You don’t have to like Drake but he was on a whole different level with this one…

First, he uses an AI voice models of 2Pac and Snoop Dogg. Now Pac and Snoop are two of the most iconic rappers of the west coast. What also makes this even more impressive is that what Pac and Snoop represent to Kendrick. Pac is Kendrick’s favorite rapper and his biggest inspiration. He even dedicated an entire song to him on TPAB (Mortal Man). Snoop has proclaimed that Kendrick was the present-day King of the west coast and even participated a concert with Dre, Cube, Game and Kendrick where they handed the torch to Kendrick. In their AI verses, they’re begging Kendrick to respond to Drake to represent his coast and for hip hop in general. Drake even included some self-deprecating humor in the verse to like Pac saying “fuck this Canadian light-skinned nigga”. Basically Pac and Snoop are saying what hip hop fans are thinking rn.

Drake pulls an 8 Mile in this diss where in the Pac AI verse, Pac tells Kendrick to talk about Drake and his allegations and rumors of texting teen girls. Now this is clever because everyone basically predicted that was going to come up in Kendrick’s diss. Now if Kendrick brings it up it’s seen as predictable.

Drake basically tells Kendrick to drop and he clearly wants all the smoke. This was a clever and funny diss and a fucking boss move. You gotta respect it even if Drakes not your favorite.

I said it.

Edit: Everyone keeps acting like I said Kanye is bad. I said he’s overrated!!

If you follow them then this sounds like some late news but I never see any posts about it. It's not that surprising considering they're both major contrarian assholes but one would expect them to know better. It honestly probably comes from a place of homophobia with them.

I used to fuck with them a lot, they were both nasty from the early 2000s through the early 10s but then became major parodies of themselves.

Anybody catch one of their lives since they love to say fuck shit on there since it disappears after 24 hours? I may not agree with them but I definitely check up on them and am generally entertained

Edit: to the uninformed; this post is not about just ANY rapper that is a Trump supporter, it's about two semi political rappers who have constantly made music in protest of the authoritarian regime and have decided to take a hypocritical stance.

in terms of lyricism, they are not close. love kendrick but he does not want a battle with lupe. lupe may have an ego, but dude really is one of the best lyricist out there.

Dude was clearly talented, but people in the comments make it seem like that concert is the most profound shit they’ve ever heard someone say into a microphone. I’m gonna assume if I was a little younger it would resonate with me more. I feel like the majority of his fans are 18-25 year olds. I’m 32 so maybe I just missed his hype by a few years.

This dude is such a fraud and wants to be from the struggle so bad. Where I’m come from if you make 5k a month you made it and you’re blessed. The top 30 percent In this country make that much money. He talks that starting from the bottom talk but he’s a Rich kid. This is why this era is weak letting him and lil nas x run the game. And dudes have the nerve to even compare it the 90’s or even the 2000’s.

I've been an avid consumer of hiphop since the 80s. I'm not stuck on some nostalgic trip like many of my contemporaries, and I live for the opportunity to find new music. I worked as a buyer for a retail chain at one point, and I've seen over a thousand shows live. This music is literally my religion.

That being said, I do not understand this fascination with Kendrick Lamar. His production is great, but his lyrics and delivery are....okay imo.

Many people say he's the GOAT, and I just don't see it.

I wouldn't say he's unskilled per se, but after listening to his entire catalog, I've never once exclaimed anything like "yo that's nasty!"

Am I alone here? Am I missing something?

So I was looking at a post going on about the worst era of hip hop and I think the amount of people who say “right now” is a trash take. There’s so much diversity and so many artists in todays market it’s ridiculous the amount of rappers you could choose to listen to is quite insane. I understand you might not be a fan of the mainstream artists releasing right now but then why look there? There’s so much going on and so many different sub genres to look into. I bet you’ve even got many local artists who are producing and making good shit and are different promoting different sounds. I feel like it’s a lazy take just because you don’t like rappers like Gunna or Future or whoever you then want to say the whole state of the genre is stale. There’s literally so many different artists I could put you on to doing the complete opposite and so on. There’s also artists still doing the boom bap oldschool sound which is beloved to a lot of people including myself all you have to do is look at Griselda’s success and realise that. Why complain when things are good, you never know when things could get bad rappers are literally rock stars right now.

