Let’s preface this entire article by saying absolutely and categorically, Eminem is not the King of Rap. When the ‘music’ magazine Rolling Stones recently declared Eminem to be the undisputed King of Rap, they once again showed that their entire magazine is written by a bunch of middle-class white Rock kids from the suburbs.
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These are the type of uniformed paid hacks that wouldn’t know the essence of Hip-Hop if it jumped up, smashed them in the skull with a 40oz, and poked out their eyeballs with a soggy blunt.
But, I digress…
Who is the king of rap? Not Marshall Mathers III, that’s for sure; God bless him. Em is a fantastic emcee and, some might say, the most skilled rap technician ever, but he’s not the king of anything.
Considering all the great emcees that came before him that inspired the culture and took the art from the streets to the mainstream, Rolling Stones has once again shown they don’t know what they are talking about. He might be a “Rap God,” but he’s not the king.
Why Eminem Isn’t the King of Rap
I don’t want you to think I am pouring scorn on Eminem’s achievements because I do truly think he’s great. But, the best ever? You’re having a laugh.
His first two albums, Slim Shady LP and Marshall Mathers LP are Rap Music classics that probably make the Top 50 best Rap albums ever for pure shock value alone. But, after that, he seriously fell off in a hip-hop sense. Maybe he exploded in a Pop Music sense, but that’s Pop Music, not Rap. And everyone already knows that Elvis was the King of Pop. Or is that Michael Jackson?
Anyways, back to Slim Shady…
Eminem has made 11 albums, and I would struggle to place any of his albums after the first two in the Top 100 Rap Albums of all time. Does that sound like the undisputed King of Rap to you? Me neither! Sometimes less is more.
After The Eminem Show, his albums are more like soap operas than Hip-Hop classics. Whining on about his mother and wife and crying about his childhood is about as far away from Hip-Hop as you can get. In my opinion, Eminem from 2005 onward is Rap Music for people who don’t follow Rap Music. I think that’s a harsh but fair analysis of Eminem, and you are allowed to disagree.
Did Eminem Get Big Because He’s White?
No, Eminem didn’t get big because he is white. True, it did help in marketing him to white America in the late 1990s and early 2000s. But he wouldn’t have got where he did if he wasn’t a talented emcee. As I said, this is not about bashing Eminem. It’s more about bashing the inadequacies of Rolling Stones’ staff writers and their lack of understanding when it comes to real Hip-Hop and what the culture means.
I think it’s wrong when older rappers like Lord Jamar from Brand Nubian say Eminem can’t be the greatest rapper ever because he’s white. That’s a ridiculous statement in my eyes, and I used to love Brand Nubian.
There was a point in the late 1990s when the best rapper in the world was white, and the best golfer in the world was black. It was a great time to be alive, but it’s all been downhill since then, I’m afraid.
What makes me right?
Nothing makes me right. I am not the cornerstone of rap truth like Rolling Stones is pretending to be. They don’t know diddly in this area. They are a mainstream music magazine, so they’ve always been behind the curve. I’ve been listening to rappers since the mid to late 1980s, so I know what I’m talking about.
I remember the old-school greats like Grandmaster Casanova Fly, Melle Mel, Big Daddy Kane, and Rakim. Those four names alone all have more of a claim to the rap crown than Eminem. If you think otherwise, you’ve not been properly schooled on Hip-Hop history, and I feel sorry for you.
Calling Eminem the King of Rap is essentially a knife in the heart to the pioneers of the game. And that’s before we even touch on the greatest emcees from the greatest era of rap in the 1990s. It’s recency bias. It’s like when new football/soccer fans say Ronaldo or Messi are the greatest players ever but never even saw Maradona, Ronaldinho, Pele, or Zidane in their prime.
What is the Definition of Hip-Hop?
Let’s break things down for those who do not understand the roots of Hip-Hop and Rap Music. Hip-Hop is not the music. Rap is the music that comes under the Hip-Hop umbrella, which is the culture. People still seem to get these definitions incorrect when they are pretty much set in stone.
The elements of Hip-Hop culture are Rap Music, DJing, graffiti, and break-dancing. Sure, the latter two might now be antiquated, but you can’t change what is an indisputable fact. I used to think you can’t cancel facts, but the Nazi-like “cancel culture” we see today isn’t too bothered with universal truths if it goes against their agenda.
When Did Hip-Hop Change?
