Kendrick Lamar is a Top 3 rapper of all-time

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Current Events » Kendrick Lamar is a Top 3 rapper of all-time
I am dead serious.

Very few rappers dead or alive can match his discography. He has the accolades, the talent and was the decisive victor of one of the most high-profile rap beefs since Jay-Z vs Nas. And he shows absolutely no signs of falling off.

I don't see how it's not an argument at least worth considering.
I have nothing else to say
who's arguing with u?

edit: anyway i'd say tupac, em, kendrick in that order.
April 15, 2024: The Day the Internet Died
Robot2600 posted...
who's arguing with u?

I feel like some people might be hesitant to give it to him
I have nothing else to say
Tech n9ne is top 3
Post #5 was unavailable or deleted.
I definitely disagree. I loved section .80 and GKMC but his more recent stuff hasn't hit the same for me.
Would you follow a blind man?
I would if I was in the dark
I wouldnt argue with it, even tho i dont think hes in my top 3 personally.
Hee Ho
I agree

Pac Nas KDot in no order tbh
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KobeSystem posted...
I agree

Pac Nas KDot in no order tbh

Those would be my picks as well.
I have nothing else to say
hitokoriX posted...
I definitely disagree. I loved section .80 and GKMC but his more recent stuff hasn't hit the same for me.

Not even TPAB?
I have nothing else to say
NAS, Tupac, and LL.
Best damn game about Ninja http://www.i-mockery.com/minimocks/ninjagolf/ninjagolf-flashgame.php
Idk about top 3 but hes probably top 5 definitely top 10.

Rakim
Jay-Z
Pac
Biggie
Nas
kendrick
andre 3000

are all probably locks for top 7

but then you have like 15 guys who have a legit argument for the last 3 top ten spots.

DMX
Ice cube
Drake
Kanye
Lil Wayne
Scarface
Snoop
j.cole

are some names that come to mind.

we rich now but used to be slaves,we pushing whips now we used to be whipped,rockin chains when we used to be in 'em
Theres just so many rappers and subgenres that its basically impossible to create a top 3 everyone will agree with.

I very rarely see names like Mos Def or De La Soul getting their flowers in lists like these. Hell even some absolutely innovative artists like DJ Quik are somehow rarely brought up.

I feel like lists very much depend on your bubble and what you listen to
Hee Ho
I just can't get connect with *most* modern music. I have had a real disconnect since around 2000 that I noticed not liking hardly anything. Even from people/bands I previously liked I just didn't like their material after that time. There was a lengthy discussion on this board about Kendrick Lamar. He is one of the few people I had even heard of and people really pushed me to listen to his stuff.

I was told to listen to Pimp a Butterfly. I gave it an honest try and listened to the full album. I gave a breakdown on each song. I didn't like it and gave my impression and then people said "No no no you shouldn't have started with that album, it took me awhile to get into that, you need to listen to M.A.A.D City" So I did the same thing, every song, full listen. I thought it was bad.

That made two full albums I didn't like at all. It blows me away people consider this guy an all time great and at the top of modern music. The guy has won album of the year and is obviously popular. It really shows I'm really disconnected from the rap/hip hop I enjoyed from the 80's and 90's.

People put guys like him at the top and I can't even find a song I enjoy by him and some of his tracks actively I think are outright terrible. But I know those same people wouldn't like the music from my era. So I get it.
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archizzy posted...
I just can't get connect with *most* modern music. I have had a real disconnect since around 2000 that I noticed not liking hardly anything. Even from people/bands I previously liked I just didn't like their material after that time. There was a lengthy discussion on this board about Kendrick Lamar. He is one of the few people I had even heard of and people really pushed me to listen to his stuff.

I was told to listen to Pimp a Butterfly. I gave it an honest try and listened to the full album. I gave a breakdown on each song. I didn't like it and gave my impression and then people said "No no no you shouldn't have started with that album, it took me awhile to get into that, you need to listen to M.A.A.D City" So I did the same thing, every song, full listen. I thought it was bad.

