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Who is bigger Eminem or Kendrick Lamar?
In Rap Kumite 5, Kung-Fu Kenny brings his fists of fury to a dank basement in Detroit to battle Slim Shady. – W e’ve arrived at the halfway point of this tournament, but not without some controversial decisions. A few people hit me up after reading the first drop, RK10: Evidence vs.
Slug, letting me know I made the wrong call with innocuous texts that read, “Gotta go with Slug on this one,” and “Ev is nice but Slug Atmosphere are better.” The next matchup, RK9: GZA vs. Aesop Rock, had the same folks wondering how I figured those two rappers were in the same class. For sure, the overwhelming weight of the Wu-Tang Clan’s catalog and cultural influence on hip-hop would have blown apart Aes Rock’s little indie-hop kingdom, but when I parsed it down to GZA’s solo work and threw his 10 best tracks against Aesop Rock’s, the underground underdog stood a chance.
The track-to-track matchup has played a significant role in determining the outcome of each “Rap Kumite”. For every article, I create a playlist to publish with it. I curate each playlist, stuffing it with my favorite tracks from each competing artist — the songs that first come to mind when I run through their catalogs.
I keep the playlist on heavy rotation for the week while I write/edit/re-write and publish the article, and I make “cuts” throughout that week to get the total number of tracks down to 20 (10 for each artist) before I publish them. It’s a method, but it’s not scientific. It’s not supposed to be. This is an exercise in emotion.
The question I ask myself when I listening to these songs is, “How does the music make me feel?” Answering this question is what’s lead to unexpected decisions in the matchups between Pusha-T and Freddie Gibbs, DMX and E-40, and this last one between 2Pac and Nipsey Hussle.
- Going into those matchups, I figured I would settle on Freddie Gibbs, E-40, and 2Pac, but I surprised myself.
- Depending on your take, the “Rap Kumite 5” matchup could seem lopsided.
- In terms of albums sold, with streaming taken into consideration, it’s no contest.
- Eminem has sold around 4 times as many as Kendrick Lamar, but he’s been doing it for twice as long as Kung-Fu Kenny.
He also broke out at a key moment in rap history, capturing everyone’s attention, and he crushed it. He was exactly what MTV needed back when that network played music videos and still moved the needle in teen pop-culture. The gap closes significantly between Eminem and Kendrick if we measure them in terms of acclaim.
Both rappers are critical darlings and have won loads of awards from Grammys to an Oscar (Eminem), and a damn Pulitzer Prize (Kendrick Lamar). They are considered to be among the best rappers ever, a statement that is hard to argue when you listen to their music. They have similar styles in that they tend to stuff bars with syllables, and they are not afraid to experiment with their sound and delivery.
On paper, Eminem vs. Kendrick Lamar seemed like a close matchup. Eminem, 2002. Michael Caulfield Archive/WireImage.
How tall is Kendrick Lamar net worth?
Kendrick Lamar’s Net Worth 2023 – Kendrick Lamar has a practical personality, he has the ability to systematically organize his life, realizing that he must work for success. Kendrick Lamar tends to be a loner, preferring to think and study and go at solving difficult problems.
As of February 2023, Kendrick Lamar’s net worth is $75 Million, and his source of wealth is mainly the help of his music. He has earned money and increased his net worth as a record producer, rapper, and songwriter. He has been making music and earning money for a decade. He sold several copies of his albums to get more revenue.
All of these have brought him a lot of money over the years and he has also been able to make a lot of money from his musical tours within the US and worldwide.
What GPA did Kendrick Lamar get?
Cole and Kendrick Lamar, who both graduated with a 4.0 GPA, were recently honored by the prominent @raptvcom Twitter feed, which published a breakdown of rappers and their individual high school GPA ratings.
What record does Kendrick Lamar hold?
1. Kendrick Lamar’s New Album Has Set The Record For The Most Streams In A Single Day. – K.Dot’s new album ‘To Pimp A Butterfly’ broke a record when it was released this week, a week early. The album was reportedly streamed 9.6 million times, giving it the global record for the most streams in a single day by a new release – guess whose record he beat? None other than Drake’s.
Who is the biggest rapper of all time?
JAY-Z – With a career spanning over three decades, JAY-Z’s hustle and bustle is evergreen. What he accomplished and brought to the community makes him rank 1 on the list. Image Source: Getty Images
Who is the largest rapper?
#1 Jay-Z – Jay-Z, born Shawn Carter, is an American rapper who hails from NYC—a fact he raps about consistently over the course of his nearly three-decade career. He quickly rose to fame in the mid-1990s when he released his debut studio album, Reasonable Doubt, from his own record label Roc-A-Fella Records.
He has since released 12 more albums, all receiving critical and commercial acclaim and success, solidifying him as one of the best rappers of all time. With 23 Grammy Awards to his name, it is the most by any rapper, and he holds the record for the most solo artist number-one albums on the Billboard 200.
Plus, he’s first on the Billboard Top 10 Rappers list and his 2001 album The Blueprint earned him the honor of being one of Rolling Stone’s 5 top rappers.1,2 With such accolades under his belt, his self-proclamation of being “the best rapper alive” could very well be the truth.
- Empire State of Mind
- Numb/Encore
- 99 Problems
What rapper is a billionaire?
Jay-Z is the richest rapper in the world, according to Forbes’ real-time billionaires list.
Is Drake a billionaire?
Is Drake a billionaire? – No, Drake is “only” worth $260 million based on our latest estimate. Only two rappers have joined the billionaires club : Jay Z and P Diddy.
How old is the richest rapper?
Go To Section
Rank | Name | Age |
---|---|---|
1 | Kanye West | 43 |
2 | Jay Z | 51 |
3 | Sean Combs – Diddy | 51 |
4 | Sean Combs – Diddy | 51 |
What is Tyler the Creator’s IQ?
Qtip challenge. We learned Tyler has an IQ of 13.
What GPA did Bill Gates get?
Opinion: Why we should bid the anachronism of valedictorian farewell Elon Musk was not valedictorian in high school. Neither was Bill Gates whose 2.2 GPA at one point alarmed his parents. Ronald Reagan graduated with a C-average. None of these esteemed men were mediocre in intelligence or achievements, regardless of their high school grades.
Despite what Denver Post opinion columnist, high school rank is an irrelevant measure of success, especially when the individual distinction is often mere thousandths of a percentage point. Critics of Cherry Creek School District’s decision to retire valedictorian titles and ranking students by GPA couldn’t be more wrong, and the district should be lauded, not maligned.
Rather than moving toward mediocrity, the district’s action acknowledges and honors widespread high achievement. Cherry Creek High School, the district’s flagship and arguably one of the top high schools in the nation, eliminated valedictorian and ranking of students more than 30 years ago.
- The reason is that ranking can actually compromise and downplay the achievements of the school’s high number of extraordinary students.
- Has Creek’s decades-old decision caused mediocrity in the school? Has that choice decreased Creek’s competitiveness? Of course not.
- It’s laughable to think so.
- Brauchler implied the next step for the district will be to no longer have grades or GPAs for college admissions.
It will, and the district continues to offer a large number of rigorous, nationally-aligned honors and AP classes, while also increasing the number of students challenging themselves. Brauchler mistakenly suggests rank is necessary for college admission.
It’s not. Grades, test scores, recommendations, college essays, and other factors make up a college application, and colleges rate students against their entire applicant pool, not their high school. Finally, the insinuation that Cherry Creek’s policy shift lowers standards and expectations is patently false.
Nothing has changed with curriculum, instruction, assessment, or achievement. My son, a Princeton sophomore, graduated from Cherry Creek with a 4.9 GPA and perfect scores on the ACT, yet was not valedictorian, nor did he need that title to honor his success.
His former classmates at Harvard, Yale, Stanford, MIT, and other elite programs also graduated from Creek without valedictorian status or class rank, and none expected nor needed either for college admission or to garner respect among their community. Cherry Creek produces dozens of National Merit Scholars each year, and at its Senior Awards ceremony, the “Principal’s Top Ten” list includes dozens of students because Creek produces so many high achievers with perfect 4.0 GPAs.
Clearly, there’s no such thing as a single top student, and publicly ranking them puts them at a disadvantage, which is why many elite schools nationwide also eliminated the practice. Thus, Cherry Creek School District is not moving toward mediocrity but instead joining other top programs in honoring students who achieve far beyond standards of the past.