There was a time when New York and the East Coast of the US were the epicenters of Hip-Hop. It was created in South Bronx, so it’s only natural that it started there and branched out across America as it evolved and became more popularized.
When the likes of Ice-T, Dr. Dre, NWA, Snoop Dogg, and Warren G started repping for LA and the West Coast in the early 1990s, there was a slight shift away from the East Coast to the West, albeit only briefly.
From the early 1980s when Rap Music was invented…
Right up to around 2005, New York rappers were the standard bearers that every rapper should be judged against. Around the mid-2000s, the epicenter of Rap Music started to shift to what is regarded as the Dirty South. As a result, the likes of Ludacris, Lil’ Jon, Mike Jones, Nelly, Gucci Maine, T.I., the Ying Yang Twins, and Outkast altered the trajectory of hip-hop history as we know it.
The sound of Rap Music changed as its epicenter moved down south to Atlanta and other southern cities and states. The beats became slower, and the drums became less hard. The lyrical content and rap flow also massively changed and didn’t have as much depth as before.
Rap Music from the South is more about partying and cool vibes than the harsh realities of New York Hip-Hop. Some might say that Rap Music as we know it changed forever and would never return to its spiritual NYC roots.
So, Who Is the King of Rap?
I’m not sure anyone is the King of Rap. Kings are ordained, not voted for by the people. It’s like asking, “Who is the greatest rapper of all Time?” There isn’t one per se. The greatest are the greatest, and there are a bunch of contenders, but no one has the right to the crown. In all honesty, it’s all about opinions. And everyone has an opinion.
Here are five rappers that I believe can lay claim to the crown and moniker. These are in no particular order. You might disagree, and that’s okay. Here are my choices for the rappers who could be the King of Rap.
1 Rakim
Rap lyrics mainly seemed to be about partying and having a good time in the mid-1980s until Eric B & Rakim came along. Rakim is one of the greatest rappers of all time and was instrumental in creating multisyllabic flows and in-depth lyrics that fit together like a jigsaw.
There would have been no Nas, Biggie Smalls, or Jay-Z without Rakim The God, and that’s a fact. He is the pioneer of modern-day rap flows and lyrics and took charge of the game from 1987 to 1991.
If you want to hear Rakim, I recommend you check out “Paid in Full”, “Follow The Leader”, “Don’t Sweat the Technique”, and “In The Ghetto”.
2 Nas
Some very knowledgeable rap aficionados say that Nas is the greatest rapper of all time, and you won’t hear me argue. It’s like the crown was passed from Rakim to Nas in the early 1990s, and he ran with it like Usain Bolt. When his first album, Illmatic, hit the streets in 1994, it became an instant Hip-Hop classic. Not many have enjoyed such a quick coronation to the rap crown like Nas did back then.
His unbelievably intricate lyrics and Olympic Gold Medal-level flows quickly cemented Nas’ legacy as one of the greats. My favorite Nas tracks are “One Love”, “New York State of Mind”, “Nas is Like”, and “Made You Look”. Although, I could’ve listed ten more Nas tracks that were just as great.
3 Jay-Z
This might be a contentious decision for some. But the truth is that not many rappers have the longevity and discography of Jay-Z. And, not many street rappers like Jay have managed to stay at the pinnacle of the rap game for almost 30 years. His flows are ridiculous, and the fact that he never writes raps down on paper and prefers to write them in his head is even more astounding.
Some of Jay-Z’s best songs include the classic “Hard Knock Life”, “Dirt Off Your Shoulder”, “I Just Wanna Love U (Give It To Me)”, “Big Pimpin”, and “Can’t Knock the Hustle”. Jay does have a claim to the crown, but many people seem to forget just how great he was in his peak from 1996 to 2005.
4 The Notorious B.I.G. (Biggie Smalls)
If you asked me, “Who is the King of Rap?”, I’d choose The Notorious B.I.G., otherwise known as rap legend Biggie Smalls. In my humble opinion, Biggie is and always was the king of rap, and many other rap historians think the same way.
Furthermore, he was routinely called the King of Rap, and he probably has more of a claim to that moniker than any other rapper that ever lived. He might only have released two albums before his life was cut short in 1997, but he is the epitome of the ethos that less is more.
You don’t need 11 albums to be the king…
You just need one or two monumental albums. And that’s what Biggie had with Ready to Die in 1994 and Life After Death which was released just after his demise in 1997. Biggie had the greatest rap flow, delivery, voice, and craftsmanship, along with amazing lyrics.
