For the 50th anniversary of the HipHop genre, art is honored in many facets. On February 5th, The Recording Academy made room at the Grammy Awards for a 15-minute segment that brought together an array of the greats from every decade of the arts. But the anniversary is also a reason to indulge in one of the favorite pastimes of all rap fans. Debating who really is the greatest rapper of all time, the so-called GOAT (Greatest of All Time). That spot was publicly awarded to Jay-Z on February 8th.
Shawn Carter has sold over 140 million records in the 26 years since the release of his debut REASONABLE DOUBT (1996), has won 24 Grammys and 14 of his albums have reached number one on the Billboard Top 200. He co-founded the successful label “Roc-A-Fella Records”, was president of the even more successful label “Def Jam Recordings” and became the first hip-hop billionaire through various company foundations. It’s the career of a superstar.
The list
The US music magazines “Billboard” and “Vibe” are responsible for the latest round of the debate. Their top 50 list has been published since January 12 from bottom to top in weekly cycles and in increments of ten. In order to focus the candidate field, they decided that potential candidates must come from North America. In addition, MCs from other genres, namely reggaeton and dancehall, were excluded. The evaluation was based on those classic criteria that determine most discussions about rap power rankings. Specifically, these are: commercial success, cultural influence, lyrics, flows and longevity.
2023 without a Grammy, but with the last words
The timing is almost poetic to Carter. Though he couldn’t beat the competition with any of his three nominations at this year’s Grammy Awards, and his arguments as to why Beyoncé’s RENAISSANCE should win Album of the Year went unheeded, the longtime Def Jam president captivated the evening put his stamp on. The show concluded with a performance of the eight-minute DJ Khaled song “God Did”. Almost half of this term belonged to Jay -Z. The staging placed him at the center of a table inspired by Leonardo DaVinci’s The Last Supper. Surrounding him are the track’s other guests – Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, DJ Khaled and Fridayy, John Legend accompanied on drums,
“God Did” live at the 65th Grammy Awards performed by @DJKhaledJAY-Z (@sc), @JohnLegend, @LilTunechi, @RickRossand @Fridayy. #Grammy’s pic.twitter.com/gmAOZcW5T4
— Roc Nation (@RocNation) February 6, 2023
The next nine of the top ten places, in descending order of the Rhine, are occupied by Kendrick Lamar, Nas, Tupac, Eminem, The Notorious BIG, the aforementioned Lil Wayne, Drake, Snoop Dogg and Nicki Minaj
Rap lists and their problems
Such lists naturally lead to controversy. The eternal discussions about The Notorious BIG and Tupac are apparently not over yet. Lil Wayne stands alone as a lonely representative of the American South. Kanye West is in eleventh place.
Nicki Minaj is the only woman in the upper ranks. Aside from her and Missy Elliott in 19th place, the top 20 are all male. The placement of Lauryn Hills in 30th place probably has something to do with her relatively short discography, but also causes at least a cautious shake of the head. From the new wave of those chart-dominant trap artists who have dominated the headlines in recent years, only Gucci Mane (38th place) and Future (35th place) are represented. The ranking will certainly be a topic of conversation for a longer period of time and every single artist represented has fans who will contest the placement.
Cash rules everything around me
However, all placements are argued in detail. For Carter, whose career appears to be setting the standard, it sounds like this:
“Jay-Z, the first rapper ever to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, believes that all people have genius-level talents. Luckily, he found his early in life and has since become your favorite rapper’s favorite. Perhaps there are artists who can lay claim to being able to match him at his best. But there’s just no one who can compete with his entire career. Its length, magnitude of success, and impact it has had on hip-hop musically, culturally, and financially over the past 30 years.”
In his part on “God Did,” the 53-year-old raps: “How many billionaire come from Hov crib? Huh / I count three, me, Ye and Rih / Bron’s a Roc boy, so four, technically”.
His claim to have raised three artists and the most successful basketball player of the modern era, LeBron James, to billionaire status weighs heavily in a culture where money has always been, and likely will remain, the number one issue. The whole list is there here.