a genius tainted by actions that make people wonder if that genius is in fact, more accurately, savant. The only difference here is Kobe is probably never going to get past the first round of playoffs ever again, let alone win another ring, whereas Kanye probably still has another one or two incredible albums left in him."
And that was it. I was going to go on about how Kanye, despite having more complete albums, really isn't too amazing when it comes to actual rhymes. But after that last sentence, I decided it would be a whole lot more fun to just write an entire article discussing possible hip hop GOAT candidates and finding their NBA counterparts. Now, I don't know as much about NBA players as I do rappers, so I did reach out for a bit of help to my buddy (who really is the closest thing China has ever produced to being the Sports Guy) when I struggled to find a comparable player. All in all, with his input, I think this turned out alright. Still pure nonsense and probably not the croissant related article the public wanted, but alright regardless. So far, we have Kanye as Kobe and Jay as Michael (Jay-Z is probably Lebron James as well honestly). Before we continue, three notes.
1. The words you have read and are about to read are those of an admitted Jay-Z Stan. If you yourself are a Stan of any of the other artists mentioned in this article, you may experience various levels of butthurt.
2. The Jay-Z/Jordan analogy can be taken one step further if you wanna bring Roc Nation and the Bobcats/Hornets into the discussion. Both individuals are incredible at what they do but cannot for the life of them seem to figure out how to manage similar talent. Seriously, Mr. Knowles, where in actual freaking hell is the Jay Electronica album?? The Detox comparison jokes stopped being funny years ago when we realized they may not be jokes after all...
3. Some rappers who belong/may be brought up by some in this conversation were excluded because I couldn't think of/couldn't be bothered to think of their respective NBA players. These rappers include Ghostface Killah, Lil Wayne, Pharoahe Monch, 50 Cent, Chuck D, Scarface, Big Bun, Ice Cube and Common.
Now that that's cleared up, on to the next one!
Rakim is Wilt Chamberlain. The OG that every subsequent emcee has been influenced by and owes his/her career to. Wilt was so damn good, he literally changed the game. The reason the foul line is where it is now is because where it was before allowed him to be a walking cheat code. In much the same way, Rakim revolutionized hip hop. He took the role of the emcee to the forefront and his rhymes did things with words that no other rapper ever thought to do. There's a reason people call him the God MC. He's the man that allowed rap to be what it is today. Subsequent generations have definitely built upon and in many cases surpassed what these two have done, but legends will always be legends.
Kool G Rap is Bill Russel. A contemporary of Rakim, G Rap is the quintessential hip hop purist's answer to the question of best rapper. Hell, it's right there in Edan's song, Fumbling Over Words That Rhyme. Go ahead, listen to it. I'll wait. You hear it?? Right there at the 2:14 mark. Kool G Rap was probably the sickest of all of them. Sickest of all of them indeed. If he had a bit more longevity and were still relative in any way beyond the hip hop nerds, he could have very well taken the throne.
Big Daddy Kane is any NBA player who spends more time in the club than at practice. Both are incredibly gifted but would rather talk their way into your pants than actually spend time honing their crafts. Ok, this was a bit of a cheat, but I really liked that last sentence.
KRS One is Byron Scott. Both are respected and were part of huge movements back in their day. Byron Scott was a part of showtime. KRS put Bronx on the map with BDP and verbally bitch slapped MC Shan into irrelevance. But fast forward twenty somewhat years and both are now more in an observational role than an active playing role. And both are clearly mentally stuck in the 80s, living out their glory days in their heads while refusing to adapt to a rapidly changing game. In Byron Scott's case, it would be sad if weren't the Lakers. In KRS One's case, it would be sad if the man weren't a goddamn maniac.
Elzhi. Whoo.. Being an Elzhi fan is like being a Steph Curry fan in the days before his coming out party against the Nuggets. You spend all your time telling anyone who will listen talking about this insanely talented guy who would run circles around their favorite. Everyone kinda politely nods and instantly forgets about it. Steph Curry had the good fortune of eventually being acknowledged for his talent. Elzhi though is still stuck in those pre 2013 season days. Nobody except a true hip hop nerd would ever make a case for his being among the greatest and I will never understand why. Just listen. So damn good...
Black Thought is Tim Duncan. Not just due to the obvious fact that both Black Thought and Duncan are inseparable from their respective groups, the Roots and the Spurs. I think Black Thought is actually one of the more legitimate GOAT contenders in the hip hop game. He has the longevity and one of the greatest discographies ever put together in music, not just hip hop, to show for it. He just keeps churning out great performances year after year without slowing down. However, he's often overlooked in favor of his flashier counterparts and is criminally underrated by the general population. Replace greatest discographies with 5 championships, and you have a dead on description of Duncan.
Drake is Dwight Howard. They're both obviously talented but attract a lot of haters for their antics. They're both extremely, excruciatingly corny. They've both been accused of being too soft too many times. And while both are undeniably good at what they do, if you tried to convince me either were the greatest at his respective field, I would tell you to immediately GTFO. Now if this were a conversation about the world's greatest punchable faces....
