The Washing Theory

Shoutout the brother Corey Black. He and I had a lengthy but friendly disagreement on who's a better rapper than Eninem.  I replied that it was Busta Rhymes and Twista could be considered but not better. The only other person logically is Jay-Z. Corey countered that it's Nas. Nasty Nas. I still have my copy of Illmatic. I loved I Am lyrically but my counter to that is Jay-Z. Jay-Hova, Jiggaman Iceberg Slim.  Corey said that couldn't be because of "Ether". Well, "Ether" is a legendary song. However, that was 10 YEARS AGO and Jay-Z has had the much better career with much better, classical music in that ten years. Since then Jay's released The Black Album, American Gangster and The Blueprint III. I could include Watch The Throne with Kanye West in which Jay sounds like a combination of his late-nineties self and current sound. I said lyrically Eminem is better and more consistent than Nas at emoting, cadence, delivery and songwriting. Now, some people just don't like the idea of Em being the better emcee but there is proof. All my friends locally that I support are lyricists, me included. My Intro to Thurrrzday Nite Live is lyrically better than a lot of people's whole projects. I can say that without bragging and I can perform it live to the point the crowd enjoys it. People get disappointed when I don't perform it. This guy I follow on Twitter, Ice from New Jersey says flow is more important than lyrics now. Royce Da 5'9, one of Em's partners from Detroit said the same thing. The way things are in St. Louis, unless you make club music you better know how to spit with substantial lyrics. I make club music with substantial lyrics so I'm not talking out of my ass on this. There is also this perception that Li'l Wayne is better than Jay-Z. I bring this to what I call The Washing Theory. The Washing Theory is when you have two or more different artists on the same song and one's performance is better than the other. The act of out-doing someone on a song is knows as WASHING THEM. For example, people say "Ether" was better than "Takeover" and that "Ether" was so potent that Jay came back with "Super Ugly" even getting more personal with Nas. "Takeover" was the better song but you cannot discount "Ether". Five years later Jay and Nas call a truce and do what many of us that love Hip-Hop BEGGED THEM TO DO since 1996: they made songs together. They made two songs together: "Black Republican" from Nas's ironically titled Hip Hop Is Dead then Jay's "Success" off the excellent American Gangster (the 21st Century Reasonable Doubt). Jay's verses were better than Nas's verses on those two songs. Not to say Nas was wack because Nas was killing it but Jay spazzed on the songs knowing Nas was on the songs with him. He washed Nas on those songs. I'll give you another example of something people do not want to admit. On "Carter IV Interlude" from Li'l Wayne's last album, Tech N9ne washed Andre 3000. Yes, he washed him. Three Stacks spit an awesome verse but Tecca Nina washed him by changing cadence and seizing the moment knowing he'd be on the songs with one of Hip-Hop's most celebrated lyricists.  Kanye washed Jay-Z on "Run This Town" lyrically but you have to do it more than once to be considered better. Jay obviously washed Kanye (by Ye's admission on "Big Brother") on the "Diamonds Of Sierra Leone" remix. Jay washed Ye constantly on WTT. Back to Weezy though. When Jay retired, Wayne took a lot of Jay's style admittedly and became a much better lyricist when the first Carter came out in 2004.  "Best Rapper Alive" is lyrically one of Wayne's best songs. "A Milli" is  timeless song now and it bangs like it just came out instead of in 2008. However, lyrically and delivery-wise "6'7" is a much better song, especially if you listen to everything Wayne says regarding the "fucked-up family picture". People didn't get the "real G's move in silence like LASAGNA" line until they read the lyrics. In my opinion Wayne is better than what he gets credit for ad he's now better than a lot of the legends.  Lyrically, listen to Twista on "Overdose" and "Adrenaline Rush". Listen to him on the original "Is That Your Bitch" with Jay. Delivery and lyrics still matter. Even battlers out of St. Louis are being hailed for bars and wordplay, see Hitman Holla's third verse against Arsonal about the King's Mom in their URL battle. Lyrics matter more than ever despite the amount of dumb-ass songs you hear on the radio. End note, compare Em's lyrics on "Lose Yourself" and "Not Afraid".  He paints a picture of angst that Nas never could. Em's better. Peace.