Riz Ahmed has a tendency to turn to his Pakistani roots for depth in his verses, and that hits potently with him still being racially profiled in airports on the regular, but when he combines his heritage with technical skill and his unique delivery, he’s truly untouchable. He already has a timbre that’s hard to top, so when his flow and lyrics are on-point, and he’s firing on all cylinders, even a solid lyricist like Heems has trouble keeping up. Riz MC has one of the best rap voices to come along in a while. ![]() Turned a lyricist into a soldier/ How many times have I told ya/ And how many times am I telling them/ just because you see the melanin doesn’t mean that I’m a felon/ I’m here to show you the intelligence/ What is the bullshit you’re selling them/ They just want us all in jail and then/ they can take away our right to vote and use the free labor/ Ay, I know you’re not a slave, bruh/ And I didn’t even need to say much/ Man, you knew since you was born there/ you were sent down here to save us/ But life just keeps throwing shit at you/ and you was looking for a break, huh? ![]() Hence this nice group of bars toward the end: The bars just seem above his cognition, based on anything he’s dropped before, but not only is he operating on a higher plane of thought, he’s expressing himself skillfully. Smith packed so many thought-provoking lyrics into this verse that he had one of my fingers hovering over the scrub function on my iPhone at one point, and it’s been quite some time since I had to run any lines back for comprehension. Having two actor/rappers on this list that aren’t Aubrey Graham is weird (having him on this list would be weirder), but credit is due where it’s due. Meanwhile, Smith turned in probably his best verse ever on his 18th birthday, ready to show everyone he had grown-man bars. His best performance on-screen remains Pursuit Of Happyness at 5 years old (he was pretty bad in The Get Down). It seems Jaden Smith’s acting and rapping skills have an inverse relationship. Nice move, but please don’t make any more of them in the music world. If he gets riddled with shots (which none of the rappers he aimed at are really capable of), then he can still come out unscathed, claiming rap as a hobby and superfan. If Yachty or anyone else he chose for target practice comes back at him wack, LaBeouf comes out looking like the next double threat à la Aubrey Graham. LaBeouf can hide behind the I’m-not-a-rapper shield while he lets off rounds. Lil Yachty said LaBeouf should “stick to acting,” but honestly this verse is a perfectly executed hit. The verse sounds like old-school Canibus mixed with Asher Roth circa his I’m-going-down-in-history-for-my-love-of-college freakout, but it’s technically skillful as hell and LaBeouf has a little bit of undeniable swag to him (as much as a Yelnats can generate anyway). Multis, similes, metaphors, disses, internals … you name it and LaBeouf did it. Shia LaBeouf has been wilding out for quite some time now, but really went crazy over JayLib’s “The Heist” instrumental. Dre, Missy Elliott, and Prince tattooed on his thighs.Ĭheck out the 40 best rap albums of 2016. ![]() Then again, not every actor has Tupac Shakur, Notorious B.I.G., Dr. When an actor can play characters named Stanley Yelnats IV and Louis Stevens, it’s usually safe to assume they have zero rhyme skills. Lyricism is just one facet among many - it is far from dead. Hip-hop is growing more diverse each and every year, and it’s still alive and thriving. From Chance’s exultant exuberance to André 3000’s unexpectedly busy 2016 to those old A Tribe Called Quest dogs learning spectacular new tricks to multiple actor/rappers, underground stalwarts, up-and-comers, and Godson himself, each person on this list takes the pen and pad seriously. If he was right, then every artist on this list is a zombie. ![]() What he most likely meant, coming from the old-school ilk and seeing dance crazes take over the mid-aughts, is that lyricism is dead. He had to raise the stakes on the album with a grandiose title and statement to start a conversation (and sell records). Nas proclaimed Hip Hop Is Dead 10 years ago.
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