Eminem, the Greatest?

Today Eminem performed in front of thousands in Chicago and although I could not be there it got me thinking about if Em truly is the G.O.A.T. or even the greatest rapper alive.

Eminem's accomplishments are monumental and he has accomplished what no rapper before him has ever been able to do, break through to a mainstream audience with a pure hip-hop sound. Em is the most profitable recording artist of the decade in terms of album sales. Every album of his has gone platinum and his list of chart topping singles is unmatched. With that being said I have always had a problem calling him the G.O.A.T. Don't get me wrong Eminem is as gifted with the mic as anyone in the game and his rhyme scheme/cadences are contested by few. However, in my opinion Jay-Z is simply better. The main reason for this is more very good albums consistently with the same amount of missteps. Em is still the 2nd best rapper alive but let me make my case for Jay without getting too technical about his double entendres (for that read: Decoded) or debating his flows vs Eminem's (both are equally great).

Jay has two undeniable hip-hop classics in The Blueprint and The Black Album. Reasonable Doubt is also as good as mafioso rap gets. American Gangster is great and The In My Lifetime trilogy is something serious. Jay was not without his missteps though, putting out Kingdom Come and a disastrous R. Kelly collabo album or two.

The first two albums mentioned top to bottom do not miss a beat. No song is mailed in and every songs feels like an event. When Jay opens up with "The Ruler's Back", off The Blueprint, you cannot help but feel like you are listening to a moment stuck in time. When Mr. Beyonce Knowles says,

"I wanna thank everybody out there for they purchase

I surely appreciate it
What you about to witness is my thoughts
Just my thoughts man - right or wrong
Just what I was feeling at the time
You ever felt like this, you vibe with me
Walk with a nigga man - just vibe with me"

its hard not feel transported back to 2001 when he was at the height of his beef with Nas. The album carries that same feel throughout, a stream of conscious. Whether he is focusing on Nas or simply reminiscing on his past on "Never Change", Jay doesn't miss a step .

I can say the same thing about The Black Album. A classic from front to back with the only questionable song being the R. Kelly sampled "Threat" and that song is still is above average . The whole album takes you back to those moments when everyone thought Jay was gone forever. He of course has made 3 albums since his "retirement". The album did seem like a perfect way to leave rap, but I think we are all happy to still have Hov around.

Around the time Jay was releasing The Black Album, Em was prepping the release of Encore and preparing for his own hiatus due to a long battle with prescription drugs. Up to this point in his career Em had made 3 very good good albums and debatable classics. The 1st album he released was The Slim SHady LP and I find it extremely difficult to criticize The Slim Shady LP which is a classic.

The Marshall Mathers LP was also great, but something held it back from being a true classic. A song like Under the Influence doesn't belong on a classic album because quite frankly D-12 is pretty damn bad, especially with songs like "Bitch Please" and "Kill You" already on the album. Both those songs serve the same purpose as Under the Influence and serve that purpose much better. I know its being picky, but classic albums have a higher standard.

The Eminem Show also suffers from D-12 syndrome, this awful group kills all the CD's momentum with "When the Music Stops". Of course I am exaggerating quite a bit to make my point but the Eminem Show is still great and belongs with hip-hops elite albums.

Now on to Encore which is a mess. The highs are extremely high and the lows are, well, really low. Em sounds unfocused and on drugs (which he was). There are some great songs (Yellow Brick Road. Encore, Evil Deeds, Crazy in Love) and some songs that are just as bad (Puke, Big Weenie, Ass Like That, Just Lose It). It chalked up to an average album from a great rapper.

Fast forward a few years and Em is off drugs and he creates the accent filled Relapse which also has its highs and lows. Despite all its faults it still manages to be above average and standout tracks such as "Underground", "Deja Vu" and "Beautiful" outweigh "Medicine Ball" and "We Made You".

A year later Em comes back with the refined Recovery which exceeds his previous two albums in terms of commercial and critical success. Every song seemed to have "single" potential and the missteps were few and far between (anyone else not fall in love with Won't Back Down?)

All in all Eminem has 2 or 3 classics/very good albums, 1 average album, and 1 slightly above average album. While Jay has made 14 or 15 albums with 2 being certified classics, 7 or 8 being very good and probably 3 or 4 average albums. Both are legends, but when it comes to legends its important to nit pick.

Jay, up to this point, has the upper hand. There is still a long way to go though and a lot that can happen with their careers.

