I was just thinking of a certain rapper who came in the game barely four years ago, and people are already labeling him the greatest of all time. Like, chill! Let him drop his second, and third albums, and then you can consider putting him in top 5 greatest rappers of all time list. Even at that, it would still be a stretch. But it seems, in Hip Hop these days, people are more concerned with the hottest rappers right now, and forget to mention rappers that have done a lot for Hip Hop in the past. Like, right now, if you see lists of top 10 greatest rappers of all time, rappers from the very late 90s and 2000s are completely left out of the list.
Okay. I know rappers like DMX are no-longer on the scene, but how can you completely overlook what he brought to the table? How can you forget his discography? How can you forget the fact that his first 5 albums went straight to NUMBER ONE on Billboard Top 200 albums chart when they were released? No other rapper has done that in Hip Hop history. How can you forget his mad skills on the mic...his consistency (dropping two albums in a year, and both going multi-platinum?). One of the hardest rappers to ever hold the mic, but yet he had a message in most of his songs. It is stuff like this that make me take breaks from the Hip Hop scene sometimes.
In this times, rappers have to drop an album or mixtape every year to stay relevant. Or jump on every hot song out there. Every thing is super fast. Even though Nelly wasn't fully Hip Hop, it hurts me sometimes how he is totally forgotten in Hip Hop history. This dude was the only rapper giving Eminem a run for his money when it came to sales back in the 2000s. He and Ja Rule birthed a whole new sub-genre of Hip Hop, which you find everybody doing now. From Future, to Fetty Wap, to Drake, to Travis Scott...They are all offspring of Ja Rule and Nelly. But these guys have been totally forgotten, even though they had more than 3 of their albums go multi-platinum back in the day. Come on! Nelly's first album, Country Grammar sold 9 million copies in the U.S when it was released in 2000. Even 50's Get Rich Or Die Trying didn't sell that much. Before you come and say I don't know what I am talking about...There is a difference between sales in America and worldwide sales. Nelly sold that 9 million in the U.S, and much more worldwide.
Drake, J Cole, and Kendrick Lamar are the current kings of hip hop for this new generation, and I am happy they are at least dope rappers. And they would probably be around a long time. I think I should add Big Sean to the list too; I think he is nice on the mic, and consistent. And the kid definitely motivates me. So, with this new kings, I just hope they wont become has-beens in a couple of years, and start complaining the way I am currently complaining on the behalf of the rappers from the 2000s. I have watched Hip Hop for more than 20 years; I have seen rappers come and go. I remember when 50 Cent was the biggest rapper in the world, and he sure was good, but some people were taking it too far, saying he was lyrically better than Nas. But we all know now that that ain't true. Really, nothing or no one stays on top forever. So, the ones on top now and their fans should not overlook the ones that were here before them.
Okay. I know rappers like DMX are no-longer on the scene, but how can you completely overlook what he brought to the table? How can you forget his discography? How can you forget the fact that his first 5 albums went straight to NUMBER ONE on Billboard Top 200 albums chart when they were released? No other rapper has done that in Hip Hop history. How can you forget his mad skills on the mic...his consistency (dropping two albums in a year, and both going multi-platinum?). One of the hardest rappers to ever hold the mic, but yet he had a message in most of his songs. It is stuff like this that make me take breaks from the Hip Hop scene sometimes.
In this times, rappers have to drop an album or mixtape every year to stay relevant. Or jump on every hot song out there. Every thing is super fast. Even though Nelly wasn't fully Hip Hop, it hurts me sometimes how he is totally forgotten in Hip Hop history. This dude was the only rapper giving Eminem a run for his money when it came to sales back in the 2000s. He and Ja Rule birthed a whole new sub-genre of Hip Hop, which you find everybody doing now. From Future, to Fetty Wap, to Drake, to Travis Scott...They are all offspring of Ja Rule and Nelly. But these guys have been totally forgotten, even though they had more than 3 of their albums go multi-platinum back in the day. Come on! Nelly's first album, Country Grammar sold 9 million copies in the U.S when it was released in 2000. Even 50's Get Rich Or Die Trying didn't sell that much. Before you come and say I don't know what I am talking about...There is a difference between sales in America and worldwide sales. Nelly sold that 9 million in the U.S, and much more worldwide. Drake, J Cole, and Kendrick Lamar are the current kings of hip hop for this new generation, and I am happy they are at least dope rappers. And they would probably be around a long time. I think I should add Big Sean to the list too; I think he is nice on the mic, and consistent. And the kid definitely motivates me. So, with this new kings, I just hope they wont become has-beens in a couple of years, and start complaining the way I am currently complaining on the behalf of the rappers from the 2000s. I have watched Hip Hop for more than 20 years; I have seen rappers come and go. I remember when 50 Cent was the biggest rapper in the world, and he sure was good, but some people were taking it too far, saying he was lyrically better than Nas. But we all know now that that ain't true. Really, nothing or no one stays on top forever. So, the ones on top now and their fans should not overlook the ones that were here before them.
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