That made two full albums I didn't like at all. It blows me away people consider this guy an all time great and at the top of modern music. The guy has won album of the year and is obviously popular. It really shows I'm really disconnected from the rap/hip hop I enjoyed from the 80's and 90's.

People put guys like him at the top and I can't even find a song I enjoy by him and some of his tracks actively I think are outright terrible. But I know those same people wouldn't like the music from my era. So I get it.

this is at least the third time youve posted this

we rich now but used to be slaves,we pushing whips now we used to be whipped,rockin chains when we used to be in 'em
gamepimp12 posted...
this is at least the third time youve posted this

It's a discussion specifically about Kedrick Lamar from a different poster and I'm just adding my experience about him directly. This is the 2nd time I have posted specifically about Kendrick Lamar and the previous one was in your topic just recently. The first time it ever came up it was just about a general disconnect with new music and that was the topic that pushed me into listening to him and the topic I gave my detailed breakdown of the two albums I listened to.

I like discussing things like movies, music, and games with people and often I end up repeating some of my experiences multiple times because it is different topics and different people. If a Kendrick Lamar topic comes up again in a month I'll post it again.
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archizzy posted...
It's a discussion specifically about Kedrick Lamar from a different poster and I'm just adding my experience about him directly. This is the 2nd time I have posted specifically about Kendrick Lamar and the previous one was in your topic just recently. The first time it ever came up it was just about a general disconnect with new music and that was the topic that pushed me into listening to him and the topic I gave my detailed breakdown of the two albums I listened to.
Have you ever listened to DJ Quik? Hes an early 90s compton rapper whose sound I feel likely inspired some of Kendricks work in some respect.
Hee Ho
ssb_yunglink2 posted...
Have you ever listened to DJ Quik? Hes an early 90s compton rapper whose sound I feel likely inspired some of Kendricks work in some respect.

Nothing directly solo comes to mind no. But I know he was involved in various productions of a lot of the stuff I listened to in that time period from various people. But I definitely didn't listen to him as a solo artist no.
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IDK if Id put him top 3 yet, but I also wouldnt debate against it.
archizzy posted...
Nothing directly solo comes to mind no. But I know he was involved in various productions of a lot of the stuff I listened to in that time period from various people. But I definitely didn't listen to him as a solo artist no.
Id say give him a try maybe. Hes early 90s which is a period you liked, but still has a very west coast style of rapping.

Warren G is a mid 90s rapper who was heavy in the G Funk sound. His regulate album is one of my favorites.

Id just suggest giving them a listen to see if an older version of the sound might be more your thing
Hee Ho
ssb_yunglink2 posted...
Id say give him a try maybe. Hes early 90s which is a period you liked, but still has a very west coast style of rapping.

Warren G is a mid 90s rapper who was heavy in the G Funk sound. His regulate album is one of my favorites.

Id just suggest giving them a listen to see if an older version of the sound might be more your thing

It is hard for me to describe if I will ever really like something. Like just to give you a taste of what I enjoyed for me this is a small sample

West Coast wise including bands in no particular order

Tupac
Snoop
Too $hort
Cypress Hill
NWA and I enjoyed Ice Cube solo and loved Dr Dre's Chronic album

East Coast in no order

LL Cool J
Eric B and Rakim
Big Daddy Kane
Wu-Tang Clan and various associated solo artists
Public Enemy (Seriously love Chuck D)
Run DMC
Beastie Boys
DMX

There is more but I didn't want to list everyone. This is the main sample though. There was a number of just random 1 album artists I liked for a single album like Digable Planets. I'd say the last artist with stuff I really liked was DMX at the end of the 90's, those first two albums I really liked.

But there were plenty of big time people even in my era I didn't like. For instance I never liked Biggie or Jay Z. Just didn't resonate with me and I couldn't stand Puff Daddy. At first I used to just think I leaned toward the west coast but there is plenty of east coast stuff I like. So I can't explain it really. I just didn't like some people.

