The First 24 Hours of Responses to Kendrick Lamar's "Control" Verse

Kendrick, Kendrick, you done did boy, has the rap game shaking like a leaf in the wind. When someone attacks your city - the best way is to fight back and these MCs below did just that but not all attacks are great attacks but hey what the hell.

Joell Ortiz "Outta Control"

Mood: Excited.

Low blows: None.

He just threatens Kendrick metaphorically, and mentions that Kendrick said he was honored to meet him once. All his punches are pulled when he asks Dr. Dre for a job midway through, though.

Best Shots At Kendrick:

"Little homie you ain't the king of New York
You the next thing on my fork.
The messenger with all them rings on that horse
Carrying king's heads 'til I kick you in the chest and you cough
And fall into a bottomless pit
Homie, you know how many bodies that fit?
When we met you said, 'It's an honor man, the Yaowa can spit.'"

Better Than Kendrick: Nah.

Rating: 46 out of 108 Mics.

B.o.B. "How 2 Rap"

Mood: Defensive.

Low Blows: He seems more interested in cataloging the common criticisms lobbed at his career than scoring any points against anyone specific. Then he decides he finds rap "boring" (!?) and plays guitar for the rest of the track.

Best Shots at Kendrick: "Consider this tax for the swag that my city has given you niggas" is the closest to a real shot, if you think maybe he's sending shots at Kendrick for largely ignoring Atlanta's contributions when Kendrick listed his primary competition. Although Andre was mentioned, so this is kind of a reach.

Better Than Kendrick: Nah.

Rating: .038 out of 108 Mics.

Lupe Fiasco "SLR 2"

Mood: Perpetually aggrieved.

Low Blows: He sorta tries to get under Kendrick's skin by saying he raps like Wayne. Not sure why that's a diss, since it's not like Kendrick sounds that much like Wayne. Not sure there are any real lyrical body blows here.

Best Shots: "He's so crazy, look at the little baby

Nigga you ain't Nas, nigga you ain't Jay-Z

You will respect me, you will reject me

But I've done so much, no matter how far you go, you will reflect me."

Better Than Kendrick: Nah.

Rating: Not sure this can be properly rated, as we haven't been to Harvard and don't speak German, so translating from Lupe to English would take too long. There are probably 'levels' to this we don't get, although the tiresome meta explanations ("That was Adolf, reacting to my new shit") don't really make such an exercise seem fruitful. The parts where he explicitly jabs at Kendrick sound insecure about his own place in hip-hop and don't ring particularly true.

Rating:We're going to slap 54 out of 108 Mics on this, mostly in deference to the first "SLR."

Mickey Factz "South Park"

Mood: Just happy to be here.

Low Blows: He makes a sly Lady Gaga reference but it doesn't really land like a body blow. Sometimes being too clever makes it feel like a pulled punch.

Best Shots: Comparing him to Omar Epps in Juice is kind of funny.

Better Than Kendrick: Nah.

Rating: One, this guy doesn't have much traction right now as is, so it's hard to see him on Kendrick's level. Two, it's hard to open your verse with "Where I've been at, what I'm up to/Nobody cares," and still expect your rhymes to land with any authority.

Rating:24 out of 108 Mics.

Astro "KONY"

Mood: Like he's reading a teleprompter.

Low Blows: "You better chill with that Napoleon syndrome." Ha! Kendrick is kinda short!

Best Shots: See: Low Blows. His other disses are solely focused on not disrespecting legends while admitting that "ain't nobody repping [NYC] right, they scared, all talk." Hard to argue that he shouldn't claim king when no one else can.

Better Than Kendrick: C'mon.

Rating: 36 out of 108 Mics.

King Los "Control (Remix)"

Mood: Inspired.

Low Blows: None. In fact, he ends the verse praising every rapper mentioned in the original control. ("This nigga Drake nice on the mic and act/So many hits he fucked around and brought lightskin back.")

Best Shots: The entire song is no shots unless the line about Pusha T "pushing so long that he defines being a hustler" is a secret diss about his being old.

