Real talk is Kanye West the best rapper of all time?

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CrayToes said:
Yeezus is a terrible hip hop album. I've heard it all. I know it's cool to hate Kanye and all but wow. Ghostface and Roots are both really strong arguments.
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Nah I don't hate Kanye I love CD/graduation/mbdtf/ 808s. And I even love most of wtt even tho hova washed him on most songs. I'm who he talks about in that skit/song(?)About missing the old Kanye. I just think Yeezus is terrible lyric wise and beat wise except for a few joints. TLOP is even worse.

Edit: I'm also the only person who doesn't love late registration apparently lol. It has 5 great songs 3 ok songs on like a 22 song album. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
 
Gnome said:
It's a very heavy statement to make. You have to wait to see if his works outlive his popularity. Lot's of people come and go and are extremely popular in their time yet we'd never know their name these days. Kanye might be one of them, or he might not, remains to be seen yet. I will concede that he's got a good shot at it at least, to be one of the greats ("greatest" is just a stupid claim to attach to anyone).
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Especially given his recent association with Trump, whatever that is about. Have NO idea how to feel about that, because in many ways, Kanye's persona is just like Trump's (minus the racism, but not the trolling or ego part). But again, that is most likely a persona (he always seemed like more of a warm and sensitive person than the cartoonishly arrogant dude seen in interviews, awards shows, etc) and maybe he's associating with Trump for artistic reasons - performance art, understanding the beast, etc. Who knows. But assuming he doesn't go completely off the rails, he could still be remembered as one of the most gifted artists in recent memory. His body of work alone will probably prevent him from fouling as much as Lil Wayne or something for example.
 
Bounceounce said:
Jay's discography would be much worse without American Gangster.
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absolutely agreed, i'm just saying it's considered a standout effort by post black album standards. it's head & shoulders above what came immediately before & after

which isn't uncommon with a body of work that large either, granted. everyone falls off, and i think if we're being honest most heads try to point out when we're highlighting a good (but not great) album how much it shines when we're looking at a point in an MC's career well past their best work.
 
IrishNinja said:
let's break this down to molecules

Hov - should've stayed retired at black ablum, would've been a GOAT discog
american gangster stands out as "NOT AS BAD AS THE OTHERS" as a result
Nas - you can mostly disregard everything after gods son/lost tapes '02 era right up to Life is Good and most of us wouldn't notice...and i love that dude
Pac - top 10 but nobody revisits more than half of 2pacaplyse & Strictly 4, arguably one of the finest Greatest Hits artists of all time due to having too many weed carriers on his later shit
Tribe - okay yeah, beats & rhymes was the only misstep for me and that still had tracks
PE - one of the absolute greats but this is still a strange argument to make, i really feel like i should finally hit up man plans, god laughs or whatever before continuing though


Em is like one of the only top 10 (for most folks, anyway) MC's with a harder 2nd half dropoff than jigga though
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I agree with a lot of this. How many people honestly listened to PE after the It Takes a Nation/Fear of a Black Planet era?

Tribe's weakest album is Beats & Rhymes, but I would still think they have a GOAT worthy discography, including their latest album.

Can't really speak on Pac, never was a huge fan of him. A lot of his production choices turned me off of him.

Jay Z album wise fell the fuck off post Black Album. American Gangster is great, but what the fuck was Magna Carter, Kingdom Come and that weedplate Blueprint 3?!?!

Nas is my favorite rapper ever, I own all of his albums. But I would be lying if I were to say Street's Disciple, Hip Hop is Dead, and Untitled were damn near forgettable outside of a few tracks. Life is Good on the other hand was Nas back to form and I hope we get more of that direction his next album.
 
IrishNinja said:
i totally get people not liking it, it just resonated for me. new slaves banged, hold my liquor and even bang 2 were nice, and honestly if TLOP had even one track nearly as good as blood on the leaves i'dve fucked with it. i'm super wary of sampling someone nearly as good as nina simone but that last autotune minute or so, that shit was fire.
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The only true part of this is that bang 2 was nice.

Chief Keef's best mixtape
 
Aizen.S.Kennedy said:
Nah I don't hate Kanye I love CD/graduation/mbdtf/ 808s. And I even love most of wtt even tho hova washed him on most songs. I'm who he talks about in that skit/song(?)About missing the old Kanye. I just think Yeezus is terrible lyric wise and beat wise except for a few joints. TLOP is even worse.

Edit: I'm also the only person who doesn't love late registration apparently lol. It has 5 great songs 3 ok songs on like a 22 song album. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
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I actually prefer Late Reg over CD lol. It's far more ambitious in terms of production with all of the orchestral instruments and sounds. CD actually has quite a few duds.
 
No, cuz his writer credits are a goddamn mess. He's far and away the most influential MC of all time, bar none, and his worst records are better than either Jay-Z or Nas best records.
 
I mean really, we wanna compare Kanye to thoroughbred spitters like Ghostface, Big, Ice Cube, Rakim, Kendrick, Beans, Jay, Lupe, Game, Em, Nas? Its laughable. He has to be evaluated as an artist, cause as a rapper, he looks funny in the light. Pusha rapped circles around him when they freestyled on Funk Flex.
 
