Puff or Hov : Who is more iconic ?

[Stick Up Kid]

Diddy has the more interesting story.. his dealings with Bad Boy, Death Row, Suge, Biggie’s murder, Tupac, J-Lo, Shyne, was hip hop’s richest person for 20 years etc

Jay would’ve been Ludacris status if it wasn’t for Beyoncé and his “boss” status/image

 

[KING WILL]

Today it's Jay.

6, or more years ago it was Puff.

 

[Rekkapryde]

Giving Jay a slight edge because of Beyonce.

 

[JustCKing]

People just post garbage just to post it. Ya'll do realize that there has not been ONE moment of Beyonce's entire solo career where she hasn't been linked to Jay. Jay Z was a household name back when Beyonce was still in Destiny's Child. And if you mentioned Beyonce by name prior to 2000, people would look at you like "who" and you'd have to say "the lead singer of Destiny's Child" before people would even know who you were talking about.

 

[H. Selassie]

People just post garbage just to post it. Ya'll do realize that there has not been ONE moment of Beyonce's entire solo career where she hasn't been linked to Jay. Jay Z was a household name back when Beyonce was still in Destiny's Child. And if you mentioned Beyonce by name prior to 2000, people would look at you like "who" and you'd have to say "the lead singer of Destiny's Child" before people would even know who you were talking about.

The narrative is typically spun in the opposite direction but this is definitely a fair point.

 

[Cladyclad]

Jay Z at a level no musician of the last 30 years is at. It’s to the point people want him to stop police brutality. Dudes beg him to free them from jail. It’s never been no shyt like that.

 

[BulletProof]

Hov if we're talking in the confines of Hip Hop.

Outside of that bubble, I guess Diddy. I'll let New Yorkers decide. I dont have a in that race.

However, in the context of global impact and American culture as a whole, Pac is defintely the most iconic in Hip Hop. And thats out of a very small group.

 

[Nomad1]

puffy and i dont even like that fakkit

 

[BulletProof]

The narrative is typically spun in the opposite direction but this is definitely a fair point.

Because for the last I want to say third part of his career, Beyonce and for awhile Ye have carried his popularity when it comes to music.

The better question is who in that marriage helped each others career more. Matthew Knowles is a mastermind.

 

[JustCKing]

Because for the last I want to say third part of his career, Beyonce and for awhile Ye have carried his popularity when it comes to music.

The better question is who in that marriage helped each others career more. Matthew Knowles is a mastermind.

This isn't true. That's just a narrative perpetuated by people who don't know any better. When Kanye debuted as a rapper, Jay Z was retired. How did he carry Jay Z? When Jay Z came out of retirement, Jay Z had one big record produced by Kanye ("Run This Town"). Jay Z's biggest sole #1 ("Empire State of Mind") as a solo artist is on that same album and is produced by AL Shux. Jay Z went double platinum in 2006 with an album that had one Kanye production and it wasn't even a single. Jay went platinum again in 2007 with an album that had no Kanye productions and it is one of Jay's mist critically acclaimed albums. Jay did an album with Kanye and that was big for BOTH artists, but it's still the biggest album Kanye has had since. Before streaming, Kanye was struggling to go platinum. Jay Z's MCHG was bigger than Yeezus.

Nobody knew who Kanye was until he started producing for Jay Z.

 

[BelowTheMasonDixon]

Huge Jay fan here. And I absolutely got to go with Diddy on this one.

 

[Cladyclad]

This isn't true. That's just a narrative perpetuated by people who don't know any better. When Kanye debuted as a rapper, Jay Z was retired. How did he carry Jay Z? When Jay Z came out of retirement, Jay Z had one big record produced by Kanye ("Run This Town"). Jay Z's biggest sole #1 ("Empire State of Mind") as a solo artist is on that same album and is produced by AL Shux. Jay Z went double platinum in 2006 with an album that had one Kanye production and it wasn't even a single. Jay went platinum again in 2007 with an album that had no Kanye productions and it is one of Jay's mist critically acclaimed albums. Jay did an album with Kanye and that was big for BOTH artists, but it's still the biggest album Kanye has had since. Before streaming, Kanye was struggling to go platinum. Jay Z's MCHG was bigger than Yeezus.

Nobody knew who Kanye was until he started producing for Jay Z.

People refused to believe dude is good. It could never be him. It’s always something. I would never even listened to Kanye if wasn’t on Rocafella

 

[LadyJ2]

Puff is an icon. Jay is a celebrity.

 

[Will Ross]

Really no right or wrong answer to this question. And Jay was iconic before he married Beyonce. LOL. It's like saying Puff wasn't Puff before dating Jennifer Lopez.

Jay was a star in rap but Beyoncé made him mainstream.
Puffy was the bigger star at the time when he got with j.lo

 

[Piff Perkins]

People refused to believe dude is good. It could never be him. It’s always something. I would never even listened to Kanye if wasn’t on Rocafella

While I agree Jay was gonna be Jay, I think people are making the wrong argument. To me the argument should be that Jay's ear for beats and instinctive knack for making the right decisions bolstered his already impressive career. That's a positive for Jay, not a negative for him. Jay is the guy who had the foresight to purchase a studio and build an in-house production team for cheap beats. He had the foresight to sign Kanye, who he had been listening to since 1997 thanks to No ID. He signed Just Blaze, Bink, etc. Any benefit that was gained later on after Kanye became a superstar should thus be viewed as a plus for Jay, not the other way around. Not to mention the fact that Jay's label gave Kanye the platform to become who he became. We all saw the documentary...Kanye could have very easily gone elsewhere and gotten shelved or flopped without the proper promo or cosign.

When rappers make bad decisions we often end up doing RIP threads celebrating them. When rappers make good or great decisions that bolstered their career, they should receive the credit.