ESPN’s Skip Bayless: Jay Z is Not The Greatest

Sandra Rose March 5, 2010

Yesterday, a Drake single titled “Over” was released to the masses and the Internets went bonkers. Curious, I clicked on a link on Miss Info‘s great blog after she described the track as “KILLER”. I could not believe my ears! The track was absolute garbage! I was completely dumbfounded. Is it just me who thinks these rappers today are horrible compared to real rappers of the 70s and 80s?

It seems I am not the only one who isn’t caught up in the hype during what is obviously the last days of Hip Hop. It must be a black thing to think Jay z is g.o.a.t.

Earlier today, Skip Bayless of ESPN’s 1st and 10, and DC rapper Wale argued whether Jay-Z was the greatest rapper of all time. Skip disagreed and said that Hov lacked stage presence and a good voice. Even Jay Hova admitted himself in previous interviews that his voice was weak. So why do we continue to uplift these wack rappers like Jay Z and Drake?

Source: RR

~LovLi~

“Real rappers” ? What does that mean?
iciaantica

There is no such thing as real “rappers”…Isn’t the basis of rap freedom of expression??? && I am absolutely in with Drake’s song…He’s on fire!
Kitrina

I agree but rappers from the 70s thats pushing it, 78,79 maybe but they weren’t making recordings during that decade for the most part
OutsidetheBox

Oh @Sandy you cant be serious? I treat this stuff like food. Everybody does not like everything. You say “tomato”; I say “tomato”
LaTechGrad02

I can’t see Skip Bayless listening to 99 Problems…
TruGemini

I agree that rappers today (and hip hop in general) are mediorce…’93-96/97 was the best time for rap/hip hop in my opinion…I am so muthafukkn SICK of Jay Z and while Drake and Lil Wayne have some clever verses they still don’t measure up…TI is probably the only current artist that I really do like…too many “one hit wonders” have been produced during this current era of hip hop
Peachizz

Michael Jackson was the greatest etertainer that ever lived.. That ‘s all that matters to me!!!

Whatever “it” is Drake’s got “it”… watch out Jay!!!!
pointhimout

funny. like tyler perry’s masterful creations, there’s an audience for everything. as SR thought the song was garbage, there are thousands who thought it was the ish. taste buds, ear buds or whatever are different. you have some people ur age group who can listen to 107.9 (atl station) all day, then others in the same group can stomach 103 all day. we like what we like. i listen to cds only, no radio.

“did you hear rickey smiley this morning?” blank stare. WHAT? but apparently some people need this to get their day going. ask if they tune into an AM station for something educational and you get a blank stare. to each his own SR, that’s how I look at it. i’m no drake fan at all. i would listen to Hov, but still wouldn’t buy what he’s making now.

how many rappers have stage presence? all they can do is walk back and forth. their minds are limited in its creativity.
free

today’s rappers do not hold a candle to the rappers of the early 80s and 90s. straight garbage today. i’d love to see a radio station have a head to head competition pitting old school and new school.
http://myspace.com/rayne215 spongebobfan

*blank stare*
Complete and totally Blasphemy. Jayz lack Stage presence? and doesnt has a good voice?

Um Jayz is one the 2 rappers (kayne) that can get on stage, rap his songs and sound great live! he has a nice soulful band, and dont have to be on stage ripping and running around. Further have you LISTENED to jayz’sd lyrics? he can put together rhymes better than your favorite rapper (TI?) in his sleep.

