Aesop Rock is just as cryptic in his raps but I don't see the usual suspects in this thread singing his praises or ranking him above Rakim and GZA.
If it was "just about lyrics"
Aesop Rock.
Aceyalone.
BusDriver.
El-P.
Saul Williams.
$ilkMoney.
All kinds of dudes in the underground write some mind bending, metaphor laden lyrics that should
and would be getting dropped in this thread, if it was just about "Lyrics".
All of these guys have:
Crazy sonics (El-P ALONE has insane beats)
Album concepts (Saul Williams is conceptually taking a dump on most rappers and he doesn't even "Rap" anymore)
and so on.
They love Lupe fiasco because Lupe Fiasco is tied to these dudes
IDENTITIES.
When they look at Lupe, they see the awkward kid who likes Anime and plays street fighter.
They love the "Nerd" aesthetic.
This is why they cannot objectively measure their mans because an attack on Lupe is an attack
on
themselves.