- Cherry Creek’s many high achievers represent a tradition of widespread excellence, and they aren’t just valued by a single percentage point.
- Sid Mane, a Creek grad and U.S.
- Presidential Scholar who currently attends Columbia University, is unimpressed with the case for valedictorian.
- Mane explains that it makes a “claim which is incredibly out of touch,” noting GPA is still listed on transcripts and college apps and is unnecessary to compare students within the school.
Additionally, Mane says, “I’d actually contend class rank contributes to mediocrity since it discourages academic risk-taking.” Ranking can encourage kids to avoid hard classes out of fear of losing a decimal point. Instead, we want our kids to challenge themselves, competing nationwide against the best-of-the-best for admissions and awards, not against each other for a school crown.
- Mane describes valedictorian as “a quaint tradition” at best.
- A highly qualified voice on this issue, Craig Wittgrove, Post-Graduate Coordinator at Cherry Creek High School, explains “The competition for valedictorian and rank has always created gamesmanship and limited students from choosing courses based on growth and interest to instead choose what’s best to manipulate GPA.” He added that many elite, expensive “private schools choose not to rank, as there’s no proof of advantage in college admission, and it may actually limit the number of students admitted to an institution.” In other words, when schools have numerous extraordinary students, pitting them against each other by GPA can actually harm their post-graduate opportunities.
Washington Post education writer Valerie Strauss has studied the issue, sharing the insight of education scholar Alfie Kohn who notes, “The differences in GPA among high-achieving students are statistically insignificant. It’s, therefore, both pointless and misleading to single out the one (or ten) at the top.” Valedictorian titles and class rank are anachronisms that were put out to pasture at Cherry Creek High School decades ago.
- Sadly, many people misunderstand this.
- As an educator, former administrator, and past coordinator of gifted education, I’m disappointed by the crass misrepresentation of this issue to score cheap political points.
- Superintendent Chris Smith and the Cherry Creek School Board made the right call and the appropriate, well-informed decision that is in the best interest of kids.
Creek’s policy validates, deepens, and extends the tradition of excellence. Michael P. Mazenko is a Cherry Creek High School teacher, a former school administrator, and past gifted education coordinator. To send a letter to the editor about this article, submit or check out our for how to submit by email or mail.
What is the highest GPA ever?
What is the highest GPA? • GPA Calculator There are several scales that would determine what the highest GPA score is. Normally, you would expect the highest score to be the ‘perfect’ 4.0 score, however, there are several things that a student can do to receive an even higher score.
- For example, one student actually managed to get a 10.03 GPA score.
- He did this by taking 17 advanced classes at his school, which awarded him many points.
- The most common scale is from 0 to 4.
- This is also known as an unweighted scale, and it provides a more general scoring system with no numbers in between.
On the other hand, weighted scales have additional digits to help distinguish how well a student has performed academically even more. This means that that scale will go from 0 to 4.5 or 0 to 5. This is also good for students because it allows them more opportunities to make the most of their education and future possibilities.
- For high school, the typical scale is 0 to 5.
- This gives students plenty of room to work on things that will bring their score up without stressing too much about the numbers.
- Commonly, if you take advanced classes, you will be able to increase your GPA score more efficiently.
- Likewise, if you achieve awards in sports or competitions, you will also be able to add more points to your score.
Knowing all of this is important for your future, and you will be able to find out more information on your school’s website where specific scores will be described and explained in detail. To know how to get your GPA score up, it is best to speak directly to the student advisors in your high school or college.
Has Kendrick Lamar ever had a #1 song?
Kendrick Lamar discography Further information: discography Lamar in 2016 Studio albums5Compilation albums1EPs1Singles65Soundtrack albums1Mixtapes5Promotional singles3 American rapper has released five, one, one (EP), five, 65 (including 44 as a featured artist), and three, Lamar initially performed under the K.Dot, releasing three mixtapes under that moniker: Y.H.N.I.C.
- Hub City Threat: Minor of the Year) (2004), Training Day (2005), and (2009).
- He gained major attention after the release of his fourth mixtape, which was released in 2010.
- It was Lamar’s first full-length project to be released under his birth name and fared well enough to enter the United States chart, where it peaked at number 72.
Lamar’s debut studio album, was released on July 2, 2011, and issued on independent record label (TDE). It peaked at number 113 on the US chart. The album’s, “”, was released prior to the album through, In mid-2012, Lamar began promoting his second studio album and debut,,
The album’s first single, “”, peaked at number 38 on the US Billboard chart. “”, the album’s lead single, peaked at number 17 on the US and became his first top 20 hit on the chart. Good Kid, M.A.A.D City was released in October 2012, through TDE, and, The album received universal critical acclaim and reached number two on the Billboard 200.
On March 16, 2015, Lamar released his third studio album,, The album was preceded by two singles, “” and “”, which charted at numbers 39 and 66 on the US, respectively. To Pimp a Butterfly received universal critical acclaim upon release, much like its predecessor, and had global charting success, debuting at number one on the overall albums charts in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, as well as topping the US Billboard 200.
On March 4, 2016, Lamar released, a compilation album containing previously unreleased that originated during the recording of To Pimp a Butterfly, The compilation album gave Lamar his second chart-topping set in less than a year. On April 14, 2017, his fourth studio album,, was released and reached number one on the Billboard 200, and has since been certified 3× Platinum.
The album spawned the singles “”, “” and “”, which all reached the top 15 of the US Billboard Hot 100, with “Humble” becoming his first number-one single in the United States as a lead artist. Lamar’s fifth studio album was released on May 13, 2022, as his final project under TDE.
Who has the fastest rapper records?
music – Getty Images When it comes to rap and hip-hop, speed, precision, and lyricism are some of the most defining aspects of the art. The fastest rapper in the world represents the pinnacle of these qualities, pushing boundaries and redefining what it means to be a rapper.
As we dive into the world of rap’s fastest spitters, we’ll discuss their history, their techniques, and how they have managed to capture the world’s attention. RELATED: 25 Soundcloud Rappers That Changed The Industry The origins of fast rap can be traced back to the late 1980s, when pioneers like Kool Moe Dee, Big Daddy Kane, and Rakim emerged on the scene.
These rappers were known for their rapid-fire delivery and intricate rhyme schemes. In the early 1990s, a new wave of artists like Twista, Busta Rhymes, and Tech N9ne took fast rap to new heights, earning widespread acclaim for their speed and technical proficiency.
- Fast-forward to today, and we find a whole new generation of rappers pushing the envelope.
- Among these, one name stands out as the fastest rapper in the world: an artist who has not only broken records but also captivated audiences with their unparalleled skill and passion for the craft.
- Meet the fastest rapper in the world – a title earned through a combination of raw talent, dedication, and years of practice.
This artist has honed their technique to the point where they can deliver syllables at a mind-boggling speed, surpassing previous record holders and securing their place in rap history. But who is this enigmatic figure? In an industry where speed is often revered and rappers are constantly vying for the title of fastest, it’s essential to look at the metrics.
- According to the Guinness World Records, the title of the world’s fastest rapper – with a hit single – belongs to none other than Eminem.
- With his unique blend of skill, speed, and storytelling, Eminem has carved out a legacy that remains unparalleled in the rap world.
- Let’s talk about the elements that have made Eminem the holder of this coveted Guinness World Record.
The hit single we’re discussing in particular is his 2020 hit “Godzilla,” which came with a Lyrical Lemonade video courtesy of the company’s founder, Cole Bennett, and a feature from the legendary rap talent Juice WRLD. According to the Guinness Book of World Records website, Eminem is the current record holder of the world’s fastest rap on a hit single, which puts him at the top amongst the world’s most renowned rap talents.
This accomplishment is particularly notable, yet it still begs the question: who are some of the other fastest rappers in the world – even the ones without a hit single. Let’s talk about some of the other wordsmiths who deserve a mention in this article about the fastest rapper in the world; there’s plenty of ground to cover.
From Tonedeff to Crucified, we’ll explore the other corners of the hip-hop world which have been after the title of the world’s fastest rapper. Eminem’s not the only rapper who’s fought for the well-respected accolade.
How much did Mr Morale sell?
At the time, he earned the seventh most first-week sales in 2022, posting a first-week total of 296,000 units sold.
Who is the king of rap?