Better Than Kendrick: Nah, but probably the best/most entertaining effort, from a technical standpoint, on the entire list.

Rating: Los is probably the most underrated rapper on here, but this isn't really an answer record so much as an excuse for Los to show off that he has bars in a traditional sense. So, if you love hearing lines like "They gon have to have me shackled and tackled at tabernacles/While havin' my adams apple detached in a baptist chapel"—and who doesn't?!—then you should check this song out.

Rating: Not a diss song, but a solid 70 out of 108 Mics.

Cassidy "Control Freestyle"

Mood: Someone who's had a lot on his mind. (This song is nearly six minutes long.)

Low Blows: None directed at Lamar, who, he says, got him hype. At a rhetorical target, who is apparently a homosexual dickhead pussy hermaphrodite rookie, though, there are many low blows.

Best Shots: There're no real shots here, although at the end he claims that Kendrick wouldn't be able to shine on him on a song. My favorite line, though, is "I'm not in the best shape like I would like to be/But I exercise every time I lift my pipe to pee."

Better Than Kendrick: Nah.

Rating: Cassidy has always been a pretty strong punchline rapper and it's nice to see him get some clever work in. That said, this is six minutes straight #bars, which is a pretty epic undertaking to listen to when you've already heard this beat as many times as I have now.

Rating:65 out of 108 Mics.

You can achieve

Kendrick Lamar Bodies Rappers

South African rappers take a leaf out of Kendrick Lamar's branch. Unless you have just woken up from a deep coma, freed from jail or just landed from outer space then you know what the buzz is about. Rap was too nice; too I don’t wanna step on toes until Big Sean called up K-Dot to feature on Control.

The Cali native took the track to the cleaners, no one even cares that Jay Electron is also on that track or it’s a Big Sean track (really, he’s on that joint), oh my oh my THAT’S WHAT HIPHOP IS ALL ABOUT!!!! It’s like rap was down and Kendrick came with a defibrillator and shouted clear and all of a sudden there’s life. Don’t take Hustle’s word for it, check out what he says.

Tell Flex to drop a bomb on this shit/So many bombs, ring the alarm like Vietnam in this shit
So many bombs, make Farrakhan think Saddam in this bitch/One at a time, I line 'em up and bomb on they mom while she watchin' the kids/I'm in a destruction mode if the gold exists/I'm important like the pope/I'm a muslim on pork/I'm Makaveli's offspring, I'm the king of New York King of the Coast, one hand, I juggle them both/The juggernaut's all in your jugular, you take me for jokes/Live in the basement, church pews and funeral faces/Cartier bracelets/for my women friends I'm in Vegas/Who the fuck y'all thought it's supposed to be?/If Phil Jackson came back, still no coachin' me/I'm uncoachable, I'm unsociable/Fuck y'all clubs, fuck y'all pictures, your Instagram can gobble these nuts/Gobble dick up 'til you hiccup, my big homie Kurupt/This the same flow that put the rap game on a crutch/I've seen niggas transform like villain Decepticons/Mollies'll prolly turn these niggas to fuckin' Lindsay Lohan/A bunch of rich-ass white girls lookin' for parties/Playin with Barbies/wreck the Porsche before you give 'em the car key/Judgement to the monarchy/blessings to Paul McCartney/You called me a black Beatle, I'm either that or a Marley/I don't smoke crack motherfucker I sell it/I'm dressed in all black, this is not for the fan of Elvis/I'm aiming straight for your pelvis, you can't stomach me/You plan on stumpin' me?/Bitch, I’ve been jumped before you put a gun on me/Bitch, I put one on yours, I'm Sean Connery/James Bonding with none of you niggas, climbing 100 mil in front of me/And I'm gonna get it even if you're in the way/And if you're in it, better run for Pete's sake/I heard the barbershops spittin' great debates all the time/Bout who's the best MC? Kendrick, Jigga and Nas/Eminem, Andre 3000, the rest of y'all/New niggas just new niggas, don't get involved/And I ain't rockin no more designer shit/White T’s and Nike Cortez, this is red Corvettes anonymous/I'm usually homeboys with the same niggas I'm rhyming wit'/But this is hip-hop and them niggas should know what time it is/And that goes for Jermaine Cole, Big KRIT, Wale/Pusha T, Meek Mill, A$AP Rocky, Drake, Big Sean, Jay Electron', Tyler, Mac Miller/I got love for you all but I'm tryna murder you niggas/Tryna make sure your core fans never heard of you niggas/They dont wanna hear not

