THE OFFICIAL TRAUMA LYRICISM POLL - Em, J, Nas

[Trauma-san]

Alright... In my opinion, it's gotta come down to these 3 right now for lyrics.  I usually wouldn't ride a bandwagon, but I was listening to "Nail in the coffin" again today, and man... Eminem is unbelievable lyrically. I honestly think he could be the best.  

"I would never claim to be no,
Ray Benzino,
an 83 year old, Fake Pacino..
So how can he hold me over some balcony,
without throwin' his lower back out,
as soon as he goes to lift me?
Please don't, you'll probably fall with me,
and our asses'll both be history...
but then again, you'd finally get your wish,
cuz you'd be all over the street like 50 cent"

"I dunno shit about no shoppin' rocks,
But what you know, about hip hop shops,
Rockin' Spots,
When you're the only white boy up in that bitch that's Crippin
Pressin up your own flyers, and your stickers, stickin
them bitches up after spendin 6 hours at Kinko's
Makin' copies of your covers to cassette singles
To sell 'em out of the trunk of your tracer
Spendin' your whole paychecks at discmakers
What you know about bein' bullied over half your life?
Oh that's right, you should know what that's like, you're half white"

I dunno if he can ever be beat in a battle, I can't see it happening.  When somebody disses him with something true, he just admits it, explains it, then disses the SH*T out of them with it.  It's amazing, I never seen nobody handle disses like that.  

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Usually, Nas wouldn't be on my list, because I don't know much about him.  I've been listening to some stuff from God's son, though, and man, he really is unbelievable.  My favorite line-

"It's becomin' unbearable, makin' hits is easy,
put a famous bitch on the hook, there ya go with a platinum sellin' CD"

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Jay Z, for the obvious reasons.  He's about the biggest right now, maybe behind Eminem, but he's consistantly been mentioned as a great lyricist.  


So what yall think?  It's only these three, I basically feel it's between these three, because they all have well established mainstream careers.  There's probably plenty of guys underground or not as well known who are better lyrically, but all three of these guys have shown they can carry a career, and still come consistant lyrically (which is why, say, Kurupt isn't on the list).  

[Kaidy]

I have to with Em. I was hating on him earlier this year because he was gettting so over-exposed, so I didnt even cop The Eminem Show til a month ago, but when I got it I was literally amazed. He's incredibly clever with his words, his rhyme structure, his flow, everything. Plus his content is becoming more and more focused on society and away from his own personal demons, which I've been waiting for.

I really don't see anyone close to him right now.

[Twentytwofifty]

I don't wanna really get deep into it right now and make a huge post.  I'll keep it short and sweet.

I'm going with Nas.  He's released 3 amazing albums in the last year.  He's showing some great versatility.  He's changing up his delivery (which is important) and he's being creative.  Em's close but he can't make an album like Nas (not yet).  But I have to say that Em's flow now is insane, one of the best ever, that's right.

[I TO DA GEEZY]

EM has to be above these two fa sho'....dude simply has no limits, he's above anythang right now I suppose....
Jigga comes second as the lyrical king of our dimention
with his sharp ass metaphorism and on point punchlines while always maintaining conceptual focus.
(while EM rules over numerous dimentionz wit his lyrical abillities)
NAS's potensial is enormous, as Illmatic, Lost Tapes,   most parts of STILLMATIC and God's Son show...yet he's been mostly too inconsistent to take the second place after EM, and is often very unfocused and poor structured while seemingly trying to poetisize his lyricz ...Although in these last two years I've heared 2 ILL albums and one real solid from him, as I see it, he's mathematicly equal to Jigga at this point, if not a lil beyond(Im yet to decide weather he really is right now )....yet I can't ignore NAS at his weakest in the all around calculation (IWW, I AM, Nastradamus)......

[Vigilante]

All 3 suck, but Eminem is the best Nas is most consistent......but best overall material is:

Eminem - Infinite and 2nd is:

Jay Z  -The Early Years

"I be runnin the track like Jesse Owens" - Jay Z

He had amazing flow and lyrics when he did shit with Big L...especially
"Back 2 Da Game"

[S.G.V.]

thats the official trauma COMMERCIAL lyricism poll....jay-z isnt even close to the greatest...yall no my views on nas...em is good but not the greatest....so i vote no one

[teecee]

Trauma, you seem to have a more diverse knowledge of music that anyone on this site, so i am shocked u dont know that much about Nas!  To be honest, while NAs' new album is dope, it may be one of his worst lyrically, or at least WAY behind Illmatic, IWW, Stillmatic, and Lost Tapes.  But ya, Nas has a way with words that noone else has


Jay Z, NAs, And Eminem are all COMPLETELY DIFFERENT, so it is pretty hard to compare them.  
-Nas NEVER rarely uses funny little lines or punchlines, and does not have the charisma or flow the other two have.
- Jay Z cant get deep like NAs or Em, and when he tries itt sounds fake and contrived (Song Cry...PLEASE!)
-Em is on another level than these two as far as battling and humour, and his contributions to 8 Mile have renewed my awe for Eminem's ability

To me, this is only a two person contest.  Jay has fallen off so far and is so one-dimensional it aint funny!.  Shit like this (She saw my necklace and started relaxin/now thats what the fuck i call a chain reaction!) is nice, but it cant touch Eminem or Nas.