Related – Unlike Weezy, most of the acts in our survey only managed one album release during our two-and-a-half-year survey period. Jay-Z’s third-place showing was mostly the result of his two million-selling 2009 smash The Blueprint 3, But Jigga likely would have looked impressive no matter when we took this survey over the last decade. Lil’ Wayne at the Virgin Mobile Festival, Day 2, in Baltimore, Maryland, August 10th, 2008. Photo by Shutterstock Shutterstock Among acts lower down in the tally, respect should be accorded to Rick Ross, who only placed eighth but has been a model of album-chart consistency in his five-year career.
- All four of the big man’s albums have debuted in the Billboard 200’s top two, and while none has been a megablockbuster, each has sold in the mid-six figures.
- Of the two discs he released during our survey period, the second – 2010’s 650,000-selling Teflon Don – was his first to miss the Number One spot, but it still managed to out-sell its predecessor, 2009’s Deeper Than Rap, by nearly 200,000 copies.
Now let’s turn to songs, where a rookie with only one full-length album to his name has emerged as a runaway radio powerhouse. Related • The 100 Greatest Artists of All Time: Eminem BILLBOARD’S R&B/HIP-HOP AND RAP SONGS CHARTS If you were one of our more conspiracy-minded commenters, you might complain that we picked the 2009 start date for our survey so Drake would win.
We didn’t, but it’s true that nobody benefits more from our survey period than Aubrey Graham, the Canadian teen-soap star who took America’s charts by storm starting in 2009 after transforming into a single-named rapper. For an art form that once prized street credibility, preferably from one of a handful of American cities, hip-hop has embraced the clean-cut Drake remarkably quickly.
His role on Degrassi: The Next Generation had barely ended when he began contributing tracks to mixtapes by mentor Lil Wayne’s Young Money crew. Thanks perhaps to Weezy’s Good Hip-Hopping seal of approval, a slew of major rap figures lined up to record with Drake: of the 19 other acts in our survey, almost half – from Jay-Z to Eminem to T.I.
- To Diddy – have released tracks fronted or backed by him.
- Thanks in large part to all of those appearances, Drake leads, by a comfortable margin, our tally of Billboard ‘s two urban-radio-oriented charts.
- They are the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, which, under various names (e.g., Hot Soul Singles, Hot Black Singles), has existed for half a century; and Hot Rap Songs, which dates to the end of the 1980s, back when Flavor Flav was still known as a rapper.
Drake has visited the penthouse of these two charts more than anyone else during the last three years. You might think that his tendency to sing rather than rap on many of his hits would make him more popular on the R&B chart, but he is actually bigger on Rap Songs: Drake reached Number One four times as a lead artist there, with “Best I Ever Had,” “Forever,” “Over” and “Fancy”; and five more times as a guest on tracks by Timbaland, Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj and DJ Khaled.
- On the R&B chart, “Best” went to Number One, and Drake backed up five other records that rang the bell, including jams by Trey Songz and Jamie Foxx.
- While we’re discussing guest recordings, a technical note: Across all of the King of Hip-Hop tallies, we award partial credit to rappers’ featured performances.
It would be unfair not to – guest verses have been a staple of rap hits since the music’s inception, and nowadays tracks without backup are the exception, not the rule. When assigning points for the R&B/Hip-Hop and Rap charts, we gave full credit to a lead performance and one-third credit for a featured performance; the number of guests on rap tracks generally ranges between one and four, and so dividing the points by three seemed like a reasonable average.
- On both surveys, we awarded points based on each song’s peak position and its total weeks charted.
- We’re showing the tallies for the R&B/Hip-Hop and Rap tallies side-by-side, since the results have a lot in common, including an identical top two (Drake and Lil Wayne).
- But there are some major differences as you get further down.
For example, you wouldn’t expect gruff Southern rapper Gucci Mane to do so much better on the R&B list, where he places third, than on the Rap tally, where he misses the top 10 entirely. The secret of Gucci’s R&B radio success: volume – like Drake, he gets around as a guest star.
Gucci has backed up romantic crooners including Omarion, Mario and Jagged Edge, and 17 such appearances have made Billboard ‘s R&B/Hip-Hop chart, dwarfing his 10 lead appearances. But most of those guest appearances don’t help him much on Billboard’s Rap Songs, which is a smaller chart (25 positions) and leaves out a lot of records that make the lower rungs of the 100-position R&B/Hip-Hop list.
To make Rap Songs, your hit really has to be booming from cars everywhere – this chart tends to reward big lead performances over guest spots. Gucci’s not alone on the skewed lead-to-featured ratio: half of our contenders made more appearances on the R&B/Hip-Hop chart as featured performers than as leads.
- For some, the ratio is almost even – Nicki Minaj started her career largely as a supporting rapper but is catching up on the lead side, with nine charting singles under her own name versus 10 as a featured performer.
- This explains her better performance on the Rap Songs tally, where her big hits as a lead, like “Moment 4 Life” and “Super Bass,” help her place third overall.) At the other extreme, promiscuous guest star Lil Wayne has scored only eight lead R&B chart performances since 2009, versus 29 supporting performances during the same span.
(One imagines Weezy driving from studio to studio like Michael McDonald, ready to drop 32 bars for friends.) Let’s turn from the radio to another arena where hit songs rule the day, and featured performances make a difference: YouTube. Related • Weed, Top Chefs and Rick Ross: Drake Ranges Wide on New Album YOUTUBE When tallying the views racked up by our contenders’ official music videos, we were reminded of an ironclad YouTube rule: Pop rules.
Of the 10 videos we tracked that were viewed more than 100 million times, nine were Top Five hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including Jennifer Lopez’s “On the Floor” featuring Pitbull, Katy Perry’s “E.T.” featuring Kanye West, and Jay-Z’s team-up with Alicia Keys, “Empire State of Mind.” (As for that 10th video, “Price Tag” by Jessie J featuring B.o.B., it topped the pop chart in Britain.) Only one of these nine-figure-viewers is a video from a rapper by himself – one who’s neither supporting a singer nor being supported by one.
That would be Eminem, who goes it alone on his 2010 hit “Not Afraid,” the video of which has been watched 257 million times. Perhaps it is appropriate, then, that Eminem leads our YouTube tally – again, as with his albums lead, by a massive margin. The 1.3 billion total video views collected by Mr. Eminem performs on ‘Friday Night with Jonathan Ross’ in London on June 4th, 2010. Photo by Brian J Ritchie/Hot Sauce/Shutterstock Brian J Ritchie/Hot Sauce/Shutterstock That is not the most-watched video any of our contenders appears in, however. Crushing Em and Ri is the video for “Baby” by Justin Bieber featuring Ludacris, which has been viewed an astounding 589 million times, the most of any video in YouTube history.
That view count was as of two weeks ago, when we collected our numbers; as of this writing it’s cruising toward 600 million.) As with our R&B/Hip-Hop and Rap Songs tallies, we give one-third credit for supporting performances on YouTube, which helps explain Luda’s placement in the top four of this survey.
Laugh at Chris Bridges and his squeaky-clean Bieber verse all you want, but most rappers probably envy him. The mere fact that Ludacris is in a King of Hip-Hop survey in 2011, and does respectably on most of our tallies, is a testament to an unflashy but consistently productive career.
More than a decade after he presciently titled his debut album Back for the First Time, Luda keeps coming back, acting in acclaimed movies, consistently releasing chart-topping albums (during our survey period, not a particularly big one for him, he shifted just under a million discs) and dropping verses for a range of R&B stars.
Just since 2009, he’s appeared in the R&B Top 10 three times on his own – including the Number 2 hit “My Chick Bad” with fellow contender Nicki Minaj – and three more times backing up singers Ciara, Chris Brown and LeToya. As for our YouTube tally, back out that Bieber blockbuster and all his other featured credits, and Luda would still have 192 million views, a total big enough to to put him just outside the top 10 by itself.
Whether on the big or small screens, people like watching this guy. In keeping with the YouTube pop theme, the rappers in our survey who lean toward the Top 40 side of the dial do better on this tally than any other, particularly Latin club-rapper Pitbull and pop-rap teamer-upper B.o.B., who place fifth and sixth, respectively.
Pitbull’s appearance in J. Lo’s “On the Floor” gives him a big boost, as that clip has been viewed more than 300 million times; but his own summer 2011 Hot 100 chart-topper “Give Me Everything” has been watched nearly 75 million times, as well. As for B.o.B., his team-up with Paramore’s Hayley Williams on “Airplanes” has been seen 136 million times, followed by his pairing with Bruno Mars on the soul ballad “Nothin’ on You,” with 80 million viewings – and, as the credited lead performer on both tracks, B.o.B gets full points for those hefty totals.
