![]() ![]() Jay-Z has transcended almost two decades and remained relevant while being viewed by rap fans and critics as the Michael Jordan of hip-hop music. Artists/rappers continually get recycled through the mainstream loop as they usually have an expiration date of four albums before they are thrown on the back-burner. Rap is a “young man’s game” as most of the powerhouse artists are in their mid-twenties or early thirties. Due to this, there has yet to be a rapper that has continued his career (while in being in hop-hop’s limelight) through his elder years. Importance/Impact: Rap/Hip-Hop is still a fairly new genre compared to other mainstay genres such as rock and pop, as it only can trace its roots back to the late 70’s. With all these regulations in consideration, I claim Bed-Stuy’s own Jay-Z as the best rapper of all time and the most influential artist in hip-hop’s history, here’s why: I’m writing this essay based on the regulations that most hip-hop fans would generally base their opinions of “the greatest” on: importance/impact, flow/cadence, lyrics, and innovation. For instance, Eminem maybe a hip-hop fan’s favorite artist because of his affluent ability to connect with audiences through his detailed accounts of pain and despair or Tupac might be a rap fan’s favorite artist because of his inclusion of African-American strife and realism in his music. As superficial as this sounds, it is true, every rapper/artist connects with a person in a unique way. I often claim that the on-going argument of who “the best rapper of all time” isn’t a valid debate because the position of the “greatest” is strictly based off one’s opinion and their perspective on what they view as legitimate regulations for contention as the “best”. The track even provides one of the most sampled lines in hip-hop today, “For the bread and butter I leave niggas in the gutter.” ![]() “Gimme Loot” shows the hungriness and talent of a young, street-smart Biggie who still had been hustling on the side to provide money for his family. The true magic comes from Biggie’s ability to alter his voice in-between pitches to give the listener a true, visual depiction of two “hard-body” stick-up kids that are going all out in their efforts to gain a piece of the pie. ![]() “Gimme The Loot” finds Biggie giving listeners a tell-all epic of robbery and violence which culminates in a gun battle with 5-0 (police). In celebration of the momentous album, we’ve decided to share our personal favorite track from the “ Black Frank White“. It embodies everything that New York Rap in the ’90s was supposed to be: gully, filthy, drug-dealing music that was infused with confessionals about lavish, big-money luxuries. Ready to Die is one of those rare albums that you can you fluently listen to all the way through, from beginning to end without skipping. The album was built on the basis that is generally considered “real hip-hop”: numerous samples, boom-bap production, and gritty rhymes of street realism. was only in his early-20s when he constructed the bulk of the album, as it eclipsed most releases from his elder New York rap counterparts. Today marks the 20th anniversary of Biggie‘s classic debut album Ready to Die, which is still regarded to this day as one of the best hip-hop releases of all time. ![]()
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