What qualifies as "right of the moment"? Last six months? Last year?i mean artist who is relevant in terms of sales, who is right of this moment, who is critically aclaimed. those 3 criteria are imporant. and its why i exclided Nas and Jay. those are legacy artists.
i think that acts i mentioned are the most in control of the zeitgeist right now and dont need gimmicks for relevancy. i actually think we are in a rich era, these cats are bringing it and repping well for hip hop. they dont all do the same ishyt and thats fine.
So basically you are asking who is the most popular artist who is also critically acclaimed?
Kanye's last album flopped sales-wise - so wouldn't he be out of the running?
Ross is past his moment and his last solo album was disappointing both critically and commercially - wouldn't he be out of the running?
Jay's album was successful - but was panned critically - so he is out of the running.
Nas' last album was critically acclaimed and was modestly successful. But that was 14 months ago. So he's out of contention.
Kendrick is still very much of the moment - "Control" proves that. His last album was critically acclaimed.
Drake is very much of the moment - but we'll have to wait for the reviews on his new album to see if he is still "critically acclaimed" - if the album is panned - then he is out.
I don't see how you exclude Cole? The album wasn't panned and has been successful.