- While we’re focused on the visual, let’s turn our attention to the live stage, where our perpetual runner-up takes a commanding lead.
- Related • The 30 Best Albums of 2010: Eminem’s ‘Recovery’ TOURING Give Lil Wayne and Jay-Z credit – they have cracked the code when it comes to live hip-hop.
- Rap has long been a tough sell on the concert stage thanks to skittish promoters, weak stagecraft and indifferent audiences (save for the occasional touring festival like Rock the Bells, rock-oriented rap acts like the Beastie Boys or certain one-off shows by superstars).
Only in the last half-decade, as hip-hop enters middle age, have rap tours begun to draw grosses comparable to and competitive with road-warrior rock acts. For the past few years, Lil Wayne has been the biggest draw on the road among rappers, putting together eclectic packages that appeal to the full spectrum of his fan base.
Supporting acts have ranged from T-Pain to Keyshia Cole to Gym Class Heroes, making the whole of a Weezy tour greater than the sum of its parts. Wayne’s $51 million total gross since 2009 includes dates from his I Am Music tour (which kicked off in 2008, in the wake of Tha Carter III ‘s blockbuster sales) and America’s Most Wanted tours, which together played to some 724,000 fans across 68 concerts.
Scarcity, perhaps, has also helped – Weezy’s incarceration in late 2010 probably made his return to the stage in 2011 hotly anticipated, and a new tour with Rick Ross has been selling briskly. Coming in second on our live tally, Jay-Z offers, in essence, the other model of hip-hop touring success: rapper as self-assured Chairman of the Board (Frank Sinatra allusion fully intended).
A decade and a half into his career, Jigga has an enviable catalog of rap classics worthy of a two-hour showcase. And while his shows regularly draw impressive support acts such as Mary J. Blige, Jay has the authority to headline showcases as large as Coachella or Britain’s Glastonbury festival on his own.
The Blueprint 3 tour made Jay 2010’s top hip-hop concert draw and one of the biggest acts on the road, period. When he does share the spotlight, it’s with a fellow superstar. His four shows in 2010 with Eminem, two each in Detroit and New York, reportedly grossed $15 million by themselves.
- And the forthcoming head-to-head tour by Jay-Z and Kanye West following the release of their joint album Watch the Throne promises to be a blockbuster.
- For our contenders who have served as opening acts, we’ve apportioned one-fourth credit, which in a couple of cases provides a solid boost.
- Nicki Minaj has just started headlining gigs on her own, but as an opener for Britney Spears and Lil Wayne she has played for thousands of people.
Drake and Rick Ross have also opened for Wayne, and the former’s participation in the blockbuster America’s Most Wanted jaunt gives him a large lift in our tally (Ross has only started touring with Wayne this summer, so his grosses are smaller). Rookies like Minaj and Drake have made lots of new friends on the road as openers, setting themselves up to headline their own tours.
Speaking of making friends, let’s take a look at how our contenders are doing on the social-media front. Related • Lil Wayne: A History in Photos SOCIAL NETWORKING As with YouTube, Eminem is king of social media, racking up the largest number of both friends and followers on the major sites. Slim Shady’s command of Facebook is particularly eye-popping – nearly 44 million fans have “liked” him there, placing him not only 14 million fans ahead of Lil Wayne but also a couple of million ahead of such pop figures as Rihanna (43 million) and Lady Gaga (42 million).
In fact, among actual humans, Em is more “liked” than anyone; across all of Facebook the only things given the thumbs-up more than him are Texas Hold’em Poker and Facebook itself. On Twitter, Eminem’s lead among rappers is slimmer – his five million followers top those of his “Roman’s Revenge” duet partner Nicki Minaj by only 600,000 or so.
- And for a public figure and a musician, it must be said his following is strong but not especially remarkable – Gaga and Justin Bieber passed 10 million followers several months ago, and Em is also soundly beaten by such pop starlets as Britney Spears, Katy Perry and Shakira.
- Perhaps verbally acute rappers are too hemmed in by the limits of a 140-character tweet – a length better suited for the latest thoughts by pop acts servicing their armies of young fans.
To become a competitive tweeter, it helps to have a well-defined, larger-than-life persona: Diddy and Snoop, two veteran rappers who have built reputations far beyond their status as MCs, have the third- and fourth-highest numbers of Twitter followers, respectively. Diddy and Snoop Dogg perform during the BET Hip Hop Awards, in Atlanta on September 28th, 2013. Photo by David Goldman/AP/Shutterstock David Goldman/AP/Shutterstock The act perhaps best known for spewing pithy thoughts is world-class tweeter Kanye West, who ranks fifth among rappers in Twitter followers (eighth overall in our Social tally).
So (in)famous are Ye’s shoot-from-the-hip, frequently all-CAPS tweets that whole comedy sketches have revolved around them. It’s actually kind of surprising Kanye doesn’t rank higher – although it’s conceivable that another million or two of former Twitter followers got fed up with his loquaciousness and dropped him.
Before Kanye gets insulted and tweets about this, let’s give a toast to him by looking at where the critics place him among his peers. Related • The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time: Eminem’s ‘The Eminem Show’ ALBUM REVIEWS It should come as no surprise that Kanye West – a guy who has released five widely praised albums in seven years, including two Rolling Stone five-star discs – should top our critical acclaim ranking, which combines our ratings with career album ratings by Metacritic.
- In the history of hip-hop, only West has produced a body of work at this level of all-killer-no-filler acclamation.
- Public Enemy followed their years of awesomeness with several late-career duds; the Notorious B.I.G.
- Didn’t live long enough to extend his two-album streak of greatness; and even West’s mentor Jay-Z has a couple of low-rated discs among his string of classics.
In “Pazz and Jop,” the Village Voice ‘s annual year-end poll of critics nationwide, West has ended up on top three times (a mark equaled only by Bob Dylan), with 2004’s The College Dropout, 2005’s Late Registration and 2010’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy,
The latter two earned Rolling Stone ‘s “classic” rating upon release, again unprecedented among rap discs. West’s high-rated albums have also been top-sellers, but other acts with a more limited commercial presence benefit even more from our critics’ tally. Coming in second is a rapper who, with his old group, reached heights of both acclaim and sales few rappers enjoy, but as a solo act is starting virtually from scratch – OutKast’s Antwan “Big Boi” Patton.
He’s released only one solo album, but it was a gem: 2010’s Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty, Long in gestation and repeatedly delayed by a label that wished he would reunite with André 3000, Big Boi’s debut disc finally dropped last year to a raft of A-level reviews.
- Toward the bottom of this tally, Fabolous has long been more popular on the radio than with critics, while the more pop-leaning rappers, such as B.o.B and Pitbull, also receive little love.
- Somewhat more surprising is the placement for Snoop Dogg, who falls third from the bottom.
- His career average has been hurt by the sheer volume of albums he’s released – usually one every year or two, many of them middling in quality.
Before we close out, let’s look at one last measure of acclaim: awards. Related • The 30 Best Albums of 2010: Kanye West’s ‘My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy’ AWARDS Maybe Jay-Z really is, as he claims, rap’s Frank Sinatra – among our contenders he’s the biggest award-winner, not unlike Ol’ Blue Eyes in the early days of the Grammys.
- In fact, Jigga has collected a statuette at almost all of the shows we tracked.
- Our awards ranking totals up the contenders’ wins since 2009 at the American Music, Billboard, BET, Grammy, MTV and Soul Train awards.
- We gave bonus points for nominations at the Grammys and – because of their importance to the hip-hop community, especially after the demise of the Source Awards – BET’s two awards shows (BET Music and BET Hip-Hop); we also gave extra credit for Grammy and BET wins.
Jay’s dominance is largely fueled by his Grammy and BET omnipresence. Even if he hadn’t taken home a single statue at these shows, his 16 Grammy nods and 23 BET nods would put him near the top; he earns the title thanks to his seven Grammy and nine BET wins, plus a handful of AMA and MTV wins.
- No act has been more nominated by the Grammys than Jay-Z since 2009, but Eminem came close, with 13 nods, many in higher-profile categories like Album and Song of the Year – categories that eluded Jigga.
- At the two BET awards shows, Jay has the most wins but not the most nominations; Drake, with 26, and Lil Wayne, with 25, each saw their names listed more times collectively.
