I hate these kinds of discussions, yet I'm still drawn to them. Regardless, it's all subjective. You listen to the Kendrick Lamar EP, Overly Dedicated, and Section 80, and tell me he ain't in the top 5-10 as far as popular and newer emcees go. Not to mention his legitimate major label debut is a solid record. There's really nothing to debate. People sh!t on Nas during his It Was Written days. This ain't new.
Discussions like this are the 2015 version of some cornball arguing till he's blue in the face trying to convince you why the Def Jux crew is better than Death Row. I'm older now, so it's amazing to me how all the sh!t my pop used to tell me is turning out to be truth. That being, nothing new under the sun and similar. I remember when 50's mixtapes pre-signing to Aftermath started poppin here, and I got into a debate with some weirdos at a record store. Two white dudes, both pretentious and snobby as hell about music, couldn't name you 10 Hip Hop groups prior to NWA, yet had the audacity to thumb a nose at what I was purchasing. I can't remember the whole conversation, but the one thing I do remember, was them making the case about how dope El-P, how nice Aesop Rock was, and how gangsta music was where Hip Hop lost its way. Aesop Rock was god to those types back then too.
Two white dudes, and not that race entirely matters, but it is relevant. Two white dudes, one a hipster with low testosterone before that even became a trend, the other a bum in the veins of Occupy Wall Street. Ya know, you'd think he was homeless looking at his dress, grooming, and hygiene. Multiple piercings, outragously baggy jeans that flared towards the shoes, beat up skater shoes, etc.. You get the picture. And he's tellin me where Hip Hop went wrong. Good Underground music to me meant BCC and DITC. Def Jux was just bad music, plain, and boring. And real talk, RJ the Rugged Man, while not a bad emcee, didn't make memorable music and isn't an authorative voice on the subject of lyricism anyway. Not hating, just statin my piece. The Biggie story aside, just because a dude doesn't achieve mainstream success doesn't mean he's an authorative voice on lyricism. Vlad keeps bringing these weirdos out the woodwork knowing most of are jaded and crave camera time, and the public just eats that sh!t up.
i see what u did there.nice.
