Who would you say is the greatest writer in Hip Hop?

[Neuromancer]

Syules P. Jay Electronica. Nas. Lupe.

 

[New Jeruzalem Journalist]

Truth be told there's a lot of very underrated great writers though... as I've mentioned in other threads Breeze Brewin's pen game is top notch.

The writing on this song alone is nothing short of incredible.

Spoiler: lyrics

[Verse 1: Brewin]
What y'all know about them wild nikkas
Devil child nikkas
Have-you-kick-the-bucket-say-fukk-it-and-smile-nikkas
The type to catch the Buddha buzz, slide up to the fuzz
Sayin "Officer, run your shotty before I catch this body"
I knew this nikka Smokey, sorta like his pistol
Barrel when you're in peril and shyt like that was wanted
But later that would die down
Sorta like many abandoned that he ran with
His block felt sorta haunted
His only solitude was wifey, word to life, G it seemed
They was together forever and now the womb had been seeded
He needed a job and the robbin wouldn't do it
He wasn't tryin to go out like Diquan in Strapped
Her mother was a nurse, her purse was chubby
From the hospital she found Smokey some work and shyt was lovely
With some cream in here, feed a patient there, he had loot
And not a nikka on the street would have to get that pocket tapped
He's workin in maternity and learnin
Seein much about the infant children
To be skilled in fatherhood
Stealin baby stuff home for self
And he didn't have to pull the Mac-20 off the shelf and get...

[Chorus]
Loose if a brotha can't take no more
Loose if a brotha can't swing it
Loose if a brotha can't break once more
Loose if a brotha.....
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[Verse 2: Brewin]
In Maternity, Smokey saw stuff, raw stuff
Make-you-drop-your-jaw-stuff, hospitals get sorta wild
He saw some babies shakin, awakin if they were fortunate
His soul was scorchin, it would have him thinkin of his child
Later there would be no "Honey, I'm home,"
Strictly "Woman if you jeopardize my seed, dead up, I leave you wet up"
On the block, a flock of zombies entranced
By the peddlers of temporary ghetto heaven had him fed up
His job was gettin hard to fukk with
They had even had him stuck with the disposal of the stillborn
Poisoned by the nourishment, the ill torn soul from flesh
From the womb to tomb
Seein shyt like that'll have you crazy
That night he had a dream
And it was a child nursin upon the semen of the glass genitalia
Clouded nut after clouded nut
He woke and shouted "What the fukk is goin on?"
Smokey was Swayze, it's time to get....

[Chorus]

[Verse 3: Brewin]
He figured there was only one way
As he rushed the runway lookin wild deranged
This was common, without any qualm inside he was tookin
Lookin at fiends of the pebble adored praised
Devil for lord raised from the crystallized tombs
Through fumes from the floor
Blazed the sole sacrificial altar
He chose now to halt the worship dealin that ultimate headrush...
The lead crushed, buyer or seller decoratin hell a flame
With the choir of the firearms to blame
In the mornin by the time the smoke cleared
Everybody seen the massacre, the local folk cheered
"Oh, thank the Lord Almighty," the pharmacy was out of business
On the L a chubby widow cries alone because her man had gotten...

The whole song is about a dude working in the maternity ward of a hospital during the crack era where he witnesses the horrible fates of the crack babies. When he comes home and sees all the crack dealers and fiends on the streets he can't mentally unconnect it from what he sees at his job to the point that he threatens to kill the mother of his unborn child if she ever touches the glass pipe. It ends with him seeking vigilante justice against the crack dealers in his neighborhood on behalf of the stillborn crack babies he has to dispose every day

That whole Clear Blue Skies album got some of the best writing I've ever heard period.

I honestly would put Brewin in my top 5, but I still would put Nas, Gza, and Ras ahead of him. But I been saying for years that as far as the technical aspect of writing is concerned, Brewin is definitely that dude with the pen. I copped the Clear Blue Skies vinyl original Fondle 'Em pressing back in '98 after they got dropped from their major label (album was supposed to drop in '96), and the title track is still one of the most creative songs I ever heard, amd this was 20 years ago. Not to mention how he shined on Prince Paul's A Prince Amongst Thieves album.

Other writers outside my top 3 that have a crazy pen game:

Pharoahe Monche

Prince Po (I was thinking about doing an Organized Konfusion appreciation thread not too long ago. Prince Po's 1st verse on "Numbers" is fukking BRILLIANT)

Boots Riley ("Fat Cats, Bigga Fish", "Me and Jesus The Pimp.." Dude is a top 5 MC dead or alive to me)

E-Rule. (Listen to the "Mind Wars" remix or "Milestones")

 

[Yoda]

Jay Elec
Kanye
Mos Def
Blu

in that order.

 

[GPBear]

Nas, Ghostface, MF DOOM, Biggie, Rakim were all superior poets

Some of the best emcees in history are underground. Myka 9 from the Freestyle Fellowship is my GOAT



Dude's quoting from Revelations and talking about alpha centauri quasars in 1991

 

[FruitOfTheVale]

Jay Elec
Kanye
Mos Def
Blu

in that order.

That man gave me my first opportunity ever to get on stage in front of a big crowd and rap One of the proudest and most humbling days of my life ever.

 

[The Fire]

Nas easily

 

[The Ruler 09]

K-Rino.

 

[mson]

 

[MooseMouthMthafuga]

Dear Mama, Keep Ya Head Up, Shed So Many Tears.....Examples of the most effective song writing in Hip Hop's sojourn

 

[-Quikness-]

For me, Pac. No one else comes close when it comes to capturing the listeners emotion into a song

 

[A Tribe Called Quest ™]

In terms of a song? Lupe or Kendrick

Lyrically? Probably Hov