But yeah most of the time these days I would much rather go back and listen to something from that list which I totally understand is outdated for a lot of people.

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trappedunderice posted...
Tech n9ne is top 3

Einstein
ssb_yunglink2 posted...
Id say give him a try maybe. Hes early 90s which is a period you liked, but still has a very west coast style of rapping.

Warren G is a mid 90s rapper who was heavy in the G Funk sound. His regulate album is one of my favorites.

Id just suggest giving them a listen to see if an older version of the sound might be more your thing

Yeah I'm aware of Warren G. Everyone knew his song with Young Guns in it and that he was Snoops Cousin. Overall not really into him but did like that song he had that was huge for a bit back then.
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archizzy posted...
Yeah I'm aware of Warren G. Everyone knew his song with Young Guns in it and that he was Snoops Cousin. Overall not really into him but did like that song he had that was huge for a bit back then.
Hes actually Dres cousin. He and snoop were in the same crew coming up tho

actually i was wrong. Warren is actually Dres stepbrother
Hee Ho
A definitive top 3 is tough but he is easily Top 10, and highly arguably Top 5 but it's subjective.
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ssb_yunglink2 posted...
Hes actually Dres cousin. He and snoop were in the same crew coming up tho

actually i was wrong. Warren is actually Dres stepbrother

Ugg I misspoke. Slipping in my old age. I knew it was Nate Dogg who was Snoops cousin.
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he leveled up after he absorbed Drakeo the Ruler's flow.

on my personal list, I'd probably have him as #3 or 5:

Drakeo
Pimp C
Tupac Kendrick
Pusha T

on a more "objective" ranking, Tupac is the only one who might compare, but Drakeo is probably the most influential rapper to give LA/the West its sound in a long time.
"I could never encapsulate all my cosmicality on my own."
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Baron_Ox posted...
he leveled up after he absorbed Drakeo the Ruler's flow.

on my personal list, I'd probably have him as #3 or 5:

Drakeo
Pimp C
Tupac Kendrick
Pusha T

on a more "objective" ranking, Tupac is the only one who might compare, but Drakeo is probably the most influential rapper to give LA/the West its sound in a long time.
objective rankings in rap are particularly hard for me because of how many smaller guys that get less recognition are responsible for slowly evolving the sound.
Hee Ho
yea, that's how I feel.

also, you might appreciate how influential something was depending on your introduction to it.

like, I grew up in NorCal, so most of the popular rap we received was from either the Bay Area or the South, since a lot of Bay artists were collaborating with them.

we still heard stuff from New York, but not as much, and at least for me, it took a while to enjoy east coast rap because its style was often different.
"I could never encapsulate all my cosmicality on my own."
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Wolverine posted...
Einstein
Cloudy eyed stroll, Industry is punks, Breathe, so many good songs these are a few of my favorites
RchHomieQuanChi posted...
Not even TPAB?

That was kinda the start of me not liking him as much. I overall liked the record (loved the production on it), but that convo with Pac was a bit much.
Would you follow a blind man?
I would if I was in the dark
gamepimp12 posted...
Idk about top 3 but hes probably top 5 definitely top 10.

Rakim
Jay-Z
Pac
Biggie
Nas
kendrick
andre 3000

are all probably locks for top 7

but then you have like 15 guys who have a legit argument for the last 3 top ten spots.

