DaveyDave
Superstar
what fukkin year is this list made? on what fukkin planet is Rick Ross a better LYRICIST than Lupe Fiasco in fact why is he even on a top 50 LYRICIST ist? is this supposed to be only for the 2000s or something?
The Source Top 50 Lyricist List Discussion
- Thread starter The Ruler 09
- Start date
what fukkin year is this list made? on what fukkin planet is Rick Ross a better LYRICIST than Lupe Fiasco in fact why is he even on a top 50 LYRICIST ist? is this supposed to be only for the 2000s or something?
Nope it's not.
I think lyricism has a pretty narrow definition among us Hip Hop fans. There's a lot that goes into a lyric and even more in regard to being a great lyricist. The common thread with great lyricists is that they have a mastery of literary elements. What's even crazier is that a lot of them seem to do it effortlessly. For example, Nas writing a song like "I Gave You Power" or Pac penning a song like "If I Die 2nite". It isn't even about the content. It's about the poetic devices that they use. That's just two examples. You could take lyrics from any of the greats and find greatness in the use of imagery, metaphors, alliteration, assonance, allegory, etc. It adds depth to what's being said which separates a lyricist from rapper who raps for the sake of rhyming. Yeah, there's rappers like Eminem who can pull off incredible rhyme schemes, but he's also a great lyricist when he's on.
It's not my list, but it's solid especially for a list that attempts to not only list, but rank the greatest lyricists in Hip Hop.
It's not my list, but it's solid especially for a list that attempts to not only list, but rank the greatest lyricists in Hip Hop.
Nas is an exceptional storyteller but I don't think I'd call him a lyricist. I'd reserve such a title for the likes of Lupe Fiasco, Andre 3000, K-Rino, Eminem, Canibus, B.I.G. and Jay-Z. Just because he uses big words which he clearly doesn't understand the meaning of doesn't make him a lyricist.
I see Nas a lyricist cause he can ramp it up when it's time to. Plus he is effective in his word usage. If you compare Nas vs Eminem lyrics you'd probably be surprised how much better Nas is throughout their career's as a whole. Nas has a lot of songs where he's ripping it lyrically, when he wants to be he's an elite lyricist, but his style isn't always that, sometimes he talks more on a street/conversational level, even when he is being conceptual and artistic.
My skin is a art gallery, right
With paintings of crucifixes
Hopin' to save me from all the dangers in the music business
Was once a young gangsta hangin' with youth offenders
But since I tasted paper it started losin the friendships
Watchin' kids freeze in winters, they still poor
How could I tease them with Benz's and feel no remorse
Drivin' past them in the lively fashion, diamond colors clashin'
Red stones, blue stones, red bones and black ones
fukk did I expect with bucket seats in a Lex
And spendin' time in Chuckie Cheese with Little Des
Got guns when I'm with my daughter
Hate to bring a violent aura in her presence
She knows what daddy taught her, it's lessons
Black princess it's a ugly world
I put my life up for yours, see I love that girl
Could you believe even my shadow's jealous
My skin is mad at my flesh, my flesh hates my own bones
My brain hates my heart, my heart makes the songs
Though my songs come from the Father
I'm lonely...
Hold me, it's gettin' darker
This is just one example, but I don't see how someone could write lyrics like these and not be considered a lyricist.
the rhyme king
truth.com
nas is ok but i think he overrated personally but he is a lyricist.
You picked the best song in his discography. Face it, most of Nas' lyrics aren't as good as that as he cannot for the life of him manage to ever stage on topic.
Songs like this:
And this:
Are your typical Nas songs. Again, he's a great storyteller, but a mediocre lyricist. Using big words that you clearly don't have a grasp of doesn't make you a good lyricist.
Those are far from typical Nas songs. There were better songs with far better lyrics on those same albums:
As the night close down on the Earth like gray dark rings
Light of cities in the nights, destination for Kings
with big dreams, like Castro, overthrew Bautista
from Cuba, and pointed nukes toward the U.S.
About to shoot us for revolution; that's how you gotta move
A lot of rules, some locked in solitude
Curse the day of they birth confused, who's to be praised?