Have you seen a jayz or kayne live performance? if you dont like jayz as a artist fine, but dont sit up here and say he cant preform.

now Drake actually sounded the best on the grammys, he has a good strong voice, and his stage presence has improved from before when he kept falling and skipping over the place. Drake is a good artist(along with Wale) but i didnt realize it was so much pressure on him, why is everyone expecting Drake to deliver, Reasonable Doubt, Ready to Die type classic album? ‘Over’ was a good single, for a good artist.
Jayz is not the GOAT cause Biggie is. Nas to me is still best rapper living. Lil wayne ? please.
aqtpie

If my a$$ was making millions off my selling cd’s. I wouldnt give a damn who was arguing how great i was or wasn’t. *sighs*
Anna

Just like crack “Rap Is Wack”. Not sure why I can’t get on this site at work, I’m home for lunch now but at work I have not been able to get on, any suggestions?
http://myspace.com/rayne215 spongebobfan

@ Skip favorite rapper is lil wayne?! credibility gone.
Eminem WOULD have been greatest ever, if he kept up with the consistency of good albums, his 1st 2 albums were great, then he ran out of beefs and wanted to rap about pop bands and silly ish like that. the talent is there as he showed with forever, but his last 2 albums were trash. Jayz had 1 bad album in his 15yr career, and that 1 bad album was still better than 90% of other rappers (IMO) and Reasonable Doubt is a banger till this day, its like a fine wine.
SMH….
tampa813

Tupac is the best rapper of all time in my opinion. Jigga was great but he fell off.
Anna

aqtpie Says:

