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commish mordeaux - objectivity in rap lyrics

in our mostly postmodernistic society, subjectivity often reigns king in the minds of its inhabitants. here is a fictional, but realistic, exchange about hip-hop and rap:
dumb friend: what’re you listening to?
me: reasonable doubt

dumb friend: he’s no jeezy
me: um, jay z is a better rapper than jeezy
dumb friend: that’s a matter of opinion
me: what? [befuddled.]
dumb friend: well, i like jeezy more, so he’s the better rapper. duh
this idea is simply wrong. at our core, we (who are not clinically insane) know that young jeezy is a worse rapper than jay. but plenty of people will claim that because they like a certain rapper more than another then that their rapper is the better rapper. but no, liking a rapper more does not make him a better. i’m not saying that you can’t like a jeezy more than jay z (everyone is allowed to make poor decisions when it comes to taste)

lil’ wayne makes them a lot. but you can’t argue that birdman is a better rapper than jay just because you like him
there is a reason art critics exist. there is a reason some paintings are considered cl-ssics, even when they come from far different genres of visual art. this reason is that art actually can be judged at an objective level. “the mona lisa” and “a nude descending a staircase” (much less attractive than one might think, unfortunately)

pictured: disappointment in the hearts of many teen readers

are both two completely separate styles of work, and both have equal merit in their respective genres. that self-portrait you made in fifth grade that your mom framed and hung in your room is a much sh-ttier painting than these two examples, even if your mom likes it more. it sucked. no offense to your mom’s taste. she can like stick figures of your holding balloons all she wants, but it’s worse than davinci’s stuff

“oh, honey, this is so good,” was probably the first lie your mom told you

there are objective ways to look at art, such as the sk!ll required and level of difficulty the painter encountered or the ability to garner an emotional response from viewers. in addition, when we speak of the greatness of art, we often talk about the cultural, historical, or artistic significance and importance of the peace. just how infuential was the artist? if a lot of people start following in your footsteps as an artist, you know you’re doing something right

let’s go back to hip-hop. there are indeed ways to judge a rapper, whether you want to admit it or not. flow, cadence, word play, emotional appeal to listener, story-telling, connection with listener—all these factors, and more, can be used by us to judge who is the better rapper. in the case of young jeezy vs. jay z, we can -n-lyze their lyrics to decide who the better rapper is. obviously, jay is the better wordsmith, rides a beat better, tells a better story, and connects to listeners better, and emotionally appeals to listeners better than jeezy. now, some of these attributes require asking a large sample size because, yes, for some people jeezy may connect better and appeal to their emotions better than young. but for the most part, jay will win that battle. i can’t say subjectivity is totally out of the picture (because music is an internal connection with the mind, body, and spirit), but if an overwhelming majority would agree that hov is better at a subjective characteristic, then this poll can be weighed in as an objective fact. (like the presidential elections: if enough people vote for a candidate so that he wins enough electoral votes, he becomes president, whether you like him or not.)

yes, we can!

there is a reason, after all, that hova is considered one of the greatest of all time, and jeezy is not
now some, even those of us on rap g*nius (like this one—i’m coming at you, stormium!), have argued that most of these characteristics are completely subjective. that good flow, strong lyricism, and technical proficiency are subjective matters, when they are in fact not. have you ever been at a concert and heard the drummer miss a beat, or the guitarist fall out of the rhythm of the song? that is flow. when a rapper has an awkward flow, a more-than-casual listener can tell. you can hear when a rapper misses a beat or snare or is forced to awkwardly work in a word, throwing off the entire line’s meter. heck, lil b’s whole schtick is that he awkwardly rhymes off beat

you know it when you hear it. while you can like an awkward flow, your subconscious desire for it does not in fact make it better. the flow is still technically worse. sorry. lyricism and technical proficiency are in the same vein. you may in fact like simpler lyrics, but that does not make them better. my retirement’s on hold, i got the whole world on conference (combined with its preceding line) is an example of a great lyric. the metaphor, of using a phone being compared to lupe’s thoughts on retirement, is grounded in reality while at the same time creating a dual meaning, unlike the non-sequitor similes of lil’ wayne. (do i really need an example?) i’m not hating on lil’ wayne, who i find incredibly enjoyable to listen to (when he’s on his game), but i recognize that lupe is lyrically a stone-cold k!ller comparatively. in fact, i’m not trying to advocate that “socially conscience” rap or “intelligent” rap is better than “ignorant” rap. we can find great examples of sk!ll in all fields of rap, from lupe to pusha t to a$ap rocky to tyler, the creator. what’s important to consider, of course, is the genre of rap the rapper is in and the rapper’s goals, beyond getting money for his boys
then of course, we must consider creativity, originality, and innovation. beats should be a reflection of these traits and of the rapper’s personality, so yes beats can be considered when talking about the greatness of an artist (if said “artist” has any desire beyond money. at all. like, even a little bit. money is a h-lluva drug.). if you are an advanced enough listener of hip-hop to consider yourself a rap g*nius, then you should hear and understand these things when listening to a rapper. if you can’t tell when a line is bitten or a beat stolen, you don’t listen to enough hip-hop, and your opinion is trash. plain and simple. not everyone can make well-reasoned arguments, and if you can’t, why should i listen to you?
let’s now bring the argument to basketball, a field often likened to hip-hop since all rappers want to be ballers and all ballers want to be rappers (shouts to drake). if we truly believe that liking something more makes it better, than why do we keep stats? my favorite player is josh smith

so can i then say that he is a better player than lebron? no. basketball keeps stats, and obviously lebron is better. now, you may be typing, “but hip hop doesn’t have stats, so you’re wrong.” first, i would ask that you stop typing so angrily. ok, then take away the stats and let these two grown -ss men (shouts to kanye) go at it on the hardwood. lebron wins. over and over again. until it’s painful to watch seeing josh getting beaten down so badly. (i’m so sorry josh. you were snubbed from the all star game. d-mn politics! http://www.slamonline.com/online/news-rumors/other-news/2012/02/josh-smith-says-politics-keeping-him-out-of-all-star-game/) watch them both play in team settings, and if you know anything about basketball, you know lebron is a better player
i do agree that there can never be the goat. there are far too many rappers whose sk!lls have distinguished them from the pack, risen them into the upper echelon of rap’s hall of fame. but there are still rappers who we recognize are the greats, and we do so not because of how much we like them but by how good they are. you can like who you want. in music, your likes and dislikes are probably much more important than how good a rapper is. that’s the way it should be. rap should speak to you at a deep, subconscious level. you should instinctively bob to it. only when you start to say that your favorite rapper
(shouts to cg kush—we went to grammar school together!)
youtubeyoutube – undefined
is as good as kanye west, do i get p-ssed. and do you know what i do when i get p-ssed? i write lengthy blog posts! that’s right; you better back up, stormium

- commish mordeaux lyrics

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