A Look At “The Big Three” Heading Into The Next Decade
There can only be one top dog, and competition is stiff. This has been the case long before hip-hop was invented. In the early year you had Rakim & Big Daddy Kane as the premier hip-hop rivalry. Outside of these two, you had KRS-One, Kool G Rap, Kool Moe Dee, LL Cool J, and plenty more. These barbershop-style debates have always been a part of hip-hop culture, establishing what we affectionately refer to as The Big Three. “Who’s the best MC - Biggie, Jay Z & Nas”, the old adage goes. This conversation has continued up until this current day. The last decade in hip-hop has been dominated by three names in particular with no room for debate. Drake, J. Cole & Kendrick Lamar. Each represent (to some extent) one aspect of this new era of rap music, and hip-hop culture at large. More importantly, they’ve outlasted many of their peers and have for the most part only continued to grow bigger over the past ten years. Now that all three have (finally) made their marks on this new decade, let’s reflect on their contributions to this thing of ours and dissect where the game could go from here with their added influence. I’ll be putting an asterisk (that’s this * thingy) next to what it seems like the general consensus says is their most iconic project.
As always these are just MY opinions and do not reflect the views of TDN as a staff, brand or a m***********g crew. Feel free to crucify me on Twitter @plzsaythebento. Iight, let’s get to it.
DRAKE
Albums: Thank Me Later (2010), Take Care* (2011), Nothing Was The Same (2013), Views (2016), Scorpion (2018), Certified Lover Boy (2021)
Other Notable Projects: So Far Gone (2009), If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late (2015), What A Time To Be Alive (with Future, 2015), More Life (2017), Care Package (2019)
Peak Run: 2011-2018, with 2016 as his biggest year
Stamp on the game: Established the sound of modern R&B by mixing it with other genres, emotional vulnerability, diving into international genres, aided in popularization of collaboration albums
Co-Signs: The Weeknd, Kendrick Lamar, Future, Migos, Lil Baby, A$AP Rocky, Jack Harlow, Jhene Aiko, PARTYNEXTDOOR, dvsn, Roy Woods
Drake is a popstar. He’s been the number one guy in music (not just rap) for about a decade now. As the star that he is, his influence is everywhere. Not only has his style already given birth to plenty of other derivative styles (hi A Boogie), he has also personally co-signed a number of emerging acts by hopping on their tracks. While some may accuse him of wave riding, you could hardly say he doesn’t have his ears to the streets and a finger on its pulse. He also usually brings his A-game to a Drake feature on an up & comer’s record. Drake usually goes first and becomes the highlight of the song, catapulting many to new heights (hi Migos). He even heavily co-signed another member of the big 3 by not just putting Kendrick Lamar on arguably his most important album, but also bringing him on its accompanying tour with him. In terms of restructuring the music business in his own image, Drake himself mostly signs R&B and world music acts to his OVO record label. He doesn’t seem too concerned with the future of rap in that regard. It could also be said that OVO appears to be more of an in-house team of songwriters and producers Drake can use for his own creative endeavors at this point. The label has hardly yielded any stars of its own since The Weeknd slipped through the cracks, which is crazy because even Wiz Khalifa’s Taylor Gang gave us Ty Dolla $ign. That said, his influence is that major that even without directly passing the torch to anybody (closest I’d say is the revenge for “Yes Indeed” that Lil Baby got on 2021’s “Wants And Needs”) his fingertips will be all over whomever dominates the space when he eventually does hang the mic up for good. If nothing else, Drake has gotten more eyes on Toronto than ever before, and with the moody, spacey R&B soundscapes he and Abel have pioneered, the city now has a signature sound that the whole game has leeched off of for years. When its all said and done, Drake is looking to become a JAY Z type of rapper, a mogul with no needs to meet within the music itself.
KENDRICK LAMAR
Albums: Section.80 (2011), good kid, m.A.A.d city* (2012), To Pimp A Butterfly (2015), DAMN. (2017), Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers (2022)
Other Notable Projects: (O)verly (D)edicated (2010), untitled unmastered. (2016), Black Panther: The Album (with Various Artists, 2018)
Peak Run: 2012-2018, with 2018 as his biggest year
Stamp on the game: Cinametic concept albums, blending of other genres without sacrificing rap, widely accepted socially conscious messaging
Co-Signs: Baby Keem, Rich The Kid
Kendrick Lamar is a creative, or as Troy Ave once infamously put it, a “weirdo rapper”. As the only member of the Big 3 to be from a previously recognized city (Compton), Kendrick came into the game with a legacy to pull from unlike the other two acts. This rich musical history is what makes K Dot one of the most exciting MC’s on the planet, as bleeding these sounds together has given him his own unique style so difficult to imitate that anybody even pulling influence will draw comparison. On the flip side, Kendrick mostly works with his own camp and guest features aren’t as eventful as a J. Cole, at the frequency of a Drake or even as revered as the rest of his own canon. Kendrick is the weird one here, with such a particular style that it just doesn’t fit on every track. While he has popped up with scene-stealing verses, it usually is with established artists looking to work with him on an artistic level rather than Kendrick putting a potential successor on a pedestal or prepping an artist for a mainstream takeover. The one exception is of course, Kendrick’s cousin and pgLang’s marquee artist Baby Keem, which only speaks more to Kendrick’s true values. Kendrick’s true legacy is in his work itself and if Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers is any indication, he is not letting his pride tell him where the game should be taken. Kendrick would seemingly rather let the work itself inspire the next generation however it may than play an active role in shaping the stars of tomorrow. With artists like Dreamville’s JID already on the rise, we are already starting to see his imprint on our culture. Kendrick Lamar is a generational talent, and will likely pop out himself when he has something to say before disappearing into the shadows. He’s already done his grinding and laid down the foundation for the long and healthy career he’s experienced. He’s shaken the hands he’s needed to, did the Taylor Swift & Maroon V features, done the polarizing album and the one the dominates radio… To put it bluntly, Kendrick at this point is pretty detached from the game despite having his own throne within it. On “The Heart Part 5”, he reveals himself to be pretty disillusioned with the culture in general. All over Mr. Morale he’s telling us to not look to celebrities for guidance, but work on ourselves for the betterment of ourselves, our families, our communities, and our culture at large. Kendrick is more likely to disappear from the spotlight outside of release windows, while letting his burgeoning pgLang label signees shift the culture how they see fit. Kendrick is just a mortal man after all.