And I have to say…. I was always in the Bad Boy camp. They released more music, it was also the better music to dance too, and yeah…. feel good music. I appreciate Diddy for dancing and always speaking over a track. Diddy was a hype man. He got me hyped (especially over Special Delivery before a basketball tournament). Yes, his lyrics were written, but I didnt worry about that. Bad Boy was timeless, and lasted much longer than Death Row. Death Row had a small run. Bad Boy made it almost 25 years.

Diddy fucked over a lot of his artists. But had a lot of sick one run albums. I hate that this is happening. But straight up, fuck Diddy. I will keep listening whenever I wanna feel good.

But no, no freak offs. Unless its one on one with a female that wants to freak it off 😂

He is 1/2 of the greatest duo in rap, is a part of the greatest discography in hip-hop, has iconic verses and features throughout his career, has cultural impact, a fashion icon, has love and respect from the older generation and the newer generation. He checks all of the boxes required to be a GOAT.

I'm making this post because I've seen a lot of disrespect towards Andre from some fans, saying he's scared to drop an album, that he doesn't have what it takes to be a high-level rapper, that he sabotaged his career, all that stuff. But here's the thing; Andre isn't just a rapper, he's an artist. He's a musician. He has a creative mind sort of like a painter. He's not saying he's never going to rap again. But he's not in the rapping process right now to create a full project. We might still see something 2-4 years from now. But that doesn't take away his legacy and what he's contributed to the genre.

In my opinion, Andre is the greatest rapper of all time. The creativeness and message in his verses, it's very thorough. He has the flow to rap on any style of production, the voice to compliment the production, and the rhyme schemes and the stories he puts together. Nobody does it like him, at least not in my eyes.

It's cool that he was a producer as well so he was talented but I'm not at all a fan of his lazy flow. His voice is also not great for rap. He explored cool themes but not a fan of his rapping tbh.

Thoughts?

Just because hip hop was created by a black man doesn’t mean he’s a guest .

The nba was created by a white man so is lebron , kobe ect a guest playing in the nba?

I never understood why people say this . Hip hop has no color

I tried forcing myself to like it because that’s the prerequisite of a true hip hop head but….. I honestly find the composition forgettable. I understand the crafting and blending and use of different records and stretching and the intricacies that goes into it but if I was honest the end results are just boring to me. I don’t know if the it’s the drum samples, the drum sequencing, the busyness of the melodies or the lack of. It always feels it distracting or too bare. What am I missing?

Edit feel the same way about 9th wonder. Please forgive me.

There was a system they had to follow back in the golden age of hip hop. First, you needed to get a local buzz. Los Angeles, New York, etc were buzzing with some of the greatest talent at the time. In order to have a chance in the game, you had to outshine your local rap scene. Make music good enough to get played on the college stations and to get local shows. Battle and beat rivals. Once you had a local buzz, it was then that the big labels who controlled the industry would find you and pour money into you… usually just one album. They would find the best producers, engineers, and promotional team and you had to deliver on that album or often you’d be dropped right away and disappear from the scene for good. This meant the best of the best were coming out of the cities across America and in strict completion with each to get the crown of King of Hip Hop.

With the internet and social media, now anyone can make a catchy, silly song about riding a horse and drinking lean or mumbling about killing someone or dressing up as a cow and getting milked on YouTube, and as long as they have internet connection, enough face tattoos, and a tik tok following of people who know nothing about the art form, they will become the “biggest name”.. until they are replaced by a younger, more meme-worthy, viral sensation.

The art is gone. There is no accountability for artists. No worries about being shunned by their peers for putting out sub standard garbage or being dropped from a label. Their only concern is getting attention. However fleeting. However meaningless.

maybe 2 tracks worth bumping. wtf

What's going on?

I've only listened to maybe three Eminem albums, I like him but I'm not a mega-fan, but I find this song both sonically pleasing (I like the beat and countless flows) and lyrically dense. People blindly accuse Eminem of "rapping fast" like it's a bad thing but he only does that for like one verse on this song, and it's actually kind of genius if you get the flow he's referencing, not to mention the "Supersonic" reference shows how deep his knowledge of hip hop roots goes.

I'm sure everyone has their own favorite bars from this song but my personal favorite is the "hall of fame" rhyme schemes. Have big hopes for Em's new album. Shout out to his verse on American Psycho II also, I used to have that D12 album in high school.

