Who will be the next great rapper?

[M Dogg™]

Ok, I know stuff like this has came up before, but on the real, who will it truely be. Not who's hot right now, but who will pick up the ball and run with it. Through out rap, we've always had someone carry the ball. In the old school you had Melle Mel from the Furious 5, and you had Run DMC, then in 1986 Rakim broke the game open with Eric. B For President, along with KRS-One and his Boogie Down Productions. Once they faded, Ice Cube was the first emcee that sold huge in both coast, and even though Snoop was the largest seller, 2Pac and Notorious B.I.G. just were on another level in terms of making records, after their deaths, Jay-Z and Nas carried rap. So the question is who will carry rap now that Jay-Z is gone, and Nas is soon leaving. Will it be 50 Cent, maybe Eminem, or maybe Talib Kweli will finally shine in the mainstream, can Xzibit finally reach his goal of being the top rapper the throw up a dubya, is The Game, or Eastwood going to reach the next level that their mentors help set them up for, can Kanye West become the next great producer following others like Pete Rock, Dr. Dre, is 9th Wonder the next Premo or D.J. Quik with classics, who do you think will carry hip-hop into the next era? The Nas/Jay-Z era is ending, Southern Crunk seems to be fading as fast as it came, so what's next? What are your thoughts. I'll leave mine soon.

[Suga Foot]

I think if Eminem settles down, and just focuses on making GOOD music, he could hold the crown.  

I think Xzibit is in a good position right now getting a lot of exposure with his show on mtv.

I think Kanye is doin too much, he needs to slow it down, and only release his absolute best material.  Thats the only way he'll be regarded as one of the greats imo.

[teecee]

First of all, we have not seen the last of Nas OR Jay-Z, and i think those two will remain at the top for a couple more years....

As far as Xzibit, no chance.  I mean, who cares if he's getting exposure on a tv show, he had his chance to become a superstar with the Restless LP and he failed (still a DOPE album).

I honestly see Kanye West as the one with the most potential, as far as rapping and potential.  I dont see any one replacing nas jayz etc, but 50 eminem etc are superstars so they have a huge impact.

i pray ras kass sells some units, he has mad talent....

[eS El Duque]

if Jay-Z was carrying rap then, he's been doing a bad job..eminem has been running shit since the slim shady LP (1999)

been selling more records than all of the rappers out there (nelly comes a close second)...honestly, when eminem dropped..all i was saying was "Jay-Z, who?"

and if you mean like lyrical/beats/selling skills of an mc, then Eminem is still #1...compare Jay-Z's last 3 albums to Em's last 3 albums...don't see how he was running ANYTHING in 2000 to 2004


Reason im comparing Em to Jay-Z cause M Dogg here says that Jay-Z has been carrying rap...which i don't believe..when 2pac and biggie left us..no one was carrying rap..it was a groups of rappers you know? NO longer there can be that 1 guy who EVERYONE's gonna respect and say "yea, that's a dope mc"..people now a days just hate because the next man likes him..they might liek the rapper when they're undergroud, but when they blow up and sell millions of records..."oh man, he fell off hard, he's not what he use to be".

well, those are my 5 cents, about 2 cents in the US

[Primo]

I don't know about you guys but the SSLP is the only album i still bump outta Eminem.

[CharlieBrown]

If Eminem releases a dope hip hop album using mainly dre and the best producers in rap, and a couple of his own best beats , he should remain on top for a while.

Xzibit could blow up again, as long as he understands he blew up because he has dope lyrics, as well as a sick voice and raw flow. If he gets the right beats and comes correct on them for his next 2 LP's, he could easily be the biggest thing from the West since Pac.

He'll hopefully help Ras get the exposure he needs, who, if given the right promotion and producers could be at the same level as X could, and then Golden State could release an LP.

I think Common and Talib Kweli could both do well, but Kanye will probably be a bit more popular than both of them. Especially if Mr Carter helps promote them as well. In fact whoever Jay chooses to promote in his next rap venture will be pretty big.

I reckon Busta will release at least a couple of quality LP's on Aftermath quite quickly in a row and when he gets the audiences from the Aftermath Tour he might get thought of as one of the all time greats by the masses.