DMX
Ice cube
Drake
Kanye
Lil Wayne
Scarface
Snoop
j.cole

are some names that come to mind.
MF Doom belongs up there, I think he's better deserving that some of the ones you listed.
The simulacrum is never that which conceals the truth, it is the truth which conceals that there is none. The simulacrum is true. Ecclesiastes
archizzy posted...
It is hard for me to describe if I will ever really like something. Like just to give you a taste of what I enjoyed for me this is a small sample

West Coast wise including bands in no particular order

Tupac
Snoop
Too $hort
Cypress Hill
NWA and I enjoyed Ice Cube solo and loved Dr Dre's Chronic album

East Coast in no order

LL Cool J
Eric B and Rakim
Big Daddy Kane
Wu-Tang Clan and various associated solo artists
Public Enemy (Seriously love Chuck D)
Run DMC
Beastie Boys
DMX

There is more but I didn't want to list everyone. This is the main sample though. There was a number of just random 1 album artists I liked for a single album like Digable Planets. I'd say the last artist with stuff I really liked was DMX at the end of the 90's, those first two albums I really liked.

But there were plenty of big time people even in my era I didn't like. For instance I never liked Biggie or Jay Z. Just didn't resonate with me and I couldn't stand Puff Daddy. At first I used to just think I leaned toward the west coast but there is plenty of east coast stuff I like. So I can't explain it really. I just didn't like some people.

But yeah most of the time these days I would much rather go back and listen to something from that list which I totally understand is outdated for a lot of people.
SMH you listed all these people and still didn't include MF DOOM
Keep it green.
ModernPost posted...
MF Doom belongs up there, I think he's better deserving that some of the ones you listed.
Damn you beat me by 26 seconds
Keep it green.
Sonic_Cannon posted...
Damn you beat me by 26 seconds
Great minds thing alike.
The simulacrum is never that which conceals the truth, it is the truth which conceals that there is none. The simulacrum is true. Ecclesiastes
ModernPost posted...
MF Doom belongs up there, I think he's better deserving that some of the ones you listed.


as a technical rapper definitely.

Im just not sure he has the commercial success/general notoriety to be top 15.

like everyone in the top 15 has can publicly claim they where the best rapper alive for multiple years.

except maybe Scarface, but Scarface is a weird case
we rich now but used to be slaves,we pushing whips now we used to be whipped,rockin chains when we used to be in 'em
with Scarface, you could say he's one of the best, one of the most influential, southern artists ever.

plus, you can see his/Geto Boys' influence in Pac's, DMX's, etc. styles, with the more internal, dark aspects of their lives.
"I could never encapsulate all my cosmicality on my own."
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Baron_Ox posted...
with Scarface, you could say he's one of the best, one of the most influential, southern artists ever.

plus, you can see his/Geto Boys' influence in Pac's, DMX's, etc. styles, with the more internal, dark aspects of their lives.


100% I agree hes super influential. Honestly when it comes to southern rappers hes top 4 when it comes to influence

we rich now but used to be slaves,we pushing whips now we used to be whipped,rockin chains when we used to be in 'em
archizzy posted...
It is hard for me to describe if I will ever really like something. Like just to give you a taste of what I enjoyed for me this is a small sample

West Coast wise including bands in no particular order

Tupac
Snoop
Too $hort
Cypress Hill
NWA and I enjoyed Ice Cube solo and loved Dr Dre's Chronic album

East Coast in no order

LL Cool J
Eric B and Rakim
Big Daddy Kane
Wu-Tang Clan and various associated solo artists
Public Enemy (Seriously love Chuck D)
Run DMC
Beastie Boys
DMX

There is more but I didn't want to list everyone. This is the main sample though. There was a number of just random 1 album artists I liked for a single album like Digable Planets. I'd say the last artist with stuff I really liked was DMX at the end of the 90's, those first two albums I really liked.

But there were plenty of big time people even in my era I didn't like. For instance I never liked Biggie or Jay Z. Just didn't resonate with me and I couldn't stand Puff Daddy. At first I used to just think I leaned toward the west coast but there is plenty of east coast stuff I like. So I can't explain it really. I just didn't like some people.