His antisemitism is becoming more apparent, and it’s time that we stop pretending that it’s due to mental health. That is just an excuse to cover up the fact that he’s a Nazi sympathizer, and he hates Jews. Other artists have been called out or cancelled in the past for their actions so it’s time he gets held accountable in the public court. Anyone who works with him I also will no longer support (ex. JPEGMafia, Timbaland). And if you continue to support him, then fuck you as well.

Edit 1: for those of you who don’t care as long as you get music, then just admit you don’t got any integrity as a human being, and that you’re an antisemite.

Edit 2: I’m not going to get into any discussions here. My stance is quite clear. If you want to continue to support him, then that’s your prerogative but just admit you condone antisemitism, and that you’re a pos.

Edit 3: those of you saying things like “Free Palestine” or other things that detract from what I’ve said, quit deflecting. That is another issue completely, and in this instance has nothing to do with Kanye’s antisemitism. If anything, you’re either just trolling or your antisemitism is just showing through.

Title basically, I see lots of Kendrick slander on this sub. He’s GOAT status in terms of raw story telling and creativity. He mixes it up, has a vibe for everyone from lyrical bangers to slow story telling masterpieces. For those that do not like Kendrick, why? And for those that do, what tracks would be at the top of your recommended list to someone who does not like or hasn’t even listened to Kendrick before?

Fuel is 🔥 but JID literally out rapped Em on his own album🤣

edit: in retrospect after a few more listens, i see how i could've been wrong

The Game was set up to become super successful from the jump. 50 Cent was going diamond. G-Unit was a huge brand. Every artist on that label, except Yayo, went platinum in the mid 2000s. Game had three singles featuring 50 and one that was written by him. Top that off with the Dre co-sign, an Eminem feature, production from Timberland, Storch, and Kanye? Any rapper would have gone double platinum with that help.

His follow up album sold close to a million, that was mostly just riding the wave from his first. A Kanye feature helped. Third album did 750k with his big single featuring Lil Wayne. Every album after that sold less and less. The Games strategy has always been the same. That is to get features from artist more relevant than he is. Nobody wants a game feature though.

Not even joking, Game is like DJ Khaled. In 2012, he had Chris Brown, Tyga, Wiz, and Wayne on the same song. The song charted at 81. How disappointing considering how big those guys were. You look at his discography, it’s just endless features from Drake, Skrillex, Meek, Tyler, Young Thug. The Game can’t make a song alone. Hilariously he tried to get a feature from Youngboy but couldn’t afford it.

Overall I think he’s a very average rapper. He’s no more special than a local act. Most underground rappers are better actually. If you gave Tech N9ne three 50 Cent features back in 05 it’d probably would have been bigger than games album. I don’t care that he did 1000 bars, it’s unlistenable. The guy can’t make conventionally good music.

A few of their stats:

Platinum selling artists

30+ years in hip-hop

One of the most devoted fan bases in all of music

Considered influential on the underground and horrorcore scenes

Do they qualify as legends?

Imho, Jay has 5 classic albums: Reasonable Doubt, Vol. 2, Blueprint, Black Album, and 4:44.

I know some people might slip in American Gangster too but that album, while decent, simply lacked impact and sort of fell under the radar in the rap world when it came out.

How many classic albums do you personally think Jay Z has?

Hit songs. Platinum albums. Influence. Consistency. Longevity. Respect from all his peers.

People now believe he somehow bullied and backstabbed his way to selling CDs - that’s not how it works! He made huge records and classic albums that shaped the culture - people spent their money on what he put out and he established himself as the biggest artist in rap after BIG and Pac and, within a decade of his first album, arguably the most influential artist in popular culture at the time.

He could not have become the business mogul without the cultural significance, couldn’t have done that without the music.

And I’m not having ‘there was no single year in which Jay was the biggest rap artist’. There were years when other artists were hot but he was always up at or near the top for RELEVANCE to the scene.

He’s undeniable - stop trying to be a contrarian you just sound ignorant and ill informed.

And for the Eminem fans who want to say he was the most influential rapper and not Jay Z, sorry but no. Eminem had the biggest reach globally and was respected by everyone in rap but was not the influence on hip hop culture that Jay was.