10 Underachieving Rappers

Like when one is still in primary school and gets straight A's then goes to high school and fails to live up to the hype. The folks over at Complex compiled a list of the top 10 underachieving rappers.

Despite what many may believe, rapping isn't an easy profession and great talents have been sidelined by all sorts of personal issues, legal entanglements, and industry bullshit. Some MCs, however, seem to be their own worst enemies; just when they’ve got the world’s ear or seem to be on the precipice of something big, they either switch styles, sell out, or simply make albums that fall short of their potential. Here are 10 Underachieving Rappers that let a moment pass them by without making the most of it. 

Asher Roth 

Age: 27

Albums: Asleep in the Bread Aisle (2009)

When Asher Roth debuted in 2008 with the DJ Drama-backed The Greenhouse Effect Vol. 1 mixtape, he was pegged by many as the next white rap phenomenon, and the Top 40 success of the single "I Love College" had visions of Slim Shady dancing in label executives' heads. But the album Asleep In The Bread Aisle flopped, while other white rappers like Mac Miller and Macklemore soon swooped in to do the kind of numbers people had expected Asher to do. Now, Asher Roth is pretty much back at the spot he was at five years ago, releasing The Greenhouse Effect Vol. 2 with DJ Drama and trying in vain to get that buzz started all over again.

Charles Hamilton 

Age: 25

Albums: N/A

However you may have felt about him during his divisive and arguably unlikely tenure as a mainstream contender, Charles Hamilton at least seemed like the kind of prolific controversy magnet that stays on the radar for years and years. But while Lil B, another rapper who proudly wears pink and drops mixtapes like it's a bodily function, has kept people talking, there's been pretty much silence around Charles Hamilton since 2009's firestorm of bad publicity that included a shelved Interscope debut that would've listed the late J Dilla as executive producer. Since reemerging from a stint in rehab, however, Hamilton has remained as busy as ever, releasing dozens of mixtapes with titles like Catholic Illuminati: Papal Infallibility on the Internet, but it seems like nobody has even paid attention enough to keep the backlash going.

Peedi Crakk

Age: 35

Solo albums: N/A

In State Property, a crew that was long on street cred but short on mass appeal, Peedi Crakk seemed to hold a lot of potential as a breakout star, with standout performances on club bangers like "One For Peedi" and Freeway's "Flipside." Great guest verses for The Roots afforded him respect as a lyricist and an offer to join the legendary Philly band. He even got close enough to becoming a priority at Def Jam that they briefly made him go as 'Peedi Peedi' and featured him on Ne-Yo's debut single, "Stay." But when his album remained in label limbo, Peedi staged a Roc-A-Fella revolt, releasing a barrage of diss tracks at Jay-Z. He came for the throne, he missed, and nobody ever took him seriously again.

Nipsey Hussle
Age: 27
Albums: N/A

For every Game or Kendrick Lamar, there have been a dozen young rappers from L.A. trying to put the West Coast back on the map and become the city's next legend that haven't come close. Nipsey Hussle got closer than most, though; from XXL Freshman status to a Snoop co-sign, he wound up on the Haiti benefit remake of "We Are The World," and was even referenced on Saturday Night Live. But all that exposure never quite translated to any kind of real popularity, much less a hit single or a major label release date. He's still kicking around, but already seems like a relic of a bygone era in light of L.A.'s latest uprising of grassroots success stories.

