Is Kanye West The Best Rapper Alive?

As Kanye draws closer to releasing what some are calling his best album ever, my boy Steve Maxam over at Daily Maxam thinks it’s time for Yeezy’s name to be mentioned in the “Best Rapper Alive” conversation. After reading Steve’s article, he brings up a lotta good points (Quality of albums, Swagger, Lyrics, Creativity, etc…). Personally, I’ve said for a while that people sleep on Kanye’s lyrical ability. He already has wins over Jay-Z AND Lil’ Wayne.

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Founder
  1. I told you years ago I think Kanye rap better than Jay-Z sometimes. Yes I think he should be mentioned as one of the top lyricist in todays market. Dude is talented besides his bitchy ways.

          1. Smh. He really have to pay a grip for you to still say he is the best rapper alive. Dude is good and one of the best but I can’t just say he is the best….

            Remember Nas is still alive and have another album dropping. 2Pac got a brand new album releasing next month full of unreleased unheared no remixed songs. So with that being said Jay-Z can’t be the best.

  2. best rapper alive Is debatable But This Album Being His Best? thats going a little too far This Album not even a hip hop album he only rap for about 15 mins on the whole album To Me this is his worst of all his albums but idk maybe its just me but if 50 cent made the same type of album people would be saying its wack but when kanye and wayne release weak music they get a pass that just goes to show you how bias these critics are and how the fans and industry plays favortism!

    1. I definitely don’t think this is Kanye best album. For me its either College Dropout or Late Registration.

      This album is good though. It’s way better than most of the stuff out nowadays.

    2. Yea, but like Steve said in the article, rappers like Eminem tend to almost make the same kind of album again and again while Kanye tries to push his self in different directions every time he put sout out a new album. Now that may not count for “Best Rapper Alive” points but it does count for something.

  3. I’ve been saying for a while now that Kanye is the best hip hop artist of all time. He’s a top 5 MC, great producer, and incredibly innovative in general. There might be better rappers or better producers, but Kanye is the best of both worlds.

    1. Of all time??? No sir! He is definitely one of the best out there for sure. As far as Producer/Emcee combination then yeah he got that hands down… He kills the RZA (rapping wise), Paul & Juicy J (Rapping Wise), Mannie Fresh (Rapping Wise), Swizz Beatz (Rapping & Producing), Pete Rock (Rapping Wise), Large Professor (Rapping Wise even though he was good).. I can name more but I’m too lazy right now to do that.

      For me 2Pac is my number he can produce too whenever he make a beat and every album sounded different from the other (track wise). Jay-Z is still a top contender out there, Nas definitely, Black Thought, Talib Kweli, Notorious BIG, Big L, Andre 3000, Prime Ice Cube…. I guess with today’s music Kanye is probably the best right now.

      1. I see what you’re saying, but what really makes me think he’s the best hip hop artist is because he makes good decisions with his tracks. Sure Pete Rock and Primo can lay down a more ridiculous beat than he can, but would they have a 30 second orchestral breakdown in the middle like on “Gone?” Would they never drop the drums in like on “Roses?” Would they let the beat ride with samples for 8 minutes and tell a story, complete with narration from the participants like on “Last Call?” I’ve always felt like a part of Kanye’s world just from listening to his music, which can be said about many artists, but he brings you into it even if you’re not the biggest Kanye fan, if that makes any sense – for example, I actively try to understand what Jay-Z is saying, but even if I passively sit and listen to Kanye I get the same effect.

  4. What up FRO?? Sorry i’ve been out the scene for a while, I’m actually working on getting an internship on ESPN!! Alright so, I haven’t listened to much of the music comin out lately…cept Kanye’s new album. Let me just say, It’s no Graduation (Shout out to B-Easy!) but it’s definitely his second best work. Devil in a new dress, and Blame game are INSTANT classics.

  5. Man, this new album is fucking flawless to me. Lyrically, I didn’t really consider Ye in the conversation until this album forreal. Good to see him fully recover from the horrible “auntie team” line.

  6. Wow thanks for the link up and the response. Um I agree that lyrically Nas, Ander3k are better but again when Snoop was the best rapper alive…he wasn’t the best lyrically.

    Best Rapper alive actually means best rap artist alive because Canibus was one of the better lyricist but his album was sh*t. Rick Ross, The Game and Young Jeezy aren’t the best of the best lyrically but they make pretty damn good albums.

    Again Weezy is gonna release the Carter IV. Why dude? Eminem and Jay make the same album and the same records. What is BP3 Jay’s 5 best album-LOL!

    We Hip Hop heads always whine about the lack of creativity but Ye has not repeated himself yet, has really fucking improved lyrically, is incredible producer and songwriter, is actually interesting as a person and a artist and no Kanye equals no Drake, Lupe and Kid Cudi. Give the man his due.

  7. Rappers better than Kanye regardless of status- AZ, Nas, Jadakiss, Raekwon, Royce Da 59, Andre 3000, J Cole, Big Sean, Elzhi, Lupe Fiasco, Ghostface Killah, Big Krit and prob more I cant remeber. Fuck U Talkin Bout!

  8. Yeezy is top 5 all – time to me! but….. Jay-Z is still the man.

    As far as MBDTF goes…. ‘Fro i think you guys have the first 5 star album on your hands…

  9. I see a lot of pom-poms and cheerleader outfits were put on for this article. Folks championing people that can’t make albums, dead folks, people with no solo albums, it’s hilarious, but to each his/her own. As far as MBDTF, I think you may be right BigT,…

    Shout out to the original site Daily Maxam for the article and the comment here. You have some really good insight fam.