Of the smaller awards-givers, the Billboard Awards provide the biggest boost to a single act: 15 wins for Eminem, a sweep fueled by the chart dominance of his 2010 album and singles. Additionally, Shady’s three wins at the MTV Video Music Awards are the largest haul at that show by any of our contenders.
- And now, the moment we’ve all been waiting for: the official coronation of the King of Hip-Hop.
- Related • The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time: Jay-Z’s ‘The Blueprint’ MASTER RANKING So here we are at the final showdown, ready to mash up all of our data into a master list and crown a winner.
- With his dominant album sales, YouTube views and social-media scores, Eminem takes the title as the current King of Hip-Hop.
Unlike our Queen of Pop ranking, which Lady Gaga took in a walk, Marshall Mathers’s win was somewhat closer – note the fairly tight point range among our top three. Drake In Concert on April 5th, 2012. Photo by Urman Lionel/Sipa/Shutterstock Urman Lionel/Sipa/Shutterstock If third-place Drake’s commanding lead on the song charts had been even more dominant (which is hard to imagine), he could well have taken the title – a massive upset considering the brevity of his rap career.
- As it is, Drake’s strong finish, more than 200 points above now-veteran Kanye West, is a testament to his current omnipresence.
- With his second album due later this year, he’s got a shot at stealing the title by 2012.
- Speaking of omnipresence, Lil Wayne takes second place through sheer work ethic, thanks to a constant stream of releases that even prison couldn’t slow.
His regular appearance in our runner-up slot – he made Number Two in albums, songs, the online rankings and awards – made him the runner-up overall, and his staggering live grosses almost put him over. If we’d done this survey just one year ago and included data from 2008, Weezy would have taken the title, without a doubt.
- But again, timing is everything: Sure, if we’d done a similar three-year survey of rappers back in 2002 or 2005, Eminem would have won, probably.
- But as recently as three years ago, Eminem winning a survey like this was unthinkable; his nearly half-decade hiatus from recording made any comeback unlikely, let alone one in which he took back the charts as if he’d never left.
In the year to come, Drake is surely the performer to watch. But so are our fourth- and fifth-ranked contenders, who, in a Voltron-like act of power consolidation, may be about to lay waste to our top three. If Kanye’s and Jay-Z’s Watch the Throne is as big a release as expected – not just this week, but deep into the fall, followed by a world-beating tour – next year at this time those two friends and veterans may be yanking the crown off Slim Shady’s head.
Related • The 100 Greatest Artists of All Time: Eminem • Life on Planet Wayne: Rolling Stone’s 2009 Lil Wayne Cover Story • Lil Wayne: A History in Photos • The 30 Best Albums of 2010: Drake’s ‘Thank Me Later’ • Photos: Kanye West’s Career Highs – And Lows • The 30 Best Albums of 2010: Kanye West’s ‘My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy’ • The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time: Jay-Z’s ‘The Blueprint’ • The 30 Best Albums of 2010: Rick Ross’ ‘Teflon Don’ • What Does Gucci Mane’s Ice Cream Cone Tattoo Mean? • Diddy Brings Nostalgia Back to New York • The Hottest Breakout Stars of 2011: Wiz Khalifa • The 50 Best Songs of 2010: B.oB.
feat. Bruno Mars’ ‘Nothing on You’ • Review: Waka Flocka Flame’s ‘Flockaveli’ • Lupe Fiasco Goes Head-to-Head With Bill O’Reilly • The 30 Best Albums of 2010: Big Boi’s ‘Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty’
Who is the #1 rapper?
1. Eminem. Eminem introduced rap listeners to a unique style.
Who invented rap?
INTRODUCTION – The development of rock and roll music in the 1950’s and aspects of rock music in the 1960’s can be compared to the emergence and development of rap and hip-hop music in the 1980’s, certainly in relation to the black community in the United States. As we hope you will recall, rock and roll developed from rhythm and blues, which had a long tradition among African-American people.
- In the 1950’s, white radio stations and record companies wanted to capitalize on and manipulate the black sound without actually having blacks perform the music.
- In the 1960’s, record companies including Motown, which was owned and managed by black people, tried to capitalize on the appeal that black music had to the white audience and tailored and marketed their music to a largely white group of fans.
By the time that rap and hip-hop developed, things had changed dramatically. In the 1980’s and especially the 1990’s, the rap music industry wanted to have a sound that was entirely their own – with no appropriations or limitations, and certainly no apologies.
Rap music has been black run and black created. Unlike Motown, record labels like Def Jam, Bad Boy, and Death Row did not cater to a white audience at all, although the music eventually found an audience among white people and has become one of the most popular types of music in recent years. In fact, in 1998, rap outsold every other genre on music, including country, selling 81 million CDs and tapes.
The influence that rap has had on rock has been intense and some of the most interesting music of the early 21st century is either rap, based on rap, or influenced by rap. Although we use the terms “rap” and “hip-hop” interchangeably, strictly speaking, rap is a form of rhythmic speaking in rhyme, which in the world of music goes all the way back to the rhyming “jive talk” of the Bebop jazz musicians.
Hip-hop, on the other hand, is the backing music for rap, which is often composed of a collage of excerpts or samples from other songs. Basically, hip-hop deconstructs familiar sounds and songs from earlier music, and builds those sounds into entirely new, often unpredictable songs. Hip-hop also refers to the culture and styles surrounding rap music.
James Brown, Sly Stone, and George Clinton of Parliament/Funkadelic are early influences on hip-hop. Rap began in 1971, in the Bronx, with Kool Herc, who was from Jamaica. At block parties, Kool Herc would play two turntables by hand and manipulate the sound to create an entirely new sound, while he rapped the lyrics from the song he was playing. The “break”, or instrumental part of the record was played repeatedly and this became his background music.
Since he did not think that Americans would get reggae, he used the break from American funk music, like James Brown, He also employed dancers, who became known as break dancers or b-boys. Grandmaster Flash, who heard Kool Herc perform, thought he could do it better and he started stretching the break, created new sounds by scratching the records and sometimes playing them backwards.
Like John Cage and Jimi Hendrix, he pushed the sounds that a turntable, a needle and a record could make. He could not rap, so he got together a group called the Furious Five to rap to his scratching. The first rap group to have a hit record was the Sugarhill Gang,
- These early rap groups are now called “old school.” As rap developed, elements from rock music such as electric guitars and intense drumbeats were introduced by Run-D.M.C.
- Which was the first hardcore rap group, and the earlier scratching was replaced by sampling, an electronic pulling of sounds from earlier music.
Public Enemy developed a very sophisticated sampling technique, which often was based on a blend of white noise, strong beats, and unrecognizable samples. Just as importantly, or perhaps even more importantly, they introduced social and political elements from the black community into their music.
This developed in the 1990’s into gangsta rap, which was originally introduced by NWA, Gangsta rap emphasized violence, crime and sex, and for that reason, has been the most controversial type of rap. Among the important gangsta rappers were Snoop Doggy Dog, Tupac, and the Notorious B.I.G. The first white group to gain acceptance in rap music was the New York based Beastie Boys,
At first called cultural pirates by some critics, they led the way for a number of white rap acts, including today’s major music center of controversy, Eminem. First the Fugees and then their lead singer Lauryn Hill, took rap in another direction, most recently blending elements of rap and hip-hop with R&B.* * developed from lecture notes written by Lisa Smith for Art Education 160, 1999.
Who is the fastest rapper alive?
Which non-English speaking rappers are the fastest? – The fastest rapper in the English language is US artist Ab-Soul, rapping 8.31 seconds per second on average. The fastest Italian artist is Shiva, who raps an impressive 6.33 syllables per second on average. Puerto Rican artist Kendo Kaponi is the fastest in Spanish, rapping an average of 6.11 syllables per second.
Who made rap famous?
The birth of the loop – While the official starting date for the history of rap music is somewhat debated, it’s undeniable that rap began as a genre when New York DJs would sample percussive elements from disco, soul, and funk as a means to create a repetitive beat DJ Kool Herc is widely credited with kicking off the genre.
His back-to-school parties in the 1970s were the incubator of his burgeoning idea, where he used his two record turntables to create loops, playing the same beat over again, and extending the instrumental portion of a song. You can still visit the birthplace of hip-hop today at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx.
After realizing this allowed for someone to keep the crowd excited during his parties, he invited his friend Coke La Rock to help host the events, and thus, rap over the loop was born.
Where is rap most popular?