Cassidy

Age: 31

Albums: Split Personality (2004), I'm a Hustla (2005), B.A.R.S. The Barry Adrian Reese Story (2007), C.A.S.H (2010).

In 2003, Cassidy had a battle rap pedigree, verses on Ruff Ryders albums, and a buzz based primarily on beating fellow Philly hardcase Freeway in a battle. But he decided to go straight for the crossover money with his debut single, grinning like Ma$e in the R. Kelly-featuring "Hotel," without even trying to cement his rep as a spitter.

The backlash was strong and the sales were weak, but Cass showed remarkable resilience when he came back harder with hits like "I'm A Hustla" and "My Drink N My 2 Step," and persevered through personal setbacks like a murder case and a terrible car accident. But the patronage of Swizz Beatz only took him so far, and eventually his inability to translate his lyrical talent to a great album left him out in the cold. He was last seen up to his old tricks, trying to get shine off of a beef with Meek Mill, another Philly rapper with stronger studio output than him.

Slim Thug
Age: 32

Albums: Already Platinum (2005), Boss of All Bosses (2009), Tha Thug Show (2010).

Even if the point of the title of Already Platinum, Slim Thug's 2005 major label debut, was that he was living as comfortably as a platinum rapper anyway, it had to have stung for the Houston rapper to have stalled out at gold in the year that Mike Jones, Paul Wall, and Chamillionaire all released million-selling albums. And when you consider that he was also the only one of them with the powerhouse backing of Star Trak and the Neptunes behind him, or collaborations with Beyonce and Gwen Stefani, the success of Slim Thug's mainstream breakthrough seems even more underwhelming. Soon after, he went back to the independent circuit, without even so much as an attempt at a second Geffen album. Maybe his heart just wasn't in anything but making music for Houston, but for a while it certainly seemed like he was destined for more.

Juelz Santana
Age: 31

Solo albums: From Me to U (2003), What The Game's Been Missing (2005).

It's a little hard to believe now that when Lil Wayne and Juelz Santana first announced their ill-fated collaborative project, I Can't Feel My Face, in 2006, it wasn't a considered an incredibly lopsided duo. Sure, Wayne was still ascending to his Carter III superstardom, but Juelz was having a damn good run. He was featured on mentor Cam'ron's two biggest hits while still a teenager, played a big part in Dipset's rapidly rising movement, and saw his career grow steadily between his first two albums. And then, things just seemed to stall out, with some alleging that a sizzurp addiction had slowed down his progress. In 2011, he made headlines by hooking back up with Weezy to make another go at making I Can't Feel My Face, but even that comeback seems to have gone up in smoke since then.

Saigon
Age: 36

Albums: The Greatest Story Never Told (2011), The Greatest Story Never Told Chapter 2: Bread and Circuses (2012).

Saigon's all too aptly titled album The Greatest Story Never Told has a place in the hip-hop pantheon not as the classic it was anticipated as for years, but as an emblem of everything wrong with the fearbased mentality of the release date-shuffling major label industry. While the hotly tipped New York rapper had the world waiting on his Just Blaze-helmed debut, Atlantic Records kept him on the shelf year after year, as he lobbed out increasingly desperate singles into an uncaring radio marketplace, from 2006's Trey Songz-featuring "Pain In My Life" to 2009's auto-tuned "Gotta Believe It," which ironically was accompanied by foolhardy claims to "single-handedly reinvent hip-hop." Needless to say, when the album finally dropped on an independent label in 2007, no such thing happened.

Canibus

Age: 38

Albums: Can-I-Bus (1998), 2000 B.C. (Before Can-I-Bus) (2000), C True Hollywood Stories (2001), Mic Club: The Curriculum (2002), Rip the Jacker (2003), Mind Control (2005), Hip-Hop for Sale (2007), For Whom The Beat Tolls (2007), Melatonin Magik (2010), C of Tranquility (2010), Lyrical Law (2011).

