Reasonable Doubt alone would be enough tbh. But then there's at least one other straight classic (The Blueprint is one of the best albums ever by anybody), and plenty of other greats (American Gangster, Vol. 2, Vol. 1, The Black Album). Jay-Z, by miles.
*inserts Night of Raining Fire, insert word like "would be enough"* *inserts other Isengrind albums, inserts words like "classic" and "greats"* Isengrind, by *insert incredible distance*
Jay Z has had some great moments, but I've never been a fan. So all of the recent shit he's done has washed away a lot of the respect I had for him. I very much prefer what I've heard so far from Isengrind. _________________ http://jonnyleather.com
Jay Z has had some great moments, but I've never been a fan. So all of the recent shit he's done has washed away a lot of the respect I had for him. I very much prefer what I've heard so far from Isengrind.
What makes Jay-Z so special, as a rapper, is his ability to turn any beat and any flow into his own. He has been so adept over the years at picking up on rising fads in hip-hop and perfecting them. His nimble wordplay is often a joy to listen to, and he is capable (at his best) of making the worst aspects of ghetto life sound painfully real and the best trappings of capitalism sound monumental. He has certainly gone off the boil in recent years, and his whole worldview is something I find impossible to reconcile with my own, but the man truly is a master of his craft. He can rap circles around 99% of all rappers who have ever done it. His ear for beats, from day one, has been superb, and he has been a trendsetter and an arbiter of many of the great things that have occurred in hip-hop throughout his career, from the ability to take the niche ghetto raps and cinematic mafioso stories of the likes of Kool G. Rap or Raekwon into the mainstream and make them palatable and attractive to the average joe, through to his early championing of Kanye and that instantly loveable chipmunk sound, through to his use of The Roots as his own house band long before Fallon (MTV Unplugged), or his turn to Rick Rubin way before Yeezus rose ('99 Problems'), and his making hip-hop a genre that was finally accepted and represented at music festivals in front of monster crowds (Glastonbury). But, first and foremost, Jay-Z should go far in this tournament simply because he is just that great at rapping. It's what he was born to do, and outside of Biggie there is probably nobody to whom it appeared to come more naturally. Below is arguably the best example of his pure rapping ability, so even if you decide to ignore all of the bangers above, please feast your ears on some of the finest flows ever laid on wax:
*inserts Night of Raining Fire, insert word like "would be enough"* *inserts other Isengrind albums, inserts words like "classic" and "greats"* Isengrind, by *insert incredible distance*
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