Rap originated in 1973 from a legendary block party in South Bronx and grew to become one of the most influential styles of music in the world. Unsurprisingly, the biggest global audience for hip-hop music is found in the United States. The genre is so popular that in 2019, 52% of the top 100 most streamed songs were hip-hop.
- However, popular rap is far from exclusive to the U.S.
- Virtually every country has some kind of local variation of hip-hop with its own characteristics built from the genre’s American foundation in the early 1980s.
- This article will evaluate the key traits and top artists of hip-hop in the following five countries: Netherlands, South Korea, United Kingdom, France, and Nigeria.
Dutch Rappers The Netherlands typically isn’t the first country to come to mind when it comes to talking about hip-hop, but this genre is one of the most popular. Eight out of 10 of the most streamed artists in the Netherlands during 2018 were Dutch hip-hop artists.
- Netherhop, what Dutch hip-hop is affectionately referred to as, started taking off in the mid-80s.
- Though before Netherhop could grow to be its style distinct from its American origins, the raps were in English, almost as if it was an imitation art.
- With time, Netherhop began to adapt to its new environment, which means stylistic changes.
Now, most of the lyrics are in Dutch with phrases and slang unique to the Netherlands. There are occasional lines or words in English sprinkled throughout some of the popular songs, some songs are even titled in English, but for the most part, the Dutch language dominates.
- Netherhop also seems to have quite a bit of overlap with dance music and pop as evident by the high-paced beats in the background of the raps; this sound borders on electronic at times.
- This is due to the immense popularity of EDM and DJ culture particularly in the Netherlands which then influenced the way hip-hop in the Netherlands sounds.
Lastly, the subject matter of Dutch hip-hop often centers around pride in making money and taking care of business. Because of a focus on the prior, there is quite a bit of boisterous language and emphasis on objects the rappers have acquired with their wealth.
All in all, the themes in Netherhop aren’t much different from American hip-hop, but there is much difference in musical styling between the two. Ronnie Flex is one of the best examples of Netherhop and an excellent place to start exploring the world of dutch hip-hop. He is a seasoned rapper with a total of 9 singles that were number one on the national charts for weeks, and 18 other songs that were in the top 10 throughout his career.
Though the majority of Ronnie Flex’s popularity resides in the Netherlands, he is one of the most recognizable and appreciated Dutch rappers worldwide with fans ranging from America to Belgium. Ronnie Flex flirts less with dance music than his peers and gravitates more towards deep, slower beats.
His most popular album was Nori, but for less ambitious listeners, the songs ” Non Stop,” ” Wat is Love,” ” Drank & Drugs,” ” Plek Als Dit,” and ” Energie ” are good places to start. It may also be enriching to expand out to similarly popular Dutch artists like Lil Klein, Frenna, and Keizer, K-Hip Hop Following the same trend as other adaptations of hip-hop.
Korean hip-hop (or K-hip hop) started taking root in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Korean Americans were integral in this cultural exchange by bridging the gap between the two cultures. K-hip hop raps in English roughly half of the songs; there seems to be an even split between the two languages, more so than the rappers in other countries.
- Artists will use syllables that best fit their rhymes in both languages.
- This is partly due to the interest of younger generations, who are predisposed towards American culture.
- However, the content of K-hip hop tends to differ from its American counterpart.
- South Korea has extraordinarily strict laws against any kind of drug use, including marijuana, therefore—unlike in American hip-hop—there is no mention of drugs.
We also see the idioms and values of Confucianism as a reflection of the music’s primary audience: the Korean people. In recent years, there has been a blending of more traditional Korean instrumentals into the beats of K-hip hop. For example, the song ” EUNG freestyle,” a song that was so popular it reached mainstream America, features a traditional gong.
- Orean hip-hop is also interwoven into the makeup of the extremely popular k-pop girl/boy groups.
- Every group has at least one member that raps on their tracks, and these groups (like BTS ) are so immensely popular that they are furthering the spread of k-hip hop inadvertently.
- One of the best artists to listen to when beginning your K-hip hop journey is Jay Park,
Fitting for having an album with the name Worldwide, Jay Park has global recognition with multiple albums reaching the top 10 for the Billboard’s World Albums chart. This is a significant feat when considering that the majority of music, especially hip-hop, that is recognized globally is in English.
Beyond the global stage, he is incredibly successful in South Korea with millions of monthly streams and being a prominent judge in musical competitions like Show Me the Money 4 and Asia’s Got Talent. Jay Park is equally considered a hip-hop and R&B artist, and his work reflects this blend; on tracks, he will often rap at impressive speeds and sing smoothly.
However, if you are looking for the sound of K-hip hop specifically, his album Worldwide will best demonstrate these talents. Jay Park’s work reflects his upbringing in Seattle and his training with South Korean JYP Entertainment to be an idol: a solid blend of lyricism in both languages and culture.
His work has gradually shifted to reflect more and more American influence, this is largely in part of Jay Park becoming a full-time US resident where he has focused on making American projects with an American audience in mind. In fact, he has recently worked with famous American rappers like Rich the Kid, VIC MENSA, and 2 Chainz,
Jay Park continues to be known and remains distinct for his unique voice and the creative control he has over all of his music. Once he began his solo career, Jay Park intentionally remained independent from massive labels going so far as to found his own hip-hop and R&B label: AOMG ; this has given him much freedom in his creative pursuits and his style.
- Top songs that reflect Jay Park’s style and artistry are ” MOMMAE,” ” All I Wanna Do,” ” SOLO,” ” SOJU,” and ” DRIVE,” Other k-hip hop artists to explore are DPR Live, BIBI, and Sik-K,
- UK Hip-Hop Hip-hop in the United Kingdom is startlingly different from American hip-hop regardless of them both being performed entirely in English.
A clear, immediate distinction between Americans and Britons is their difference in accent. UK hip-hop consistently features a heavy British accent, which contrasts heavily with mainstream expectations of British singing (that audibly isn’t much different from American singing).
- This heavy accent is a key part of the genre, so much so that a sub-genre of UK hip-hop called grime is distinguishable purely by the thickness of this accent.
- In tandem with the thick accent, the bass in British hip-hop is central to the music and incredibly heavy.
- In general, there is far less overlap between R&B and hip-hop in the UK than there is between American hip-hop and R&B.
These dark, gritty musical characteristics of British hip-hop match the weather. The majority of British artists also have particularly deep voices, while in the United States, hip-hop artists have a range of tones and voices they are known for. In this same vein, there is little variation or play with vocal tones in British rap; the focal point of this style is the rapper’s flow and lyricism.
- Content-wise, it is not much different from American hip-hop; the urban landscape of the UK, particularly London, with so many diverse groups of people makes hip-hop easily adaptable to the struggles of oppressed groups and the problems they face.
- Little Simz is a British MC to watch out for; she has put her own spin on this particular style while still staying true to the defining characteristics of UK hip-hop.
Her voice is relatively deep, a hallmark of British rap, and she has an exceptional flow. However, she not only experiments with intricate wordplay, but Little Simz also delves into sounds and influences uncommon in the world of UK rap. Her most recent album, Sometimes I Might be Introvert, had lots of old-school, black music influence from 80s R&B to gospel to jazz; it feels as if it’s an anthology of black music.
As we often see with hip-hop artists, Little Simz uses the genre to speak about her particular experience as a black woman born to African immigrants in the UK. Some of her songs, like ” Venom ” and ” Woman,” fearlessly unpack Little Simz’s experiences and feelings that can apply to women like her. This gives her music a depth that is sometimes lacking from rappers who focus on marketability instead of lyrical value.
Due to her unique sound and unapologetic raps, she has received critical acclaim in the form of praise and awards (AIM Awards: Independent Album of the Year, Ivor Novello awards: Best Album, NME awards: Best British Album, and BET Hip Hop Awards: Best International Flow).
This last award demonstrates the extent of Little Simz’s impact which reaches far beyond the UK’s shores. Some songs to listen to in order to get a feel for her work without diving into an entire album are ” Venom,” ” Woman,” ” Selfish,” ” Introvert,” and ” 105 FM,” Other British rappers to watch out for are Digga D, Young T & Bugsey, and French the Kid,
French Rap France is the second-largest market for hip-hop in the world behind only the United States, so it is no surprise that French hip-hop takes a form of its own. French rappers share similar pains of growing up in impoverished, urban areas with gang culture that face racism and other forms of oppression.