The 15 years that Canibus has spent as a punchline and cautionary tale by now far outlast the year or two that he was tipped as hip-hop's next great lyricist. Still, that brief period happened to take place in 1997 and 1998, when being the new feared MC in New York was everything, and the void left by Biggie and 2Pac was wide open for new legends.

In the end, it was not whether Canibus won the LL Cool J beef that mattered, but whether he could appeal to the masses that didn't know or care about that. Wyclef's production on Can-I-Bus was supposed to take care of that, but instead the album was hookless and monotonous. And instead of correcting that on the follow-up, Canibus just disappeared further up his own ass with internal rhymes and conspiracy theories.

Jay Electronica

Age: 36

Albums: N/A

For his whole career, Jay Electronica has traded heavily on not treating his music like a career, and allowing mystique and scarcity—and of course his unique talent—to keep him afloat. But as we approach four years since one of the most lyrical songs ever, "Exhibit C," without much to show for it besides a stray track here and a Mac Miller collab there.

You have to wonder whether we'll ever get an album, much less whether it'd be worth the wait. Andre 3000 can drop sporadic bombs on the rap world and spend years teasing the possibility of an album, but his legend is already assured with a thick back catalog. By comparison, Jay Electronica's greatness is more like a rumor.

Last month, in the thick of a summer full of big releases by his Roc Nation labelmates, Jay tweeted "it's my turn." But he also tweeted 16 months earlier that the album was done. Meanwhile, guys like Kendrick and J. Cole are out there enjoying the kind of careers that many fans envisioned for Jay Electronica, whose superiority to those and other artists remains largely theoretical and untested.

GQ Names The Worst Rappers Of All Time

Put a few people in a room and they will sure argue about what they think is the best - it's rare that folks agree on anything. The dudes at GQ took a break from looking at those gorgeous female models and decided to voice out who they think are the worst rappers of all time. Yeah folks, you would ask, what does a magazine that promotes the good life has to do with music...well, read for yourself.

15.Chingy

After Nelly brought St. Louis lingo to the masses, Chingy appeared in 2003 with a debut that made his STL roots obvious: "He's Herre," "Right Thurr," and "Wurrs My Cash." His commercial pizazz faded as his good-time topics (sex, money, having sex with girls who like his money) stayed the same and he titled his fourth album Hate It or Love It, which turned out to be an easy choice. On the other hand, if you get a good laugh out of "That's me, Ching-a-ling, equipped with much ding-a-ling," you might object to his inclusion here.

14.Too $hort

Not even Too $hort will be surprised to see Too $hort's name on this list. "Serious hip-hop fans, they'll boldly say, 'Too $hort ain't the best, Too $hort ain't got the best lyrics,'" he admits. This pioneer of Bay Area hip-hop has had an unusually long career—even he's lost track of how many records he's done—most of it pedestrian. He has no interest in being "a rapper who rapped in metaphors, and said slick s***," he declares, which is kind of like a NASCAR driver saying he doesn't want to drive fast.

13.Will Smith

At this point, he'd duet with Frank the Pug if he thought it would sell a few extra movie tickets.

12.Pro athletes, post 1985

When the Chicago Bears made the (Grammy-nominated!) "Super Bowl Shuffle," it paved the way for other over-indulged jocks to rhyme at sub-amateur levels. Take the Lakers' Ron Artest, whose idea of gangsta was starting beef with silver-haired, bespectacled David Stern and Matt Lauer ("You look like a girl"). One jock we'll exempt: Shaq, for his "Kobe, tell me how my a** tastes" freestyle.

11.Soulja Boy

In "Pretty Boy Swag," Soulja Boy repeats the song title, with the same dead inflection, thirty-six times. By reducing hip-hop to chants, ringtone beats, and vapid boasting, he has inspired a notable generation gap: everyone over 25 seems to hate him, from LeBron James to Ice-T, who accused him of "single-handedly killing hip-hop." Because ganging up on somebody is always wrong, and because we're equally capable of killing hip-hop, we've written about half of a song for Soulja Boy: "Man I look pretty / Your mama's a** is s***** / Gonna buy a big watch and wear it 'round the city." The more times you say it, the better it sounds!