[M Dogg™]

I know it's easy to miss understood what I said, but I said who will carry rap. You guys say Jay-Z did a bad job of carrying rap, because Eminem was the biggest seller, biggest seller is not carrying rap. When Biggie and 'Pac where alive, Snoop Dogg was the biggest seller, when Ice Cube was gain coast to coast respect, M.C. Hammer and Vanilla Ice was the biggest sellers, LL Cool J outsold Rakim, the one carry rap is not the one that is the biggest seller, but the one who sets the standard for other rappers. No one was trying to do another Doggystyle, but everyone was on Ready to Dies dick, Illmatic, Jay-Z Vol. 2, Paid In Full, Makaveli, these are the albums that everyone else was jocking, trying to recreat. In production, you have everyone trying to do a Dr. Dre, a cheat Premo, Pete Rock knock off's, D.J. Quik, these artist and producers set the standard for their era. From the late 80's people remember Rakim and KRS-One, even though LL Cool J outsold them, Beastie Boys outsold Run DMC and the Furious 5, Snoop outsold 'Pac and Biggie before they died, Eminem out sells Jay-Z and Nas, same with 50 Cent now, and DMX in 1998. That doesn't matter, it's the artist that change the game, that everyone looks to as the standard that carrys rap. So who do you think it will be?

My opinion, Eminem has a chance to takeover as the undisputed rap champion, if he wants it. His fastly approaching 2Pac's sales record, though I think D-12's CD is a step backwards. I personally would like to see Eminem fully mature into a classic making machine. Also I see Talib Kweli rising and taking the spot that people like 2Pac and Nas have taken before him, and show to be the best rapper in the game at that time. I think Talib is the future holder of raps top spot in terms of being that artist that influences everybody. Xzibit I think should have been the King of the West, and he needs to come correct on his next album to take it. Restless 2 would not be a bad thing, or even better, come with the lyrical skillz of Speed of Life. If not, the west's crown will be up for graps until someone like Game takes it.

[On The Edge of Insanity]

Talib for sure. I have a feeling hes gonna blow up with Beautiful Struggle.

[Lincoln]

Talib for sure. I have a feeling hes gonna blow up with Beautiful Struggle.

Co-sign.

[...'BfCfC'...]

Talib for sure. I have a feeling hes gonna blow up with Beautiful Struggle.

maybe.

peace  

[i love men who take pictures with their booty's out]

Talib for sure. I have a feeling hes gonna blow up with Beautiful Struggle.

indubitably pimp skillet..

im bout sick of eminem..he's good.. but im want mos,pharoah monche or talib to envolve to the lyrical heavyweights that they r...they r gettin overlooked...

shit if they cant do it... i rather see scarface finally get his respect after 16yrs ..jesse james is still 1 of the top 5 rappers ever to touch the mic in the rap game..

but we cannot sleep on outkast... i know dre has some shit to say since he has woke up from his peabo bryson phase

i bettin on 1 of those 6 to take the game over..

[Shallow]

I know it's easy to miss understood what I said, but I said who will carry rap. You guys say Jay-Z did a bad job of carrying rap, because Eminem was the biggest seller, biggest seller is not carrying rap. When Biggie and 'Pac where alive, Snoop Dogg was the biggest seller, when Ice Cube was gain coast to coast respect, M.C. Hammer and Vanilla Ice was the biggest sellers, LL Cool J outsold Rakim, the one carry rap is not the one that is the biggest seller, but the one who sets the standard for other rappers. No one was trying to do another Doggystyle, but everyone was on Ready to Dies dick, Illmatic, Jay-Z Vol. 2, Paid In Full, Makaveli, these are the albums that everyone else was jocking, trying to recreat. In production, you have everyone trying to do a Dr. Dre, a cheat Premo, Pete Rock knock off's, D.J. Quik, these artist and producers set the standard for their era. From the late 80's people remember Rakim and KRS-One, even though LL Cool J outsold them, Beastie Boys outsold Run DMC and the Furious 5, Snoop outsold 'Pac and Biggie before they died, Eminem out sells Jay-Z and Nas, same with 50 Cent now, and DMX in 1998. That doesn't matter, it's the artist that change the game, that everyone looks to as the standard that carrys rap. So who do you think it will be?

