By bar for bar, do you just mean that j Cole has more bars, or are there verses that you feel show a mastery that Kendrick hasnāt matched?
That's always been the biggest question with K Dot tbh and I can't answer that. Cole's recent output since like 2018 and onwards has shown that he does not waste a bar, (whether it lands or not is up to the listener), while Kendrick has stepped back from punchlines, metaphors, and wordplay to create a better song if that makes sense. As we've seen with Euphoria and Not Like Us, Kendrick has shown he can clearly go bar for bar but would rather not. To me Kendrick hasn't been a bar for bar rapper since DAMN. dropped, but at the same time you can't say he's not a crazy lyricist when GKMC and TPaB exist in his discography. There's also the Nosetalgia verse with Pusha that was absolutely insane. I really don't think either can outrap each other on a technical level and it comes down to the sonics of the track itself and flows. Both of these attributes are subjective as to who performs best, so this question of who is better has the same answer as how many licks it will take to get to the center of a tootsie pop.
Thats a true rap fans answer!
Eloquently put, My nigga.
wow. this was the perfect answer
Not doing something doesn't take away that you have done it and can do it. He's branched into different forms of his spoken word and rap. If this beef has done anything it showed he can still do simple yet hard hitting bars and STILL keep them multi-layered. And DAMN was his 2nd to last major album so how has he gone away from that so quick? He's known to take time off that doesn't count as him not doing it through the years of his career. Dedication with Nipsey Hussle alone is a great classic hip hop , bar for bar track. Cole will even tell you Kendrick never stopped being a Bar for Bar rappers. He might not be as easily quoteable or "photo caption" worthy. But he'll always drop a clever or heavy Bar. This is coming from a fan who genuinely thinks Cole would be just as "influential" if it wasn't trendy to call him boring. I agree with the answer being infinitely subjective, but "not a Bar for Bar rapper" is a crazy take
I couldn't have said it better myselfšš½šš½
I love you
This has always been a conversation though and this answer would be accurate before and after the beef.
Lmao bro sensed it
I have yet to hear a kdot bar that wows me. Listening to Cole is like watching Jordan in his prime juking and dunking on mfs. I never get that feeling listening to Kendrick....ever. His beat selection is always crazy good and he always throws in a bunch of beat switches to throw in the illusion of something crazy going on when nothing really is tho lyrically and it bores the absolute fck outta me it's become formulaic and predictable at this point. Kdot has some good artistry but I'm reluctant to even give him that because idk how much of that, if all, is from Dave Free.
I don't understand how anyone can listen to FEEL on DAMN and not understand that it's top tier poetry at it's finest.
I think that's his point through. Kendrick focuses less on bars and more on artistry. FEEL (for example) is an amazing song but does nothing to show how well he can construct bars and punchlines.
Yes.
I think Kendrick punches at a tier Iāve only really seen in battle rap personally. Heās a lot more naturalistic in his word associations as well, Cole has no problem bending how youād naturally talk to line up a bar. Kendrick isnāt immune to this at all (see the Parkinsonās bar from euphoria) but heās got instances where heās just smoother than Iāve seen Cole be, like with the core stomach wordplay into the ab line coming from the already cutting āthatās a classic, you donāt have oneā all on the same rhyme scheme, and all adding to the analogy Kendrick is drawing between Drakeās art and public identity.
āWhen I was ten, back when nine ounces had got you ten, and nine times out of ten, niggas donāt pay attention, and when thereās tension in the air, nines come with extensionsā
Add up every nine and ten in that little scheme there you got 87, the year Kendrick was born (further if you also add one 9 and 10 together you get nineteen, completing 1987). He goes on to rap about getting a single brick of cocaine, talking to his dad who asks him to explain what heās talking about. He closes off his verse by saying āgo figure motherfucker, every verse is a brick, your son dopeā.
The entire verse, which is 36 bars (36 ounces is roughly one kilo) is literally a brick of cocaine, and with the āyour son dopeā line and talking about the year he was born, right in the middle of the crack epidemic, the entire verse is saying Kendrickās life has amounted to a brick.
All due respect, Iāve never heard shit from Cole that matches that.
nosetalgia verse
That's a dope verse but Push went hard asf too.
i thought kenny kinda smoked him on it but to each their own
It was a hard call for me cause Push starts his verse off stronger and dot closes his off stronger so they're like neck and neck but if I HAD to pick then dot cause that was a clean finish.
valid man valid
Ask and you shall receive.
He just did an hour ago š
No it's not. Kendrick raps better than cole in every measure yall are out of your mind. I don't like spreading this take in here because you all call dickriding but Jesus christ how soon yall forget.
