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Jay-Z’s “retirement” brought along with it the questions of who the best rapper was. Lil’ Wayne initially gave Jay respect but declared himself the best rapper and ever since the discussions and arguments have been heated.
Jay-Z’s return only poured more fuel on the fire (as seen here and here and damn near every other hip hop site).
Detroit’s Royce Da 5′9″ also threw his hat (you know - the New Era fitted with the ‘D’ on it) into the mix a while back with this track.
Royce Da 5′9″ with “Best Rapper Alive”
The “best rapper” argument is subjective but I won’t stop you from having it.
Eminem made him his partner-in-rhyme. Dr. Dre chose him as his ghost-writer. DJ Premier is on board to executive produce his album. Nas has flirted with signing him.
Even Diddy decided he could use a verse. Jay Dee, Alchemist, Pharrell, Just Blaze and Track Masters have all worked with him on more than one occasion.
Hip Hop’s elite have all co-signed Royce Da 5′9″. With the exception of Jay-Z and its not possible that Jay just hasn’t come across his music.
The Royce Da 5′9″ / Def Jam rumors have persisted for a while but Jay hasn’t come out and publicly even acknowledged that Royce exists. Could it be that Jay fears a little competiton?
Could that be a reason for so many years of bickering with Nas? Could it also be the reason why you rarely see Jay do a track with an emcee on his level? It seems that his whole career the only rapper he was willing to play second fiddle to was B.I.G. He handpicked the very mediocre Memphis Bleek to be his right-hand man (granted that he was from Marcy) out of hundreds of better New York rappers.
That’s the only explanation that makes sense to me. If you know otherwise, let a dude know.
Make that signing Jay. Put out some good hip hop, and do these artists right. You are the president now. Make Def Jam relevant again. With Primo producing the album, you can’t possibly screw this one up. Overcome that ego and prove you’re more than just a figurehead.
…
The original track, Renegade, was a Royce track featuring Eminem. This was to be on a Royce Da 5′9″ album but because Interscope didn’t want their valuable commodity (Eminem) to be all over a Tommy Boy release (Eminem was already on the “Rock City” single), they wouldn’t allow it. Since he couldn’t put it on one of his albums, Royce let Eminem have it who let Jay-Z use it for his Blueprint album.
Royce Da 5′9″ featuring Eminem - Renegade (original)
Royce Da 5′9″ - Feelin’ It (Royce’s version of Jay-Z’s classic)
Royce Da 5′9″ - A Million and One (Another redone Jay-Z classic)
Khary Kimani Turner has covered the Detroit music scene for several years now and is himself an integral part of it. A leading figure in Detroit’s Black Bottom Collective, Khary had kept his pen active in covering Detroit Hip Hop for the Metro Times like no one other.
I know he writes for several other publications nationally, but his local writings will in the future speak like an ongoing history of Detroit Hip Hop.
This is an article written 5 years ago about the Detroit Hip Hop scene entitled, “Detroit hip hop’s identity crisis”.
This piece of the article summed up Detroit’s hip hop scene well 5 yeears ago, but it also holds true today.
Detroit’s lack of a clear identity in hip hop may actually be explainable. Brother Moushetti Muhammed, manager of local artist Budda Bless, has been working to pull together local rhyme crews like Street Lordz and East Side Chedda Boyz. He notes that sense of individualism that exists among Detroit MCs.
“One thing I can say is that Detroit hip-hop culture has such an independent mentality, and it’s crying to be heard,” he says. “What really sets us apart is that everybody in Detroit has such an individualistic mentality. That’s a good thing, and it’s a bad thing.” Muhammed and Ill share similar views, in recognizing alliances that have formed among Detroit artists lately. Sometimes, the alliances exist in moral support, but for hip hop, that can be enough. The most important result of these alliances is the sense of personality that emerges. Check similarities in the styles among the Eminem-D12-Royce da 5’9”-Obie Trice set. It may not be overt, but it’s detectable. Or note the similarities in the guerilla marketing techniques of the Chedda Boyz, Rock Bottom Records or Street Lordz. Among the most distinguishable of these trends may be the production style of Jay Dee, formerly of Slum Village.
That’s saying a lot considering the talent level of Detroit’s mc’s, but don’t take my word for it. You’d have to hear Miz Korona destroy unsuspecting mc’s on the regular at open mics and impromptu battles. You’d have to hear her unleash on one of those Lenn Swann instrumentals. You’d have to underestimate her time and time again and be proven wrong time and time again. Then you’d know.
It would be unfortunate for her legacy outside of Detroit to be known as “that female who was in 8 mile“. Detroit knows. The rest of you? Do your homework.
