The "Best" Rapper Of 2022
Subjectively Accurate đ
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By Brian Salkowski (Commentary #231)
I am a self-admitted rap music junkie. I have a huge respect for Nas. Thats never been a secret. I also salivate for my other favorite artists in the genre with the same ardor I do for Nas. So when I was asked who I thought was the best MC in 2022, I had to go with my gut. Regardless of bias.
When you ask hip-hop fans, whoâs the best rapper out right now, youâll get a multitude of answers. Mainstream fans will say itâs Drake, who again dropped two polarizing and popular albums in 2022. Underground fans (like me) will say Boldy James who dropped four exceptional albums last year and showed out on every track he was featured on. Others might say Megan Thee Stallion, who despite being engulfed in an assault trial, still dropped hit records and a solid album in 2022. Old heads might mention Pusha T, who continues to be one of the most consistent MCs of all time. Those are all respectable answers.
Complex, on the other hand, decided to go with Atlanta rapper 21 Savage, saying, âHis violent bars can send shivers down your spine, but they speak to very real, bleak circumstances that heâs escaped and many still have to face. Savage doesnât try to make the slums seem shiny or the mud look like marble. He speaks for the multifaceted trappers with monotone veracity and shows us that the streets do not exist as a monolith. Thatâs his golden quality.â
I agree for the most part stated above, but Iâm not sure if thatâs enough to earn him the title of âBest Rapper.â Donât get me wrong, 21 Savage had a a pretty good run in 2022. He had a fair amount of standout features, including verses on, âJimmy Cooksâ and supremely unexpected agility on âSurround Sound.â He was the star feature throughout Metro Boominâs HEROES & VILLAINS. Also, he had a solid showing on his collab album with Drake, Her Loss. So no hate if heâs considered by some to beat the best.
But when I think about whoâs the best out there, and who has the best skill in terms of rapping rhymes over a beat, a couple of names come to mind and 21 is not one of them. For someone to be the best, there has to be a sense of balance in their music. Not only does it have to sound good (production, tone of voice, timbre, etc.) but the content has to be thought-provoking and relevant to what is going on now in the world or the artistâs personal life. That doesnât mean that every lyric that MC raps has to be overly complicated, but it has to be something you think about once you hear it. Many rappers come to mind, but no one more than Nas, who dropped one of the best albums of his career in Kingâs Disease III.
The questions of Nasâ beat selection have been laid to rest thanks to his recent run with Hit-Boy, which has allowed the Queensbridge MC to focus strictly on his raps, which are always second to none. In his third iteration of Kingâs Disease, Nas gets as personal as he ever has in his career.
On the opening track, âGhetto Reporter,â Nas raps about the state of society, and hip-hop culture and reflects on his career up to this point, all while seamlessly rapping in the pocket. Nas implores his fans to cherish while heâs here and appreciate the quality of his music.
Another standout track is âIâm on Fire,â which Nas uses as an opportunity to just talk his shit, and cement himself as still one the best rappers in the game despite being a veteran. On the track he raps, âStill got the same flame behind me from the âHate Me Nowâ video itâs continual/All I need is a beat and Iâm stitchinâ you/Like stitchinâ these words together, how Iâm still getting better.â Despite being 30 years in the game, Nas is still one of the best, heâs the LeBron of rap.
Only a few MCs can truly say that theyâve been putting out work consistently for the past 30 years and can still call themselves the âbest.â Nas is embodying the best parts of rap. Thereâs an argument, some have said*, that a ship has been stuck in port for Jay-Z. But heâs been quiet since 2017. Nas Escobar is the perfect example of an artist growing WITH the genre. He hasn't and never really participated with "momentary trends" or "on the fly" data-driven promo tactics to fill in bouts of tedium.
Too often, young hip-hop fans love to dismiss veteran rappers solely because of their age or ârelevance.â Just because an artist is above 40 does not mean they donât have the opportunity to reinvent themselves and improve. Nas has done that, which is saying something considering he was already one of the greatest of all time.
Nas was the best rapper of 2022. Old heads love him, new-age listeners respect him and his music speaks for itself. Nas is still one of the best in the game.
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About the Creator
Brian
I am a writer. I love fiction but also I'm a watcher of the world. I like to put things in perspective not only for myself but for other people. It's the best outlet to express myself. I am a advocate for Hip Hop & Free Speech! #Philly
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