S. Samuel
The Luck of the Irish reigned in Round 1, as $hamrock knocked out Persia with an unanimous 100% win. Today the duel reaches divine heights as Muslim emcee Hasaan Salaam (Bio/Twitter) takes on Jewish reggae artist Matisyahu (Bio/Twitter). Does Matisyahu's list shine like a halo or does Hasan's rule the land? Whose list gets the props? You decide!
| HASAN SALAAM’S PICKS | | | MATISYAHU’S PICKS |
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Redman is probably the greatest character ever on the microphone. His character, his delivery, his punchlines to me is unrivaled throughout all these years. And he’s New Jersey reppin’ like a motherf*cker. |
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I would put Lil Wayne in my list. I just think point-blank he’s the best rapper there’s ever been. [He] took his whole style, which was so awkward and odd, and made it just so cool? That’s something you don’t see. And just listen to the way he rhymes, he’s so smart. He’s so ahead of the game. |
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I think Andre 3000 is incredibly creative with his flows and delivery, but it’s also about his insight. His insight on life and the way he puts it into his bars is very conversational. It’s some sh*t you could just be like, “word”, with. I just love the way he delivers his sh*t and he’s also probably one of the most creative people musically. |
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I would also add Drake to the list too. I think Drake is almost on Lil Wayne’s level, from what I’ve heard so far. I think he’s really cool and I’ve just really gotten into his music. I’m not necessarily up on his most popular songs but I listened to a bunch of his other stuff and I think he’s really on-point with what he’s doing. |
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Lauryn Hill. I don’t even think I should have to explain why I put Lauryn Hill up there. Lauryn is a beast. When she’s actually rhyming? D*mn. She represents womanhood so well on the microphone, and in such an intellectual way that she’s just unrivaled. And it’s not because she’s just a woman or she’s the greatest female emcee. She’s one of the best emcees period. |
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Nicki Minaj. For Nicki, just listen to her verse on “Monster”. I think she deserves to be in the “Hall of Fame” just for that verse alone. |
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Big Pun. His patterns are unrivaled to me. Even on records you could consider like a party joint like, “100 Percent” or something like that, Pun was just completely relentless. He was a f*cking monster. If he was around during all those battles, Pun would battle with anybody. I don’t think anybody would step to him on the microphone. “Beware” to me is probably [one of the] the Top 10 hip-hop songs ever. |
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I gotta also put Andre 3000 from OutKast on there. I can’t even explain how much I respect Andre. He’s just so original with his music and content. It really has to do with his music and looking back at what OutKast put out over the years. It had such a strong influence on me musically. That sort of ability to be ahead of the curve as far as blending genres and doing what feels right to you, impressed me. |
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Busta Rhymes. He’s always had a flow. Flow-wise, the only person that can kinda come close to Busta when it comes to flowing over a beat is Jay-Z. Busta can be on anything. He’ll body it. He’ll think of some creative sh*t. The way he approaches beats is incredible to me. The way he raps to beats? It’s like on some improv sh*t. It’s amazing. The way he raps is incredible to me. Also, live performance-wise, nobody is better than Busta. |
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My final pick would be Sizzla. He’s probably my number one influence as a vocalist. For me, his early work, first few albums, completely revolutionized my whole outlook on music and what can happen in terms of blending hip-hop and reggae. And my religion as well. If you listen to all those early records from Sizzla, they had lyrics that were conscious and spiritual-minded. So, it kind of brought all those different worlds [together] for me. |
