Slim Shady was named artist of the decade (2000-2009), but was he really the best MC for that time?
In part one, I gave statistics on why Eminem was given this honor instead of other artists that were dominant during that time. I also narrowed down the field to five finalists; five MCs that made their mark for the past ten years. Those finalists are: Eminem, Nas, Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, and Kanye West. The MCs are listed in no particular order and I will give the pros and cons of each one in the following paragraphs. At the end, I'll summarize it all and give the verdict.
So now it's time for me to get out my microscope and examine these specimens a little bit closer. . .
Jay-Z: The Dynasty: Roc La Familia (2000), The Blueprint (2001), The Blueprint 2: A Gift and a Curse (2002), The Black Album (2003), Kingdom Come (2006), American Gangster (2007), The Blueprint 3 (2009)
The man who has so many nicknames, he might be able to make an entire rap with them, had a decade to remember. Jay-Z already was a respected MC after the 90's with his releases of Reasonable Doubt and Vol. 2: Hardknock Life, but he vaulted himself to legendary status with his work in the 2000's.
Pros: Jay-Z released a lot of albums in the past decade and most of them weren't low on quality. The Dynasty was not a solo album of Jay-Z's, but I'm pretty sure everybody can remember nodding to the beats of "I Just Wanna Love U" at least once. Jay-Z then released The Blueprint, which has been regarded as one of the greatest hip-hop albums of all time. It was a monumental achievement for Hova. He gave fans an album that helped both his commercial and street reputations. He also came out with another classic, The Black Album, which gave birth to Danger Mouse's Grey Album. The Grey Album combined Jigga's lyrics along with the Beatles beats and it was a huge success. The Grey Album also stirred a musical controversy, being that the Beatles didn't license Danger Mouse to use their beats. After a three year hiatus, Hova returned and was once again extremely successful on the mainstream. He recorded "Empire State of Mind" and "D.O.A." in the last year of the 2000's, both songs that were well received and will go down as classics in the genre. Jay-Z also accomplished an incredible feat for the 2000's. Each one of his albums went #1 on the Billboard 2000's, seven total, and the only other MC to manage that feat was Eminem, who released only four albums in the decade. Jay-Z made his mark on hip-hop as well, hopefully ending the extreme use of the autotune with "D.O.A." and his dis at Nas on "Takeover" has already been cemented as one of the best battle raps ever.
Cons: Although very successful commercially, Hova was not the most consistent MC of the decade when it came to album depth. It was almost as if Hova would release an average album one year, and then a great one the next. Just look at his releases in order. Dynasty was a good album, but not lyrically deep or will go down as a classic. The Blueprint 2 was a weak follow up to the Blueprint and Kingdom Come was aimed too mainstream. American Gangster and Blueprint 3 were both well received, but neither will be looked at as making Hova's top three or four albums of his career at the end of the day. Jigga gained points for his dis of Nas, but he also loses some. According to New York City's top hip-hop station, Nas was the victor of the war of words with "Ether". "Ether" came much harder at Hova than "Takeover" at Nas, and many refer to "Ether" as second to only 2Pac's dis of Biggie.
Lil Wayne: Lights Out (2000), 500 Degreez (2002), Tha Carter (2004), Tha Carter II (2006), Like Father Like Son w/Birdman (2006), Tha Carter III (2008) A prodigy from the day he started dropping freestyles at age 11, Weezy erupted in the past decade. He started rapping in 1997, but by 2000, Wayne was ready to step on to the stage and show the world who he was.
