Can We Stop Talking Who’s The GOAT?
Greatest MC is one barbershop convo I’m ready to die
Rap’s not like sports.
There are no stats for flow, creativity, storytelling, voice, charisma, etc.
But even sports are iffy. You have some people who rely on championship rings as their measuring sticks while others look at individual stats, both of which are subject to the era in which they took place.
And that’s what makes Rap rankings that much more difficult. Are we relying on units moved (the music equivalent of rings)? Are we looking at influence? Longevity? What we looking at?
Why don’t we just cut it out all together. This is why I say that.
There was only one definitive time where you could call any one artist ‘The Greatest’ — that would be the first four to five years of Rap. Those are the years of development from yes, yes, ya’ll to composed rhymes.
There were so few rappers then that each rapper could be known for their own individual style. Starting with Melle Mel.
If you ain’t know, every rapper rapping owes their rapping to Melle Mel. How anyone could make a list of Greats without having his name on it is a list that’s not worth reading.
And for awhile if there was a rapper, they were directly influenced by Mel.
But that’s a long time ago.
Now there’s more rappers than the Marvel Universe comic’s got characters (imagine how many issues we’d need for every rapper).
How should we even broach the conversation?
If it’s to be had at all, we’re going to need some sort of criteria (of course). That criteria more than likely will also make the reader realize how futile such a list is…but we’ll still help you in your Twitter rants and Barbershop banter.
CONTEXT
The most important factor in almost any discussion is context.
Usually when someone is called the Greatest Rapper, it’s generation specific. People tend to prefer rappers from their era. So the late Generation X folk (early to mid 50s) will trend towards Melle Mel, Grandmaster Caz, Kool Mo Dee, etc. Meanwhile my generation (early to late 40s) will be screaming out LL, Rakim, and KRS.
Which makes sense. Our Rappers of preference coincide with the developmental years of our life — when we’re 14 to 25. That’s why someone like Lil Wayne, no matter how great he was/is, doesn’t resonate with me the same way he does for the fans that are in their 20s and early 30s — they grew up on Wayne.
So if we start with that as our basis, that would eliminate 99% of all arguments. Unless a person is a student of history, I doubt that they’ll understand the significance of the Great Rappers that are from a previous generation.
Which brings us to the next category:
INFLUENCE
How you the Greatest of all time and no one trying to sound like you? How do people not consider you for the Greatest argument when everyone does (try to sound like you)?
There was a time period where Rap acts from the Oranges to Oakland were tongue twist rapping like Treach. Now he’s probably known as the “OPP” man or Mr. “Hip Hop Hooray” but between 91 and 93, Treach was “The Wickedest Man Alive.”
You know a Rapper is winning when they start writing hits for other folk. Da Youngstas “Crewz Pop” is their best song and definitely written by Treach (I’m sure everyone of age thought Rakim wrote “Summertime”).
That thought process is the source of Meek Mill’s capital L. Drake is by far one of the most influential rappers today with up-and-comers imitating him in every metropolitan city. Meek Mills assumed incorrectly that if someone else was the source of Drizzy Drake’s lyrics then that influence was fraudulent.
If Meek had of checked the CONTEXT that Drake operates in, he would have known that our brother from the T-Dot is more of a pop star than a rapper. Pop stars always have songs written for them. It’s all about how they interpret the song. Drake’s a great interpreter.
We wrote about the Drake Phenomenon here and what that phenom speaks to is the next category:
IMPACT
Drake has altered what people accept as a rapper. Along with his mentor, Lil Wayne, Drake’s made “yeah” the go to filler word…yeah. Thus, if you’re of this generation and argued that Drake was the greatest, based on INFLUENCE and IMPACT, you’d have a pretty valid argument.
But is that equal to or greater than LL’s IMPACT as the first solo, teen, superstar rapper who was “only eighteen making more than your pops?” Is there a Drake song that people remember as being a paradigm shift the way that “Eric B is President/My Melody” was for my generation?
Probably not.
That’s why CONTEXT is important. All those “firsts” will never happen again so it’s impossible to measure anything now against then. The IMPACT, by definition, will be different.
No matter the era, the Greats are…
HIGHLY ANTICIPATED
Again, this is something that, unless you’re a student of history, you might not know about a generation other than your own.
Sure, I might know that Carter V is this generation’s version of Detox, but I doubt my older brother knows anything about it (and he certainly ain’t checking for it).
Similarly, you could have lived in the same generation (as me) and still not known that people like Akinyele were once HIGHLY ANTICIPATED. Nas’ Illmatic, sure.
Albums like Doggystyle are the epitome of meeting and exceeding expectations. I ain’t rock with it…but the rest of the free world did.
When a rapper makes so much buzz before ever releasing a full product, it often speaks to their skill-set. The GREATS deliver. If Jay Electronica drops a classic album (whether it’s ACT 2 or otherwise), that will determine for many people if he’s one of the Greats.
How you a Great rapper and no one’s checking for you? Of course you can become one. Jay-Z is a perfect example which brings me to my last category…
LONGEVITY
Truth be told, this is damn relative. KRS One is still making music. Kool G Rap is still making music and so are a host of other rappers pushing 50…but are those projects as cutting edge as their earlier works that made them GREAT? Some people may feel that The World is MIND is as revolutionary as Criminal Minded. Who am I to argue with that?
But if we apply our other categories, CONTEXT, INFLUENCE, IMPACT, & HIGHLY ANTICIPATED, then I think it’s evident, there’s no argument. This may have been the first time that you, the reader, even heard that KRS had a project out. You may have not heard Kool G’s Return of the Don or Snoop Dogg’s Neva Left. None of those albums have been a part of the public conversation.
Jay-Z’s 4:44 obviously has.
I think it’s commonly known that Jigga wasn’t always considered one of the Greats but after all these years he damn sure is now.
I don’t normally even consider this category because very few rappers remain mainstream beyond the first five years of their career…nevermind twenty. But if you’re going to be considered the GREATEST…
The reality is…music is not a competition….despite the nature of Rap coming from the competitive spirit of the B-Boy/B-Girl.
Artists are individuals with their own experiences and sensibilities. Most new Rap fans don’t even know K-Solo but damn if he ain’t have the illest flow. Whether you consider Slick Rick one of the Greatest or not is one thing but there’s no debating that he’s one of the Greatest storytellers to ever touch a mic. And it don’t matter if you like Drake or not, ain’t too many “rappers” winning seven years straight.
If we’re talking The Greatest…what criteria are we using? Because if we’re just talking opinion and our opinion is based on our current reality, I’d rather argue about how Ghost got to be so “huge” with no apparent army. Nonsensical arguments is what we do well…and it’s part of why I hated going to the barbershop. I needs me some logic and the GOAT argument is almost always illogical.
So let’s just stop it…or use my criteria…lol…either way, it makes no sense.
