Consistency, growth, decent music. I think a decent amount of rappers fit into this category. Jay, Kanye, Wayne (like him or not, when he's not in jail), Drake, TIP (when not in jail). That's just off the top. If the integrity and quality of their music exceeds the quantity, I'll still stick with them.
I would I agree if this were 2009. But these past 2 or 3 years? Its been Rick Ross. We're all hip hop fans here. Let's be honest. When is the last time we said Jay, Kanye, Wayne, Drake or TIP have dropped a good album? In regards to Drake he does far too much singing to be considered a rapper and he's lost touch with hip hop since his So Far Gone tape. With TIP, Jay, Kanye and Wayne these guys music-wise are either stagnant or simply declining in quality of music they are putting out. Rawse isn't. He's getting better and in a world where autotune rap and "hashtag" rap has become the norm and accepted, Rawse and his camp are consistently dropping quality material and doing their best to remind us of what rap was. Like I said above, it might not be appreciated now but down the road when hip hop has become flooded with cats rapping in autotune and doing hashtag metaphors it will be. Rawse is the last of a dying breed.
You're in here riding hard for Ross. So clearly you're a fan. I have made it clear I am not. So the truth is likely to lie somewhere in between our respective opinions. This whole "the rap game stops" (an artists fans will do that for every anticipated project), "last of a dying breed", "will be appreciated down the road" just makes the impact of this man and his music so much greater than the reality of it in my opinion.
How does the rap game stop for Ross but not Jeezy.....but Jeezy sells more records? This is a classic example of perception vs. reality. Your perception is the rap game stops. Because blogs get hyped? Of course they do. Ross does a video every day. You can say sales don't matter all you want. But it doesn't say anything when people stop and look for one, vs. stop and cop for the other? That doesn't say something about the respective power of each artist? Teflon Don, released in 2010, has done 700,000 units. TM103, released in December is at 543,000 units. Deeper Than Rap hasn't even gone Gold.
So Ross is really a singles driven artist.
You "can't accept" that Rich Forever is a failed album?
It's not Jay's era because he's bigger than Hip Hop now? That's exactly what makes it his era. He's still a rapper. Sold out tours. No singing. No broadway shows. No acting. And that somehow lessens his impact on Hip Hop or the idea that this is his, or maybe even Kanye's (for better or worse) era?
Tip, Jay, Kanye, Wayne are stagnant musically? But they are stagnant at the TOP of the game. Where else do you go? Wayne (for better or worse) actually stepped outside the box with "How To Love" and "Mirror". Ross hasn't really changed much artistically/musically. To me his music isn't getting better. It's about the same. "Push It" and "Blow" are just as good as any of his newer material, if not BETTER.
I think this all just points to Ross being a master marketer. He does A LOT of what he does with smoke and mirrors. So the perception and the reality don't always line up.
rake>Common>French>Ross