  10. People say kayne is always going in new directions with his music, but as far as I can tell lyrically he’s been doing the same thing for a couple years now. All he raps about is how rich he is, how well dressed he is, and that he fucks alot. He fell off lyrically after he put out Late Registration.

    All that aside, the album is pretty dope.

  11. Kanye is the heir when Hov finally steps down. But he ain’t better than Hov just the closest one. Third best out is probably Eminem.Wayne entertaining but you’re not the best if you recycle punchlines for a year and a half “we in the building you niggas *insert” or “sticking to the script you niggas *” theres probably a bunch more. Wayne’s good but he’s lazy and when the best of all time list is made he will not be top 10 or 20. I firmly put Jay in top 2 best alive (he toggles with Biggie) and I think Ye will end up in top 5.

    Now just some things that are bugging me: they don’t call it musical genius for nothing. Just cuz Ye is ahead with his thought processes doesn’t make Em or Jay lazy and ‘weak’ for making sequel albums or not doing a diff concept for every piece. They still make heat.

    Also to my Jay/Ye comparison ppl out there: One’s on the 12th album one just dropped their 5th [4th rap] album. Different planes and when Jay first started up he was in a diff era of music. You can try and compare RD, Vol. 1, Vol. 2, and Vol. 3 to Yeezy’s four but while doing so fucking remember that those albums would be received much much differently in 98. To the ppl who think Yeezy has made 4 classics, i’d like to point out rd and vol 2 are classics too, vol. 1 is perhaps the most tragic coulda been classic of the game and vol. 3 is very listenable. And to state the obvious, one’s been rapping for almost two decades, so yea Yeezy might best him once in awhile but the nigga is still spittin that So Appalled heat.

    Now everyone go support Monday and give the best album of the year the sales it deserves

    1. Better yet go all the way back when he rapped with Jaz-O back in the late 80’s early 90’s the game was definitely different then. Dude is definitely seasoned.

      Kanye been rapping for over a decade but he wasn’t recognized yet. You can tell he been rapping for a long time. Remember Kanye produced for a lot of people during the time we didn’t know who he was from Foxy Brown “Chyna Doll” to Goodie Mob “World Party” to Jermaine Dupri “Life In 1472”, Harlem World and the list goes on from there.

      Yezzy is definitely one of the best spitters right now.

      Oh yeah I definitely co-sign with you saying Volume 2 “Hard Knock Life” being classic because it really was! People try to downplay it but even thought it had commercial appeal it was still gritty and just creative to me. Vol. 1 could have been classic if he didn’t put that damn “Sunshine”, “The City Is Mine” and that wack ass “I know What Girls Like” (Worst Jay-Z song ever and one of the worst songs in hip hop period).

      I definitely see where you are going with this and good comment man.

  12. Naw it’s definetly Eminem no questions asked, and in kinda thinking J. Cole maybe one of the greatests too just give us time and he’s gonna being dropping classic shit

  13. GTFOH. Kanye may be good, but he places low compared to a list in the underground. Truth plain and simple. And that goes to everybody in the mainstream. Some of the things everyone say on this site is preposterous…

    1. O god one of these people. Just because someone is underground does not make them better than a mainstream rapper. Most underground rappers stay underground for a reason, that being that not enough people care. You and their 7 other fans can go around saying rappers and groups like Immortal Technique are better than Big, Jay, Nas, T.I., Kanye, etc.

      1. No asshole, Kanye duz happen to be one of the good amongst Nas n dem, but hez overated in a similar way as Em n Jay. Despite the fact they are hip hop vets, their contribution to quality of music today isn’t always on the side of hip hop’s cultural reality and origin. And I won’t say that on behalf of Immortal Technique’s work, cuz I respect the growth of an artist. I knew this would turn into one of these dumb debates, which iz MY fault, but whut I do wanna say iz the underground can be just as wack as the mainstream, and that’s not to hold against my opinion that there are artists who are adding real meaning to hip hop from the underground. Give a fuck if any1 thinks if 1 iz really better in either, my point was only talking about a list.

  14. Am over this conv.. Em is the best rapper alive hands down.. the rest are great as well but Eminem is on another level.!

    1. Am I the only Eminem fan that’s been disappointed with Em lately? Every site I go to has the same comments, Shady = God.

      1. White people WORSHIP him…His old shit was good now he sucks ..not afraid? what was that shit.

  15. I still think The College Dropout was his best album and only, truly legitimate classic. With that said, I think this album is definitely one of the best albums this year and it lives up to the standard of hip-hop that Yeezy is associated with. My only gripe is that the amount of collabos is just astounding. I’d rather hear more Kanye and less of everybody else. However, his upcoming collabo album with Jigga could be very interesting; interesting the way that we can finally see how Yeezy will do when he and Jigga are basically on every track together. I do believe Ye deserves to be mentioned in the best rapper alive discussion just due to the fact that he is one of the most consisten artists when it comes to music and he really puts his heart into making the tracks. It also doesn’t hurt that he pretty much goes platinum or better every time he drops an album.

    1. Yeah true…but when ppl start talking best rappers ALIVE, then they tend to forget about the artists still putting out work and happen to be very alive and well. Mainstream success n all doesn’t mean they were the only ones or main ones feeling their music the most, they need to count everybody in the whole hip hop game.

    1. Man u sayin exactly what I be trying to tell them. Sucess or comercialness doesnt matter rap is rap and Kanye definently isnt the best rapper

  16. By tha way, I recommend hearing his new album (I have). He really put some soul and alotta confidence in it, I’m sure more people will find it more enjoyable than the last. I juss wish he wuz still doing his thing like he did when he first started.

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