5) Childish Gambino
Childish Gambino is the alias of Donald Glover, a fairly accomplished sitcom writer and comedian. If you've ever seen any of his comedy specials, 30Rock, or Community, you would realize that Donald Glover, even with his nerdy, borderline annoying voice, has an amazing way of flipping sentences. His songs are kind of a mixed plate, some have horrendously shitty production, while some have flawless production. Regardless of the production, however, ever song he makes is very lyrically complex.
4) Mos Def
There's something about Mos Def that I like, something that I love, and something that I hate. Respectively, those would be: True Magic, Black on Both Sides, and The New Danger. I can honestly venture to say that Black on Both Sides is one of the top 100 greatest albums, and definitely one of the top 10 best debut albums, in the history of hip-hop. Unfortunately, Mos Def's music career has suffered from the "unable to live up to yourself" disease, where his debut was so good that all other albums pale in comparison. Nonetheless, a very talented lyricist.
3) Nas
When I first listened to Nas, I could never get into any of his music. And now, being a fan of his work, I realize that it was only BECAUSE it was the first time I had listened to him. Usually, I'm spoken out against the whole "art has a deeper meaning" debate, because simply, it doesn't. That is, unless you intend it to. Most artists don't; most artists simply create beautiful creation, and there isn't any problem with that. Nas, however, embeds every song with the deepest meaning he can apply to it. Whether or not that's pretentious (it is) doesn't matter. What does matter is that these little intricacies cement Nas as one of the greatest lyricists in the world of hip-hop. (The only reason I'm not using NY State of Mind is because it's too cliche on lists that talk about Nas)
2) Canibus
Canibus is simply, a battle-rapper. If you've ever seen a rap-battle, you would know that it takes a lot of lyrical skill. Being a battle-rapper, his songs are all vulgar and violent, so he may not cater to all the pretentious Atmosphere fans out there who actually believe that rap is some divine, pure medium. I'll let his rap speak for itself.
1) Rakim
Shit, I didn't want to be cliche, but the only reason that anybody WOULDN'T list Rakim at the top of this list would be because they didn't know who Rakim is. The king of lyrics, flow, and everything in between; Rakim has proven again and again that he is the single greatest hip-hop lyricist of all time. Paid in Full is rightfully considered one of the greatest albums in history. Of course, after splitting from Eric B, Rakim's solo albums were pretty weak (for him, they were still amazing) up until his latest one (Seventh Seal).
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Earl Sweatshirt.
ReplyDeleteWhile I do agree that Earl IS talented, I feel that he hasn't had enough songs for it to be fair to judge as of yet. Added to that, if he DID make the list, I don't think I would be able to put him above any of these rappers except MAYBE Mos Def or Childish Gambino.
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