What Makes a Great Rapper?

With the whole Kendrick Lamar drama, by calling himself the "King of New York" and bashing every rapper in the game, on Big Sean's new single "Control", causing a firestorm in the world of hip-hop -- when Lamar really resides from California -- forced myself to type a column about what makes a hip-hop rapper great.

Why did Lamar's lyrical line made me want to talk about this, instead of me discussing what's right or wrong what Lamar said?... I have no clue, why. Just go with it, okay... Jeez.

Any who -- what makes a great rapper?  To me, it's simple -- it's how clear you can understand a rapper's lyrics, without straining to listen.

When you can listen to a rapper's lyrics in his (or her) song without squinting and moving your ears close to the radio, that to me, makes a great rapper -- when you can hear every single word he's saying and still bump your head to the beat. Not bump your head to the beat only, and not knowing what the hell that person is saying.

It's also that perfect, loud, aggressive vocal. Like, for an example: The greatest rapper who ever lived, Tupac Shakur. Shakur had that perfect, strong, aggressive, hip-hop vocal. It was loud, and most importantly, very, very clear. He had the perfect vocal for any rap beat. It's a gift.

Every inspiring rapper wants to sound like Shakur. Just like every inspiring pop singer wants to sound like Michael Jackson.

You can hear everything Shakur is saying in his songs. He doesn't mumble, or makeup words, or stumble in a lyric line out of laziness, which I hear a lot of rappers do today. I mean, I love French Montana, but how many "HANS" is he going to say? Even though it works for "I Ain't Worried About Nothin"

Jay-Z, the man standing alone in the hip-hop mountain. He's another great, where you can hear him clearly. Also, Jays vocals has a smooth blend to his songs; he has excellent rhythm to any hip-hop beat. The beat of his voice goes up and down, quick and smooth.

Biggie Smalls, reminds me a lot of Jay-Z. Great hip-hop rhythm, in their vocals. Though, Smalls' voice was deep than Jigga's, and can rap fluently with that deep voice.

Comparing 2-Pac & Jay-Z:

Very different, and Tupac is obviously better. Jigga doesn't have the charisma Tupac had. Shakur can move on the stage like no other rapper; from the way he put his hands in the air and the way danced on stage. He felt the music more, than Jay does.

Though another great rapper who sorta has that charisma, is Kanye West.

West (aka Yeezy) has that powerful vocal. When you hear West's songs, you hear everything; you hear the words more than the beat. The bad rappers make you bump your head to the beat and chorus, and not to their lyrics. With Kanye, you are aware of every lyric -- that's a great rapper.

Yeezy's newest released song "Black Skinhead" has this amazing, unheard-of beat. If some rappers today rapped to that beat, you wouldn't know what the hell they're saying. Kanye managed run right through those sounds effects, with us still listening to what he's saying; and you hear clear as day.

You hardly don't have to look up lyrics for a Kanye song, because he's so clear when he raps, you can understand it just by hearing it. That's how good he is. And that's what makes Yeezy - an already - legendary rapper.

Then you have Eminem -- who I think personally is the closes thing to Tupac. Both brought their issues and anger to the mic. One difference

The Young Rappers:

Drake is right on the top, of young rappers. He's unique, as well. Drake will rap, and sing, in his songs.

People like to poke fun at Drake, saying he's "soft" with his lyrics. I don't think that way. I just find him to be his own man. And most importantly, he's great at what he does which gives him a pass for being "soft".

Kendrick Lamar -- I'm still figuring him out, still. I like what I hear from him, but I'm not blown away. When Kanye first came up with "Through The Wire", he whoa me - he whoa-ed everyone. Lamar hasn't done that to me. Great beats in his songs, but I can't hear too much of what he's saying. He's still young and has a lot of time to really explode with something.

Big Sean and ASAP Rocky are very much alike to me; they both have good, solid hip-hop vocals.

J.Cole - very good rapper. Clear lyrics, aggressive and not afraid to speak his mind.

I love Wiz Khalifa. He's gotta beautiful hip-hop vocals.

Bow Wow:

I always thought, by now, Bow Wow would be one of the great rappers today. When I saw as kid, rapping, he was unbelievable. I never seen a 13-year old rap like a 30-year old. That aggressiveness Bow Wow had at that age, was unreal. It's almost like when people in the 70's thought Michael Jackson was a 40-year old midget. I felt that way with Bow Wow.

Now, Bow Wow, whose doing great in his career hosting 106 & Park, should've been still rapping. It's a shame how his career went down the way it did. It seems like, ever since he broke up with R&B, pop singer Ciara, he was never the same again.

It's very difficult to bit a young star, who sings like Justin Bieber. Because you don't know how long your music can stay relevant, for. Bow Wow, could've been successful forever if he would've kept it up, or been with the right producers and song-writers. He was that good to me. His vocals were almost perfect, for a rapper. Tupac perfect? Could've...