The Greatest Rappers of all Time
an article by J.W. Qiyamah
The subject of the greatest rappers of all time is a broad and wide ranging topic. It also a topic that must be rooted in a standard to measure the performers by. Most articles,blogs etc uses sales, views, and likes to measure weather a rapper is great or not. This in reality is a standard that is not in harmony with the values that Hip Hop was founded on. When Hip Hop started in New York in the late 70’s it was an urban subculture not a business. It is this fact that is missing in the minds of those that listen to Hip Hop today. Being that Hip Hop itself is not a business at its core, using a business standard to measure those that practice said culture is in huge error. This not to say that elements of Hip Hop culture have not been monetized. This is just to say that using a business model to measure a culture is an improper tool and or method. In fact if one is using record sales to measure the level of a Hip Hop artist should not even be considered, if you are not taking into account if the artist owns their music or not.
Hip Hop is an art based subculture complete with its own ever evolving lingo (language). The original elements of Hip Hop are emceeing (rapping), djinng (sound vibration), B-boying (breakdance) graffiti art. By the 1990s Hip Hop added street knowledge and street slang as its core elements.
In reality the proper standard to be used when measuring or observing the works of those practice the culture, should be ownership as well as what they have added to the culture, also brand building and cultural development. To further magnify this reality record sales were almost a correct tool to measure the levels of ones practice of the culture from the 90s to the early 2000s. However, after the rise of platforms like You Tube the selling of actual records, tapes an or Cds became a thing past on a large scale.
The advent of the internet and e-commerce has change the markets in ways that we as people are still discovering.
From modern fashion to modern slang you can find its roots in the subculture of Hip Hop.