J. COLE
Albums: Cole World: The Sideline Story (2011), Born Sinner (2013), 2014 Forest Hills Drive* (2014), 4 Your Eyes Only (2016), KOD (2018), The Off Season (2021)
Other Notable Projects: Friday Night Lights (2010), Truly Yours (2013), Truly Yours 2 (2013), Revenge of The Dreamers (with Dreamville, 2014), Revenge of The Dreamers II (with Dreamville, 2015), Revenge of The Dreamers III (with Dreamville, 2019), D-Day: A Gangsta Grillz Mixtape (with Dreamville, 2022)
Peak Run: 2018-Present, Cole admittedly has a leg up on a competition by making features so scarce early in his career and choosing to dominate the feature game over the past few years in a way neither of the other two have matched
Stamp on the game: Platinum with no features, self-produced albums, socially conscious lyricism, return and evolution of boom bap
Co-Signs: Young Thug, 21 Savage, JID, Bas, Ari Lennox, EarthGang, Young Nudy, BIA, DaBaby, pretty much everybody on Revenge of The Dreamers III
J. Cole is a traditionalist. Of the three men in this discussion, Cole seems to be the most involved in shaping where the game goes and also the most conscious of his own legacy. He’s planned future phases of his career far in advance, even including his own retirement. “Featuring J. Cole” pretty much guarantees you a verse-of-the-year contender in the years following KOD. It helps that Cole’s takeover aligned with Kendrick’s hiatus as these two are the most similar out of the big 3 in terms of subject matter and style. They are both rappers first and foremost. Real lyricists. A few years ago when the “platinum with no features” and “J. Cole is boring” camps were warring on Twitter, it seems Cole had an epiphany. He was displeased with where hip-hop had headed, and distanced himself from it. He realized that hip-hop is a young man’s game and all of the things that came with that. So he made the conscious decision to become more of a mentor figure to the new generation and stopped being so reclusive. Since then, he’s worked more with outside producers, gone on a legendary feature run and even opened his own projects up to feature other acts. It’s like he and Kendrick traded spots toward the latter half of the decade. Most impressively, J. Cole and his Dreamville camp invited a who’s who and a who’s gonna be who to Tree Sound Studios in Atlanta to craft one of the best compilation albums in recent years with Revenge Of The Dreamers III. This gave a gang of rappers a J. Cole cosign without even a feature. He also legitimized the newer sounds of rap to the “old heads” by cosigning Young Thug & 21 Savage as heavily as he has. Beyond that, Cole carried the boom bap torch further in his earlier days and has continued to do so. While Drake continues to blend with R&B & Kendrick push forward into wildly unexplored territories, J. Cole has made sure to try and keep the classic hip-hop vibe he grew up on alive and well and has inspired a new generation to actually rap. J. Cole himself has even been less obvious in his social consciousness and rapped more for the sake of the craft, having fun with it the way new rappers do. Cole right now is, to me, the best he’s ever been and I personally find him to be the most exciting member of the big three currently. Even if he were to never rap again, he’s inspired countless artists to not just be their true selves, but also accept, study and work with other artists with wildly different sounds.
Consensus: We’re a decade into this big three and the torches will be passed down soon. We have Drake, the toxically vulnerable pop star who can rap his ass off over minimal, intimate soundscapes and has also redefined modern R&B and globalized pop music culture in a way unseen since the Beatles. To take his place you’d have to seamlessly combine not just melody into your raps, but whole other genres all the while being introspective and honest with your core audience. Then we have Kendrick Lamar, the Pulitzer Prize-winning man of the people who can also rap his ass off but prefers to create more experimental music to showcase these skills. To take his place you’d need a mastery of the English language but also a cookout-ready two step and an imagination to rival Quentin Tarantino. Finally, there’s J. Cole, the soulful yet prideful leader of the new school who went platinum with no features and preached humility for years, that also pops up on features to give us what could be the verse of the year. To take his place you’d have to be able to passionately command the very emotions of a people, while also being humble and sticking to your roots with a level of self awareness that allows one to explore new territory and not fold to its demands. There’s often been memes shared around that these three are the heart, mind, and soul of modern rap. They’ve all even influenced each other. All three sing (Drake did it first). Kendrick & Cole both often rap about the people. Drake & Cole both often speak to the hearts of women. Drake & Kendrick both like to use groovy, dance-able instrumentals. All three of these men have shaped the game in their own image. So what does the future hold? Who will these three pass the torches to like Lil Wayne, JAY Z & Dr. Dre before them? Only time will tell. I’m just grateful to be alive to witness these three on their ascent to their respective thrones. There’s room for all of us.