Your wish has been granted.
lol, got what you wanted
He did
Lmao bar for bar? Joke of the summer
I feel like Cole is better technically than Kendrick. Like Cole is better with words, but Kendrick doesn't let words get in his way IG. Like Cole is better inside the box but Kendrick is more willing to go outside the box
Kendrick doesnāt want to stay inside the box, heās much more of an artist/musician and cole is more of a rapper
I mean that's definitely possible. For context I personally have Kendrick as my #1 artist and Kanye, Chance, Wayne, and Cole battling it out for #2 depending on my mood for the day. But in terms of like rapping like wordplay, like bars, like inside the box shit, IDK if anybody's fucking with Cole
I wish Cole went outside the box a bit more tho. Sometimes I feel like heās committing too hard to multi syllable rhyme schemes and it starts to sound a bit too rigid and forced. It doesnāt happen often because heās an amazing writer, but itās super noticeable when it does happen.
I get that too, but then sometimes he absolutely eats that hoe and it's like gawwdamm LMAO! Like that second beat on I think it was the hot 97 freestyle. Literally got my girl into listening to rap lol
Edit: it was LA Leakers freestyle on Power 106. If you haven't heard it, go listen to it right now and improve your life. If you have heard it, fuck it go listen again it's still just as hard
Oh absolutely. Iām really hoping that the fall off is super polished. Also kind of hoping for some more varied/interesting subject matter. Cole has been rapping about rapping a bit too much lmao. Would like to hear some story telling, some life lessons, and some real talk. I love when heās just barring up too but Iāve been needing a bit more from him conceptually.
Yeah I hate how he got did in this whole beef shit but the one positive is hopefully that'll kinda force him into talking about more real shit
He be in his jammies on sofa.
But he does. The entirety of 4YEO is him going outside of the box. Iād argue his rapping on TOS is some of the best technical rapping heās ever done!
personally i think if weāre talking like rapping and wordplay for me it would go lupe, then cole, then eminem maybe. thing is lupe and cole donāt sacrifice their artistry as much as eminem does for the sake of technicality in their verse
I hate this distinction. Rapping is an art.
To be a great rapper is to be a great artist. Artists have different priorities but that doesnāt negate rap as an artistic mode.
NAS is better than many other non rappers musically. And heās also a better rapper than most rappers.
All that āheās a great artist but not a great rapper,ā is corny. Being a good rapper takes musicianship!
If it didnāt, everybody would still be rapping like Grandmaster Flash and Run DMC.
I feel like great rapping takes musicianship but it's still a distinction to be made. Like Kodak is an S tier musician but I wouldn't say he's just a super great rapper. And you can look at guys like Royce da 5'9" and Logic who I'd say are among the most talented rappers but aren't necessarily great musicians which can limit their appeal in a lot of ways
Very rude to Royce and Logic who are great musicians as well as simply writers.
That's the thing, like at this level we're splitting hairs to be sure. Like the NBA, everybody's elite, athletic, tall, got crazy handles, etc compared to the average guy (or even compared to the average guy who hoops regularly). So when I'm saying those guys are not necessarily great musicians I mean relative to the other guys at/near the top of the game, your Kendricks, Cole's, Drake's, etc
NAS was also a pioneer. Cole aināt no pioneer, he is however a great rapper who makes dope music.
4YEO is absolutely pioneering.
There needs to be a reckoning with that album. We really take it for granted.
Do yall realize how weird and vulnerable a song like SHES MINE is?! Like name a comp that exists in the hip hop world.
Where is the equivalent to VILLE MENTALITY or FOLDING CLOTHES?
Ok damn my bad. One small step for man.
lol I canāt tell if this is sarcasm.
Youāre not understanding what they mean when they say this. You donāt need to be a good artist to be a good rapper.
What you mean to say is that to say is being a good rapper falls under being a good artist. For example there are plenty of people who can rap, as in punchlines, metaphors & wordplay but canāt, for example make a catchy tone/hook.
The writing in and of itself is a majority of rapping, thus your rap ability. The sound portion of it is the artistry.
Your argument of rapping is an art would be the same as me saying:
āIām great at Japanese Caligraphy because Iām great at writing.ā
Just because you can do a single layer of something (Rapping) doesnāt mean youāre as great as a higher level of that thing (Musician/Artist)
I think this kind of thinking really undermines rap as an art form.
The difference in the calligraphy and writing is that those are not analogous. One the actual substance of the material and the other is just how a letter looks.
Rapping takes writing, structure, thoughtfulness; the same thing creating a catchy hook is.
Would you say BEBE REXHA is a better artist than BENNY THE BUTCHER because she makes better hooks, catchier songs, and more mass appealing records? No.