The mighty dollar -- or almighty Allah
I'm like the farmer, plantin words, people are seeds
My truth is the soil; help you grow like trees
May the children come in all colors, change like leaves
but hold before you, one of those, prophetic MC's
with blunted flows, seven hundred souls in me
Each channelin, from past to present times, heaven shines
light on those, innocent to how the world grows
Some men become murderers, and some girls become hoes
And you accounted for, everything that you heard
Do not speak to fools; they scorn the wisdom of your words
My heart is wise, bloodshot eyes, the saga never dies
Ghetto prisoners rise rise rise
Ghetto prisoners rise rise rise
Ghetto prisoners rise rise rise
Ghetto prisoners rise rise rise
Ghetto prisoners..
Freedom or jail, clips inserted, a baby's bein born
Same time my man is murdered, the beginning and end
As far as rap go, it's only natural, I explain
My plateau, and also, what defines my name
First it was Nasty, but times have changed
Ask me now, I'm the artist, but hardcore, my science for pain
I spent time in the game, kept my mind on fame
Saw fiends shoot up, and do lines of cocaine
Saw my close friends shot, flatline am I sane?
That depends, carry Mac-10's to practice my aim
On rooftops, tape cd covers to trees
Line the barrel up with your weak picture then squeeze
Street scriptures for lost souls, in the crossroads
To the corner thugs hustlin for cars that cost dough
To the big dogs livin large, takin it light
Pushin big toys, gettin nice, enjoyin your life
is what you make it, suicide, few try to take it
Belt tied around they neck in jail cells naked
Heaven and hell, rap legend, presence is felt
And of course N - A - S are the letters that spell . . .
NAS, NAS
Broken glass in the hallway, bloodstained floors
Neighbors, look at every bag you bring through your doors
Lock the top lock, momma shoulda cuffed me to the radiator
Why not? It might've saved later from my block
N.Y. cops, hookers crawlin off the stroll, coughin
stitches in they head, stinkin and I dread thinkin they be snitchin
But who else, could it be, shook at these, unmarked vans
Parked in the dark -- NARC's, where's your heart?
Hustlers starve; they bust a U-e I jog
to my building -- come out later wearin camouflage
See the sergeant and the captain -- strangle men
nikkaz gaspin for air; til they move no more and just stare
with dead eyes -- tired of riots, shyt is quiet
Simple-minded fools infiltrate grimy crews
Overcrowded cribs, uncles home from bids, sister's pregnant
father's on drugs, moms is smokin, beds is piss-infested
Had eight partners growin up, eight turned to seven
Seven turned to six nikkaz, got two in heaven
Six of us, holdin it, now it's five rollin thick
The sixth one's parole flipped; five nikkaz, went to fo' quick
when he went O.T., college life, converted into gangbangin
Four nikkaz still hangin, years passed and slang changin
Three of us now, fourth nikka ain't around
We all thought he was real -- he did the snake shyt
Fake shyt -- beat his ass down, yo his mouth
could've got us all wasted, what a fukkin clown
All I got left in the end is two of my best friends
And we all goin out, to the death for these ends, WHAT?
Yo, if this piano's the cake then my words are the candles
Light it up, make a wish, and them angels will grant you
Impatient once tried, but in those angels and bamboo
they lit it up, *puff* *puff*, hit it up, *puff*
Now they dismantled, think the whole world is crazy, got a 9
watch where you walk, 2 dollar fine, sign of the times here in New York
Hi Satan, United Nations quietly taken, to own your soul
take it or leave it, just my evaluation
Stack loot and guns, teach the girls karate, school your sons not to hate
but to stay awake, cus the scars a razor make is nothin' in comparison
to the gas left on this whole mass, if we don't get it controlled fast
might as well be, laughin' with Malcolm X's assassin as we die slow
perishin', brain dead from a Erickson
Words are the medicine, two teaspoons for goons
a cup of it for those thuggin' it, y'all sing the tune
Are they talking technical lyricism,list aint adding up
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?i can see guru over prodigy. if youre the type that thinks prodigy is an all-time elite lyrcists, then guru is right up your alley.
@ 50 cent & lil wayne.especially 50 cent.
fukk outta here faqi can see guru over prodigy. if youre the type that thinks prodigy is an all-time elite lyrcists, then guru is right up your alley.
especially 50 cent.