90s OldSchool Type Beat
"Game Over"
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(This thread is VERY LONG. But most of it is quotes, verses, links, and annotations which make up 50% + of the thread. This isn’t meant for everyone to read, except a select few which are intrested in this.) I think the GOATNESS of G Rap must be acknowledged in one thread, so that if anyone wants to find about g rap, then they can just come here to see his strengths and songs/albums to go to for specific things. In terms of old school hip hop music (we’re talking 80’s, not 90’s), there are the super lyrical MC’s, and also in these cases, founding fathers, that like to show and prove their skill (e.g: Rakim, and others), there are the ones that attract the ladies, but at the same time kick ill rhymes (e.g: Big Daddy Kane, LL Cool J), there are the ones that had something to say (e.g: Boogie Down Productions), there are the political ones (e.g: Public Enemy), there are the storytelling ones (e.g: Slick Rick), there are the battle ones (e.g: Kool Moe Dee), and then there are the ones that you can tell without being told, that they are 80s (that’s not a good or bad thing) (e.g: Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Run-D.M.C, Fat Boys, a lot of others). So what category does Kool G Rap fall into you ask? Kool G Rap falls into all of those categories, and is a diverse character. Kool G Rap rhymes about, crime, poverty, racism, songs for the females, and dope verse dropping. - Technical Lyrical Ability: It is nearly undisputed that G rap is one of the most technical rappers of all time. Along with rakim he literally revolutionized and were the first to master multisyllable rhyming. However, it’s not just his incredible GOAT multsyllables (which has influenced everyone from Eminem to Pharoahe Monch) it is also his consonance, assonance, internal rhyming, intricate rhyme schemes, alliteration, and even his usage of similes, metaphors, and extended metaphors. Consonance, assonance, internals, multis, and etc… are replete within his songs and verses, however here is a specific example of his alliteration: You preschool poets are pitiful You playing with no principle Put out public school I put a pencil in the principal Plea bargain my pre-meditateds palmin' my penis You prolly with PoPo and participate with subpoenas I part through your peoples like “Pardon, Pa” it’s a problem They probably plenty prayin or plain playing possum Make police park cars, snap pictures of parts of ‘em Pull punks pop pellets, you punks want no parts of him, period And of his extended metaphors: My brain is like a factory constantly creating Material stitch by stitch for decoration Lyrics are fabrics, beat is the lining My passion in rhyming is fashion designing Now it gets odd it, cause people want to sport it You bought it, if you didn’t then you couldn’t afford it Check out this in depth and well written analysis of just one kool g rap verse, displaying his incredible skills when it comes to lyricism and being technical: Check out his rhyme schems in these songs and the technical analysis generated as well: Men at Work Allied Meta-Forces Cannon Fire Good Die Young - Flow Kool G Rap seriously has one of the greatest flows OAT. he has soo many different type of flows, and he is literally a master of all of them. His flow is also versatile in a good way. usually many rappers who stick to one flow, once they try to change it, it usually sounds forced since the artist is trying to sound to much like another rapper/style. However with g rap his flows are always natural, and this is very intentional as g rap says himself: The flow is nothing but G Rap just staying with a flow that’s not dated, but is still G Rap at the same time. Because I could never flow with somebody else’s flow like that. And if I did, it might sound like somebody else’s flow, but these dudes was inspired by G Rap and so they took pieces of G Rap with them and became what they became. So what might sound like somebody else’s flow—nah, not really, that’s a part of G Rap and if we could go back and listen to each and every record I made you’ll probably hear those flows and shit that I did before. Somebody might have took a certain flow of mine and just based their whole style around that and just ran with it. I never just did one flow, I mean you hear a flow I did on “Men at Work” and you heard a different flow on “Road to the Riches,” so it’s like I never just did only one flow. So as G rap said he has the fast type flow like in Men at Work (incredible fast paced flow) and a more laid back flow like on Road to Riches. However, those songs were from his earlier career, and since then G rap has refined his flow so much more on later albums like on Live and Let Die and 4,5,6. 