Living In Rhythm

So I've been listening to a lot of rap lately. By a lot of, I mean almost exclusively. I blame the nicer weather. Something about sunshine just makes me want to listen to rap and hip-hop. Whatever the reason, at any given moment, you could walk past my office and see me mouthing words to rap tunes. It's fine.


Then I remember this performance from the Grammys a couple years ago. The Rap Pack. Swagga like Us. Four of the best, all on one stage.

Which got me to thinking, who are currently the best? In my opinion, of course. So what does this mean? A list.

Jay-Z: Any doubt? No. Undisputed. Well, maybe that's not true, but if someone were to argue with me, I would put forth a very passionate argument stating why he is the best. The BEST. One of those reasons would be this. And also, lines like, "Books can guide you, but your heart defines you." I cannot say enough about Jay. It would all be pretty redundant after 'brilliant' anyway.

Lupe Fiasco: He is a close second. Listening to this guy songs means you're listening to stories. Honest to goodness stories. I suppose a lot of rappers do this, but not like Lupe does. He belongs to a select group of rappers who fall into the category of 'Smart Rap' (at least this is what my bro and I call it.) And it's because of songs like this one. One of my favourite lines (from anyone) to rap along to is "You don't want a loan, leave my cologne alone / It's a little too strong for you to be puttin' on." (From I Gotcha. Take a listen and you'll see why it's fun.)

Kanye West: The guy is a genius. Pure genius. I think I could forgive him just about anything, so long as he continues to put out incredible albums and influence popular music the way he has since The College Dropout came out. At the end of the day, I'd rather have a genius acting like a jackass, than a no-talent, manufactured starlet acting all prim and proper. No lie. "I forgot better shit than you ever thought up." That's still one of my favourite things he's said in a song. I can't even pick a favourite song of his; I just can't.

Common: Another smart rapper. Just kind of sails under the radar and makes consistently stellar music that tends to be thought-provoking, or at the very least, about something different than what everyone else is rapping about. Like this. Be remains one of my favourite rap albums.

Lil Wayne: I first heard Wayne on that kick ass song Soldier by Destiny's Child (which was also, coincidentally, the first time I really heard T.I. too.) To be honest, I didn't believe the hype at first. I didn't get where this guy came from, what the big deal was. Oh good, another rapper with dreads and a popular song. And then I Wiki'd him and he has been around forever. So naturally, I felt like an idiot, and like I had to catch up on what this guy has been doing, what kind of music he's been making all this time. He is legitimately awesome. Then, since I love Robin Thicke and bought his album Something Else, and Tie My Hands completely sold me on Wayne. Brilliant.

T.I.: There has always been something about T.I. that I have just love. It's his swagger, I think. The lilt to his words and his overall attitude. I can't say enough about that. I admit that most of my listening to T.I. was through his collaborations. Then Dead and Gone came out, and I was forced to buy Paper Trail, because this song just completely sold me on him.

So yes, there are many more rappers who are pretty great. Drake is one. I can't wait to see what he does next. But as far as my favourites, the ones who, in my opinion, are the best out there, this is the list.

This post is archived under common, drake, jay z, kanye west, lil wayne, lupe fiasco, robin thicke, t.i.