Thought: Rap Gods in the eyes of a Mortal

- May 22, 2020

Thought:

Rap Gods in the Eyes of a Mortal

In any conversation about rap the subject of the best rapper will inevitability come up and that is a completely subjective debate. Case in point, there are people alive today that will swear Biggie and Tupac aren't even in the conversation and that's fine because that's their opinion but if you ask me, Tupac and Biggie are immortal. They will transcend the conversation because they died well before their best years. Excluding those guys, and no disrespect to Cube and Dre and them for the bangers they produced but in my opinion these guys are just my personal favorites.

Eminem

I kind of grew up on Eminem. I had heard other rap music but I was so young back then that my mom had way more control over the music I listened to, so, when I was able to actually experiment with music he was one of the first rappers I actually followed and purchased albums. In my opinion he was the voice of generation of kids that didn't fit in. I wasn't black enough for the black kids and I wasn't white enough for the white kids so his music was different. It stood out. Shock value and it resonated with me and to this day he still makes bangers that I play on repeat. The other day I watched a video online and they were talking about Em and they were talking about why he is so great and in my opinion his staying power is due to the way he just goes and gives everything to his bars. You can tell that he puts so much time into crafting that lyrical magic and using it to methodically destroy every beat, and rapper, that's put in front of him.

Ludacris

Mr. Incognegro himself is definitely on the of my all time favorite rappers. Luda has a silky smooth flow and his personality really shines through his music. His lyrics always resonate with me and some of his songs make me laugh and wanna have fun. It kinda sucks that he went to making movies and hasn't really done any music so to speak but I loved him the Fast and Furious movies and I think he could continuing do both for a long time.

Logic

It's only logical that I'd have Logic on my list. He raps a lot like Eminem in my opinion. The way his bars always seem to fit together and flow as if the words were made just for that beat. I really enjoy his music and as a biracial person, I know what it's like to not really fit into either group. Not Hispanic enough for the Hispanic kids, not black enough for the black kids and not white enough to hangout with the white kids; I never really felt like I fit in. He carved a place in this world for himself using his words and I aim to do the same just in a different way.

NF

I'll admit that I am relatively new to NF's music but I will say that I am very impressed. One thing that really catches my attention with artists is the subject of their music and NF never seems to bore me. I am always intrigued at what's about come next and every verse is perfectly crafted because you know that he's working in a landscape that's unforgiving for even slightest imperfection for a guy like him. Let's face, rap isn't dominated by white faces and for someone like him to be able to cut through the noise and do it so well, I have to say that he has become one of my favorites.

Royce Da 5'9"

Royce Da 5'9" seems like someone I could talk with for hours. He seems like a guy that's always striving to improve through learning and one thing I admire is people that are always working to learn something new so they can do something new. Royce does exactly that. Every verse, every line he's using every single thing he's learned to bring us the most fire track it can be and when he teams up with Eminem I am entranced. I actually read an article that Royce actually posted a video on Instagram that some think might mean he is working on another album with Em. Fingers crossed.

Joyner Lucas

All I am going to say is listen to him. There's a list below that includes my favorite songs with these guys. There's one on the list for him and it is the one that sold me and that's all I'll say. Anyone that can spit bars with Shady like that gotta be something special. Period.

Those are my favorite rap artists and before anyone starts in on the whole, well what about this or you forgot this person, remember I said this conversation is completely subjective and this is my list. I am happy to talk about other artists but I admire these guys because each one of them used their words to carve out the life they wanted and they embraced their voices early on and I wish I had embraced my voice earlier and honed a craft using words. Who knows if anything I am doing will take me to that level of success but these guys, when I play their music-- they inspire me to try. They remind that you don't have to fit the mold to be successful; you can live outside the mainstream and still find success chasing the things and the dreams you love.