4,5,6 is probably his best album flow wise, which is funny since i was recently reading a review of 4,5,6 by G rap and the first thing it said was: Ladies and Gentlemen…. The Greatest FLOOOOOOOOOOW On Earth!!! He also said: If Rakim would be titled with being the “God of Modern Lyricism”, then surely Kool G. Rap is the “God of Modern Flow”, being the first to have expert timing in his lyrics and punching out syllable after syllable with machine gun accuracy. Even Martin Connor (who is a computer scientist who is known on the internet, particularly RG for giving objective and in depth analysis’s of rappers flows) had this to say about G raps flow and rhythm: On this song, though, I wasn’t looking for his rhymes, which is generally the last thing I pick up on a song, but the rhythms of his words. What I enjoyed so much about his musical rhythms on this song was the one, small, but very unique/characteristic idea he kept repeating. It was honestly music to my ears — pun intended — when he started repeating the idea that he first mentions around 0:11, on the words “front of my.” The important aspects of this idea are that it’s 3-notes long, and faster than his other rhythms, and are triplets (which is a technical, musical term, so I won’t go into it.) This 3-note and fast rhythm, which I’ll call rhythm 1 just for simplicity’s sake, stands out from his other rhythms, which are generally slower. Now, let me walk you through how I heard this song. I heard this rhythm 1 idea once, and it stuck out because it was so unique from the other rhythms he was rapping. When he repeated it around 0:14, on “raggedy,” I knew that something was going on. However, it was up to Kool G Rap to get the most out of this idea. At 0:15, he does rhythm 1 again, on “kickin a.” Again, everything I’m quoting has 3 notes/syllables (they’re the same thing,) and they’re all fast rhythms. Having mentioned rhythm 1 three times already, I was dying, dying, dying for him to mention it throughout the rest of the song. But from 0:17 to 0:34, he doesn’t at all. That might not sound like a long time, but in music that’s 7 bars, which is a long time in terms of musical time. At this point, I was incredibly disappointed, and thought I’d be able to dismiss KGR as just another good-but-not-great rapper. However, when he brought rhythm 1 back at around 0:35, on “thinking a-”, my heart leapt for joy. He even does it again, right after, on “gotta get”. I now knew this was a rapper to be reckoned with. That’s because this is clearly a musician who understands how to unify an extended musical structure, a 4-minute long song, in unique ways. His simple repetition of a unique rhythm is a great way to keep the thread of dramatic tension throughout this entire song taught. After 0:36, I’m not paying at all to the words Kool G Rap is saying, but instead listening for that unique rhythm. Every time it comes back, it’s a relieving satisfaction of my musical expectations. For instance, he does it again at 0:45 and 0:55. I’ll let you track down the rest of the times it occurs, because it’s honestly so much fun to do so. But please listen to these songs if you want an idea of how incredible G raps flow is: It’s a Shame- His flow on this song is just so fucking godly and on point, its almost makes me mad how incredible his flow is here. Especially the part where he says: The boss of all bosses, I own racehorses and a fortress Corridors with olympic torches and Mona Lisa portraits Jacuzzis and saunas and eatin steak at Benihana’s Bentley’s, limousine, the front yard stream is full of pirahnas I’m set, a private jet, I drink a lot of Beck’s Get a lot of sess, condo and duplex, diamond infested Rolex Deliver a crown at the Wall Unit’s with Silver China Sippin on finer wine-r you see more shines than diamond miners The Highness, kingpin of heroin I’m thorough when I have to bring the terror in Handle business in each and every borough in Town or city, I’m rollin like Frank Nitti, I’m rich and pretty Back up kiddies, I got crimies that’s grimy and gritty A nigga that’s spunky and likes to keep his pockets chunky Makin most of my money, from all the dopefiends and junkies Kool is Back- Along with tracks like Men at Work and #1 with the bullet (renegades BDK), this track is another example of Kool G raps rapid fire fast paced flow. 1st verse of Blowin up in da world- This is honestly one of his best songs OAT, and his menacing flow is so incredible. His flow is some what sporadic (in the most amazing way possible), and it is a classic example of his trademark flow mixed with his GOAT breath control. G rap is one of those rappers that can spit 6 bars seemingly without taking a single breath. When Pun came out, his flow was one of his most stand out characteristics, and you can thank G rap for that since Pun basically took G raps entire breathless flow. For more songs with this type of flow just check out Executioner style,Let the games begin, and 4,5,6. His flow and breath control on BUIDW is especially nice when he says: I never remembered the dinners, the brother was straight fat cat Not even a Big Mac black, I had kit-kats on top of crackerjacks Reading it may not sound that impressive but listen to the way G rap delivers this line with his breathless flow. Its incredible. When it comes to