S. Samuel
New York rap veteran Papoose is not scared to let the world know he is still a top tier hip-hop artist and even sent out a message to music mogul Jay Z.
When asked how confident he is as an emcee, Pap did not hesitate to name-drop Jigga.
Nobody is better than me — Jay-Z, nobody,” said Shamele Mackie, better known by the stage name Papoose. “None are more lyrically inclined than me. None of them. I’m definitely the king of New York. I am the greatest out of New York.” … “When I look in the mirror, I don’t see Jay Z — I see Papoose,” said the musician, who’s married to Remy Ma, a Grammy-nominated rapper serving time for a 2007 shooting. “More power to him, but he’s not better than me.” (NY Daily News)
Despite selling under 20,000 copies of his long-awaited Nacirema Dream album and not receiving much radio support, Pap said he is still confident in his talent.
“It’s not going to stop me,” he said of the lack of spins. “I’m going to release a body of music every month. I don’t feel like there’s no artist out there doing that.” … “My pen game is the most immaculate,” Papoose told the Daily News. “I bring the most to the table on every level, concept, substance.” (NY Daily News)
Last fall, the self-proclaimed “King of New York” said the industry had kept him from reaching mainstream success.
“I got a mixtape I’ve been working on called Blackballed, because that’s what I am, I’ve been blackballed. I am the most feared MC, the industry is afraid of me, and that’s the only reason why I’m not in the position that I deserve to be in, but I keep resurfacing because you cannot deny talent, you cannot stop destiny,” Pap revealed in an interview. “So for me to always be in the headlines, in the worst and the best ways, every time they turn around, that’s just the reaction that takes place when you try to stop destiny or control talent and hold somebody back. This is what happens. It has a way of reacting. They’ll never be able to stop me or control what I do. But I am the most feared MC, and a lot of your favorite artists and execs–a lot of people hated on me, man. I’ve been hated on, and that’s the only reason I’m not in the position I deserve to be in. So that’s why that’s the title of my new mixtape, Blackballed.” (XXL Mag)
In 2011, the Big Apple emcee crowned himself the “King of New York.”
“The reason I chose that title is because I am the king of New York,” the Brooklyn MC said with confidence to Mixtape Daily. “It feels good to be the king of New York so I just wanted to celebrate myself being the king of New York, so I figured I’d make it a self-titled mixtape…It’s just basically breaking down some of the reasons of why I’m the king of New York. The reaction was both-sided, but it was a little bit more to the good side. A lot of my supporters, a lot of my fans reached out. And a lot of my haters reached out who disagree that I’m the king and I just let them know that I intend on proving it.” (MTV)
