the older I get, Chuck D creeps into my top 5

[King Sun]

One of my first introductions to hip hop was Public Enemy via my older sister in 88

 

[Paper Boi]

@Paper Boi you 40?

I'm in my 30s

but you an Indian man, so stick to your emo raps

 

[Paper Boi]

Nah. I respect and appreciate Public enemy as a group. The music the message but a top 5 list is to me about technical proficiency, rapping skill and ability plus song making. Chuck only gets. The song making. I wouldn't personally rate his rapping skill high. Great voice and delivery. Rarely had a good flow. He was giving speeches and sermons to my ears. It worked on a lot of the early explosive PE producing. It didn't work on a lot of their 90s shyt and beyond.

The last PE album I threw on and my fav track was the flavor fav solo about his dead homie, easily. Chuck didn't have the dated flow or style of his era but he also wasn't as smooth as the MC's that came after him.

See the older I get, the more I consider that technical proficiency. I get that's not what you mean by it, but the abrasiveness and not smooth flow is part of the music. It actually makes it more memorable to me. 20 years ago, I will take the silky smooth flow, but like I said, as I get older, I appreciate the other one more and I think it DOES contribute to the effectiveness an artist.

Was it intentional? I don't think so. I don't think Chuck D was or has ever been rapping to be the most musically talented and "skilled" rapper in the way you are looking at technical proficiency, he was rapping to send a message. To me, the older I get, the more I see anyone can rap with absolutely no message, the more I appreciate the ones who did it in a way that still resonates. And there are plenty of rappers with a message that are probably more "technically proficient" it's not like Chuck D is the only person to ever rap about real shyt, but the music is still not as memorable to me.

 

[Wild self]

Chuck D the real prophet that rhymes out of good faith, for his people.

 

[The Pledge]

I got a letter from the government the other day
I opened and read it. It said they were suckers
They wanted me for their army or whatever
Picture me giving a damn, I said never.

This line plays in my mind randomly, almost like a kick in the movie INCEPTION forcing me to never believe the hype.