One could argue that Frank Ocean is a worst hit maker but better āartistā than Miley Cyrus. But then how is that quantified?! Making hits or good songs is such a subject thing anyway.
RIO DA YUNG OG (and all those Flint Rappers) has his best songs are just straight rapping over very repetitive electronic beats. But heās also extremely unique and his popularity amongst street rappers is due to that very uniqueness besides his ability to āmake a great song.ā
Rapping is and of itself an art form that is not separate from song making. To be able to write a great verse, one has to be a great writer.
To make a catchy hook, you donāt have to be that at all. You just have to have an ear for what kind of records to number. Thatās not artistry, thatās an algorithm.
To make a catchy hook, you donāt have to be that at all. You just have to have an ear for what kind of records to number. Thatās not artistry, thatās an algorithm.
The ability to make a hit song with a catchy hook, catchy beat, etc does not fall under the, for lack of better words: "requirement" of being a Good Rapper. I'm sure you and I can agree that these 4 things majorly comprise the "skill" of Rapping:
1. Flow
2. Metaphors/Punchlines
3. Substance
4. Wordplay
^ I'd personally say J Cole takes the cake over Kendrick in all 4 of these, but some people could argue Substance I guess?
Then, what would you say are the 4 major components of a good "Artist"? I would say these 4:
1. Sound Quality (Debatable)
2. Hit-Factor/Replay Factor
3. Audience Reach (As in, how big or diverse of an audience your music could reach)
4. Presence (I will say this is more of a superstar thing than solely artist, but a great artist should have a certain Presence to them after a while)
Now, obviously you can argue against these, that is your opinion to have. However, if you look at it from my perspective that I gave, I hope you understand what I (at least) mean when I say someone can be a better Rapper than another person, but not a better artist. I'm not saying "Oh a rapper is not an artist", that's stupid.
However, I'm ALSO NOT saying rapping isn't an art, I'm saying your ability to rap can be higher than someone else's while not being a better overall Artist than them. Like you said, rapping CAN fall under Artistry, meaning its just one piece of it.
Just because, for example, J Cole is a better rapper than Kendrick Lamar, doesn't precisely mean he's automatically a better Artist.
Perfect answer
This is perfectly stated.
Yall will bring up this bar anytime there's friendly healthy debate happening
The most tragic thing about this line was the other party it was pointed at.
This verse explains why he backed out the beef
Kendrick made Count Me Out, thatās all Iām saying
Nle choppa made slut me out
Sexyy red made pound town
for free? is a mastery of rapping
Yeah but the syllable play in Count Me Out is beyond what cole has ever done
and tbh the wordplay in for free? is also beyond what cole has ever written
not to mention the music video by kenny that just came out is on another artistic league than coleās music videos
and I am a massive fan of both artists, kendrick is just objectively better
Are you saying that's good or bad? Because personally I think the variety of vocal work on that track is fucking fire.
Cole has better wordplay, Kendrick is better at storytelling. Both different aspects of lyricism
K dot better Story Teller, J Cole better overall lyricist. They are both phenomenal artists, but people will always give Kenny a bit more credit due to the beef sadly.
happy cake day homie
Thanks dog!!!
He deserves it wtf? As a fan of both, Cole disappointed
Cole made 2014 forest hills drive, all Iām saying
K Dot made GKMC. Imo, both classics but I can see the argument for both. It's sad that we really have to pit them against each other cause I don't think K Dot can be as relatable as Cole given the environment he grew up in, while Cole is the average listener who doesn't take part in violence/gangbanging but wants to be recognized for having an insane amount of talent having grown up in an impoverished neighborhood. As with everything, there are pros and cons. To me this argument is like Jay v. Em, cause both are GOAT's but grew up on the opposite spectrums of the drug trade, (seller, popular drug dealer v. user, outcast).
Thatās what I dislike about all this commentary , like who cares if you grew up in the hood or not , talent is talent ā¦
Kdot made TPAB and GKMC, all Iām saying
Donāt care ; Drake made NTWS and Views
neither of those are really on the same level of kendrick and coleās top albums
Lol
They just don't aim for the same things. Kendrick spent his earlier "Kdot" years doing the lyrical miracle stuff, and once he felt proficient enough at that, concentrated on the crafting and the substance.
Meanwhile I'm looking at JCole and while he looked to be experimenting on the subject matter in his earlier years, what has been jumping at me the last 6 years or so is how good and how much better he's becoming on the pen year after year after year.
