Who holds the hip hop heavyweight title????????????These debates always end the same- an invisible result. As of late, hip hop’s been slacking; yup I said it. Consistency is non existent, creativity has become scarce, and the originality is obsolete. Instead, gimmicks are in, beefs are the golden ticket, and lame attempts at generating interest (basically the aforementioned topics I just named) have become the main route to success.

However, do I believe hip hop has hit an early grave? No, because it still holds the primary interest, in my opinion, of previous and current generations. Now I know you’re mumbling to yourself, “Get to the point LowKey”, so here we go.

In JD’s latest Living The Life webisode, Jermaine and Johnta Austin were discussing the logistics to residing in the heavyweights, middleweights and lightweights classes of hip hop.

Jermaine deemed Lil Wayne as the current heavyweight champion- as expected. And I say as expected because he’s probably the most influential artist in the game right now (by default..YES I SAID IT). I’m not going to divulge Jermaine’s opinion because you can just watch it in the video below, aka it would be a waste of your time and my time.

To refute JD’s opinion, I’m going to offer a simple anecdote; If Wayne didn’t move 1 million copies in seven days, would JD’s notion still be the same?  If we’re validating heavyweight status through sound scan numbers, then yes, Wayne holds the belt. But in regards to everything else, I’m going to remove my Lil Weezy ballot from the box.

When you look at Weezy’s track record, I think the lines are blurred between the quantity and the actual quality of these “amazing” records we hear from him. Don’t get me wrong, the martian is extremely consistent in remaining relevant, but I’m not sure if that’s the best example of perserving a brand that’s so valuable to hip hop.

To answer JD’s inquiry, I’m going to take a step back, observe the playing field (observing, observing, observing) and claim that the current heavyweight belt belongs to (drum roll please) NO ONE!

That’s right…NO ONE! To be fair, my notion doesn’t suggest that our current hip hoppers are sub par, it just slingshots the idea that hip hop is missing THAT figure. Of course, everyone is an essential character to the culture when their album is coming out- Richard Ross as we just saw with “Deeper Than Rap.” But where will his heftiness reside in 2 months? Where will Eminem reside 3 months after the critically acclaimed “Relapse” project hits the shelves?

I swear I’m not a hater, but in order to be a heavyweight champion, each facet of what you present to us has to be flawless. Yes, I understand no one is perfect, but I also understand more than half of these rappers aren’t “GANGSTA” either so they could at least ACT like it.

Although I said no one holds the belt, that sure as hell doesn’t mean the competition isn’t steep. Jada, Fab, Nas, Jeezy, T.I., 50, Luda, Kanye are all heavyweight material, but when you ask me for ONE…I just can’t do it.

WHO HOLDS TODAY’S HEAVYWEIGHT HIP HOP TITLE BELT???

SOUND OFF………NOW!!!

Sincerely

Low “Let the debate BEGIN” Key

Living The Life: Who’s The Heavyweight In Hip Hop from LowKey on Vimeo.

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