flow G rap is set, with multiple incredible flows from his laid back styled flow to his breathless intricate flows that have all influenced the flows of Big Pun, Nas, raekwon, BIG, and etc… - Storytelling Storytelling is one of the most unique and intriguing things that an emcee can do. If you look at the GOAT’s across the board, storytelling songs stand out in their discography as some of the most creative and entertaining songs. Some of the best storytellers in hip hop include eminem, nas, Biggie, Ghostface, Slick Rick, and etc… However, when it comes to storytelling in my honest and well thought out opinion; kool g rap is thee greatest hip hop storyteller of all time… The only one that comes close is nas, but in general G rap is the greatest when it comes to stroytelling… Storytelling is one of g raps main focus as well: A lot of people say what I write is very descriptive, because I’m a writer kind of rapper. I’m not just a rapper, like, that try to get people to dance or to move and stuff like that—I’ll write that shit that’s gonna have you sit there and you gonna see visuals of what I’m talking about. You’re gonna see a short little movie—I’m gonna give somebody a visual of G Rap doing something. -Kool G Rap I was always a writer/novelist. The first thing I wanted to do before I started rapping was to write novels. I always had the instinct to tell stories, and that’s why I’m credited for being one of the most cinematic rappers. -Kool G rap His first album didn’t necessarily have storytelling songs however there were many instances of his ability to craft and describe images, however his 2nd album is where we see a large increase/improvement of storytelling and imagery such as: - Streets of new york (with NY state of mind type imagery, which this song actually directly influenced NY state of mind..) - Wanted: Dead or Alive: Beginning with a very zoomed in narrative of him on the run from the police after having committed a bank heist for the mob, it then zooms out to talk about the crime in the city in a general fashion. Kool G repeats this formula again in the second verse. and etc… These songs however these songs and albums are nothing really special looking at it from todays standards (they were great for the time in which they came out). They are nothing compared to his 3rd album Live and Let die, which was the mark of G raps GOAT storytelling status… From the very first track we have a long, twisty heist story that Kool G Rap tells from the perspective of a low-level mob henchman, working for the Luciano crime family. Dissatisfied by what he thinks is insufficient pay for the drug running and money laundering jobs he is required to handle from day to day, he steals a shipment of 10 kg of cocaine (around $200,000 worth) so he can go into business for himself. His bosses catch him on the way to the airport, where he is plotting to flee town with his wife and son, but they are able to escape following a gunfight. He then drives into Mexico and stops at a filling station where he is again pursued by the Luciano family. He is able to kill his pursuers, including Don Luciano, and escapes. Train robbery: An incredibly visual story about a gruesome train heist over an eerie beat that perfectly reflects/captres g raps story. Incredible imagery and extremely easy to follow story. Straight Jakcet: Honestly not his best storytelling song, however it is pretty visual and the content is very unique and intriguing. Ill Street Blues: A very well thought out and descriptive/vvid story. each evrse is amazing and pays so much attention to detail, in this incrediblely elaborate mob story: Edge of Sanity: G Rap is on the edge of sanity because he can’t get a job and his girlfriend is urging him to get off his lazy ass. He blames his place in society for committing crimes. He resorts to criminal measures and predictably, with an unsuccessful court case to follow, he ends up doing jail time. The echoing voices in the production reflect on his despair and sane-less thought process. While he’s away, his girlfriend is seeing someone else. It’s all an accumulation of bad things in G Rap’s life. One of the best put together tracks on the album. It really shows how the prison system destroys the unity and family unit, and drives the average African American male in todays society to the edge of sanity… Live and Let Die was G rap’s space to just create some of the most vivid, intriguing, and Mafioso gangster hip hop story's of all time. It is his gangster and mafia hip hop themed storytelling, in his albums up to this point that would influence scores of GOAT storytellers such as Raekwon, Biggie, Nas, and etc… However, arguably his greatest album for Mafioso and vivid storytelling is without a doubt roots of evil. Nearly every single track is a storytelling song with gangster themed plots. It also includes some of his most cinematic and imagery filled raps such as: Hitmans Diary: Here G Rap crafts a song surrounded on the basic premise of street poetry, only with a much more violent