My opinion, Eminem has a chance to takeover as the undisputed rap champion, if he wants it. His fastly approaching 2Pac's sales record, though I think D-12's CD is a step backwards. I personally would like to see Eminem fully mature into a classic making machine. Also I see Talib Kweli rising and taking the spot that people like 2Pac and Nas have taken before him, and show to be the best rapper in the game at that time. I think Talib is the future holder of raps top spot in terms of being that artist that influences everybody. Xzibit I think should have been the King of the West, and he needs to come correct on his next album to take it. Restless 2 would not be a bad thing, or even better, come with the lyrical skillz of Speed of Life. If not, the west's crown will be up for graps until someone like Game takes it.

Whether you like Eminem or not. He is the top rapper right now, and has been for a couple of years. I don't understand when people say he needs to mature, and then talk about Jay Z as king. Jay Z hasn't matured at all since he dropped. It's been the same old "I'm better than you, I'm richer than you, I get more women" crap. He very rarely strays from that formula.

Not to say that Eminem is a revolutionary, but songs like "the way I am", "stan" and "cleaning out my closet" have established him as the number one artist of the new millenium. Artist not rapper. Eminem has gone past the plateau of hip hop and reached the masses. Not only because of pop appeal, or because he's white, but also because of sheer creativity and good song writing. I'm not saying the whole white thing didn't help, but there have been other rappers to reach above and beyond just hip hop popularity and not be able to say there; Hammer, Vanilla Ice, Nelly, Tupac (though I'm sure he could have kept his popularity if he lived).

The bottom line is Eminem brings quality to the music scene, and has from the very beggining:

-The Slim Shady LP although pure comedy, except for a couple tracks, was just that. He brought a little much needed humour to the pop world.

-The Marshall Mathers LP gave us much more parody than the last one, and Em was one of the first artists to come out and really lash out at the stupid boy and girl groups that were plagueing the pop market. I'm not saying it was revolutionary, but it needed to be said. This same album also showed us the creative/personal side of Eminem. "The Way I Am" brought a new type of in your face flowing, keeping it very musical at the same time. And "Stan" was one of the most creative songs lyrically since..... I don't know....umm......"Sympathy For The Devil" by the Rolling Stones, (I'm sure there have been some doozies in between, I just couldn't think of one off the top of my head).

-The Eminem Show cut a lot of the so called fat from the previous album. The comedy for the most part was gone, of course the comedy that was in it was still used to sell the album. The album focused more on the events in his life over the past year or so, and his explanations for them. I'd see that as growing beyond his previous stuff. This album also show cased his ear for music, and his production skills. He produced nearly every track, and did a very reasonable job.

- As far as his group and soundtrack work goes; the Devils Night album gave the fans another encounter with his Slim Shady LP days, and the 8 mile soundstrack produced one the best songs of the last couple years. As far as the new D12 is concerned; sure it wasn't that good of an album, but his parts were all in check, and the "My Band" single was a perfect blend of creativity and humour.

I really don't want to come across as this huge Eminem fan who thinks Em can do no wrong, but I feel the need to display my thoughts on his popularity being just as much about quality as it is about marketability. If he did not have the meat to back up his potatoes, he wouldn't still be in the lime light. However I do understand that if the first single off his new album is the same song re-mixed like it was in the last two albums, it would be a mistake. He does need to come from a slightly different angle next time or the fans will probably not bite into it, just like they didn't bite for the "new" Britanny, or Timberlake, or Beyonce who's also trying to capitolize on the long gone days of the late '90s. These three artists are still all over the media, but that's only because investors are making sure they remain in the spotlight to help boost record sales. None of three are any more than 3 platinum, and with the promotion they're getting they should all be diamond by now.

[mauzip]

I'd say Kanye is going to get big.

[Jome]

Yeah, it could be Kweli, he's changing up his material for easier mainstream consumption..
He def. got the skills to be the new Jay-Z, Jigga is even a fan, so he might set Kweli up with a label, who knows..