Pros: Type "Weezy" into Google and then look at the results. You'll notice that there's not just one page that matches Lil Wayne's nickname to it, but hundreds. It's incredible to see how big Lil Wayne has become in the past 10 years. Lil Wayne has become, for better or worse, one of the main faces of hip-hop. It has come to the point where any individual, even those who don't care or even like hip-hop, will say they know who Lil Wayne is. Wayne released one #1 album in the 2000's, Tha Carter III, and it was also named Best Rap Album at the 2009 Grammys. Three other Weezy albums (500 Degreez, Tha Carter, Tha Carter II) charted in the top ten of the Billboard 200 with Tha Carter II reaching platinum status. Albums weren't Weezy's strongest attribute though. No, Wayne made his presence felt through mixtapes and collaborations. Think about this: Lil Wayne released three mixtapes that charted, not on a mixtape or strictly hip-hop chart, but the BILLBOARD 200. He had 20 solo singles chart in the Billboard Hot 100. Notice that I said solo singles. As for collaboration singles, he had 16 chart IN THE TOP 20. Those numbers say everything that needs to be said for Wayne; he owned the mainstream.
Cons: For as great as those chart numbers were for Weezy, he was not nearly as great as everyone thinks he was. I said earlier that Wayne has become one of the premier faces of hip-hop, but I never said it was a good thing. Wayne is a huge reason for the deterioration of hip-hop from what it was in the 1990's. I understand that the times change and so does the music, but Weezy didn't do much to help keep hip-hop as an intelligent and meaningful form of music. His first two albums were met with mixed reviews and Tha Carter and Tha Carter II had their moments, but won't be considered all-time classics of hip-hop when Weezy's career comes to an end. Still, Weezy didn't land a real haymaker to hip-hop until he released Tha Carter III. "Lollipop" was that album's first single, and this single cluttered radios across the country. It may have been a good club hit, but it damaged hip-hop's reputation with it. Casual listeners heard "Lollipop" and became obsessed with Weezy. It has since infected many and there are plenty of people out there now who have the wrong idea of what hip-hop is because of this. Also, Wayne did have a ridiculous amount of songs chart, but since his release of Tha Carter III, Weezy is unavoidable. He constantly floods the market with mixtapes and new collaborations, never giving people a break from the rapper who hails from New Orleans. It's one thing to release a mixtape here and there, or collaborate with an artist for a song, but his constant appearances have hurt Lil Wayne's credibility as an actual artist.
Nas: Stillmatic (2001), God's Son (2002), Street's Disciple (2004), Hip-Hop is Dead (2006), Untitled (2008) People began to doubt how good Nas was by the end of the 1990's. Was he hip-hop's version of a one-hit wonder with Illmatic? The MC hailing from Queens not only answered critics in the 2000's, but threw it back in their faces.
Pros: Nas always will be compared to his masterpiece, Illmatic, for every album that he releases. But it's also nearly impossible to release an album that will be regarded as the greatest hip-hop album of all time as Illmatic has been. Nas came out of the gates in the 2000's with an incredibly refreshing, and strong album in Stillmatic. He retaliated against Jay-Z's "Takeover" with an even harder hitting "Ether" and the album has been widely critically acclai
med since its release. Nas didn't stop there though. Instead, he kept his new, confident persona and released God's Son the next year. God's Son produced Nas's highest charting single of his career, "I Can", reaching #16 on the Hot 100. Not only was the song successful with the mainstream, it was looked at as an intelligent and inspiring song that showed off Nas's lyrical skills once again. Nas also had two #1 albums in the 2000's, Hip-Hop is Dead and Untitled, and had Street's Disciple, a double album, peak at #5. What made Nas so great in the 2000's was his consistency. Each of his albums was met with good reviews and Nas also made sure to include important messages in each of his albums. Seriously, just listen to "Black President" off Untitled, or "Heaven" from God's Son, or "Carry On Tradition" on Hip-Hop is Dead, or even "These Are Our Heros" off Street's Disciple for further proof. Nas limited guest appearances on each of his albums (he averaged 6 guests for every 15 songs) and didn't attempt to go too mainstream. He just did what he does best, rap, and with meaning. Cons: Despite Nas being so good critically and staying consistent, Nas struggled with getting his messages out to more people. Even though he had two #1 albums in the decade, many casual radio listeners won't know who Nas is. He had only two singles crack the top 50 of the Billboard Hot 100, "Made You Look" and "I Can", and didn't appear on any collaborations that charted well. He wasn't able to make his presence felt quite like Eminem, Kanye, Jay-Z, or Lil Wayne were. Nas was also in the spotlight for some of the wrong reasons in the 2000's. He was arrested on a DUI in 2009 and also divorced his wife, Kelis, in 2009 after a four year marriage. He wasn't even allowed to be present when his son, Knight, was born on July 22nd of last year. He also quarreled with Bill O'Reilly on multiple occasions from 2007-2009. Although Nas may have been right in arguing with O'Reilly (O'Reilly didn't want Nas to perform at a Virginia Tech relief concert for free because of previous gun possession charges), it brought negative attention to the MC to some. If Nas had been more successful with the mainstream in the 2000's, there wouldn't be a debate on who was the best. Unfortunately for the MC also known as Escobar, that wasn't the case.
