The Logistics of the Rap Crown (Series)

The rap crown is arguably the most desired accolade in music history. Since rap music became mainstream so has its top spot. Now that rap music is one of the most influential aspects of pop culture, it is more coveted than ever. It’s customary for every rapper to think that the top spot belongs to them, but it’s usually the general consensus that they need to put in some work before they can truly justify their place at the top. Rappers that fans often indicate as top tier and deserving of that spot include Eminem, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Biggie, Tupac, Lil Wayne, Nas and many others. Some people think that the crown is simply transferred from one rapper to another after a certain period of time, others think that it has to be earned and once it is acquired, someone better has to come along to take it.

Complex defines contenders for GOAT status as “catalog artists, people who have shifted the culture in previously unmovable ways, artists whose music has permeated and resonated over an extended period of time.”

Can determining the best be as simple as comparing rappers in their prime to one another? What should be compared when making this determination? Is it just going bar for bar with others and winning? Or do the bodies of work themselves matter as well? Are the best rappers also making the best rap songs? Is it the rapper that has won the most accolades?

Who is worth?

Part One: Decyphering the Regalia

Hip hop originated in the Bronx in the 1980s. “The Bronx could largely be characterized by unemployment, one-parent families, low income, criminal activity and youngsters in group formations with nowhere in particular to go.” Hip hop provided a creative outlet for the youth in this area and in return, they were a part of culminating one of the greatest and most diverse music genres to ever exist. Hip hop is a fusion of disco, funk, blues, soul and gospel (and eventually, poetry), all genres of music that still continue to influence black music today.

Overall, hip hop was and continues to be influenced by pop culture. Because pop culture appeals to so many, hip hop is able to appeal to and influence people regardless of their intersections.

At the time, the main aspects of hip hop were masculinity, competitiveness and attitude. Attitude is still fairly important in the genre while masculinity and competitiveness are still present in hip hop, but they are present in different ways. However, the total of all three of these aspects, constitutes the desire for the crown. Nearly every rapper is fixated on being the best, even those that are less visceral. And this is not an unrelatable desire, no one does something to be considered the second best.

Battle rap has remained a consistent part of hip hop culture, but is not necessarily part of mainstream rap culture at this time. Similarly, freestyling and cyphers have been largely phased out of rap culture. However, rappers that do participate in these aspects, usually get more kudos than those that do not.

So what is the rap crown, that coveted accolade that no one can seem to rightfully claim for themselves? Can it be worn by someone that has passed away or should the person on top of th genre have to be alive in order to reign supreme? The rap crown is a piece of regalia, long sought after by many rappers for a number of reasons. Not only would the person at the top of the rap industry rule and influence an entire genre, but to be on top of rap is to be on top of the music industry and pop culture in general. Rap influences sports, comedy, news, and all other areas of pop culture and entertainment. Being the number one artist in the genre gets their foot in the door of lots of other areas.

To rule rap, is to rule all.

Part Two: The Problem of the Criterion

We can’t asses who rightfully holds the rap crown without addressing the Problem of the Criterion. The Problem of the Criterion is a philosophical, more specifically, an epistemological, problem about the starting point of knowledge. The Problem of the Criterion assesses what we know/the extent of our knowledge and how we decide what we know/the criteria of our knowledge. To put it simply, the problem of the criterion states that we cannot know what we know without knowing how we know it and vice versa. For example, we cannot possibly know what exactly a song is, without first having a criteria, but we cannot have a criteria without first knowing what a song is.

Due to the Problem of the Criterion, we cannot confidently name a #1 rapper. While this seems like a cop out, it’s a perfectly valid explanation. But, let’s tackle this from a couple of different perspectives in order to prove why the Problem of the Criterion fits rap so well.

The first perspective is the Methodist perspective. The methodist “assumes an answer to (2) and then uses that to answer (1).” Using this perspective, we will determine what qualities the #1 rapper should have. After some research, I have determined 12 different aspects that a rapper must master in order to reign. These aspects are: beats, flow, rhyming, creativity/individuality, attitude, personality/charisma, lyricism/writing, execution/consistency, influence, and sales/streams.

Beats: This may mean different things to different artists. Some artists like beats that are more upbeat, while others may look for beats that are more soulful and funky. But overall, the production quality needs to be clean and it should resonate with listeners in some way.

Flow: This is exactly what it sounds like. It’s the way that an artist rides the beat, the way that they clump words together or stretch words out so that they fit on the beat or with the beat in a certain way.

Rhyming: Similar to flow, rhyming is the way that the artist rhymes not only words, but entire lines. This includes slant rhymes, multi-syllabic rhymes, mid-line rhymes, the more complex that an artist’s rhyming structure is, the better.

Creativity/Individuality: In order for an artist to make any sort of impact, they have to express their own individuality. Rather than attempting to emulate their influences in some way, they have to use their influence to carve out their own lane. This is not easy and is probably one of the main things that many artists fail at.

Attitude: This is the way that an artist asserts that they deserve to be in the industry.

Personality/Charisma: Put simply, this is who the rapper is and how they show it.

Lyricism/Writing: There are different kinds of rap, not all of it depends on lyricism, but all rap does depend on saying something of substance.

Execution/Consistency: This refers to the artist’s ability to do these things well and consistently.

Influence: This refers to a rapper’s influence in both the rap game and popular culture. To influence other rappers is simply not enough. This also refers to how they influence comedy, sports and entertainment and how they influence their listeners. Rappers have the power to impact the ideals of their listeners. The person on the top will understand this.

Sales/Streams: The person on top is, of course, succeeding in terms of sales and streams as well. Of course, not every artist is selling their music at all, some offer it for free, but these numbers should be more substantial, since there isn’t a price point.