If my a$$ was making millions off my selling cd’s. I wouldnt give a damn who was arguing how great i was or wasn’t. *sighs*
~~~~~~~~~~
I know. Rhi doesn’t stop making CDs because I think she sounds like a cat in pain.
FloridaChick813

In my opinion, times have changed… What was “hot” in the 70’s, 80’s, etc. is NOT “hot” anymore..

I LOVE Jay though.. I LOVE Wale too…

Glad to see someone else from Tampa in here
YkellzY

I’m with Sandra in regards to Drake…that song is GARBAGE and need to be thrown in the trash with him back @ the drawing board and do it OVER(pun intended)…..Has Drake really been out that long for him to consider himself or rap about him being a “legend”? Have a seat Drake over there next to Bey and her EGO!!!!!
LadyLew

@spongebobfan
I agree with almost everything u said.
Different people have different opinions but the records sales and length of time in the game speaks for itself.
“Men lie Women lie Number don’t lie”
And I think Nas is the best alive Big the best gone also but that’s my personal opinion!
http://createspace.com/3393054 iscream

Wow for someone with no stage pressence and a weak voice he sure can sell out a concert in the matter of minutes.

Jay is a great rapper but I wouldn’t call him a GOAT. IMO a goat is someone who masters more than one leg of the entertainment business. LL ( Music, Film, TV) is a GOAT. Queen Latifah is a GOAT.
Puffy is a GOAT.
Jay is just sexy as he wanna be

And as much as ppl may hate to admit it. Jay is one of the last rappers that actually raps about something (not the only one I know). Can’t wait for Kanye to drop his next album.
http://myspace.com/thegameoncw Bird

I’m a Drake fan and can’t wait for his CD to drop. I’m also a Lil Wayne fan. My opinion may not count as I am not the biggest rap fan in the world, but I like these two. I also like what I’ve been hearing from Jay and shockingly 50’s latest albums. I’ve been tempted to go get them.
qtipthecat

I just hope Kanye can make one like the first one, because 808’s and heartbreaks was whack.
jdeuce_2316

the Drake song is a solid B+…the beat is kold…as 4 the G.O.A.T., that’s biggie all day everyday…Jay-Z is the best rapper alive…whoever said Nas is the best living needs 2 get their head outta that dark & stinky place…Nas has mad 2, count ’em, 2, exceptional albums in 16yrs…he is a great lyrist, but when it comes 2 putting complete albums 2gether, he doesn’t deliver…if Eminem was consistent, there wouldn’t be any arguement over who the greatest really is…as 4 right now, that title belongs 2 Jay…
http://myspace.com/dannyblaq dblaq

The industry is spineless. They will suck anybody’s d!ck who is on TV or Radio aka all these chickenheads on reality shows. People automatically say anything Jay Z put out is great because its Jay – Z. Thats why I no longer read magazines because all the content, reviews, etc.. has no substance at all.

If you are on TV no matter how and what. The public will suck you off and everybody wants to be your friend. Nobody has the balls to say, Jay – Z you good but the last joint you put out what were you thinking.

People will call you speaking out against the masses as hating. Call a spade a spade
onlinefan

Skip probably likes Wayne more because Wayne has been on the show, on several ESPN shows and has written articles for some magazines with his sports knowledge. So he’s familiar and friendly with him.

Jay Z doesn’t need a whole bunch of stage antics, he’s mellow, he’s cool – he’s not gonna be hopping all around on stage..that’s Bleek’s job.

Jay Z could sit on the side of a stage and stare at the ceiling and still deliver his lines to a point where you can still feel it.
Lil Wayne is like a ball of energy, and his raps are hyper. He can’t stand still on stage, or just stalk the crowd back and forth – it doesn’t fit his personality.
http://twitter.com/eastpointvet eastpointvet

yeah he must have never seen jay perform he might not hop around the stage and dance but he commands a crowd. like the kanye flashing lights tour was probably the best concert setup i seen ever and probably the best as far as hiphop goes but even with that kanye doesnt own a crowd like jay. and nobody else has the consistency he has so much to the point where u compare his work to his body of work and not what else is out at the time. LL has consistency going for him but that went away about 3 albums ago. and he has conquered the entertainment business or else he would be worth half a billion
http://createspace.com/3393054 iscream

@dblaq

When Jay dropped that wack album a few years back people said it was wack. Can’t think of the title of said album but yeah it sucked.
Lovely One

Here’s my two cents:

DRAKE is the hottest rappper out right now. When doing collabos, he continues to have the best flow surpassing Kanye, Wayne, etc.

