Editorials

20 Effective Methods To Judge An MC

First things first; best MCs have never been measured by their popularity, album sales, nor number of Twitter followers. The most ridiculous criteria in recent times has to be “Dance style” and “Dress style” to be measure the Hottest MC, the operative word being “MC”.To shed some light and clear the confusion I’ve compiled 20 Effective MethodsTo Judge The Skills Of An MC:

Tumi vs bender

1. Originality – They say “There’s nothing new under the sun”, but sounding like another rapper is not acceptable.

2. Concept– Handling a topic in the most creative way; eg Nas on “I Gave You Power” where he talks from a gun’s perspective, and“Rewind” where he raps backwards.

3. Content– This is the actual meaning of a song, its structure and vocal arrangement.

4. Versatility– The capability of no restrictions and being limitless when tackling the music.

5. Vocabulary– The richness and the depth in the usage of the language/words.

6. Substance– Some rhyme and some has a nice flow, but they are not saying anything meaningful.

7. Flow– The mutual complement between the beat and the lyrics (Rhythm And Poetry).

8. Delivery– It’s how the lyrics are translated to the listener over the beat, or even acapella.

9. Ability to Freestyle– Every soccer player is expected to know how to dribble, but it’s a skill a lot of people have succeeded without mastering.

10. Voice projection– It’s important for MCs to understand their vocal range and capabilities for perfect reception.

11. Live Performance– Some artists make beautiful music but they suck balls when they perform live, others have average songs but kill the performance.

12. Poetic Elements– Word play, similes, metaphors, puns,rhyme schemes etc. Basically the P in RAP.

13. Uniqueness-It’s when you can’t mistake Snoop Dogg for Eminem. As an MC you need to have an identity. We’ve heard enough of that “Versace” flow, and Hip Hop heads know who it belongs to.

14. Repertoire (Body of Work)– No artist should be judged on one hit song. There must be quality in quantity. Is it bubblegum or timeless classic?

15. Industry Impact– It’s when an artist is being carbon copied by other artists or gets crossover features.

16. Social Impact-It’s when artists use their artistry to bring about change or social development.

17. Longevity (Consistency) – We’ve seen artists come and go or failing to produce a song better than their last hit. It’s dangerous when a song is bigger than the artist; think of JR’s “Show Them (Make The Circle Bigger)”.

18. Lyricism – It’s the wit in delivering clever concepts in a creative poetic form and the substance in the use of language.

19. BattleSkills– Hip Hop has always been a competitive sport since day one. If you claim that you’re  doper than the next rapper, you must be able to back it up in a rap battle.

20. Influence– It’s when an artist’s fashion sense or slang is being copied by the general public. Eg Kendrick Lamar’s haircut or OkMalumkoolkat’s “Cava this, cava that” slang.

Please consider these above factors next time you try to rate best or top MCs.

FOR THE LOVE OF HIP HOP!

By @rashid_kay

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