And it fits for both tbh. Kendrick is a guy with very few features who will pop up when he drops his projects, and they all mean something in his journey as an artist and person, on JCole side, while his projects ain't nothing to laugh at, he's THE feature rapper of our generation and honestly might be of all time, in the conversation with Andre 3K and shit, so yeah it's better that they don't swap skillset for both
Honestly it's just down to what you're looking for in a track/a rapper who you think is the better lyricist.
Cole peaked with conceptual album making with 4YEO, which is just a perfectly fine tuned record with mood and theme, and variety.
And post KOD heās seemed to want to hone his technical abilities which I find admirable.
Itās hard for me to highlight many album that stand up to the technical prowess of TOS. His rapping on that record is incredible
Just listen to INTERLUDE, heās really going off on that album.
Could argue he's rapping better on MDL tbh
True! Heās rapping really well on there.
My only thing is, there isnāt a song as amazing specific as AMARI on MDL.
Amari is one of the best technical rap songs of this decade IMO. He aināt talking about much but the way he does it is amazing.
Honestly you get the perfect showcase on their Black Friday collab. Kendrick is more versatile in how he can attack a beat and his range is insane especially when he gets into a rhythm as you hear near the end of Tale of Two Citiez. And the way he tells a story over a verse is just insane, even if you often wont catch half the shit he says on first take
With Cole even though he may not get as heavy on some songs (doesn't mean he has to, not every bar has to be deep), he has one of the best cadences imo and he is way better with punchlines, you can catch onto what he says way quicker first listen and they still hit just as nice especially when he takes over the beat. He also generally has a better voice, personally i like when kendrick gets into his 3stacks bag but that's obviously hit or miss for everyone
I will say neither of them have a deep singing bag that's fs š
The tale of two citiez beat is way easier to catch pockets on and I donāt think that Black Friday should be used to compare theyāre ability
that's fair, i'm one of the few that think Cole did perfect on the Alright track but i do think he would have gotten into his own pocket better on a beat like Blacker the Berry or Hood Politics
Yeah Iām not saying Cole did bad on the beat he did the best he could
kendrick might be more technical but coleās music is FAR more enjoyable. i canāt stand to listen to 90% of kendrickās music
Was thinking about this today. To me J Cole is the better rapper but Kendrick is the better musician/ artist. Their music is completely different
Rapping takes musicianship.
Rap is artistry.
Yes. Kendrick can really sell a story tho.
Kendrick Lamar J Cole Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar J Cole
Yuno?? Are you gonna drop soon??
I'm way too biased to kendrick and the only reason i'm here is cause of the algorithm but imo Cole is my favorite banger guy, like, i just rather his voice than any other rapper and he has the best head nodding music with songs like Immortal.
Rapper Rapper, is definitely Cole. He rap, rap.
Cole has better wordplay and I think his flow is better. Kendrick has overall better writing and storytelling.
Theyāre better at different aspects. Love em both.
Kenny can be nice, but Cole is far more authentic imo
Doesn't pander to the grammys, doesn't pretend to be something hes not. Ima give it to cole
Complexity of a verse (homophones, rhyme schemes, meter): Dot Bars (smilies, metaphors, double entendres, story telling): Cole But itās an opinion nd people prefer dif things
It's all opinion but Id say Kendrick, but it's close
I feel like if Cole went bar for bar with Kendrick on a track youād see a new side to him itās gonna be a real steel sharpens steel moment heād probably surprise people
I feel like lyrically mfs don't give Cole enough credit cause of his flow n shit. Like when you look at Kendrick he got all these crazy flows, but Cole got a straight jus rappin style. But if u not listening fr then you wouldn't realize Cole really be spittin fr.
Hands down. Kendrick literally put out a therapy record than goes and does this. J stands on it and isnāt afraid to also be vulnerable and make amends.
He is.