LIL WAYNE’S flow is nice. I think Wayne has not been as good since his “rock” endeavors but he’s still better than most. For anyone saying he’s garbage, his flow sh*ts on most rappers. Listen to his mixtapes, which are 90% better than his albums for purchase, b4 you write him off.

JAY Z…The most successful does not always = the most talented. And why do people continue to give him GOAT titles when he steals lyrics?

EMINEM is overrated. I dont think any black rapper couldve came to the masses saying “I fu*ked my mom in the a$$” and be taken seriously. For that reason, I think Eminem had an unleveled playing field (in the rap game) that worked to his advantage. When you get over the shock value lyrics of Em raping his mom or killing Kim, what else does he have to say? Also, ppl mistake Em’s “intensity” for lyrical value. For instance, his verse on “Forever” was straight GARBAGE but ppl loved it b/c of the “intensity” in his voice. Not enough for me to crown ol’ boy.
FloridaChick813

LIL WAYNE’S flow is nice. I think Wayne has not been as good since his “rock” endeavors but he’s still better than most. For anyone saying he’s garbage, his flow sh*ts on most rappers. Listen to his mixtapes, which are 90% better than his albums for purchase, b4 you write him off.
_______________________

Couldnt agree more with >>> For anyone saying he’s garbage, his flow sh*ts on most rappers. Listen to his mixtapes, which are 90% better than his albums for purchase
WalkingKontradiction

I’m sorry but Tupac is the G.O.A.T of ALLLL G.O.A.T.S, he rapped about everything from political tyranny, police brutality, to brenda’s got a baby to toss it up & you felt every last one of his songs. He was the truest of well rounded artists, he also acted & had a performing arts background. I honestly think he was too talented for a lot of people, Biggie in no way is the greatest, great yes because I still go hard for Big, but greatest is Pac, put in Makaveli & see if you don’t feel like you’ve learned something, & that was his last “real” album, everything else is all unreleased tracks he made prior to his death. The man had so much ish in his head he’s still got albums dropping YEARS after his death, if that ain’t the greatest idk what is…..
http://twitter.com/eastpointvet eastpointvet

@lovely
people give jay the goat title because he is the goat. everyone in hiphop reuses a line or 2 all rappers done it so what you act like he will take someones whole rap. kanye, wayne, drake, ti, and so forth have all used a line and even jay lines been used a bunch of times. drake is new he dont have a track record. wayne is a very talented dude no ceilings is in rotation in my car now but that same hot mixtape doesnt equal hot albums and thats the problem. eminem has one of the best flows and is one of the best lyricist in hiphop period but its the thing of consistency.
s_johnson07

@dblaq

I completely agree.
cmj

To me Biggie was the best rapper of all times and that’s just my opinion. Idk about Jay-z.
Lovely One

eastpointvet Says:

I will respectfully disagree with you about Jay. Too many underground rappers put Jay on blast for this for it not to have some truth. And truthfully, Jay kinda bores me.

I judge Lil Wayne & others on their entire discography. I would never base my Wayne opinion on his cds alone b/c as I said b4, the mixtapes are way better. In fact the only reason why Wayne’s album sold a million copies is b/c fans thought after all those GOOD & FREE mixtapes he put out, he deserves the record sales. That is my basis for my opinion.
http://twitter.com/eastpointvet eastpointvet

@lovely
who do you think is the Goat you just said who not?
i mean underground rappers are to a certain point bitter because they really want that success. to put out like 14 albums and people only really say they wasnt feeling 1 maybe 2 albums speaks of consistency that no other artist has. LL had the sales which is probably the only other person with a similiar track record but past album number 5 he wasnt looked at as the top dog anymore. jay been the top basically his whole career and you cant really argue with those stats. biggie and pac cant be mentioned becuase yeah both of them was on top when they died but they still didnt get to live out there career or full potential
intensemocha

THE NUMBERS DON’T LIE

GET EM JAY!

IT’S A MATTER OF PERSONAL OPINION; BUT AT THE END OF THE DAY JAY IS DEFINITELY ON TOP OF HIS GAME

WHEN YOUR IN THE LEAD, IT DOESN’T MATTER TO YOU WHOSE BEHIND YOU
Lovely One

eastpointvet Says:

I dont really know who I would pick as the GOAT but I think the rappers that I named are better than Jay, which is why he will never be the GOAT IMHO.

