rakim or jay z; who's the better mc?

[phatphuck]

ra's a pioneer
camel's a biter

 

[SirBiatch]

If you took the beats out of Paid In Full & replaced them with more modern sounding production, you would never know The God Emcee was spitting them in 1987. That's how ahead of his time Ra was.

which is cool and all, but looking at who ended up being the better emcee, saying Rakim is laughable with all due respect. Jay-Z is the better emcee in practically all aspects.

Now if we wanna talk about who was more pioneering/influential, then it'd be Rakim no question.

 

[kendoll]

jay z imo but i personally don't like listening to either that much

 

[ciubaca]

I voted for jay....idk why. Now i think Rakim is a better MC but jay makes better music (if that makes sense)
Like comparing Kanye to Eminem. Em is clearly the better MC but kanye makes better music.

 

[Big Mark]

Jay couldn't flow like that or even handle the Follow the Leader track. I think people are over influenced by Jays success as a business man and it sways their opinion when it comes to his skills. Yes, he is a good rapper but lacks in a lot of areas. Jay is way down on my top 10 list, if that, and I have several golden aged rappers ahead of him.

 

[ciubaca]

Jay couldn't flow like that or even handle the Follow the Leader track. I think people are over influenced by Jays success as a business man and it sways their opinion when it comes to his skills. Yes, he is a good rapper but lacks in a lot of areas. Jay is way down on my top 10 list, if that, and I have several golden aged rappers ahead of him.

he did manage so stay relevant and make good music (for the most part) for 2 decades.
No one did this (besides him and Nas)

 

[I love Latina women]

 

[BlackDiBiase]

id go with jay, strictly pen and paper i can see the rakim praise but id even put 3 guys ahead of him from that era.

 

[Farrinto]

Damn, this is a hard one. Jay is my favorite rapper all time but I don't know if he was touching prime Rakim even in his prime. I can't vote

 

[mr. smoke weed]

Nas

Didn't even know Nas was an option

 

[H. Selassie]

The quick answer is Rakim but I like to explore things a bit more thoroughly...

Question to those automatically calling Rakim the better technical rapper...If we take the lyrics from Reasonable Doubt and put them up against ANY of Rakim's best work and judge metaphors, rhyme schemes, and vocabulary, you really think Ra is that far ahead of Jay?

Reasonable Doubt is just as "lyrical" if not more than any Rakim project.

 

[Big Mark]

Still going with Ra. MC's were telling those fake coke rhymes like Jay was during Reasonable doubt. I still always give the edge to the originators of styles, techniques and flows because everyone after them Had the chance to copy the style and techniques and then try to improve upon them. Still waiting to hear anyone flow over follow the leader. Are there any mixtapes or anything out there with anyone touching that track? Doubt it.