and gruesome circumstance. The concept here finds Kool reading out of his diary about all of the little events that he ends up running into which always end with somebody dying. Yeah, some would say this is just bonafied gangsta rap, but I prefer to call it “gangsta, with a twist” due to the fact that it’s actually creative and has a story of it’s own. One Dark Night: Foul Cats: Tekilla Sunrise: Here he is describing fantasies of being a glorified drug-lord, this time showing his dark side, explaining that he’ll kill anybody regardless of race, color, or creed. After this part, he goes on to tell a story about his altercation with an enemy mexican which led to a huge gun fight. The cinematic style of Kool G. Rap comes into fruition here as he describes being on the wrong side of deadly street violence, and actually story tells. The dark, brooding production fits the depressing feel of the lyrics. And finally of course the best storytelling song on the album, of g raps career, and IMO the GOAT storytelling song; Thug Love Story (Chapter I,II, and III). I simply cant explain how incredible this storytelling track is. If you are unsure of g raps storytelling skills then this song would be the definitive answer to confirm g raps GOAT status in storytelling. I gave a great an d in depth description of the GOATNESS of this storytelling song which I advise you to read if you really want to understand the intricacy of the storytelling in this song and why it’s so GOAT: n Everything from the content of g raps stories, to the plots, and the imagery and literary elements utilized in these songs are undeniable proof that G rap is the #1 storyteller, and if not certainly top 5 to top 3 storytellers OAT. Listen to these songs listed (which is a far cry from all of his storytelling songs lmao), read the lyrics, and annotations and I am assured that you will eventually be convinced of G raps GOAT storytelling skills… Socially conscious/Content: Kool G rap is far from being a socially conscious rapper in the same sense that emcees such as Talib Kweli and Common are, however he has a great deal of socially conscious songs, and his typical subject matter/content is substantive and can be “socially aware” in other ways. Some of his best socially conscious storytelling songs include: Road to riches: Erase Racism Crime Pays: Edge Of Sanity Blowin Up In da World Where ya At Home sweet home However even when he is not necessarily being socially conscious his content contains alot of graphic and vivid descriptions of poverty, the street life, and struggles of blacks in america. His content can also be very entertaining like a movie when he talks about mafia type drug deals and heists. it is always versatile and intriguing, and never bland. Discography People really don’t realize how great Kool G rap’s discography is. His first two albums with DJ Polo (1989: Road to Riches and 1990: Wanted: Dead or Alive) are classics which helped revolutionize lyricism and were absolutely mind blowing for its time. They are great albums (a little “dusty”, but not as dusty as other albums of the time and you can certainly appreciate it) and certified classics. His next album Live and let die in 1992, would end up being his last DJ Polo album but also being one fo the best projects of his career. Here we G rap experimenting and significantly advancing his versatile flows, impeccable lyricism, and top notch flow. For 1992, this was so ahead of its time, establishing a more advanced platform which would become the blueprint for countless GOAT rappers. It also includes features from ice cube, big daddy kane, and scarface and he outshines them all. Another certified classic, and significantly better album. After that we have his first solo album 4,5,6 and his most commercially successful album. This arguably his best album sonically and in terms of flows, and while he may not have as much storytelling, he still delivers on every single track murdering it, with many features including a classic nas feature. This album is considered a classic, however its more debatable. It’s still a GOAT level album. If you missed the classic g rap cinematic storytelling on 4,5,6 then his next album in 1998 would certainly make up for that; Roots of evil. It is the ultimate work of lyrical mobsterism. Everything about the album screams Mafioso, starting from the album cover. The cover is an adaptation of the video cover of the film Scarface. Instead of the Cuban refugee turned wealthy drug kingpin Tony Montana (the lead character played by Al Pacino) and the summary of his saga, it features Kool G Rap and the summary of his career. Lyrically and musically, Roots of Evil fully epitomizes Mafioso rap. Different standout tracks such as “One Dark Night,” “Tekilla Sunrise,” “Mobstas,” and “Thug’s Love Story (Chapter I, II, III)” are all demonstrations of Kool G Rap’s versatility. “One Dark Night,” a bass-heavy track, is a short but intense tale of a shootout. “Tekilla Sunrise,” with its Latin guitar samples, is a song that “makes you want