I agree that Jay Z has major success & I give him props for that but I’m just never “wow’ed” by his lyrics. Consistency is great, but I wouldnt base my opinion on just sales numbers. For instance, Beyonce can outsell everyone with record sales but does that mean she is a better artist than Jill Scott (2 different type of artists but still). BTW, I like Bey so dont call me a hater
http://myspace.com/amax79 AKAtastrophy1908

I had to get all the way to #29 before the truth was told.

TUPAC SHAKUR WOULD SH*T ON ALL RAPPERS TODAY!!

TUPAC SHAKUR WAS THE GREATEST HIP HIP/RAP ARTIST/LYRICIST OF ALL TIME. If you don’t know, just go get his double disc with all his classics on it. I remember when Tupac was alive, JayZ was out but NOBODY CARED! Jay was wearing pastel colored rayon shirts running around in his videos looking like a clown or cartoon character. Tupac never even acknowledged him. Jay been around since 1993. He didnt become relevant til 1998 or so after Tupac and Biggie had been killed. The first song I even remember from him was “Big Pimpin”. The first time I even bothered to know who he was was when NAS went in on him on “Ether”. As far as longevity, you still have Snoop, Busta and LL who have all been around 15 years or more and have all enjoyed success. Snoop is the reinventive one and LL is the survivor. LL was the ish of the 80s and 90s and has transcended into an excellant actor with a few bangers here and there when he feels it like “Baby” feat. The Dream.

Said all that to say, becoming relevant in a craft after the masters have been assasinated (Tupac/Biggie) or because the only real competition allows you to keep crowning yourself (Kanye, Lil Wayne)or because the lkegends in the game have moved on to greater GROWN MAN ish (Ice Cube, LL) does not make you the G.O.A.T.

I can see the camel though…Jay is good but let’s not get ignorant!
http://twitter.com/eastpointvet eastpointvet

when i say consistency i mean quality of the album, not what it sold. he makes consistently good albums. maybe you not wow’ed by the lyrics because maybe you dont get them. and thats not a shot at your intelligence i know even years later a lot of his lyrics somebody might just realize what he was saying. he use a lot of double entendre which you may hear the surface meaning and not get the underlying meaning
Lovely One

@ eastpointvet Says:

Not my type of hype. But since you understand where Jay is coming from, can you explain these lyrics?

1.) If Jesus playing Lebron I’m playing Dwayne Wade (he cant be refering to himself as a god right?)
2.) Jesus cant save you, life starts when the church ends (???)

Seems like Jay tried to be deep and the whole “message” got lost in his blasphamy. JMO
http://twitter.com/eastpointvet eastpointvet

the line is me i gotta plug special ed i got it made if JEEZY paying lebron im paying dwayne wade
which is drug talk i gotta plug direct so im paying 3(dewayne wade number) for a key while you paying 23(lebron number)

life starts where the church ends
means you cant expect church to be the end all be all if you just go to every service but u dont do nothing to act on your faith other than go to church then its all for nothing basically faith without works is dead
birdofbeauty09

I have to agree with Walking Kontradiction, Lovely One & AKAtastrophy1908. IMO ‘Pac is the GOAT. He did music, movies, wrote plays. He was truly gifted. The impact his music had AROUND THE WORLD will not happen again. I love BIG, “Skies The Limit” stays on the MP3, but there’s something about ‘Pac that made him special.

I agree w/LovelyOne that Eminem is highly OVERRATED. His flow is mediocore at best.

I like that Jay does his own lane. But to say he’s the GOAT is putting too much on it. Like AKA said, when BIG and ‘Pac was still alive Jay was a relative unknown. It wasn’t until after their deaths that he gained his popularity.

Finally, I don’t value Skip Bayless opinion too much because I doubt that he listens to rap.
Silhouette

I everything eastpointvet said.
Biggie and Pac were good put they did not put out nearly as many albums as JayZ and whose to say that if they did they would have been great? Give the man his props.
mimi08

IT’S AN ABSOLUTE INSULT TO CONSIDER JAYZ A BETTER RAPPER THAN PAC OR BIGGIE..ABSOLUTE INSULT. IT ALSO SHOWS THAT BLACK PEOPLE ARE TOTAL HYPE RIDERS, RIDING ON HYPE, SMOKE AND MIRRORS. JAYZ HAS NOOOOOO STAGE PRESENCE AND IS FLOW IS WEAK. IT’S ALMOST LIKE HE HAS TO RAP THAT WAY TO CATCH HIS BREATH. BUT BECAUSE YOU PEOPLE ARE SO IMPRESSED WITH HIS MONEY AND STATUS, YOU CAN’T SEE THE FOREST FOR THE TREES.