Kanye West: The College Dropout (2004), Late Registration (2005), Graduation (2007), 808's and Heartbreaks (2008) Once a well-known producer, Kanye wanted to show the world that he was also a talented MC. Starting in 2004, Mr. West was getting his voice heard for all the right reasons. Pros: Kanye may have been in the shadow of Jay-Z in the early part of the decade, but once he released The College Dropout, he took center stage. West released arguably the best debut album for a hip-hop artist of the decade in The College Dropout and kept the Mr. West train rolling right after. Each of his following albums charted #1 on the Billboard 200, and both Late Registration and Graduation were met with favorable reviews. Kanye also tried to keep his songs intelligent and creative. Each album contained tracks that carried meaning and many of them had good messages. For instance, on "Through the Wire" off of The College Dropout, Kanye discusses how a near-fatal car accident didn't deter him from his dreams. He was a central figure in the mainstream as well. "Gold Digger" and "Stronger" were #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and he also had 13 other solo singles that made the Hot 100 charts. His collaborations were equally or even more successful than his solo singles; he had 20 reach the top 100. Kanye won three Best Rap Albums in the 2000's and bested rival 50 Cent in a sales war when West's Graduation and 50 Cent's Curtis were released on the same day. Oh, and don't forget that West was, and remains, a fabulous producer. Just listen to Game's "Dreams", Jay-Z's "Encore", or Nas's "Still Dreaming" for more understanding.
Cons: Kanye
would've settled any debate over the best MC from the 2000's had it not been for two things: 808's and opening his big mouth. There were multiple instances where Kanye opened his mouth when he shouldn't of, but let's start with 808's before I talk about Kanye's well publicized sound bites. 808's was Kanye's attempt at an R&B album, and to his credit, he created something completely new at the time. The album was auto-tuned throughout and it was commercially a great success for West. However, the album hurt his credibility as an MC. The same man who dropped rhymes about serious issues, like on "Jesus Walks", was auto-tune singing songs about sadness and personal losses. It was an album that, at least when I finished listening to it, gave the reaction of "What the hell did I just listen to?" Kanye's head also grew larger, figuratively, as his popularity and fame did. He was quoted as saying "George Bush hates black people" in 2005, "I'm never coming to another VMA's" in 2007, and the already infamous "Beyonce had one of the greatest videos of all time". For a guy that was called a jackass by President Obama, Kanye has some serious work to do on his reputation.Eminem: The Marshall Mathers (2000), The Eminem Show (2002), Encore (2004), Relapse (2009)
Pros: The "Artist of the Decade" according to Soundscan, certainly did enough to be deserving of the honor. In part one, I gave all of the sales statistics that Eminem dominated for the course of the past 10 years. Out of all the finalists, only Jay-Z did what Eminem accomplished, which was have each of his albums go #1 on the Billboard 200. Eminem's work sold well and was, for the most part, good quality. The Marshall Mathers has already gone down as a classic for hip-hop, along with his song "Stan", which is widely regarded as one of the best hip-hop songs of all time. The Eminem Show was almost just as strong, producing hits such as "Without Me", "Cleaning Out My Closet", and "Till' I Collapse". Don't forget the movie, 8 Mile, that Eminem starred in 2002. The movie was met with very good reviews, (it holds a 74% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes), and its soundtrack gave us one of the best singles of the entire decade, "Lose Yourself". Eminem won three Best Rap Album Grammys in the 2000's and gave a mesmerizing performance of "Stan" with Elton John at the 2001 Grammys. He was crude, offensive, and was always subject to controversy. That's who Slim Shady was though, and he didn't care. His persona was the key to his success, one that even the mainstream couldn't ignore.