The adaptation of hip-hop to speak to struggle has been carried out by and large by the minority group that faces the most oppression in France: Muslim people. This makes the content of French rap incredibly similar to its American counterpart, where African Americans have used hip-hop platforms to speak out politically about their societal positioning since the genre’s inception.
Politically conscious content is often produced by artists in the South of France, particularly from the city of Marseilles. In the north rappers often directly confront themes of drugs, gangs, and poverty. In addition to speaking out about oppression as well as struggles, the easy-going, boisterous, and flaunting themes of money, sex, and status are also featured in french hip-hop.
Additionally, French hip-hop has a noticeable amount of African influence (emphasis on bass and drums with upbeat dance music) due to their large Sub-Saharan African immigrant population. Because of this, African French rappers will often discuss their struggles with invisibility within french society.
Regardless of the heavy influence of American culture on French hip-hop, the lyrics are mainly in French. Often the only English in their songs are swear words or simply the song’s title. L’Algérino is an artist that embodies the style and content of southern French rap.
- As his name would suggest, L’Algérino is an Algerian, french-born artist.
- With historical context in mind, it would make sense why L’Algérino gravitated towards hip-hop to express himself.
- Algeria was colonized forcibly by France for 132 years, and during this occupation, the Algerian people suffered countless human rights violations.
L’Algerino gives voice to these struggles both to an Algerian and a broadly French audience. Namely the song “Algérie mi Amor” which discusses how tribes in the country are currently being killed and L’Algérino wishes he could save the people and country he loves.
In representing his identity as an indigenous Algerian, he also incorporates Algerian and Chaoui (native languages to Algeria) into his songs. Though L’Algerino raps about other lighter topics as well like love, he is a revolutionary figure for Algerian artists by giving a voice to his people through music.
Top songs to sample his work are ” Algérie mi amor,” ” Excuse My French,” ” L’essentiel,” ” Hasni,” and ” Classi,” Other affluent French rappers to listen to are Booba, Niska, and Ninho, Nigerian Hip Hop Last but not least, Nigerian hip-hop. Hip-hop came to Nigeria as dance music with DJs in the 80s but became rap as we recognize it now in the early 90s with artists Junior and Pretty who infused local languages into their music.
Then once hip-hop started playing on tv and radios, young people all over the country started getting into it and it began popping up in essentially every city. It is now such an integral part of Nigerian culture, that when searching Nigerian hip-hop there are multiple websites made by and for Nigerian hip-hop fans.
Hip-hop took root mostly in Lagos, the country’s capital, when Nigeria was under oppressive military control. The genre then became used as an outlet for these experiences. Similar to the content of hip-hop in most other countries, songs of general flexing of wealth and status persist.
However, Nigerian hip-hop is also prone to vocalizing scathing critiques of the government. This goes hand-and-hand with the origins of Nigerian rap being found in times of excessive political turmoil. Nigerian hip-hop is also known for having feuds between artists as a key feature of their hip-hop culture.
Stylistically, Nigerian hip-hop audibly sounds like it is influenced by traditional African music and instruments. Often the music has fast-paced, consistent drum beats that allow for dancing (a hallmark of African culture). And recently, Nigerian rap has begun to incorporate the native languages spoken along with English lyrics.
Every song will typically have English, Pidgin English, and another Nigerian language like Yoruba, Igbo, and Hausa. Burna Boy is an artist that unapologetically and masterfully fuses cultures in his music as one of the biggest Nigerian rappers with worldwide recognition. He was established as the Artiste of the Year at the Global Music Awards Africa.
And extending far beyond the borders of Nigeria, Burna Boy has won numerous accolades from the world’s most highly coveted award shows. His 2020 album Twice as Tall won Best Global Music Album at the 2021 Grammy Awards and he won Best International Act at the BET awards.
Burna Boy makes an effort to address the black community globally through his music. In an interview with the New York Times he commented that his goal is to “build a bridge that leads every black person in the world to come together.” As you would expect from a musician with a goal to bring people together, his music is what he calls an “afro-fusion” of influences, ranging from traditional African music to R&B, and to (of course) hip-hop.
However, a hallmark characteristic of Burna Boy’s music is fast-paced drum beats. He also speaks in pidgin, English, and Yoruba; so while Burna Boy appeals to the global audience, he remains to make music that is identifiably and unapologetically Nigerian.
- In speaking out to his global audience, Burna Boy tackles the many global misconceptions about Africa and African people as well as the collective black struggle against racism and exploitation.
- The following songs are good places to start in Burna Boy’s extensive discography: ” Ye,” ” Gbona,” ” JA ARA E,” ” Kilometre,” and ” On the Low,” Other Nigerian artists to listen to are Tekno, Kizz Daniel, and Wiz Kid,
In the same way hip hop was created as a response to the growing urban environment and lifestyle in the US, it has adapted itself to all the locations it spread to both in subject matter and style. This article featured rappers from a range of backgrounds and struggles that have appealed to their country’s audience in a variety of ways.
While Burna Boy’s music appealed to the broader experience of Africans and black people as a whole in the world, Little Simz targeted her specific experience with sexism and racism in the UK. In contrast, hip-hop’s content can also be much lighter. Jay Park and Ronni Flex have a lot of fun with their music, and it’s clear their primary goal is to create songs people can dance to and enjoy.
Whatever the country, hip-hop can adapt to its audience to reflect their preferences and struggles seamlessly.
Is Eminem bigger than Drake?
Eminem Surpassed Drake As Rapper With Most Monthly Listeners on Spotify Eminem is now the most listened-to hip hop artist on Spotify. More people tuned into his streaming catalogue this month than into Drake’s. The gap is admittedly not big, only around 5000 listeners separate two hip hop stars, but it is a new achievement for Marshall. Meanwhile, Eminem’s audience has grown just under 4 million since that point and put him one step above Drake on the Spotify ranking at No.11.
Eminem is on an upward trend with no new projects released and no PR tricks played, just on the sheer strength of his catalogue. Next time you hear that “nobody listens” to Eminem, remember that in fact, he is the one that has a bigger audience than virtually any hip hop artist in the world.
Who is a bigger rapper Kanye or Eminem?
Artist Comparison: Eminem vs. Kanye West By Music Journalist Since the early days of hip-hop on the streets of New York, the age-old question of “who is the best?” has been fought over and debated incessantly throughout the history of the music industry.
Revolutionaries like Grandmaster Flash, Rick Rubin, and Run DMC paved way for the future artist who would eventually turn Rap into the #1 musical genre in entertainment. Their dedication to the music helped hip-hop grow into a successful business leading up to the ’90s when it finally broke mainstream appeal.
Among the artists who would carry the mainstream torch into the 2000s, Kanye West and Eminem pioneered their way to the status of hip-hop legends while becoming inspirations to young artists and fans. When compared to each other both artists from a glance seem completely unalike, but with a closer look, you’ll see just how much their feats resonate with each other.
Kanye Omari West was born on June 8th, 1977. His father, Ray, divorced his mother Donda when Kanye was three. West was raised by his mother in a middle-class neighborhood of the south-side Chicago and would visit his father during the summer. After graduating high school, West planned to attend Chicago’s American Academy of Art on a scholarship but dropped out to pursue his music career.
Prior to graduation, West had become friends and apprentice to producer No I.D, to whom West credits as a huge help to him early on in his career. Early on West developed his own style of production that would be labeled as “chipmunk soul,” which utilized sped up samples from soul records.
- After producing for Chicago’s local artists, West moved to New York where he got his big break producing tracks for Roc-a-fella rapper Jay-Z on Dynasty: Roc-a-Fella and The Blueprint the following year.
- In 2002 Damon Dash would then sing West to Roc-a-fella records to keep the talented producer as a part of the label.
Later that same year West was involved in a head-on car collision that shattered his jaw. After receiving reconstructive surgery, West went to the studio to record “Through the Wire” while his jaw was still wired shut from the operation. The single was released on his debut album College Dropout, which debuted at number 1 selling 2.6 million copies and solidifying West as a star.
- In the years that would follow, West’s albums would continue to impress and inspire.
- Currently, West has consecutively released 9 number-one debut albums across his career.
- A feat only bested by Eminem with 10, who was tied with Kanye prior to his release of Music to Be Murdered By in 2020.
- West’s need to innovate in music helped shape what hip-hop is today.
From Graduation ‘s “Stronger,” which featured French House duo Daft Punk, to My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy’s ” Monster,” which featured the up-and-coming artist Nicki Minaj, West has always had a skill for being ahead of trends, often being criticized for it after the fact.