J. Cole is Emeka Okafor. Okafor was drafted second in the 2004 NBA draft, played for the USA Olympics team before even playing his rookie season, and was voted rookie of the year. Then, he quickly crashed down to earth and all of his potential that showed early on in his career really never manifested itself in anything more than being a solid role player. In much the same way, Cole had the whole freaking rap world salivating with his early mixtapes. Friday Night Lights, which is absolutely incredible front to back, is basically the equivalent of winning Rookie of the Year. But then Sideline Story came out. Followed by Born Sinner. Followed by the recently leaked Forest Hills Drive. All solid but ultimately, not mindblowing. Now to drive the analogy home. It's no secret that J. Cole wants to be Drake. Guess who took first in the 2004 draft, after months of debates over who was better. That's right. Dwight Freaking Howard.
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| I just punched my computer screen |
Andre 3000 is Steve Nash. Fan freaking favorites that are actually justifiable. Andre alongside Big Boi as Outkast and Nash alongside Amar'e in the Seven Seconds or Less Suns were both incredibly skilled, wildly entertaining and above all, critically acclaimed. Both duos eventually parted ways and chased the mainstream (if the Knicks and the Lakers aren't the NBA equivalent of mainstream, what is). Both never found the same success apart as they did together. And despite it all, both stubbornly push on in efforts to revive their careers.
Lupe Fiasco is Stephon Marbury. People thought Lupe would save hip hop just like they thought Marbury would somehow save the Knicks. People quickly realized neither were as good as they thought they were and both began a slow but noticeable descent into insanity.
Biggie, Big L, Big Pun and Tupac are Grant Hill, Chris Webber, Penny Hardaway and Yao Ming. All were such promising talent that seemed capable of carrying dynasties. All were robbed of long, rewarding careers due to external factors. Now, in the case of the three Bigs (note to self: never add the word big to your rap monicker unless you want a prematurely ended career), Hill, Webber and Hardaway are pretty much interchangeable. However, it's important that Pac be Yao Ming. Why? Their damn fans. Pac dropped a ton of posthumous albums and years after his death, delusional fans, who, when you really cross examine them, reveal themselves to know nothing about hip hop, continue to blindly say that he is the undisputed GOAT. Likewise, Yao Ming's fans, who, when you really cross examine them, reveal themselves to know nothing about basketball, continued to vote Yao into the All Star game years after injuries had stopped him from playing anywhere near that level. Pac stans are the worst kind of rapper stans.
Mos Def is Tracy McGrady. Everybody loves him and at his best, nobody can touch him. If Mathematics isn't the verbal equivalent of the 13 point/35 second game, what is?
Eminem is Jason Williams.
Just kidding, although I'm sure a case could be made for this that goes beyond "he's white." Something along the lines of comparing flashy dribbling to multisyllabic rhymes. Anyway, that's besides the point. Eminem actually is Shaq. He started off with an incredible amount of raw talent and after a false start, exploded onto the scene and quickly became quite dominant. Shaq and Em in their primes were absolutely unstoppable. I mean, if we could freeze Em's career right around the late 90s/early 00s, he would be the GOAT. No question about it. But he couldn't quite take that momentum and continue his dominance. Shaq in his later years, wasn't nearly as good as he was but teams still brought him along in hopes that he could bring them a championship. Eminem now is a shell of his former self and he's fallen off way harder than Shaq ever did, to the point that every new album he releases is an argument in and of itself why he could never be the greatest. Yet, new rappers still want him on their tracks, in hopes that they can somehow score a hit.
Prodigy is Shawn Kemp. In his heyday, Prodigy was East Coast rap royalty, and rightfully so. But his lyrical prowess dropped considerably over the span of one album and despite efforts to revitalize his career, it's clear that things have changed.
Kendrick Lamar and his Black Hippy crew are Kevin Durant and the 2012 OKC Thunder. They're a young group with seemingly all the talent in the world required to not only succeed, but break the game while doing so. Schoolboy Q would obviously be Westbrook. Ab Soul is Harden, the resident weirdo. And Jay Rock is Serge Ibaka, the guy in the group who most looks like he's gonna kick your ass. The 2012 Thunder broke up via the Harden trade before they managed to win anything but I hope Black Hippy forever remains in 2012. Long live Black Hippy!!!! Long live TDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Nas is Isiah Thomas. This one is a weak comparison at best maybe, if only because Jordan never really had one defined rival, the way Nas was to Jay. But Thomas seems to have given Jordan the most trouble and the Jordan Rules is the closest thing the NBA world has to Ether. The comparison falls apart though when you come to realize Nas is on the short list of rappers that one could seriously argue for GOAT status and not be laughed out of the building for. Let me deviate from this NBA topic to really appreciate this man for a moment. Prime Nas looked like he would run things forever. Rakim revolutionized hip hop with Paid In Full. Nas dropped a damn nuclear bomb on it with Illmatic. Illmatic is one of the best albums of all time in any genre. Why then is Jay my choice for the GOAT and not Nas? Because Nas never built off Illmatic in any real, solid way, whereas Jay-Z managed to drop classics at various stages of his career. Nas' discography is really, really spotty. Nas also never really managed to achieve the level of mainstream success that Jay-Z did. You can argue that Nas never wanted it, and I'd say bullshit. He wanted it, alright. He just couldn't figure out how to market his skill the way Jay did. Finally, and really, most importantly, Jay never dropped this pile of crap.
There you have it. Post one of the blog full of nonsense completed. Hope you guys enjoyed. Stay tuned. The Jay-Z discography ranking is still coming. I just don't know when I'll be motivated enough to do it. I'll leave you with this sneak peek at what's to come. Til next time, cheers.
Cheers! :)
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