10.Weed carriers (St. Lunatics, Bravehearts, D-12)

Once rappers become stars, they have the leverage to drag friends along with them into prosperity. They also need someone to transport weed, a job that dates back at least to "Spanish Tony" Sanchez, who was Keith Richards' personal drug mule. "Weed carrier" (aka baggage handler, tree stasher, or weed wallet) is the unflattering term to describe rappers who perhaps might not have record deals if an influential friend hadn't demanded it: The Bravehearts, St. Lunatics, and D-12.

9.Master P

When people praise Master P, it's usually for his bootstrap entrepreneurship: he rose from one of New Orleans' most despairing housing projects into a self-described "ghetto Bill Gates," though unlike the man born Percy Miller, Gates never branched into sports management, films, clothes, or phone sex. Master P was notorious for ostentation, including 22-carat-gold panels on his bedroom ceiling. (His net worth was once estimated at $361 million; four years later, he filed for bankruptcy.). But songs are virtually interchangeable, he's often accused of j****** ideas from other rappers, his lyrical signature is a constipated grunt (Uhhhhhh!), and in a Fortune magazine profile, a competing rap executive described P's record label as the "McDonald's of hip-hop," though to be fair, he appeared to mean it as a compliment.

8.Eazy E

He had some malevolently funny lines (I'm Eazy E, and I got b****** galore / You might have a lot of b******, but I got much more), but they were usually written by Ice Cube, who said it took "days" for Eazy to clumsily record his snaps. ("I can't do this s***," Eazy complained when asked to rhyme.) A small man—Cube called him a half-pint b****, and Snoop referred to him as Tattoo—with a voice pitched midway between Geddy Lee and Fran Drescher, he was a one-dimensional gasbag with the rhythmic grace of a dot-matrix printer.

7.The two guys in the Black Eyed Peas who aren't will.i.am

Will produces the songs. Fergie sings the hooks. You do...what exactly?

6.Pitbull

A Cuban-American Vanilla Ice who flacks for Dr Pepper and Bud Light—try mixing those two for a fun speedball!—Pitbull specializes in mind-numbing Eurodisco about hot girls and nightlife, with witless, winking reminders of his heritage: My tongue is bilingual, ready to play with that spot where you tingle.

5.MC Hammer

When people remember you more for your pants than your lyrics, it's a bad sign.

4.Diddy

He's hit a trifecta: mocked on The Daily Show, on South Park, and in The Onion. Daddy/Diddy has a terrific ear for shameless hooks, and he knows the hustle, which is why he has money hangin' out the a***, to quote his most memorable lyric. But as a mumbly, indistinct rapper, he wouldn't be signed to any label he didn't own.

3.Kevin Federline

An ex–backup dancer for Michael Jackson and Justin Timberlake, Federline made the usual boasts about his tax bracket and expensive cars—but his ex-wife, Britney Spears, actually owned everything except the goatee. Real gangstas don't get $20,000 a month in child support.

2.Vanilla Ice

History's first truly awful rapper—like Richard Nixon, he sullied an entire occupation with unprecedented terribleness. Unlike Nixon, he won't go away: He made a metal album, went on reality shows, and re-recorded "Ice Ice Baby" along with nine other "hip-hop classics." You should hear what he does to Public Enemy.

1.Insane Clown Posse

The KISS-style makeup these two self-anointed "wicked clowns" wear is a tip-off—they live to sell peripheral products, from DVDs to comic books to PPV wrestling cameos, to the tune of millions of dollars annually. Like most d-bags, they're predictable: Ample use of the words f***, psycho, and f*** attracts a devoted fan-clan, and their annual festival has also included, yep, Vanilla Ice.  

Jay-Z, Samsung, and the Branding of Music: Is Selling Out Still the Same Old Selling Out?

We came across this article from Pigeonsandplanes and thought what a good read.