TUPAC WAS THE BEST LYRICIST, AND BEST RAPPER PERIOD!!! PEOPLE SAY HE DIDN’T HAVE AS MANY ALBUMS AS JAYZ, WELL DUH, THAT’S BECAUSE HE DIED. BUT I THINK TO HIS CREDIT, HE MADE SUCH A IMPACT IN SUCH A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME. STAYING AND LIVING BREATHING, SLEEPING IN THE STUDIO STARTED WITH HIM. JAYZ TOOK THAT CUE FROM HIM WHETHER HE WILL ADMIT IT OR NOT. WHY DO YOU THINK PAC HAS SO MUCH MUSIC. PAC’S VOICE QUALITY, 100 TIMES BETTER THAN JAYZ’S. PAC’S STAGE PRESENCE, A GAZILLION TIMES BETTER THAN JAYZ. JAYZ STANDS ON THE STAGE LIKE A SCARED LIL BYTCH, HOLDING THE MIC ALL TIGHT. HE BARELY MOVES. AND THERE’S NO CONNECTION THERE, I DON’T KNOW WHAT WALE IS TALKING ABOUT, WITH HIS HYPE RIDING, TRYING TO GET PUT ON SO HE’LL SAY ANYTHING, AND KISS AS MUCH A** AS POSSIBLE, JAYZ IS NOT THE TRUTH. HE MADE SOME GOOD CAREER AND MARKETING MOVES, AND THAT’S ABOUT IT. HE WAS ABLE TO GET GOOD BEATS FOR HIS SONGS, ALOT OF THEM DEVELOPED BY KANYE…

BLACK PEOPLE ARE IN THE POSITION THEY ARE IN CAUSE THEY FALL FOR ANYTHING AND TAKE TO HYPE MUCH EASIER THAN ANY OTHER RACE. SHAME
mirsmommy

Jay-Z is wack IMO, and I’m not feelin Wayne or Drake either
jdeuce_2316

Pac had the greatest impact, but Pac wasn’t as articulate with the word play as Big or Jay…Pac was a gansta political rapper…I don’t even think he would still be rappin if he were alive 2day…that JMO…Big is the greatest storyteller that i’ve ever heard…he had so many metaphors that the story became real…if Jay isn’t the best rapper ALIVE, then who is the best rapper ALIVE…notice i said “ALIVE”…
http://myspace.com/dannyblaq dblaq

Hip Hop was the voice of the street, of suffering, in justice and suppression during the time. Nobody was really getting money and there were no record labels like that. No making it rain, no platinum, maybachs, etc. Rappers at that time were talking about socially fueled topics and then there were others that took you away from everyday bullshit. A lot of rappers at that time, said real sh!t even if they did party records. Hip Hop used to be about individuality, crews trying to be different than the next, everybody wanted to have a different style. I don’t even think that you can put Tupac and Biggie in the same category both of them are legends.

Tupac lyrics are very deep, his songs were well formulated and they are suppose to paint pictures. Pac’s delivery, diction, voice and music delivered the message. He loved the craft and took it serious. He spent hours, days, weeks formulating songs unlike rappers and producers today that brag “I did this beat in 10 min”.

Biggie told street stories. Nowadays nobody says shit but the same old bullsh!t a 3 year old can put that together.

Hip Hop was about knowledge, had people read books, read the dictionary, expressing yourself. Now that sh!t is just something people think makes them popular. Wayne is cool, he got flow, has a few punch lines but other than that he really doesn’t stand for anything. I like some of Waynes music but could care less for him as an artist or person, like I feel about all these other artist, they are just knock offs, wanna be and really don’t represent anything. True artist will always sell!

Sade came back on the scene after 10 years hardly without any promotions, only dropping her single and sold over 500,000 units. Let’s not forget that music is still an art, craft and it takes talent not only hype
http://twitter.com/JessicaJade612 jaydubya612

This is so funny! Skip Bayless is such a douchebag, but I agree with him here, only regarding his opinion of Jay-Z though. Lil Wayne nor Drake do anything for me neither, but I cannot stand how Jay-Hova acts like he is the g.o.a.t.

If BIG or Pac were alive today, nobody would care about Jay-Z.
http://twitter.com/eastpointvet eastpointvet

lol if funny how folks talk about if big and pac where alive. they are not. whos to say jay wouldnt be bigger? big only valued jay opinion on music he was only person with equal or more talent. and dblaq pac was a walking contradiction he talk about dear mama and slutting out hoes at same time. and you need to do research you cant possibly record as much as pac did and take days crafting a song. if u read any of the xxl articles on anniversary of pacs death u will see he spent lil time perfecting songs he would lay raw vocals and want the producer to piece it and fix it like a producer suppose to. that was one of his problems with dr dre that he took to long making music. its time we let pac and big rip. they did they thing when they was here and who knows what would have happened had they lives not been cut short but reality is they did not get to live out there careers. and mimi kanye hasnt produced that many songs on a jay z album maybe 4 at the most on the blueprint. tupac was a good rapper but best lyricist that funny and i actually love pac but lyricist i dont even know if he would be in my top 10