GZA or Lupe...who's the better lyricist?

[spliz]

Wu-tang wasn't ever considered nerd rap. I deal with reality. Never met a Lupe fan in person but I'm sure if I did it'd be a nerd.

And I'm not being disrespectful. Problem with y'all Lupe nerds is that anything that doesn't align with y'all belief that son is God's gift to rap y'all try to denounce it. Son trash. I was hoping a few of you woulda offed y'allselves when he didn't make that Billboard Top rapper list. I knew you cried seeing Kendrick make Top 5.

I'm not a nerd in the slightest. And I know plenty that aren't as well. Lol

 

[Billy Ocean]

I'm not a nerd in the slightest. And I know plenty that aren't as well. Lol

Cool...guarantee you're an outlier. I'd put money on the vast majority of nikkas that like that corny shyt being nerds

 

[Billy Ocean]

What are you talk g be about? Lol I’ve been the one praising GZA in here

I see why you’re on a lot of peoples ignore list

Don't care who has me on ignore. Gotta be real soft to put somebody on ignore on an internet messageboard.

 

[Insensitive]

What's ur thing wit Nas lately brodie? I knew forever u don't fukk wit Lupe so I'm not gonna ask about that. Lol

tbh.
Nothing, I love Nas.
I paid over a G to see that man three times last year
I just feel like we talk about Nas/Lupe/Tupac/Biggie/Jay-Z etc. all the time.
There's rarely discussion of new artists and 9/10 it's always the same rehashed topic.

I actually like Lupe, I think he's a great rapper but I think we both know that Lupe fiasco
gets overrated in The Booth to a ridiculous degree.
Whether it's posters pretending every Lupe track is 5d Chess or acting like bro doesn't always
have several tracks where he's very regular, like no better than any typical rapper regular.

 

[WMG the 2nd]

Lupe is better than 90 percent of nikkas and gza falls into that 90 percent

 

[Mike Wins]

Point out the people who’ve disrespected GZA and said it and point out the ones who’ve disrespected Lu! I guarantee you it’s literally 1 or 2 people. I’ve been very vocal about my love for both.

There’s different forms of lyricism and Lu has been very precise on a different array of topics. The greatest writers of all time have been able to include an array of messages in their works while also have one clear linear tone. From Homer, Alexander Durmas, Virgil, Jane Austin, Emily dikkinson, Robert Hayden, Toni Morrison, and Gil Scott Heron. He’s also been direct too.

How can we compare lyricist when people don’t even listen to the guys being compared? It’s obvious

Start with the dude who said "Lupe. No explanation is even necessary, it's that clear" then posted another 16 times before starting a thread detailing his experience listening to Liquid Swords the first time

You got multiple Lupe fans coming off mad condescending, acting like it's an insult to even have the discussion

The styles and approaches to "lyricism" are so different it's hard to even compare them directly without other factors and biases coming into play. A better comparison would be Lupe and Pharoahe Monch but that's another thread

 

[The Truest]

I like Lupe Fiasco and I think he should be an example for these young dudes, because he has lyrics, can tell a great story and can capture you. He's not on the bullshyt, he's himself.- GZA

underrated post. KP really bodied these cats, called Lu one of the GOATs. But also 3000, someone needs to lecture him about the solo album rule

 

[NoHalfWay]

What a fukking fruitless fukking thread this has devolved into

 

[NoHalfWay]

GZA would absolutely eviscerate Lupe in a Verzus.
Think about all the classic Wu records he’s on.

I wonder bro

 

[mobbinfms]

I wonder bro

You think Lupe would win?

 

[spliz]

I wonder bro

No way Lupe winning that brodie. Lol

 

[How Sway?]

gza is great but he's reallynot messing with lupe.

Just off of his triple entendres and song concepts. He's really in an elite tier of Emcee-ing.

 

[NoHalfWay]

You think Lupe would win?

No way Lupe winning that brodie. Lol

If they bringing out all the legendary Wu cuts GZA’s on? Of course Lupe can’t compete with that, that’s no question

But is a crowd gonna go nuts over GZA verses? It’s well known Lupe is a pretty crazy live performer

It would be a weird ass Verzuz either way, they occupy 2 different timelines. GZA should be doing a verzuz against somebody like Kurupt or some shyt, Lupe duke it out with Wale or some shyt

 

[Budda]

The issue I have with ranking Lupe high as others do as a pen is sometimes he gets so abstract and obscure with his references, and they're so loosely connected, that even if you get the reference, he can damn near say it means anything he wants and nobody would even know. This is why often times people dissect his bars and come away with multiple different meanings, and usually all of them are wrong. Lupe writes in a way (sometimes), that only he'd be able to fully explain what he actually means because it's so convoluted. He leaves a lot of ambiguity to his wordplay which to me isn't necessarily skillful as it is pretentious. He's a big Aesop Rock guy, who notoriously thrives on being vague with a lot of loosely connected wordplay.

And then outside of the times when he's trying to be grandiose, some of his wordplay is just corny. Some of his verses that are not overtly littered with inconsequent riddling, have bars that are just not good.

The highest level lyricists to me is able display high level technical skills (wordplay, scheming, metaphors, multi-syllabic rhyming), while being proficient and getting a POV across that is clear to the listener, even if they don't get every bar, they get the overall message the MC is relaying. If the only person that fully understands what you're writing is you, then you aren't as good as you think you are. You should be able to take a complex thought, write in your highly coded language (which rap is) while still making your messaging clear. That's what Nas does, that's what Rakim does, that's what Jay-Z does.

To me Lupe is able to do that in songs like Failure. When he's in that lane, it's beautiful. I have no complaints, it's elite.

Agree with this.

 

[CHICAGO]

LUPE



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