Jay-Z’s latest album Magna Carta Holy Grail was just announced on Sunday night and comes out in a little less than a month, on July 4, but it’s already sold a million copies. Samsung has long been partnering with high-profile musicians to help push their brand, specifically, their phones, which have been struggling to battle Apple and Blackberry in popularity and public perception. They got the elusive Prince to play a sold-out, highly branded showcase at SXSW, and now they’ve added Jay-Z to their roster.

While his wife Beyoncé has been rolling out her new album in a similarly corporate-oriented fashion, the lengthy video that Jay dropped during Game 5 of the NBA finals is far more commercial than album teaser. The experiences it conveys are polished and suggestive, with tablets inserted into the recording process as convenient tools that are helping Jay-Z push himself to make the best music possible. There’s even a scene where the guys blow their speakers, skillfully implying the evolving and sometimes rocky relationship between hip-hop and technology.

In this case, the relationship is more than just a part of the creative process. The Wall Street Journal reports that Samsung has already purchased a million copies of Hov’s album—for around $5 a piece—which amounts to a large chunk of cash that goes into his pocket regardless of any other aspects of the deal. The million copies of the record will be distributed to Samsung’s users via a special application for their phone, which, as Business Week points out, effectively establishes Samsung as a gatekeeper of the record. Whereas many artists are opting to stream their albums early for all to hear, Jay is making money and moving units by allowing a brand to dictate that their customers hear it first.

carterererer 300x124 Jay Z, Samsung, and the Branding of Music: Is Selling Out Still the Same Old Selling Out?Especially in the rap world, where album leaks are practically industry standard, a move like this one puts Jay ahead of most of his slightly younger peers when it comes to subverting the old, now seemingly-failed album sales model. But it raises some important issues, one being: will these sales count toward his RIAA status on the album? As per Jay’s tweet, Billboard may not be counting these million copies as part of their album charts. It brings to mind the stunt that Amazon and Lady Gaga pulled back in 2011 to sell Born This Way for ninety-nine cents a copy in order to boost first-week numbers. Then there’s the time Taylor Swift offered copies of Red as an add-on to Papa John customers ordering pizzas—the album wasn’t free but it was available for an extra $13, hand-delivered with any pizza purchase.

Billboard didn’t revise their numbers with the previous two examples, but MTV reports that they won’t be counting any of the Samsung sales toward their reports—something that Hov’s tweet above predicted, indicating he may have known this was the case before it was officially reported.

Interestingly enough, it turns out that music isn’t the only industry that has been dabbling in corporate buy-outs and brand partnerships to boost the slagging consumer market. The book publishing industry has experienced a similar dwindle in advances, contracts, and overall sales. The corporate sponsorship route started to enter the picture back in 2011 when publishing experts started actively encouraging new and old authors to adopt this model. Not only that, but now authors can hire marketing firms to buy their books in initial large chunks, catapulting them to the best-seller list, an important seal of approval and alterer of public perception.

The market is trending more toward consumers getting their music, news, and literature for free, and the ways that both publishing and music are morphing in response to this is fascinating and a little confusing to watch. Lines feel a bit blurred, sometimes even crossed, when brands are bolstering budgets—but then again, how different is their control and influence from what the publishing houses and record labels previously held?

Which leads to the relentless question: is selling out still the same old selling out? Selling out used to irk fans because it meant the quality of art they loved had been sacrificed and infiltrated with corporate and mainstream conceptions—watered down for the sake of the money. The idea that a great artist would surrender any amount of creative control simply to get paid has long been regarded as shameful, not just by society and fans, but by other artists. In Jay-Z’s case, the most obvious juxtaposition we can hold up is Kanye’s blatant defiance to even release a single in support of Yeezus. His rant at Governors Ball laid out his mission statement pretty clearly, and it definitely didn’t involve any corporate branding. While Jay was in some boardroom shaking hands and drafting contracts with lawyers and executives, Kanye was probably in the studio writing the lyrics, “Fuck you and your corporation, you n****s can’t control me.”