to see G Rap and Antonia Banderas busting off clips at each other in an action flick.” (Juon, RapReviews). “Mobstas,” backed by fluctuating synthesizer play, is an intricately pieced mosaic in which Kool G Rap paints a dream. He meets legendary mobsters and vigilantes (including Al Capone, Frank Costello, Lucky Luciano, Bugsy Siegel, Baby Face Nelson, Machine Gun Kelly, John Dillinger). Thug Love Story is a “9-minute excursion into the underworld, and is without a doubt thee greatest storytelling song in hip hop history. It is one of the greatest mafiaso hip hop albums and one fo the greatest hip hop storytelling albums, with every single track resembling a more lyrical version of biggies cinematic Niggas Bleed. At this point in g rap’s discography, he has been on a straight winning streak with 5 incredible and classic (or near classic) albums from 1989 to 1998. He improves dramatically throughout these albums and delivers every single album. After this point he has The Giananca Story in 2002 and riches, royalty, respect in 2011. TGS in 2002 is not as great or classic as his previous 5 albums, however it received great feedback and includes some of g raps best verses and songs. It is a step down nonetheless, but a decent to good album with some classic mob deep features. Then his 2011 album was an even bigger step down and is his worst album reciveing mixed reviews. However someone in the games as long a g rap, who has 7 official albums, the first 5 being incredible and GOAT level, the next being a decent to good album, one slip up is quite impressive. His other albums shown in the picture above are compilation albums, and some collab albums that are alright with mixed reviews. G rap however has one of the best first 5 album runs in hip hop history, and has been consistently releasing music more than nearly every other 80s rappers. Influence G rap is one of the most influental rappers of all time. His legacy and imapct on hip hop is often understated to say the least. When you think of the pioneers of 90s hip hop, you usually think of emcees like KRS ONE, Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, Chuck D, adn etc… However, people really don’t acknowledge the impact that g rap has had on Hip Hop. For starters, G rap literally influenced the entire sub genre of hip hop knwon as gangsta rap and mafioso rap. G rap pioneered the drug and mafia themed raps, influecing countless gangster rap artist. G rap is the father of gangster rap, literally making him the OG of rap… Without G rap we would not have rappers/groups like - Nas - Raekwon - Ghostface killah - Biggie - Jay Z - Big Pun - The LOX - Big L -AZ - Scarface and etc… And without G rap we would'nt have classic mafioso themed rap albums like: Lets not forget to mention the fact that Rakim was not the only one to master multisyllable rhyming in the 80s… G rap was just as important to the pioneering of modern lyricism today as rakim, and he is arguably (from a technical aspect) just as good and in some aspects better than rakim…. Just check out this Kool G Rap Demo the same year that paid in full came out G rap was rhyming just as insane as rakim, and his debut album in 1989 was just as influntal and impactful to lyricism in hip hop… In fact it was G raps multisyllable raps and intrciate rhyme schemes that helped significantly influence lyrical heavy weights such as: - eminem - Elzhi - Pharoahe Monch - Joell Ortiz - Black Thought - R.A the rugged man - Canibus - MF DOOM - Papoose - RZA - Immortal technique - Vinnie Paz - Action Bronson All the rappers I named above have mentioned G rap as a major influence lyrically. IMO he is probably the 2nd most influental rapper of all time (with rakim at #1), with not only helping revolutionize lyricism, but by also help creating an entire sub genre of hip hop that has literally directly influenced some of the greatest hip hop albums of all time. Lets also not forget the artist that he not only gave the entire blueprint for all of these artists styles, flows, and careers, but he also helped them get put on in the first place. One of the best examples is nas. When nas came out the biggest comparison was rakim, but another huge comparison was g rap. G rap comparisons were everywhere, and nas has admitted this since nas’s style is so heavily influenced by g rap. Before illmatic kool g rap actually tried to get nas signed to def jam and set up a meeting for nas with Kevin liles. They rejected him since they said his style was too similar to g rap. G rap didn’t give up on nas and gave nas studio sessions at his house. And it was at G raps house where nas met MC serch, who would lead nas to live at the barbecue and blow up. Kool G Rap was the one putting nas’s name out to producers and rappers telling them how crazy this kid was. All of this is pre-illmatic. G rap practically helped catapult nas’s career both through his influence in style and business connections that he gave nas. Once illmatic came out nas had already knew the right people and producers through g rap, and