Okay the avid Rap fan I am and will always be I'm uphold to put in my two cents into this discussion for the sole purpose I believe both Rikerslade as well as Mugen have some serious pointers in this discussion and believe at the moment its very hard to pick sides. From what I am reading I sense a bit of logical play as well as playing favorites on what it means to be successful at this very time. So lets begin shall we?
Kendrick Lamar
The break out star of the rap game to this very age and date. I have huge respect for him, truly I do. I mean how many times a day do you hear rappers actually put the game back up to heights it has never been for such a long time. I have to say at this day and age I agree with the fact that Kendrick has influenced rap at this moment more then anyone and again I'm talking about the moment. Not what he has done in 20 years. But for this year he brought the rap game from nothing but a ridicule and behind the shadows of pop music to sky rocketing in almost an instant with just one verse. But is that enough? Lets see if we really look into it, Kendrick has done two things very noticeable which has effected rap. One being taking shots at all the best and known rappers telling them to simply step their game up as well as his cypher in the BET which he held nothing back taking jabs once again to rappers and own it. Something special that this guy is able to do which I believe is his best feature is bring the game up and influence everything which goes on just by featuring in one song. I mean look at his numbers; he is breaking huge barriers by just featuring and any interview he is in people just hop on to see what he will say. He has that type of control over rap which reminds me so much of Eminem during his earlier years. I don't know if many of you guys know this but Eminem and Kendrick are very much a like. In honesty I think they are two of the same. They are not scared to speak their mind. So what does all this mean? Yes Kendrick at this moment has influenced the production of rap and its intensity more then anyone else. He might not have yet to drop a more influential album but its not like his first album was bad, yes it was less then expected but he did produce a proper rap album and showed how he has endless potential.
What I see in argument is Mugen is simply saying Kendrick at this very moment is the best but I don't like using that word, for no one really knows who is the best. I like say he is making the biggest impact then anyone else. Which in honesty very true. I believe he is correct that Kendrick is the stand out. I can use obvious evidence. One being his control verse, his cypher but something more deep which is what not much people fail to realize is Eminem had a song with him featuring. I as well as every rap fan wanted to hear that song more then any other song he had on their. For two reasons.
-We want to see the two most badass rappers just take shots.
-Also we wanted to see how Kendrick will be able to stand up next to a living legend.
Now that second point might seem iffy but it is true, we wanted to see if Kendrick had it in him. Instead we got shot down with a song below or expectation. But what happen? Even when it was not a good song, it still got higher numbers then any other song when it came to listening and views. Look at his songs like Rap God, Berzerk, and Survival. All good numbers and all Eminem by himself but with the song where Kendrick appeared it trumped every other numbers. People wanted to see Kendrick rap more, its something we want and something only Kendrick is only able to do. So in short people love and respect Kendrick more and he is making the biggest impact at this moment.
Eminem
But something you guys have to realize is that he did all this before Eminem dropped his Album, hell before we even knew what songs were going to be on the album itself. We just knew the name; though it might have hyped up its nothing. Eminem sadly simply does not have that strength he used to have and this is because he does not have the drive he had at one time which made him a force to reckon with. If I say right now, Eminem at his peak was beyond normality of rap he did not make rap, he made art. This is during his years from 1999-2005. Those were his standout years where no one could touch him. Then when the album was getting closer to launch people were getting excited. People heard his songs he made singles, and when he dropped "rap god" I want crazy. I thought it was going to be the best Album ever. Then the track list hit. We saw Rihanna featuring in one song, as well as survival in it. This indicated two things, the album was going to be more lazier and Eminem wanted to make a mainstream song. This made the album hype drown down a lot. Then it was finally released. I bought and listened to it.
Now I don't want to write a review but lets say their were two main parts to this album. Eminem simply did not deliver what was expected and he was a shell of his former self. If you name an album "MMLP2" which pretty much stands to mean that this album will be next to his greatest album of all time and arguably one of the greatest not just in rap but in music culture then you better show me why its worth. But he did not. The songs lacked in motivation and aggression. It was nothing like his other albums. It was better then relapse and recovery but that was to be expected. But I fail to say its anywhere close to his other albums. It was in short a fail. Yes coming from one of the biggest Eminem fans it failed to meet what we wanted. It didn't even get 1M in a week where back then MMLP got 1.9M in a week. And its not because people forgot about him, his fans are very loyal. But its because he failed to deliver what we the fans wanted. Slim Shady.
The difference
So by saying he failed to deliver what we wanted he did not make any impact from what was needed to trump Kendrick. He does not have the vibe or brilliant. As he said himself he is try to bring that old sense of shady. He can't though why? He does not have time nor the freedom he had once. Which is another thing to take in account. Kendrick is much younger. Eminem has two girl, do you think he can go and just say what he wants as much as he did at one time? They are grown up. Also Eminem performed brilliant when he was high and was on drugs where he unleashed slim shady. So the difference of age is something to take in account. Kendrick has nothing holding him back. Eminem does. Another thing is this. From the last couple years Kendrick has been rising little by little. He didn't go on top so quickly. He took baby steps and for the past 2-3 years he got recognized and became what he is making constant progression. Eminem out of nowhere says he is gonna drop a Album, a SOLO album. He barely did anything through the years since 2010 doing some features and making a collaboration album. Though that is not enough, at least not in Rap expectations. So that is another difference Kendrick has been progressing where he is now. Eminem was way to sudden. He had nothing to persuade people to buy or listen to him because he was mainly hidden. All he used to get sale was name the album "MMLP2" and drop some great rap singles as well as mainstream music "Monster".
The conclusion
Kendrick Lamar at this moment. Is making the bigger impact in the rap game then Eminem. That is not saying he is anywhere close to his true level or legendary status. Eminem is top 5 easy. Kendrick though has a long way to go and I don't see why people should compare such different parties. Though I pray for the day where we get Slim Shady back. When that happens not even Kendrick can stand next him. But we don't. So yeah, I'm with Mugen on this.
