I'm a Cranky Old Head from the 80s... But Kendrick Lamar is Top 10 All Time

[T'Challa Trillmonger]

nope

his voice is trash

i feel you, the voice thing is subjective tho, voice and tone are kinda intangible qualities imo

same homies that used to think kdot sounded indian pre-section 80 now have no problem bumpin him regularly as a west coast staple

kendrick is top 10 imo, but im fine with folks thinking otherwise too

 

[A Tribe Called Quest ™]

He is a top 10 rapper, probably around 8-12 range and anyone who opposed just hating

 

[dubsmith_nz]

He hasn’t released enough material.


After GKMS, his albums have been too commercial. You will get 2 or 3 dope songs off the entire album.


I use Nas and Jay Z as the standard bearers and he’s not on that level of consistency.

TPAB was the complete opposite of commercial though, a lot of his day 1 fans didn't like that album initially because they wanted a straight forward rap album.

I've been listening since the 90s and he's definitely in my top 10. Even put together and dropped a soundtrack that was actually relevant and dope to the level of the GOAT soundtracks of the 90s.

 

[A Tribe Called Quest ™]

Kendricks guest verses aren’t wack, you nikkas write bullshyt narratives for your agenda against new rappers. He bodied the hook to song with the LOX, bodied Game twice on the City and On Me. bodied Cole on Black Friday, bodied New Freezer, bodied Control

 

[A Tribe Called Quest ™]

His voice is his greatest asset lowkey, the way he can change tone is always interesting on the track

 

[Piff Perkins]

Dunno about top ten but he’s getting there. Very curious about this next album. Also given how he can Cole take longer to release albums than traditional great rappers (Hov/Nas/etc)...how does that impact how they will be viewed? Assuming Kendrick drops this year, his next album likely wouldn’t come until 2025 when he’s 35 or so right. At that point most rappers are finished in terms of releasing consequential albums. Assuming Kendrick’s album this year is at least “good” how do we rate his career?

 

[Sami]

There's an underlying opinion on this site that kendrick is some sort of industry plant who is controlled by "the machine" despite the fact that anyone from California can tell you that kdot had an underground Westcoast run befoe signing with Dr Dre.

Its like the coli thinks because a rapper isn't from where they're from and wasn't known in their city, that must mean their popularity is due to some industry push.

i think this got to explain it to be honest because the dude was making a whole load of noise during the blog era with overly dedicated even before s80 dopeboyz was posting him so nikkas who wasn’t outside for that will think he’s a plant lmao they just don’t realise how powerful the internet is. the dude an incredible artist and rapper but this site mostly loves east coast underground roc marci wannabes.

 

[Ethnic Vagina Finder]

Dunno about top ten but he’s getting there. Very curious about this next album. Also given how he can Cole take longer to release albums than traditional great rappers (Hov/Nas/etc)...how does that impact how they will be viewed? Assuming Kendrick drops this year, his next album likely wouldn’t come until 2025 when he’s 35 or so right. At that point most rappers are finished in terms of releasing consequential albums. Assuming Kendrick’s album this year is at least “good” how do we rate his career?

Cole and Kendrick's stats are inflated. They are praised so much because they came out at a time where lyricism wasn't trendy. They got props for actually rapping. And Kendrick was reppin the west coast which hadn't have a rapper break through to mainstream since Game?

And the fact that they barely drop content, disqualifies them. If you're going to drop albums every leap year, you have to at least set trends. I think some of their praise is hype.

 

[FreshAIG]

He's not to me, he's a good rapper though. I think Good Kid Maad City is a 5 mic album. But I'm not one of those that thinks everything he drops is classic or next level. To Pimp a Butterfly didn't stick with me, Damn was solid but closer to 3.5/4 mics imo.

 

[Devil Plisken…CMS]

He's not to me, he's a good rapper though. I think Good Kid Maad City is a 5 mic album. But I'm not one of those that thinks everything he drops is classic or next level. To Pimp a Butterfly didn't stick with me, Damn was solid but closer to 3.5/4 mics imo.

I can go a lifetime without hearing that nikka rap and be ok. I would never say that he sucks but I can go a lifetime without ever hearing his shyt and be ok. I listened to GKMC a couple of times and was like whatever but I can’t nor will I disregard the feeling that album conjured up for the last generation. Oh well

 

[spliz]

I really need to give Kendrick a chance, I haven't heard a Kendrick album in my life...I think I've heard like 5 songs ever from him,

Every album he drops always gets "classic" thrown around, I'm a dive into his joints this week, pause.

Closest thing to it is Section 80 and GKMC everything after that is all hype.

 

[spliz]

He's not to me, he's a good rapper though. I think Good Kid Maad City is a 5 mic album. But I'm not one of those that thinks everything he drops is classic or next level. To Pimp a Butterfly didn't stick with me, Damn was solid but closer to 3.5/4 mics imo.

Factory. And while I accept GKMC as a classic. I like Section 80 more.

 

[A Tribe Called Quest ™]

Closest thing to it is Section 80 and GKMC everything after that is all hype.

TPAB>>>

 

[spliz]

Kendrick’s legend status is already solidified IMO...GKMC and TPAB are top tier albums and arguably could be considered classics. Section 80 was his weakest album, but still a great effort. He was still finding what worked for him on that album IMO. DAMN. is a great album, as well, but not on the level of the previous two. I still think DAMN. was made as a shot to the Drake, Medium Sean and his other wack rapper “peers”. Like, hey I did your style of album and still destroyed you. That was Kendrick’s “commercial” album.

The only critique I have about Kendrick is his weak guest appearances on other songs. It’s like he doesn’t really try on those.

U buggin the fukk out wit the bolded. No way in hell is Section 80 weaker than DAMN or TPAB.

 

[FreshAIG]

I can go a lifetime without hearing that nikka rap and be ok. I would never say that he sucks but I can go a lifetime without ever hearing his shyt and be ok. I listened to GKMC a couple of times and was like whatever but I can’t nor will I disregard the feeling that album conjured up for the last generation. Oh well

Yeah Kendrick is a really dope rapper but he just doesn't move me at all. I'm never in a rush to listen to his music. I can't front on GKMC. When I finished listening to it, I thought it was an amazing body of work and actually thought every song was dope. But I also felt like "If I never heard this album again, I would be okay with that". So even though it's a classic/5 Mic album to me, it's not an album I go back to.