I am about to commit what can probably be considered hip hop blasphemy. I intend to hurt no one's feelings, nor disrespect the deceased. If I had any loyal readers, I imagine saying this could spark off a comment fusillade. Eh, don't have to worry about that though...so here goes.
The Notorious BIG aka Biggie Smalls aka Christopher Wallace was not that great of a rapper. There I said it. Let's think about it, he had two albums, both pretty good but both only had one or two songs that can be considered classics. Further, when you truly listen to his lyrics, he isn't saying much. Outside of great storytelling, there is no message, no fire, nothing that makes you think 'What did he mean by that?'
Don't get me wrong, I like BIG. Enjoy his music still. But I was thinking when I heard Lil Kim or Foxy --one of those hookers -- rap 'Big comes first then the cream comes after.' And I thought, I don't think Biggie Smalls would make my top 5 Hip Hop hall of fame.
2Pac would be number 1 due to his ability to have a message in his lyrics from 2Paclypse Now all the way to Machiavelli. Eminem would be number 2 due to raw ability. I have yet to see Em lose a freestyle battle -- which in my opinion shows much more in terms of lyrical skills. In the same vein that BIG isn't really saying anything, Em doesn't either. However, Em says nothing so cleverly ferociously that I can look past the lack of PSA. Not to mention both 2Pac and EM put out more than two albums. Slick Rick would represent some of the old school at number 3. Great storytelling without the use of egregious language or unnecessary sexual references, along with a sense of humor puts MC Ricky D at the three spot. At number 4, Gangstarr. Just a personal favorite of mine. Lyrically capable, independent sound. Lastly, at number 5, Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everybody....KRS-One. The man tells stories, is socially conscious, and has covered years of hip hop without 'getting caught up'.
I think a big factor in BIG's perceived greatness is due to New York's influence on hip-hop. Though much of hip-hop's origins lie in New York, it's not necessarily the capital of hip-hop anymore. Nor can any other part of the country claim that title. Hip Hop has transcended geographical locations. With that said, the perception of New York as the birth land of rap gives undue credence to anything or anyone coming out of the area. As such, if Biggie put out the same exact albums and led the same exact life but was from Milwaukee instead of New York, I don't think he'd be thrown in the greatest of all time debate.
Oh well, I added some Technorati tags to see if we can't get some readership and comments going. Maybe I'll even throw this out on Helium.com
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