But yeah most of the time these days I would much rather go back and listen to something from that list which I totally understand is outdated for a lot of people.
I think there's some modern stuff you might like. Have you ever listened to Armand Hammer? (Billy Woods and Elucid)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E41YvTrHQ7c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NF63pXAp5mw

Or maybe the Griselda crew (Westside Gunn, Mach-Hommy, Conway the Machine, Benny the Butcher). Sort of has more of a 90s street rap style indebted to Wu-Tang

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_zNMU5bG5g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7icGNCSMa5U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9I7IJtgk2xM

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TheGoldenEel posted...
I think there's some modern stuff you might like. Have you ever listened to Armand Hammer? (Billy Woods and Elucid)

Or maybe the Griselda crew (Westside Gunn, Mach-Hommy, Conway the Machine, Benny the Butcher). Sort of has more of a 90s street rap style indebted to Wu-Tang


Not that Im aware of. My best friend is really into rap and he gave me like 10 people to check out that he thought I might like. I honestly couldnt even tell you most of the names. Id have to dig through the messages and it was like a year ago or so. I think a chunk of the stuff he gave me was lesser known people though because I didnt recognize any really big names.

Out of all the stuff he gave me there was only one person I really kind of liked and the more I read about them and their background and their overall message I liked them even more but my impression I get from most people online is they think he pretty much sucks so go figure haha. The one person I kind of was into I guess is trash which I thought was kind of funny.

Ill save and check these all out tomorrow when Im killing time at work.
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Sonic_Cannon posted...
SMH you listed all these people and still didn't include MF DOOM

Well I was quite clear i basically disconnected from music in the year 2000 going forward. Its no surprise I wouldnt include someone who really didnt come to prominence until the mid 2000s. To be honest, this guy has never been on my radar. Doesnt mean he wasnt good but I think its clear by my list its almost entire 80s and early 90s. Im simply not familiar with him.

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archizzy posted...
Well I was quite clear i basically disconnected from music in the year 2000 going forward. Its no surprise I wouldnt include someone who really didnt come to prominence until the mid 2000s. To be honest, this guy has never been on my radar. Doesnt mean he wasnt good but I think its clear by my list its almost entire 80s and early 90s. Im simply not familiar with him.
MF Doom first came to prominence in the early 90s as Zev Love X of KMD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mHBiu_JOOw
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Not even in my top 50, just never resonated with me.
Does the name Pavlov ring a bell?
BuzzKilljoy posted...
Not even in my top 50, just never resonated with me.

I mean, I understand music is subjective but at a certain extent, you have to realize youre the different person, right ?

because of objectively, this is just a wrong take

we rich now but used to be slaves,we pushing whips now we used to be whipped,rockin chains when we used to be in 'em
Yea its hard to argue atp

The succotash is suffering.
Comic Artist
TheGoldenEel posted...
MF Doom first came to prominence in the early 90s as Zev Love X of KMD


Dont know them and was just reading his Wikipedia. Virtually everything he did was post 2000 except that first KMD album which again I had never heard of. I was raised in the cornfields in the Midwest. I depended on Yo MTV raps and word of mouth from friends for this type of music. I wasnt exposed to the amount of stuff people on the coast got. There was zero radio stations playing this type of music where I was from. You had to be fairly big nationally or at least have a really popular music video to have a chance of me catching it.

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Hmm not a single mention of the top selling rapper.
BlackScythe0 posted...
Hmm not a single mention of the top selling rapper.

because hes overrated
we rich now but used to be slaves,we pushing whips now we used to be whipped,rockin chains when we used to be in 'em
BlackScythe0 posted...
Hmm not a single mention of the top selling rapper.
A lot of people I know listen to eminem because hes white and hes literally one of the only rappers they listen to
Hee Ho
ssb_yunglink2 posted...
DJ Quik

If we're talking about Quik, I recommend JasonMartin, he works alot with Quik, was at the Pop Out as well. He used to go by Problem.

As for Top 3, it'll never be the same for everyone. And having a specific top 3 for a genre that's 50 years old with hundreds of rappers, that's a tough make.

My top 3 will always be...
Pac
BIG
Scarface
F Cancer!
https://www.goteamdani.com
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