Based off of the first three criteria alone, we develop a pretty substantial pool of potential #1s and eliminate lots of others. This generates way too many people to name here, but we can assume that your favorite rapper is in the lineup. When we begin to think about the creativity/individuality it automatically drops a few others off of the list as well, mostly younger and more easily influenced rappers as they haven’t had the opportunity to hone their individuality. Attitude and personality/charisma go hand in hand, this is essentially what makes the rapper interesting to listen to; a boring rapper won’t make it anywhere. However, the amount of people that check off all of the criteria, is way too much for us to consider just one single person the best. When we think about the criteria and determining who does it best, things get especially muddy, because we all have different opinions on what best means and how people that “best” represent these aspects present them.

Now, let’s look at the Particularist perspective. The particularist “assumes an answer to (1) and then uses that to answer (2).” Using this perspective, we will determine who we believe to be #1 rappers and then we will create a criteria based on their prowess. In discussions like these, people usually name artists like Eminem, Jay-Z, Nas, Kanye West, Lil Wayne, Biggie, Tupac, J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar, and Drake, so I’ll use them as well just so that we have some contenders to begin with.

What criteria do these rappers all have in common, aside from the fact that they’re men (which I’ll touch on later)? They all have the ability to create a cohesive and conceptual body of work. Each one has at least one classic album in their discography. They all have a personality that shines through in their work, this is especially true of Eminem, Tupac and Kanye West. However, there are a few things that seem to put these rappers on different levels when compared to one another. Many Eminem fans give much less weight to some of his recent work: Recovery and Revival, despite the fact that Recovery won a Grammy. Though we know he has the capacity to create a great body of work, the consistency is off. The same can be said of Nas, Illmatic is a legendary body of work, but his more recent work is barely given any weight at all.  Tupac and Biggie passed in their prime, so we don’t know how much they would have grown and improved if they were able to put in more work. Kanye West and Drake are notorious for using writers, which, in the eyes of many, some call them “rap purists,” means that they lose points. Just because we are not all “rap purists” doesn’t mean that we can just disregard their opinions. Drake’s sensitivity also injuries his credibility in the eyes of some. While all of these rappers have their own shortcomings, they also have their own strengths with which they cannot be compared. At this rate, developing a criteria from top rappers would be an endless feat.

The final perspective is the Skepticism perspective. The skeptic claims that you cannot answer (1) without first having an answer to (2) and you cannot answer (2) without first having an answer to (1), and so you cannot answer either. This perspective makes sense because there is an infinite amount of knowledge out there on the subject, therefore creating an infinite amount of criteria, making it impossible for a true top rapper to be chosen. We can’t determine the answer to this question, not just because of the paradox of acquiring knowledge, but also because of the subjective nature of rap.

The Problem of the Criterion can be applied to literally any art form and any genre of music, this is true. But when you look at rap from the skepticism point of view, it is easy to see why the Problem of the Criterion applies to rap more than these other genres and forms. None of these forms put as much weight on this accolade. Similarly, it isn’t nearly as easy to make art in these other forms as it is to make a rap song.

Attempting to don someone with the crown always brings up more questions than it answers. How did we come to this criteria and why did we exclude other criteria? Do rules change for those that passed in their prime? Do new rappers get more points for being more influential than older rappers even though there are different means and modalities of it? How much of a role does innovation play? Do older, classic albums make up for the new and less acclaimed albums of seasoned rappers? WHERE ARE THE WOMEN IN THESE DISCUSSIONS?

Attempting to award someone with such an accolade is literally impossible and with the number of people involved in rap and the amount of music being created continuing to increase, it’ll stay that way.

Part Three: The Future of Rap

In 1989, Will Smith and DJ Jazzy Jeff boycotted the Grammys for their refusal to air the award for best rap performance. In their opinion, the Grammys decision communicated a misunderstanding of and a disrespect for the genre. Their boycott created somewhat of a rift between themselves and Kool Moe Dee, who took Smith’s spot in presenting the best R&B male vocal. The next year, the Grammys aired the rap award and Smith and Jazzy Jeff would go on to win the award in 1992.

Will Smith and DJ Jazzy Jeff effectively changed rap and pop culture history by boycotting the Grammys and telling the world that rap was a genre to be taken seriously. It is the most listened to genre in popular music and presents the most influence in pop culture overall. Despite the fact that people constantly insult rap (boring, repetitive, etc.) and insist that it is declining, it remains the most lucrative and innovative genre in music. Rap definitely has its shortcomings; from its homophobic and misogynistic history to the role that it has played in real life violence and street beef. However, it’s made incredible strides in its short lifespan, creating a plethora of sub-genres and racking up a diverse catalog of artists that cater to number of viewpoints.

Rap is almost completely different than what it was when the genre originated in the ‘80s, the G-rap that sparked in the ‘90s and the luxury driven anthemic records of the early 2000s. Competition is still an integral part of the genre, but it is less about competing with others and more about competing with oneself. Every now and then beef does become mainstream, but it is not often that it divides the international audience like that of Biggie v. Tupac, Nas v. Jay-Z and Eminem and 50 Cent v. Ja Rule. Amiable sparring bars are even likely. The improvement of the self and solidarity in rap is further supported by the continuing emergence of collectives, groups and collaborations in rap.

Though accolades are rudimentary in pop culture, they are becoming obsolete in terms of rap. Many people that decide on who to give rap awards are often out of touch and don’t truly understand hip hop and its culture. The number of artists in the genre also makes it impossible for decision makers to get a grip on the genre. When there are so many stellar singles and projects being released, does it matter which is deemed #1? Does it really matter who is deemed as the best?