But it seems unlikely that Samsung would have much control over the content or character of music that Jay-Z will release on his twelfth studio album—so why does it still rub us the wrong way?

Aligning artistic endeavors with a brand seems to be the new industry standard for commercial success. Look at Red Bull’s Music Academy, a traveling event that has fostered inventive artistic experiences that had been neglected because of lack of commercial viability. If a brand like Red Bull is opening up the space for marginal art to be expressed, should we still be wary? Or should we embrace the benevolence of big money? Is there reason to be concerned, or is it like Jay says in the video, “We don’t have any rules, everyone’s trying to figure it out. That’s why the internet is like the Wild West, the Wild Wild West—we need to write the new rules.” What’s most concerning is to consider who is writing the rules—is it Jay-Z or is it Samsung? Is it the artists and the fans or the corporations?

Young MCs That Will Outrhyme Your Favorite Old Rappers

We at hustle would like to take this moment to thank the folks that brought us television, radio and the internet - without those three mediums, we would have never heard of an Ice Cube or Zubz The Last Letter. In your mind you are probably going..."huh". The Point is growing up depending in which era, we were all glued to some favourite medium - we knew the time when our favourite show would air and we made sure to never miss it. Just a chance to catch a glimpse of our idols and rap along to their songs, walk on the street feeling like that song was talking to you.

To some MCs, they even took the game further and entered the arena of rapping, threw their names in the hat and forced the masses to take notice. We count down some youngings that would bury the the old rappers.

To borrow Cole's words in an order that suits us - "Long live the idols, may they never be your rivals - now what you're 'bout to hear's a tale of glory and sin."

Khuli Chana

It took a while for the Maftown's second favourite son (Mybad Channa HHP is the first.) to set the scene on fire but when he did - he left the fans with Mo' Hunger.

AKA

It took a minute for the Cape Town born MC to blow, but no doubt his hands are up for the victory lap – lyrically the 25 year old holds his own and could even bury a few old rappers *meant veterans MCs*.

Earl Sweatshirt

The soft spoken Odd Future rhymer came back from a hiatus overseas with a fresh perspective on life. This translated into his rapping ability, which was already pretty scary.

iFani

He spits in vernac but who said only English spitters breath fire through their words? Lets just say the Umthatha born can spit son.

Kwesta

K1's (Katlehong) very own spits clever words that had his songs being banged in clubs across the country. As for him outshining your favourite old MCs...Well from his clever word play, dude can hold his own.

ScHoolboy Q

It's hard to properly categorize Quincy as one kind of artist. He has a clear appeal to Mary Jane connoisseurs, but he can also make single worthy tracks and rap his ass off. This versatility and a street edge give him the leg up on a list of rappers, old and young.

Wale

One thing has remained consistent through the MMG rapper's transformation from underdog to Grammy nominated MC. He has bars. And yes, he can outrhyme a bevy of his noteworthy OGs.

Action Bronson

The Queens local has clear influences from MCs like Kool G Rap, and we'd like to think that he represents where NYC Hip-Hop is going. Also, his Rare Chandeliers track "Eggs On The Third Floor" is trifling good.

Big K.R.I.T.

Early comparisons to two man groups like Outkast and UGK should have let you know the company the Mississippi native would be in. Consider him to be the shiny, new version of many of his southern predecessors.

J. Cole

Self-reflective rhymes and awe-inspiring flows are the Roc Nation rapper's bread and butter. They're also the reason he's better than a lot of your favorite MCs at the tender age of 28.

Drake

Say what you will about the YMCMB artist's affinity for crooning, many of you're favorite artists don't want any problems with rapping Aubrey. Also, a certain quote comes to mind: "I know of all the things that I hear they be poking fun at/ Never the flow though, they know I run that." Coincidence? We think not.

Kendrick Lamar

The good kid from the m.A.A.d city has proved his worth as a formidable lyricist time and time again. Just ask King Hov.