according to G rap the “passing the torch moment was nas’s feature on Fast Life (fun fact: nas is on the cover of the 4,5,6 album right next to g rap) track: “Fast Life” was looked at as a passing of the torch to Nas, because before I had been shopping him around. He recorded his whole demo in my studio. By the time we did “Fast Life” together, Nas had already started to make his entry into the game. That was the first time we had rapped together on a song, and the timing made it a passing of the torch. Before that, I set up a meeting with Lyor Cohen and Kevin Liles at Def Jam to talk about Nas. Kevin Liles was the one who said that he sounds too much like a G Rap, and so Def Jam passed. I knew I had some influence on him but I knew he had his own identity.[3] — Kool G Rap And it stands today as nas’s favorite feature since it showed how he could go toe to toe with one of the best, who birthed his style. So without g rap, their would be no nas at all. Literally. G rap’s influence and impact on the game can’t be overlooked at all. Renegades Kool G Rap nearly never gets outshined on a track. Its almost always a renegade: - He renegaded Big daddy Kane, Masta Ace, and marley marl in their prime on the symphony. His original verse was like 10-15 minutes, so they cut it and the rest of the verse went to his CLASSIC men at work. He outshined them all without a doubt. - He renegaded Mobb Deep on the realest. Alchemist said that he wote his verse first and quickly, and just left everyone in the studio completely stunned and speechless. He even received a hip hop quotable of the month for it: He renegaded Big L on fall back, with superior flow and lyricism. It was kind of embarrassing to hear big ls verse with g raps tbh. He renegaded BDK again in his prime with #1 with the bullet with not one but two incredible verses displaying that G rap could outrap BDK in terms of flow and incredibly fast paced rhyming; two of BDK’s most special traits… Kool G rap murdered Pun twice on wishful thinking and dramaticide. Even though pun delivered well, g rap just stole the track. He renegaded AZ and Papoose (who had a lyrical miracle verse but still couldn’t be as technical as g rap) on Thug connection in terms of flow, lyricism, and content. He embarrassed Ghostface Killah on dogs of War from his 36 seasons album… IMO he renegaded ghostface and raekwon on rivers of blood, but not that bad. He is the first person to outshine canibus on a record, from allied meta forces. Even though its close and canibus held his own, g rap outshined him with an epic verse. I still think G rap outshined nas on fast life. Nas held his own and was able to keep up but g rap flowed better, was more technical, and has better replay value than nas’s verse IMO. The only time I can think of G rap ever getting outshined was by RA the rugged man on 3 kingz. RA increased his rhyme density by 10-15% tho, to keep up with G rap, and RA is ALWAYS praising Kool G Rap as the GOAT emcee and GOAT lyricist. That’s it. The rest can’t outshine him by a lot. Overall, G rap is a GOAT imo the 2nd greatest rapper of all time, and just a full package. His delivery, flows, lyricism, content, storytelling, punchlines, consistency, legacy, and etc… is all just top notch. He has a top 10-15 flow OAT, top 5 technical lyricist, #1 storyteller OAT, has one of the best first 5 album runs OAT, and is the 2nd most influential rapper. The importance of g rap is so incredible and unbearable, that it is criminal that it is outshined by the GOAT legacy's of rakim, KRS, and BDK. Even Big daddy kane said: “I always feel like I took his slot. I always felt he never got the props he deserved. When I took off it wasn’t really enough room for us two, so my man never got to shine the way he could have. I don’t think the world knows how great Kool G rap is on the mic” And even peter Rosenberg said to G rap: “How do you feel being the guy who allowed other people to make bread. You were the guy who never sought money or glory, you just did your job, added to the craft, and help facilitate other people” He even said in response to Rosenberg asking if he knew nas was going to make more money than him saying: “I would’ve never thought of it like that… Im one of the guys who appreciates true lyricism. If I hear something that I feel the world needs to hear, I just wanna get it out there. (I didn’t do it for a big pay day). Which is why I never monopolize off the game like that.” He is truly one of the most influential GOAT rappers that never gets the recognition he deserves; but at the same time doesn’t care as long as he is delivering and contributing to the art form in making authentic music and giving the pathway for others to do so as well. The dude is so real, humble, and committed to his art in ways that is lost IMO in todays hip hop. His whole persona brings together street-level wit with the verbal aptitude of a bookworm, bridging the gap between high-brow lyrical nerds and head-nodding tough guys in a manner that has yet to be duplicated effectively