SOHH Squad
Mega producer Timbaland recently offered his take on today's rap scene and explained why a handful of artists like Young Money's Drake might be hip-hop's saviors.
In Timbo’s perspective, Drizzy, Rick Ross, Kendrick Lamar and Nicki Minaj are hip-hop’s biggest stars.
“The younger generation, we haven’t seen a star being born yet. We’ve seen Drake. Drake might have been the last star that we’ve seen, but we haven’t seen a superstar yet, like super, super-star. Drake was the last of them that I thought that we might have seen. Drake and [Rick] Ross. I would say Kendrick [Lamar] too. Those might be the last three. [Nicki Minaj?] That might be the only one. But we haven’t seen nobody else.” (Rolling Stone)
Recently, rap star Kanye West called Drake one of the top contenders dominating the entertainment industry.
“Currently that spot is taken. Let’s be honest–he got last summer. Yeah. He got last summer. And I’d never given it up till last summer.” [Now he’s thinking about taking it back.] “It’s a real question for me. Do I want to?” (GQ)
Last week, rap veteran Common boasted about Kendrick Lamar’s talent and his star-studded Top Dawg Entertainment clique.
“I can appreciate the aspects of the quality hip-hop and the freedom that I get out of artists, whether it’s Ab-Soul or Kendrick Lamar,” he said. “Their whole team does unique things.” So can we expect a collaboration between him and the Compton MC? “Man, I would love to do a record with Kendrick,” said Common. “That album [good kid, m.A.A.d city] to me is like one of the most complete albums we’ve heard in hip-hop in a long time. It was the album that set a milestone […] from the new era of rap artists.” (Rap-Up)
Common also spoke up on how much Nicki Minaj had grown over the past few years.
“I love that [‘Chiraq’] joint. I was rockin’ it as soon as I heard it,” he said. “I think Nicki Minaj is a dope MC. She can really rhyme to me. From what she did on ‘Monster’ to now, she still is snappin’. When you hear her rap, you’re like, damn, this woman is cold. I mess with Nicki Minaj.” (Rap-Up)