Cons: Eminem was powerful during the 2000's, but he was by no means invincible. Slim started off the decade on an extremely strong note, but after 2002, he started to fall off the pedestal that he had set so high. Encore was a below average album for Slim and you could start to see cracks in his armor. Slim either lost his motivation at not being the most hated man in music anymore, or he had just exhausted all his anger. Sure, "Toy Soldiers" and "Yellowbrick Road" were very good cuts from Encore, but the majority of the album couldn't find the magic that Slim had on his previous three. Eminem doesn't lose any points for his hiatus, but he does lose some for his most recent album, Relapse. It may have won Best Rap Album at the most recent Grammys, but it was another album that didn't match the intensity or carry the meaning of his first three. Many of the songs were just plain disgusting or ugly, with one of the only highlights being "Underground". It was a fun album to listen to, (I blasted that album for weeks when it first came out), but looking back, it wasn't a great effort from Eminem. I'll reserve the conversation of if Eminem will ever be the same for another time, but for now, it's safe to say that Slim was mostly average after the beginning of the decade.
Phew. OK, so now that you got a look at all of the finalists pros and cons, it's time for the verdict. And the winner is. . .
Jay-Z
Why: Wow, not an easy decision by any means. Each finalist had great arguments for why they were the best, but to me, it really came down to three artists. Lil Wayne was eliminated because of his inconsistency and reasons explained in his "Cons" section earlier. Nas, despite being the most consistent MC of the decade and probably releasing the most quality albums, never achieved enough commercial success to stand with Kanye, Eminem, and Hova. With it being down to three, I compared two things: impact on hip-hop and how their albums will be remembered, not for sales, but for quality. This dropped Kanye from the equation because although he had a positive impact on hip-hop for the most part, his albums didn't quite stack up to Jay-Z's best or Eminem's best. Especially with the experiment of 808's, I couldn't figure out a way that Kanye was the better MC. So it came down to Eminem or Jay-Z. I'll be the first to say that I would have no problem is someone argues for Eminem. He had two spectacular albums in the 2000's and a range of great singles.
Here's what separates Jay-Z though. When I looked at each album, one by one for each artist, they each had two missteps. Hova had the Blueprint 2 and Kingdom Come while Eminem had Encore and Relapse (yes Relapse actually hurt Eminem, despite the Grammy it won. I'll save the "Grammys don't matter" argument for another day). Each artist had two phenomenal albums, but Jay-Z had two albums that were critically well received that Eminem didn't have. I get that Eminem didn't release as many as Jay-Z, and that shouldn't hurt him. But Hova's presence in hip-hop because of those two extra albums became so much larger. "Empire State of Mind", "D.O.A", "Roc Boys", and "Young Forever" all came off the two extra albums that Hova released. I said earlier that those two albums wouldn't rank in Hova's top four when Jay-Z called it a career for good, but I didn't mention that the four albums that rank above them were outstanding. That's how good Jay-Z has been. His fifth best album may equal the quality of many other MC's best. Jay-Z did everything he could to help hip-hop, rather than hurt it. He was also the first artist to ever open the famous Glastonbury Festival in Britain in 2008. His music was just as big on an international level as it was on a national one. He continued to be intelligent with his rhymes and messages, whereas Eminem stumbled in the latter part of the decade. Jay-Z's impact on hip-hop will be felt for generations because of the 2000's and he truly has established himself as the genre's greatest, for now anyways. It was a dead heat to the finish, but Hova edges Eminem by just a hair.
