Hot 97’s Ebro Darden had Twitter in a frenzy Friday afternoon when he sent out a tweet explaining the differences between Tupac and Biggie, Jay Z and Nas. Specifically, what separates a lyricist from a rapper.
What started as an opinion to ignite discussion turned into instant clickbait. Here’s what got Twitter up in arms:
Rappers & Lyricists were always different growing up…
Lyricists are Rappers, but not all Rappers are Lyricists…
— El Viejo Ebro (@oldmanebro) July 24, 2015
http://twitter.com/oldmanebro/status/624636004989861888
Nas has amazing stories and word choice…
Word choice is not Word play! FOh
— El Viejo Ebro (@oldmanebro) July 24, 2015
As expected, reactions ranged from staunch disagreement to vehement support though proponents of the latter side seemed to be more vocal. Fans especially took umbrage with Ebro’s labeling of Nas as just a rapper and not a lyricist.
Nas dabbles in a number of different styles, but his penchant is streetwise first-person narratives. Sometimes they come in the form of a story (“One Love”; “Rewind”), and other times it’s just bars on bars (“It Ain’t Hard To Tell”; “If I Ruled The World”). He is a master of the craft and inspiration for dozens of today’s artists. On the other hand, he doesn’t frequent the puns or double entendres like Jay does. Nas, like Raekwon and Ghostface, touts an impressive vocabulary of SAT words and criminal slang (“Verbal Intercourse”). However, according to Ebro’s definitions, this makes Nas “lyrical,” which is not to be confused with being a “lyricist”:
Nas = Lyrical
Pun = Lyricist
BIG L = Lyricist
Kendrick = Lyrical
Killer Mike = Lyricist & Lyrical
Andre 3000 = Lyricist & Lyrical— El Viejo Ebro (@oldmanebro) July 24, 2015
Nas gets discredited here for not having concrete punchlines in his bars. He doesn’t abandon the style completely, though. Tracks like “Queens Get The Money” are loaded with wordplay: ““Nasty Nasdaq / Y’all going to bow holmes, it’s Dow Jones.” Rhymes like these aren’t what made him famous (“When I was 12, I went to hell for snuffin’ Jesus), but he’s still capable. In the end, Nas’s ability to articulate a message or story with descriptive imagery and word choice should qualify him as a lyricist.
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The wordplay and word choice dichotomy, however, is an important outlier to this discussion. Ebro is right when he says Nas and Tupac are great with their choice of words. Towards the end of his life, Tupac was increasingly prophetic with his rhymes. He spoke bluntly and spiritually about good and evil, but his rhymes were never loaded with metaphors. They were, however, profound and poetic: “Institutionalized, I live my life a product made to crumble / But too hardened for a smile, we’re too crazy to be humble.” In making The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, Tupac utilized numerous biblical undertones and themes in his rhymes to convey a vibe. It worked. The album went Platinum five times and we’re still validating Tupac’s prophecy years after his death.
Perhaps the most controversial element of this debate is that according to Ebro, metaphors and wordplay fall under the umbrella of lyricism, while storytelling and delivery do not. The fact of the matter is, they are all of equal importance; different ends of the same totem pole. Lyricism should encompass each of the aforementioned facets, regardless of personal preference.
In the meantime, we certainly haven’t heard the end of this discussion. Though, Ebro had this to say:
And by the way..
THERE REALLY IS NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LYRICAL & LYRICISTBut notice how violent & foul people got just debating? Hm.. Sad
— El Viejo Ebro (@oldmanebro) July 24, 2015