Ehh Meth and AZ weren't that far off in 1997. Meth had more name recognition tho
So if Jay-Z threw himself in the discussion with Nas and Big in "Where I'm From"
The obvious answer is Wu. But who?
Meth was the star but the perception was that he dropped the ball with Tical. Rae had the best album, so it probably should have gone to him
But he wasn't lauded as a rapper the same way Meth was
Ghost, nah, Iron Man and his work on the Purple Tape was crazy but he wasn't as big a name as Meth or Nas or Biggie.
After Wu, Mobb is next in line and the obvious choice is P
AZ was still in Nas' shadow at the time. Of course, Jay was definitely in Biggies shadow.
I always thought that line was a masterful example of framing effect.
He def wasn't on that status back then but he put himself among the greats and elevated his status on some speak things into existence shyt.
How he transformed from Jigga to Hov and position himself as Hova the gawd and created separation from "mere" rappers is also a masterful marketing/pr strategy.
Jay-z is really a smart dude for real.
He def wasn't on that status back then but he put himself among the greats and elevated his status on some speak things into existence shyt.
How he transformed from Jigga to Hov and position himself as Hova the gawd and created separation from "mere" rappers is also a masterful marketing/pr strategy.
Jay-z is really a smart dude for real.
You obviously didn't live in Brooklyn in 96-97, he's not talking about what dudes in St. Louis were saying.
First and foremost plenty of people were calling IWW a sellout album and RD a classic, just that should let you know what people were saying. You don't move over half a million copies nearly exclusively in the tri-state area without people fukking with you. So that was the real discussion on who was the nicest emcee.
People forget that back then, even if I was basically a little kid, dudes were not gods yet. Nas was not a god and Big/Pac were not gods before they died either. People criticized them and do comparisons that people would laugh at today.
Other names people would compare with those dude without people calling them stupid would be Big L, O.C., Az and on. And just like today, people would say "no one listens to O.C."/"Biggie is overrated" and on.
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Yeh because Jay was huge in Brooklyn at the time. You had to have been there to get it but Jay was that dude.
the guy with the first verse,
nigs was goin crazy over that kid in 1997
He was seen as the "next" guy but he wasn't established enough. Big, Nas and P for example were deep in the game by then. Bis was too new.
Absolutely. To someone not in NY at the time, it seemed preposterous.
filial_piety
Banned
Jay wasn't even top 5 back in the late 90s...you could have easily taken Raekwon, ghostface or Prodigy
, wow, that's an ill thought. Back in 97-98 I remember heated arguments waiting for the school bus in the morning about who was the nicest, I was contemplating murder hearing nigs saying Canibus was better than Nas, tho I loved the nig Canibus too. Then it became Pun who nigs was comparing to Nas. Always seemed like Nas was the bar, 
. But word, the kids today probably debate about who sold more albums and who be on the radio more and shyt like that, 
Demon
Evil b*stard
I was in Philly, and I remember him getting booed out of the city at the TLA after RD.
Meh though...he got his revenge by scooping up Philly artist (which was the basis of Rocafella besides Jay...nobody was fukking with bleek and h money bags
)and stealing their songs and flows
Kyle C. Barker
Migos VERZUZ Mahalia Jackson
AZ was still in Nas' shadow at the time. Of course, Jay was definitely in Biggies shadow.
Anyways I'm surprised no one mentioned LL Cool J or krs one. They were living legends and were actually still taken seriously at that point in 1997
Farrinto
Who's the best MCs? Biggie, Jay-Z, and Nas
He did mention Prodigy breh.
"Argue all day about whose the best emcees...
Biggie, Jay, P and Nas
He actually did mention Prodigy lol
I'm from where the hammers rung, news cameras never come, where you and your mans hung in every verse of your rhyme
