Phonte, who released Foreign Exchange’s Love in Flying Colors in September, spoke with HipHopDX about his favorite television shows of all time, comparing some of them to rappers. 

“My Mount Rushmore of TV shows consists of ‘The Sopranos,’ ‘Six Feet Under,’ ‘The Wire’ and ‘Breaking Bad,’” Phonte said in an exclusive statement to HipHopDX. “Admittedly, I’ve never watched ‘The Sopranos’ outside of a few episodes because the subject matter bored me.  Between ‘Goodfellas,’ ‘The Godfather’ and ‘Casino,’ I pretty much have all the Mafia I’ll ever need. But ‘The Sopranos’ laid the groundwork for all that came after it, so it gets my respect for being a forerunner. All the other greats are standing on its shoulders.”

Phonte Praises “Six Feet Under” & “The Wire”

Phonte also explained why “Six Feet Under” and “The Wire” made his “Mount Rushmore of TV shows.”

“‘Six Feet Under’ was visually one of the most gorgeous pieces of television ever,” Phonte said. “It handled the themes of family and mortality in such a heartbreaking way. It’s one of the few shows that will have you looking over your life and re-evaluating everything in it.

“‘The Wire,’ to me, is still the greatest of all time,” Phonte added. “There has never been a show to take such a brutal look at American life and how our institutions, government, the education system, drug-law enforcement, have failed us on every level. ‘The Wire’ was genius because it showed that in life, there are rarely ‘good guys’ and ‘bad guys.’ There are simply people who do the best they can with the hand life has dealt them. 

Phonte Compares Nas & Jay Z To TV Shows

Phonte continued, describing TV’s greatest shows, according to him.

“With that said, while I think ‘The Wire’ is the greatest, ‘Breaking Bad’ is the best,” Phonte continued. “Hands down, if the primary purpose of TV is to entertain and engage, I dare you to find a show that is flat out more entertaining and addictive than ‘Breaking Bad.’

“To put it in a Hip Hop perspective, ‘The Wire’ is Jay Z and ‘Breaking Bad’ is Nas,” Phonte added. “In terms of everything he’s accomplished and the way he’s turned himself into a global brand that transcends Rap music, Jay Z is the greatest rapper of all time and you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who could argue intelligently against that point. But if you’re asking me on any given day who I would rather hear rap?  It’s Nas all day. Period. In terms of flow, voice, content, skill, influence and overall bar for bar track record? Nas is the best because he makes for a more engaging listen. That’s the best analogy I can make to sum up the everlasting ‘Breaking Bad’ versus ‘The Wire’ debate.”

Earlier this year, Phonte also compared several rappers, including Eminem, Kanye West and Snoop Dogg to TV shows via Twitter. 

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