Song of the Week

This song was featured on the Streets is Watching Soundtrack a while back. The chorus is what hooked me and it definitely shows off the more introspective side of Jay, check it out and feel free to debate what the meaning. haha

No Man Should Have This Power

Its hard to find artists that push musical boundaries every time they record, but one of those artists is Kanye West. We all know his story of the last last year, ridiculed for speaking his mind and telling the truth Kanye is finally back with a pure Hip-Hop album.

The album starts off with a tone setting track "My Dark Fantasy". The chorus boasts "can we get much higher? " and Kanye takes his rapping abilities to the next level starting off his first saying "I dreampt bout this back in Chicago, mercy me mercy me that murcielago". He boldly states that he "found bravery in my bravado". A statement of thats shows the moments he has had of expressing his opinion (Taylor Swift, George Bush) he does not regret. His statements were made for a reason and his willingness to step out when no one else would is a gift in his opinion. It's obvious from this track that Kanye is out to prove he is not only great at creating soundscapes but that he can rap with the best in the world and even calls himself a Chicago Nas.

The track Gorgeous features a hook from Kid Cudi and verse from Raekwon. Kanye holds the track down until the last minutes of the song when the track seemlesly breaks off into a piano based track with some guitar rather than an all string song. The piano part has the feelingly of old school Wu-Tang songs and Raekwon decimates the track.

Power follows and brings the tempo of the album up as Yeezy declares "Fuck SNL and the whole cast tell them Yeezy said they can kiss my whole ass". Once again his lyrical game is head and shoulders above where it once was "My childlike creativity, purity and honesty/Is honestly being prodded by these grown thoughts/Reality is catchin’ up with me/Takin’ my inner child, I’m fighting for it, custody". Once again at around the 4 minute mark Kanye breaks down the song and lets Dwele do his thing.

Kanye follows up Power with an even bigger song "All of the Lights" featuring Cudi, Fergie, Rihanna, Alicia Keys, Elton John amongst others. Throughtout the song you can hear the passion of Kanye contrasted with the smooth sound of Rihanna's chorus. When Kanye says

I'm heading home, I'm almost there

I'm on my way, heading up the stairs

To my surprise, a n-gga replacing me

I had to take 'em to that ghetto univesity

Then in comes the chorus with horns that can only be described beautiful with Rihanna's voice being excentuated by their presence. The songs breaks down once again and brings the piano to the forefront showing how truly structed and layered the song is.

The songs is followed by Monster, which is a departure from the previous song, the songs even says "i cut the lights out". The songs features Rick Ross and Jay-Z but Nicki Minaj has the standout verse on the track. Kanye emphasizes her lines with echoes and pauses of the beat. Its a lyrical slaughtering

"So Appalled" is another posse cut that features Jay-Z, Pusha T, Prynce Cy Hi, Swizz Beatz & The RZA. Another Kanye beat is used as the landscape for a lyrical killing, including Jay-Z making fun of MC Hammer's money problem "I lost thirty mill so I spent another 30/cuz unlike Hammer 30 mill can’t hurt me" The beat has a creepy feeling and allows for each MC to bring their own particular flow onto the track.

Devil in a New Dress is up next and has a College Dropout type of feeling with Kanye even singing without auto tune on the track. . The track, much like all of the lights, breaks off into a heavy piano track torwards the end with Rick Ross actually not ruining the track. The feel becomes R&B and soul like. Once again lyrics cause this track to standout.

Runaway begins the last stretch of songs and is 9 minutes long with a verse from Pusha T. The song is the most well known from the album at this point and incorporates all of Kanye's past works (808s chorus, Late Registration beat). The biggest winner on this track is Pusha T, who Kanye had record and re write his verse multiple times. Pusha comes off as an arrogant asshole and fits perfectly into the song by telling a woman off for not being able to keep up with the lifestyle he is providing for her. The track feels like it should end a few times but does not and rewards the listener by taking them into a layered song.

The final 3 tracks on the album are the best. Hell of a Life, Blame Game, and Lost in the World embody all of Kanye's works. Whether is an autotune hook on Lost in the World, a hilarious skit at the end of Blame Game or a confeesional verse on Hell of a Life Kanye brings the audience back into what made him who he is. Lost in the World features one verse but it is the best of the entire album and will be listened to multiple times by everyone who hears it.

Kanye claims that he finally decided to re use some of his old sounds when making this CD rather than going off into a whole new genre. He brings back that old kanye feel but pushes music to its limits with 9 minute tracks and songs more layered than anything ever heard. He even uses the sound of wind in Runaway! The CD is an instant classic and stands among his previous 4 as musical perefection.

All I can say is thank you Kanye.