Biggie Smalls’ best tracks include “Unbelievable”, “One More Chance”, “Who Shot Ya”, “Suicidal Thoughts”, “Notorious Thugs”, “Juicy”, and “Everyday Struggle”. There are just too many to mention, all from just two LPs.
5 Tupac Shakur
Everyone knows the greatness and industriousness of Tupac Shakur, or 2Pac as he was known. He was prolific in every single way. I don’t think he is in the running for the King of Rap mantle because he was more of a complete artist than a rap technician.
Tupac made great songs, while Biggie Smalls made great raps. In a head-to-head rap battle, Biggie decimates Pac and leaves his remains for the vultures to fight over. But, in regards to being an influential artist, Tupac was much more than Biggie.
Unfortunately, Pac is another great rapper that left this mortal plane far too early…
When he was released from prison in 1995 and joined Dr. Dre and Suge Knight at Death Row Records, it would’ve broken the internet by today’s metrics. The first song after his incarceration was the legendary “California Love” with Dr Dre. Younger people will not quite understand what a mainstream juggernaut that song quickly became.
I don’t think Pac could ever be the King of Rap. But he meant more than that to lots of people beyond rap culture, and that’s impressive. I recommend you check out Tupac’s songs like “Dear Mama”, “All Eyez On Me”, “Changes”, and “I Ain’t Mad at Cha” if you want to get a true reflection of his music.
Is Hip-Hop Dead?
No, hip-hop is not dead. It’s just changed and evolved to a point that it’s unrecognizable from what it once was. And that’s not an overly bad thing. Times change, music changes, people change, and so does Hip-Hop. But things don’t always change for the better.
Quite the contrary…
From my limited perspective, when the epicenter of Rap moved from New York to the Dirty South, the Hip-Hop that older fans and pioneers of the game loved disappeared forever. And it is not coming back.
Rap evolved. It became more musical and used fewer samples, but somehow lost its lyrical depth. This laid-back rap sound then quickly evolved into the Lo-Fi Rap and Mumble Rap styles that we’ve seen over the past decade or more.
Drugs changed hip-hop…
The type of drugs that rappers took had a massive effect on the sound and evolution of the music. Sure, the newer wave of rappers like XXXTENTACION, Chief Keef, Migos, and NBA Youngboy was massively influenced by the likes of Lil Wayne, T-Pain, and the auto-tune generation. But it’s the drugs they are taking that have changed the vibes.
Instead of getting drunk and high on weed…
The drugs of choice for modern rappers are prescription pain pills and opiates. And you can hear it in the laid-back and trippy nature of the instrumentals. That’s just how things are today.
Even though it’s Rap Music, I am not sure whether it comes under the Hip-Hop culture umbrella. It seems more Pop than Rap, but each to their own. Some might say that UK Grime styles are more in line with old-school rap flows than Mumble Rap, and I wouldn’t argue that.
Want More Great Hip-Hop and Rap Music?
Well, check out our thoughts on the Best Hip Hop Songs Of All Time, the Best 90s Hip Hop Songs, the Best 2000s Rap Songs, the Best Rap Songs About Money of All Time, and the Best Sad Rap Songs for more incredible song selections.
Who Is The King of Rap? – Conclusion
So, is Eminem the King of Rap? To be fair to Eminem, he is one of the few that keeps the old-school rap styles alive. So, in some way, it’s not too bad to call him the King of Rap. But it just doesn’t sit well with me for all the reasons I mentioned above.
Eminem is a great rapper…
And he should be in the Top 15 rappers of all time. It’s just that I don’t put him up there with Biggie, Tupac, Jay-Z, Rakim, or Nas. And it’s got nothing to do with him being white. Furthermore, Em gets a lot of respect from rappers and his contemporaries for his abilities and achievements.
Eminem might well be the king of rap, but if he is, he is uncrowned and definitely not undisputed. Rolling Stones magazine is a mainstream music magazine, so it makes sense they chose Eminem. I don’t think that Rolling Stones represents Rap Music fans. They see things more from the perspective of Rock Music. So, they are not experts on the subject.
That said, who’s the King of Rap? I believe it’s Biggie Smalls, but I don’t have a monopoly on the truth or Rap Music history.
Until next time, enjoy the music.