Ok well riddle me this, is it possible Kanye is the most influential/talented producer and overall songwriter in hip hop?
 
theignoramus said:
I mean really, we wanna compare Kanye to thoroughbred spitters like Ghostface, Big, Ice Cube, Rakim, Kendrick, Lupe, Game, Em, Nas? Its laughable. He has to be evaluated as an artist, cause as a rapper, he looks funny in the light. Pusha rapped circles around him when they freestyled on Funk Flex.
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What's laughable is the fact that you just listed Game as a thoroughbred MC.
 
CrayToes said:
What's laughable is the fact that you just listed Game as a thoroughbred MC.
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He's one the best to do it from the West Coast, thats not debatable. Man, I cant even argue anymore if Game's rapping ability is being called into question, how old are you, did you even listen to Game when he first came out?
 
Threads like this make me feel really old. Its like seeing someone proclaiming that Black Ops 2 is the best video game ever because they've only had a console for like a year.
 
theignoramus said:
He's one the best to do it from the West Coast, thats not debatable. Man, I cant even argue anymore if Game's rapping ability is being called into question, how old are you, did you even listen to Game when he first came out?
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How old am I? Lmao. What is this condescending horseshit? I had a Game CD from before The Documentary. Can't remember the name of it but it was fucking trash.

Game is the greatest imitator hip hop has ever seen and he's always been blessed with incredible production but calling him one of the great MC's is hilarious.
 
FeenixRising said:
Tribe's weakest album is Beats & Rhymes, but I would still think they have a GOAT worthy discography, including their latest album.
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tribe used to be my 2nd GOAT group after Wu but it's hard to pretend like they don't have the better discog...i mean, who the fuck comes back in a year like 2k16 with what might be a modern classic? the clan has scarcely come close since the early aughts.

i was hoping for their american gangster entry, and i got a black album. i'm still floored.

Can't really speak on Pac, never was a huge fan of him. A lot of his production choices turned me off of him.
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yeah, this is a huge factor. death row gave him access to better beats - quik, daz & co arguably laced him for All Eyez, compared to his older shit - but it's still a mixed bag with questionable hooks and way too many scrubs. who the fuck puts outlawz on Got My Mind Made Up with meth, red & the pound?!

Life is Good on the other hand was Nas back to form and I hope we get more of that direction his next album.
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i enjoyed Distant Relatives for what it was, but yeah LIG stays mad underrated

thequickandthedead said:
Chief Keef
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4JtOQBN.gif


theignoramus said:
I mean really, we wanna compare Kanye to thoroughbred spitters like Ghostface, Big, Ice Cube, Rakim, Kendrick, Beans, Jay, Lupe, Game, Em, Nas?
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you just named a bunch of dudes on m top 10, but beans? lupe? game? em? you could combine their discographies and it'd be like half of what yeezy's done

Ban Puncher said:
Kanye West couldn't rap his way out of a gift shop.
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YAH YAH YAH YAH YAHHHHH
 
As a rapper he's crap but we all know that. Best rap artist he is also miles off.

The last 3 albums has basically just been other producers making the beats, Mike Dean adding stuff and then Kanye rubber stamping it.
 
CrayToes said:
How old am I? Lmao. What is this condescending horseshit? I had a Game CD from before The Documentary. Can't remember the name of it but it was fucking trash.

Game is the greatest imitator hip hop has ever seen and he's always been blessed with incredible production but calling him one of the great MC's is hilarious.
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I mean, he's only one of the best lyricists to come out of the West Coast and he ethered every main member of G-Unit single handedly, but I guess mic skills dont mean much in your evaluation of an MC.
 
autumnleaf said:
I dunno man some guy told me it goes Reggie, Jay-Z, 2Pac and Biggie, Andre from OutKast, Jada, Kurupt, Nas, and then Eminem.
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em on his own list aside i always thought kurupt was a weird choice, but i guess it fit his style
i give props to anyone citing red in their top 10 though

theignoramus said:
I mean, he's only one of the best lyricists to come out of the West Coast and he ethered every main member of G-Unit single handedly, but I guess mic skills dont mean much in your evaluation of an MC.
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300 bars and runnin was so much better than it had any right to be
 
No, he isn't. He's clearly one of the most influential, however.

The sheer number of tracks he's produced, wrote, co-wrote and co-produced is dizzying. He's clearly the most impactful rapper of his generation.
 
theignoramus said:
I mean, he's only one of the best lyricists to come out of the West Coast and he ethered every main member of G-Unit single handedly, but I guess mic skills dont mean much in your evaluation of an MC.
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"Ethered every main member of G-Unit singlehandedly". And you're asking how old I am.
 
Always surprised at the lack of mentions of KRS-One in these threads. Yeah, his "I am hip hop" schtick got corny towards the end there, and his opinions on the Bambaataa situation are cringeworthy, but he is still one of the greatest. Dude was always in people's top 5.
 
ViewtifulJC said:
of all the years you chose to praise Koonye West, you chose 2016.
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Disgusting language. Reporting you as we speak

Lol Forreal tho it's tragic that he went from an outspoken and necessary voice to a straight up sell out nut

I dunno if it's mental health issues or just hubris but it is sad. Considering the average age of neogaf members I think it's safe to say he was an artist many of us admired during our formative years am I right?

I will always love him artistically. But as a person hes a joke. Not nearly as bad as some other people I'm a fan of but still he ain't looking so good either.
 
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