So one of our New’s Years Resolutions for m.o.m was to do more joint posts like: >>>>’I am who I am’.<<<< The topic for this one, is one that seems to be debated year after year in barbershops, bedrooms and boardrooms and rightly so. Hip Hop is slowly but surely gathering momentum as a movement and taking over the world.

‘Throw your 1s up in the air’

Like FP said in the >>>‘rejuvination of hip hop’ <<< the genre seems to be going through a transitionary phase, moving from an over saturation of watered down ring – tone rap and returning to an art form similar to its glory days, based more on content and essence. Artists such as Drake, J. Cole and Jay Electronica are prominent examples of this becoming the Jay Z and Nas’ of their day.

But who is the G.O.A.T? We put this question to our resident bloggers all of whom are avid hip hop heads. Make sure you come back for each one of their installments in the coming weeks:

SuperNovA:

NUMBER 5: STYLES P / JADAKISS – Ok you may be thinking WTF Styles and Jada are no duo. You are certainly right but I had to somehow find a way to squeeze them both into my top 5. The New York rappers have had strong associations with the Ruff Ryders alongside Swiss Beatz, Eve and DMX and were also part of Puffys Bad Boy outfit at a time. However we were blessed with more of their infectious bars when they came out as D Block with Sheek Louch and others. Both of their debut albums Styles’ “Gangster and a Gentleman” and Kiss’ “Kiss tha Game Goodbye” are considered modern day classics. Both rappers are highly esteemed amongst the hip hop community and whenever they come together its always colossal:

NUMBER 4: EMINEM – Marshall Mathers, First artist to win Best Rap Album 3 consecutive times (Grammys), Highest selling artist of the last decade, 80 Million albums sold worldwide and these are just name a few of his accolades. One could ask what have these got to do with being a great MC but the reason he has a plethora of awards is simply because of that. He’s a great MC and many would actually have him higher in the list. EMs combination of his insightful and heartfelt lyrics, which often describe his struggle with his family, lovers and drugs and a combination of his septic flow have led to him being considered one of the all time greats. His debut album The Slim Shady LP has been certified 4 times platinum.

NUMBER 3: JAY Z – I’ve run out of words to say about this guy, everything I can think of has been said before. All I know is that he’s greatness personified, a blessing and pioneer to the game (no homo). 14 years later Jay’s debut album Reasonable Doubt still gets regular play on my itunes and is regarded as one of the greatest albums of all time. The stalwart has been able to combine lyrical genius with unrivaled commercial success racking ten straight number 1 albums. His lyrical wordplay, content, complexity and relevance have kept him at the top of the game.

NUMBER 2: THE NOTORIOUS B.I.G – An MC lyrically and sonically ahead of his time. Puffy introduced the world to biggie with Ready to Die and the world hasn’t been the same since. Many hail him as the ‘greatest ever’ and his unrivaled wordplay and flow was second to none. He took the music world by storm with both his albums and his ability to both tell conscious stories and also portray his glamorous reality were endearing. 

Lyric Check: “Laugh now cry later, I rhyme greater/ Than the average playa hater, and spectators/ Buy my CD twice, they see me in the streets, They be like, ‘Yo, he nice’/ But that’s on the low doe”

NUMBER 1: NaS – The architect behind Illmatic, undeniably the greatest hip hop album of all time, ‘It Was Written’, ‘Stillmatic’, ‘Gods Son’, ‘Untitled’ and many more in between are albums that Nas has littered with his poetic genius. His uncanny ability to paint vivid pictures with his words have left me in awe time and time again. Although he has never reached the levels of illmatic, which he started working on at the age of 16, Nas has consistently delivered with his conversational style.

Lyric Check:

Freedom or jail, clips inserted, a baby’s bein born. Same time my man is murdered, the beginning and end As far as rap go, it’s only natural, I explain My plateau, and also, what defines my name First it was Nasty, but times have changed Ask me now, I’m the artist, but hardcore, my science for pain I spent time in the game, kept my mind on fame Saw fiends shoot up, and do lines of cocaine Saw my close friends shot, flatline am I sane?

Damn that was hard!!!

The world is yours.

SuperNova.

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