From Drake to Kanye, The Rap Power Rankings (February, 2015)
I've wanted to do an ongoing Rap Power Rankings for literally years now, and with the good folks at Green Label on the squad, I finally decided to go for it.
In theory the Rap Power Rankings is all about reflecting hip-hop as a competition sport. Both overtly and subtly, rappers are constantly fighting for position, trying to climb into the top of rap's mythical hierarchy, and just like sports, those positions are constantly changing. Like the rap game itself, there aren't any hard rules for how we determine ranks, how could there be? How does a mediocre album measure against a great hit single? If a rapper kills another rapper on their own song (* cough, "Control" * cough) should that count for more than dropping a great verse on their own song? Figuring out where every rapper belongs is a an almost impossible task, but greatness has never come easy and we're not afraid of some difficulty. In the words of Kevin Garnett, ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!!!
Two months in, these Rankings are slowly but surely shaping up to be something awesome. Case in point, in January's rankings Drake was in the middle of the pack, then in February he dropped a surprise album, broken nearly every Billboard record ever, and is looking down from the mountaintop, with really on Kanye giving him a run for his money. And then when we sit down at the end of March to figure out this month's Rankings, Kendrick's album is almost certainly going to vault him upward...unless Kanye drops his album by surprise, which could totally happen.
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But that's next month. For now, with the impact of February's hip-hop maneuvering now firmly in the rearview, it's time to look back and see where everyone from Kanye to Drizzy to Action Bronson currently stands. Take a look, the game is on....