Apart from West’s own success as a musician, his music label GOOD Music has signed and managed artists like Common, John Legend, Pusha T, and Kid Cudi. The only blemish on Kanye West’s career is his affinity for his controversial outburst and celebrity antics. Kanye has stolen the spotlight from Taylor Swift, has gone on rants in the middle of performances and showed support for Donald Trump by wearing a MAGA hat.
All of these have caused strain within his personal life, namely his relationship with Jay-Z and Beyonce, who has since reconciled with West after attending Diddy’s 50th birthday celebration. Yet despite the constant celebrity and political drama that has surrounded West, when he focuses on his craft the results speak for themselves.
- Eminem was born Marshall Bruce Mathers III on October 17, 1972, in St.
- Joseph, Missouri.
- He was raised by his single mother Deborah Mathers and never got to meet his father Marshall Bruce Mathers Jr, who died from a heart attack in 2019.
- Mathers was raised primarily in Detroit but moved around because his mother would frequently change jobs while trying to support her son.
Throughout his childhood, Mathers would often be bullied and didn’t have any close friends. He kept to himself, being seen as an outcast at the schools he attended. Mathers dropped out of Lincoln High School at the age of 17 after failing the 9th grade three times.
However, even though he failed, Mathers showed a strong affinity for language. He would often read comics and even studied the dictionary in his leisure. As a teenager, Mathers’ passion for language and rage as an impoverished youth led him to the burgeoning genre of hip-hop. He took the stage name M&M, which later became Eminem, and began making a name for himself in the battle rap circuits of Detroit.
Following the birth of his daughter Haille, who had with his girlfriend at the time Kim Scott, Mathers released his first album Infinite in 1996. While Infinite displayed flashes of Mathers’ talent, his second project The Slim Shady EP jump started his career.
- Former NWA producer Dr.Dre gave the project a listen following Mathers runner up performance at the 1997 Rap Olympics MC Battle in Los Angeles.
- Dre signed Mathers to his Interscope Records label that year and after two years of working with Dre, they released The Slim Shady LP featuring Mathers’ first single “My Name Is” which mixed childish humor, an abundance of profanity and violence, themes that would define Mathers career as an artist.
In May of 2000, Mathers released his second studio album The Marshall Mathers LP, The album showcased Mathers poetic talent and overall range as an artist. With emotionally compelling songs like “Stan” to the hilarious “The Real Slim Shady”, Mathers proved himself as a diverse superstar talent.
- The Marshall Mathers LP sold over 19 million copies worldwide, won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album and is considered as one of the greatest albums of all time.
- Following the release of his solo album The Eminem Show in 2002, Mathers received widespread media attention for his song “Lose Yourself” from the semi-autobiographical film 8 Mile.
“Lose Yourself” won an Academy Award for Best Original song, a feat only achieved by Common and rap group Three Six Mafia. Following the release of Encore in 2004 Mathers would step away from music. In the years that followed Mathers dealt with the remarriage and divorce to his daughter’s mother, Kim, the shooting of his friend and fellow rapper Proof, and drug abuse that landed him in rehab.
Mathers wouldn’t return to music until 2009 when he released Relapse, While Relapse went platinum and received a Grammy for Best Rap Album, Mathers didn’t truly meet the critic’s expectations until he put out Recovery which featured hit singles “Not Afraid” and “Love the Way You Lie.” The two songs resonated with audiences on a more emotional level and portrayed Mathers as a mature artist as opposed to the often vulgar Slim Shady from earlier in his career.
Recovery received the Grammy for Best Rap Album that year just like Relapse before it. Mathers then released the Marshall Mathers LP 2 in 2013 and won the Grammy for Best Rap Album making Mathers 3 for 3 on albums since his return in 2009. Mathers’ career as an artist has been scrutinized by critics for his vulgarity and homophobic content but his unapologetic demeanor and poetic skill have made him an inspiration to fans around the world.
However, In recent years Mathers has taken a more conscious approach to his brand and image. In the 2017 BET Hip Hop Awards cypher, Mathers criticized President Donald Trump and his administration and then gave his fans the ultimatum that if they support Trump they cannot be his fans. Early on in his career, Mathers co-founded his own label titled Shady Records with his manager Paul Rosenberg.
Shady Records have signed artists 50 Cent, Yelawolf, and Slaughterhouse in the past however none of said acts are currently still signed to the label. Shady Record’s current lineup consist of Boogie, Bad Meets Evil and Griselda. However, Mathers’ influence on hip-hop extends much farther than his label.
- Mathers is widely considered the greatest white rapper of all time and captured the attention of both whites and blacks alike, which propelled hip-hop into mainstream entertainment in the early 2000s.
- Anye West and Eminem both have changed the genre of hip-hop in their own ways and have achieved feats worthy of the title Greatest of All Time, but who is better? When you list out their stats they appear almost identical.
Kanye West has 9 studio albums, all of them debuted at number one, he has won 21 Grammys and founded GOOD Music. Eminem has 11 studio albums of which 10 debuted at number one, he has won 15 Grammys, and founded Shady Records. The only significant difference between the artist accolades is when it comes to Grammy awards, however, when you factor in other awards as well Eminem eclipses Kanye 28 to 57 according to IMDB.
- When you compare the two artist’s impacts on hip-hop, however, you see different approaches to innovation that have produced similar results.
- West’s approach to music came from the perspective of a producer, his love of music in all genres led him to experiment with new sounds and ideas outside of the initial concept of hip-hop.
West sped up samples, added house synths, used autotune as an instrument instead of a tool, and scored orchestras next to rap lyrics about cocaine and drugs. West is the type of artist who pushes the envelope until it explodes. In an interview with BBC’s Zane Lowe Jay-Z said, “He’s going to challenge everything because he’s really trying to test it and poke holes to make sure that it stands up.
I admire that.” West’s need for perfection as well as innovation has led each of his albums to be their own chapters in his life with each reshaping yet defining Kanye as an artist. Mathers’ approach was always that of a poet, his love for language made him a pioneer of rhyme schemes. Mathers has said how it’s dumb to think that you can’t rhyme the words silver or orange with something, stating he could think of plenty of words he could use to rhyme with them.
Mathers has also been noted by how he utilizes internal rhyme as well as being able to make every syllable in a verse rhyme with each other feats that would be tough for any artist yet Mathers has done it his whole career. Mathers inspired a generation of teenagers who sought emotional stability through his lyrics, they felt that Mathers’ music helped them get through tough situations in life growing up.
As Mathers’ career has progressed both he and his fans have grown along the way. Mathers inspired youth like Tyler, The Creator, who has said Eminem was one of his favorite rappers growing up. As time has gone on, Mathers’ reputation as a wordsmith has caused him to be regarded as both a legendary lyricist and the last person you’d want to have rap beef with.
So when compared to each other, who’s better? While Kanye’s production genius has led him to top the charts repeatedly, his eccentric ego and wild outburst make him tough to be a fan of. Alternatively, Mathers’ lyrical skill and poetic mastery has made him one of the greatest rappers of all time but his personal life and backlash from critics has made his music somewhat inconsistent.
- Mathers worked with Dr.
- Dre and Kanye worked with Jay-Z to start their careers, owing their beginnings to two legends in hip-hop’s history, but who is better? Kanye’s fashion success and subsequent wealth gives him the edge over Mathers monetarily but you can’t deny how Mathers’ way with words inspired the nation’s youth and propelled hip-hop into mainstream media.
Ultimately it’s Kanye’s production vs. Eminem’s lyricism, who wins out is up to you, but both artists are undeniably two of the Greatest Artists of All Time. Featured image via K.D. Anglin. : Artist Comparison: Eminem vs. Kanye West
Is Eminem the highest selling rapper?
Best-Selling Rappers of All Time – Final Thoughts – Hip-hop is one of the most successful music genres today. And it’s easy to obsess about money and wealth if you belong to a competitive culture. While Jay-Z is arguably one of the most successful rappers in history, Eminem still tops the list as the best-selling rapper of all time.
Which rapper has the most number 1?
HASN’T BROKEN: Most No.1 Hits – Drake has tallied 11 No.1 hits on the Hot 100 in his career, the most among rappers. Among all artists, though, he’s tied with Whitney Houston for the seventh-most, after The Beatles (20), Mariah Carey (19), Rihanna (14), Michael Jackson (13), The Supremes and Madonna (12 each).