I would give best flow and rhyme scheme to Eminem, but Nas takes the lyrics based on his entire career and the fact he has dropped three albums full of incredible lyrics in the past year.    

SGV, you are lost man!  Just cuz these guys are commercial doesnot mean they are not lyrical!  And cuz Nas can't freestyle does ot mean he is not an mc (contrary to what you say!)!  Freestyling has nothing to do with lyrics, as the lyrics usually talked about are written.


While Eminem is not always my kind of thing, name another rapper besides these three that touch Em or Nas.  I go with Ras KAss, he is the only one that can touch these guys.......

[King Tech Quadafi]

I don't wanna really get deep into it right now and make a huge post.  I'll keep it short and sweet.

I'm going with Nas.  He's released 3 amazing albums in the last year.  He's showing some great versatility.  He's changing up his delivery (which is important) and he's being creative.  Em's close but he can't make an album like Nas (not yet).  But I have to say that Em's flow now is insane, one of the best ever, that's right.

[S.G.V.]

SGV, you are lost man!  Just cuz these guys are commercial doesnot mean they are not lyrical!  And cuz Nas can't freestyle does ot mean he is not an mc (contrary to what you say!)!  Freestyling has nothing to do with lyrics, as the lyrics usually talked about are written.

im not sayin that they aint lyrical...but there are plenty of underground rappers that are NOT written that would smash these cats....and to me this list excludes them cuz theyre underground

[Twentytwofifty]

im not sayin that they aint lyrical...but there are plenty of underground rappers that are NOT written that would smash these cats....and to me this list excludes them cuz theyre underground

Maybe in a freestyle battle.  But I'm looking at this poll as who is the all-around emcee right now.  I'm sure a guy like Supernatural would serve Nas in an freestyle battle but I doubt will ever see him craft an album like Nas.  And I think that he just picked the 3 guys that are at top of the game now.

[Trauma-san]

Did yall even READ what I wrote? LOL I specifically wrote that I choose these three, because they have proven they can carry a career, and STILL be dope lyrically.  Crooked I might eat all of them (ha) but he hasn't even  debuted yet!  The DOC Was a great lyricist, but he has no career.  I specifically said I wasn't counting underground cats, because I'm not gonna run all over america and interview every crack head who thinks he can flow.  Call it commercial, whatever, these three guys have done what all rappers want to do, blow the hell up.  


Vigilante, you just ruined my day, LOL.  that line ""I be runnin the track like Jesse Owens" - Jay Z"... I always attritubed to Gza, on the W album, he goes

"Run up on the track, like Jesse Owens;
Broke the record flowin, without any knowin;
That my wordplay, just won a four hundred meeter Relay
It's on, once I grab tha Baton from the D.J."

LOL Man I love that line.  

Everybody keep postin, I love this argument, LOL.  

[Trauma-san]

Whooo, Just noticed so far, not 1 vote for Jay Z.  

[Entreri117]

Neither of these three man...

The greatest lyricist alive is Canibus...

The man has more vocab than all 3 of these guys together...

Also...he's smart as hell.  He musta been a nerd in high school...listen to some of his GOOD shit...

As a lyricist, Canibus is way better than these 3...but out of these 3 I would pick Eminem because of his flow and wordplay...

PS: What the fuck is Jay Z doin on here?  How can u even put him next to Nas and Eminem?  Just because he's makin the most money and is the most popular, DOESN'T mean he's the best...fuckin A'!

[S.G.V.]

Maybe in a freestyle battle.  But I'm looking at this poll as who is the all-around emcee right now.  I'm sure a guy like Supernatural would serve Nas in an freestyle battle but I doubt will ever see him craft an album like Nas.  And I think that he just picked the 3 guys that are at top of the game now.

supernat is 10x more creative than nas...im sure if he had the financial backin that nas has he could make a great album...cmon nas has always had a big financial backing...even illmatic had a good backing...lots of these underground cats have to finance their own albums...so since they dont got the money for top notch production and shit people sleep on it...think about it...if Supernatural was signed to a major, if Mikah 9 or Aceyalone got a major backing them what kinda music theyd be making?...if nas went back to the underground, without any backing from a major hed fail....no doubt....all im sayin is that if the underground cats got a chance theyd take out these cats...

[ImmortalOne]

God's Son