[SomeGuyDude]

I think he's very talented but wildly overrated. Partly because I don't like his voice (that's 100% a personal thing, not a criticism), and partly because it feels like his music is just made intentionally to sound "important". Section.80 was a great mixtape but GKMC was starting to drift into self-importance, and TPAB went way over. I listened through it a few times trying really hard to get into it, and while I agree it's a very, VERY well made album, I feel like things are done because they "sound grandiose" rather than being an honest expression. Like Kendrick, Dre, and the rest of the team who worked on the album all sat at a table and asked themselves what to do for the express purpose of making a "classic". It's all so forced. 
 
For my money, Tetsuo & Youth deserves AOTY over TPAB by a longshot. Hell, Mural all by itself solidifies that album as a classic. I've gone through that track more times than could possibly be healthy. 

 

[LNuneek]

Kendrick isn't my cup of tea either. It's his voice, flow, and I'm not feeling his production. I wouldn't go so far as to say he is over-rated, I just think his music isn't my taste. Everything is put together really well.
 
He is saying and doing things that Hip Hop hasn't done since the golden era. I like that he brings a conscious and even militant energy back into mainstream Hip Hop. It's needed even though I don't really care for the way it's being presented. 

 

[WraithApe]

One of the UK's finest - back when he was still good...
 

 

[SofaKing1996]

Am I the only one that doesn't like Lamar at all?

*gasps* Although I do agree with the last two posts about Kendrick. He's nearing kanye's ego in TPAB, but with all the praise he gets who wouldn't get balloon-headed? I don't mind his voice, actually I like his voice and I like what he's doing with the game, but I like rejjie's voice and flow a lot more. Hope that boy blows up one day...

 

[SomeGuyDude]

No doubt I'll give massive credit to anyone who's adding some conscience and real lyrical skill to rap, but what irks me is that from the get go people were calling him one of the greatest of all time. I think people just WANT him to be so they'll praise literally anything he does. They went off about his Control verse but literally ALL it was saying was "hey you guys are great but I'm trying to be the best." It wasn't some incendiary grenade that blew minds. GKMC is not Illmatic, TPAB is not It Was Written. Kendrick is good, he's not THAT good. 
 
It's happening again with the Meek/Drake beef. I kept seeing about how Drake "bodied" Meek. Charged Up was soft as anything, and Back to Back had a handful of decent lines, but the internet blew up like it was an Ether. It's like the internet's given everyone zero memory span so everything gets treated like it's the most unbelievable thing that's ever happened even if it's a C+ grade at best.

 

[Change is Good]

People keep praising mediocrity on the internet because, quite frankly, that is all the industry has to offer (outside of underground) these days. Those doing the praising were either not alive or not old enough to remember the 90s when Hip Hop was genuine. Kendrick is better than 90% of these present day fools (again, outside of underground). The genre is just lacking in talent.

 

[SomeGuyDude]

People keep praising mediocrity on the internet because, quite frankly, that is all the industry has to offer (outside of underground) these days. Those doing the praising were either not alive or not old enough to remember the 90s when Hip Hop was genuine. Kendrick is better than 90% of these present day fools (again, outside of underground). The genre is just lacking in talent.

 
Except the underground isn't hidden. This is the internet, the "underground" and all those old classics are right there, and it's every bit as accessible as the mainstream. You fire up iTunes or Spotify and you can have anything. It's all within reach. It's not like the 90s when if it wasn't on the radio or in record stores you'd never hear it. Hell look at Bobby Shmurda. He was just a kid in NYC uploading himself rapping over other guys' beats and sticking it on YouTube and it blew up in a few weeks. That would NEVER have happened twenty years ago. That would have taken years of hard grinding to get the kind of popularity he had.
 
That's what drives me crazy. It's SO EASY to get other stuff. Hell all you need to do is let Pandora or whatever roll and eventually you'll start finding good music. DatPiff constantly promotes tons of mixtapes from all over, so why does no one go at it? Why does an album like B Dolan's Kill the Wolf just go completely unsung? 

 

[Change is Good]

Come on, you're asking the laziest generation in human existence to actually do research? Pffff...



Really, though. There are MANY people that don't research the web properly, let alone research it at all. They just follow what trends on social media.

 

[SomeGuyDude]

Come on, you're asking the laziest generation in human existence to actually do research? Pffff...
 

 
Nah, I know the baby boomers would never do research.
 
[SHOTS FIRED]
 

 

[sixly]

I think it's really awesome that while Def Jux came to an end, the artists that made it what it was are still getting together, bringing in new exciting voices, exploring new hip-hop possibilities and in the case of El-P becoming politically active with his music.  Just so much props to everyone involved in that adventure, it's been a blessing to the independent/underground scene.  Giving us fearless artists like Vast Aire (anyone expect him to pop up on Sadistik's debut?).  I'mma sit back and enjoy this one.  El-P continually challenges the status quo and continually wins.
 
Songs like this are just fking dope.
 

 

[WraithApe]

  El-P continually challenges the status quo and continually wins.

 
Dope from day one:
 

 

[sixly]

I love that line in We're Famous where El goes "Hip-hop's over.  **** you, hip-hops just started.  It's funny how the most nostalgic cats are the ones who were never a part of it,"  I also can't believe how much he owns Rawkus "Signed to Rawkus?  I'd rather be mouthraped by Nazis unconscious."
 
 

 

[mutabor]

"I've got a beard and chicks tell me Yes!"
 
 
 

 

[SomeGuyDude]

Confession: I still think Meek Mill is a better rapper than Drake.

 

[sixly]

I object to Drake on the basis of living in Washington DC and gotta support Wail.  Though if you're not a Toronto native I'm not sure you'd care that much.  XD