Agree Or Disagree - All GOAT MCs Have One Thing In Common
- Thread starter 5 Grand
- Start date
Lab Baby
#CouchGang2024
Em is in my top 5 and he's not 5, plus you have to argue me to the grave to prove he's not the most technically skilled rapper of all time. Bruh be rappin on some dookie butter. That shit he dropped this week would corrupt a recycling bin.
Nas's production is iffy, but it's not as bad as ppl say. Other than that the rest of the GOATS have stellar production.
Nas's production is iffy, but it's not as bad as ppl say. Other than that the rest of the GOATS have stellar production.
The Lonious Monk
Celestial Souljah
Sometimes beat selection is more a matter of access than taste. Jay has consistently had good beats, but he also has his choice of producers on any given day. Not every artist has it like that.
Lab Baby
#CouchGang2024
On an overall basis, I think everyone you mentioned as well as other GOATs have consistent production at absolute worst. Royce got some of the best Preemo beats ever. Thought is in the best live band in hip hop history... they may not make ass shaking music all the time but their production is sonically on another level. The Tipping Point and Game Theory alone are mindblowing. You know you the man when you can cover a Dilla beat live and do it justice. K Dot gave us 2 of the best rap albums of the 2010s, and production was a big part of that. Shit, if you consider Drake a GOAT dude's production is flawless as far as objective quality. Everything he's ever dropped sounds ready for radio, and it's some of the most minimalistic shit ever. I think some 80s GOATs might be exempt from this (LL, Rakim and KRS done rapped on some of the worst shit I ever heard in my life)... but after 1990 the GOATs were backed by fire production.
I was about to cosign you until I got to the end.
I think the reason you consider somebody a GOAT is because the total package is fire, not just the rhymes. Otherwise we'd be calling Canibus a GOAT. His first album had some suspect beats but a few heaters. Then it went downhill from there.
As far as LL, Rakim and KRS, you had to be there. Keep in mind that from 87-91 Nas, Jay, Pac, Biggie, Wu-Tang, Snoop didn't exist yet. No Limit didn't exist. When you listen to 80s Hip Hop now you're listening to it out of context.
I'll say this much, the reason LL beat Kool Moe Dee in their battle wasn't because of LL's rhymes, it was because Kool Moe Dee's production was horrible imo. I've met people that liked Kool Moe Dee's production but for the most part he only had a few solo songs that I liked; How Ya Like Me Now, Wild Wild West, They Want Money, Go See The Doctor, I Go To Work, Rise N Shine, Let's Go...and Self Destruction, he murdered that. Self Destruction shows that when Kool Moe Dee gets the right beat he's up there with the best of em.
Lab Baby
#CouchGang2024
As per the 80s GOAT thing, I'm talkin bout after their primes. I was born in 86, I can listen to music of that time period, take out my own programmed bias and listen to the innovations that particular music made. Nation of Millions is one of my favorite albums of all time off production alone. LL's Radio came out the day my brother was born plus LL is my initials... I will NEVER disrespect that man's catalogue from that time period. But you tellin me you listening to Exit 13 straight thru for beats? I mean if you're talking just straight beats and not overall production, then LL alone has rapped on some of the dopest beats of all time. Ill Bomb is insane... best use of that David Porter sample IMO. But you said it yourself... GOATs KNOW how to pick good beats and have solid production. Jay can fuck his budget up on Timbaland and Neptunes beats... and still hire some young kids from Chicago, Jersey and VA for album fillers, and it's been like that for over 20 years. Rick Rubin done fucked up plenty albums with his Johnny Cash throwaway demos, and LL has him on speed dial. Rakim couldn't make shit happen with Dre during the time Em and 50 became stars. Go listen to Spiritual Minded by KRS and tell me he knows how to pick beats. Then had the nerve to tell us not to buy Nelly's album. Fuck outta here Kris.
OK, LL, Rakim and KRS were GOATs in their era (mid 80s-early 90s). I'll admit there's a cutoff point when their careers took a nosedive.
Between the three of them I'd say
LL - 1985-2002 (Luv You Betta was LL's first #1 song)
KRS 1987-97 (This is when he was on a major label. He went indie in 1998 and hasn't had a hit since)
Rakim 1986-92 (I always thought Eric B was the weak link, but when they broke up Ra couldn't get it together)
If you judge them in their primes they all had solid production.
After their prime they were like Mike on the Wizards; Flashes of brilliance, but couldn't keep up with the new generation.