Kendrick wouldn't be able to make Drippy while JCole definitely could make Bitch I'm in the club
šÆšÆšÆ
Cole been better than Kendrick since like 2018 ngl. Saying it as Kennyās music fan
Edit: Fucking love MMTBS though
Okā¦ itās lvls to this shit. Thatās why reguardless of what anyone says itās a big 3 or big 4 for people like myself. 1) if we talking hits and making a song that sounds good but lacking in content which most people including female fan bases wantā¦ that goes undeniably to Drake. He can make a slow jam or club / strip club anthem with lil to no effort. He is the male Lauryn hill who can basically make anything a hit with this gift. Real music fans know why I compare them. Miseducation was a masterpiece that years later we saw wasnāt completely written by Hill. But itās ok. The end product was beautiful and amazingā¦imagine anyone else on those songs and they are not hitsā¦not even close. 2) if we talking lyrism just pure bar for bar this goes to j Cole for me. He will never make u feel like it could have been any better with his penmanship. This doesnāt always translate to hits but true fans all have different bars that hit them in a way itās almost like a life mantra. So much growth positivity with undertones of I donāt want to but if I have toā¦ and thatās Fayetteville at its core for those who know. 3) Kendrick own the lane of artistryā¦ artistry is the sum of a body of workā¦ like the presentation. If broken down itās simple sometimes easily missedā¦ but for true fans of this it results in an experience rather than an album of songs that can be hits like a Drake album per se. His interludes are tied to the music which can be a plus or minus to some. Itās not for everyone and thatās the beauty of music. He wastes no space on an album because everything has a space and meaning. For me personally it makes his more artistic albums more of a listen for one or two timesā¦ or in those moments I want to experience it. Everyone takes something different from itā¦ but itās more a collective than songsā¦ something u more privately listen to. For me. 4) this is debatable but I believe future encapsulates this lane perfectlyā¦ its Vibe. Future will say something witty at time something shocking but itās all to create a vibe to listenerā¦ wanna feel like u the shitā¦ listen to future on blastā¦ wanna contemplate ur failures in a relationship but still feel like the shit repeat above lol. Like his music is what so many try to do but fall short or succeed with way smaller audiences. His beat selection his cadence his voice his melodies create a vibe that for that 3 mins creates that feeling u want. That feeling of cocky or whateverā¦ some may not see this as its own lane but it definitely is for me because I donāt get that with any other artist as much. All these artist are great in they own wayā¦ u may like one or all or none. But chances are they inspire the very artist u like. They currently shape music in a way thatās undeniable. And this just my opinionā¦ and why I donāt compare because itās pointless because u can argue all day but ur arguing for different preferences in music not the actual thing ur arguing. Sorry for length.
No
I still think 7 minute drill was the best of the diss tracks
Let me see Kendrick rhyme grippy 10 dozen times in one song, then weāll talk
https://youtu.be/okF5gOTX9uM?si=nhO7H5gAiECw87AJ some of y'all have never even heard this and it shows.
This thread and the replies thus far are why I won't stand for set trippin between the two fan bases. Being a fan of both, I just don't understand how you could genuinely fuck with one and not the other, no matter which one you prefer more. And if you do like one and not the other, I find it hard for you to simply not appreciate the...raw data (not numbers).
Yea I have a great appreciation for both rappers, my bias puts cole a head but I enjoy both pretty equally
I appreciate Kendrickās artistry and ability to tell a story through an album but his voice and tone just annoy me and sound bad. I also donāt really like his flows.
I can dig it
J Cole doesn't put out albums anywhere near on the same level that Kendrick does. I like a few of his songs but I spend a lot more time listening to Kendrick because I know I can just listen to it back to back without any skips.
This shit is stupid. Is Michaelangelo better than Rubens? Depends on how thick you like your women.
User deleted comment
2d
Rapping takes musicianship.
Rap is artistry.
Thatās hard
Honestly Iāve been saying this since 2013 I feel like cole can create the same music Kendrick can. He just dumbs it down so he can reach a broader audience. I do believe cole has the ability to rap on the same level of Kendrick he just chooses not too .
Faaaaaaxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I think so
Yes
I agree. We're splitting hairs here but Kendrick seems to be more focused on putting on a display of technical ability whilst Cole is more focused on landing heavy blows. Cole definitely raps with a more standard traditional style but he ultimately has a bigger impact bar for bar
They act like two legends cannot coexist
I feel like a classic live action battle rap between these two would be š„š„š„š„ who knows who would win.
Im definitely more of a Kenny fan than Cole so I might be somewhat biased but Iām surprised by the amount of people saying Cole is a better pure lyricist. The way Kendrick strings words together and makes use of internal rhyme schemes and alliteration on some of his records (take good kid or Momma) is more impressive than anything Cole has ever showcased imo. In addition Cole has a lot of bars which fall flat or even weak ones, whereas I donāt think Iāve ever had a double take in reaction to a Kendrick bar. Plus heās also way better at storytelling and thematic focus and itās useless to get into flows so itās not really close to me.
We lowkey probably shouldnāt be in this sub in the first place. A lot of people keep having that opinion and I donāt really get it. Kendrick can obviously rap bar heavily itās just that the subject matter of his songs tends to be more storytelling. That doesnāt take away from his technical ability so I really donāt see this āCole is better at technical rapping than Kendrickā take. Iām also much more of a Kendrick fan than Cole so Iām biased too but still I just donāt see it. Especially since weāve seen the Black Friday tracks and the consensus was Kendrick won.
Iām sorry but yall just be lyin to yall self
Ok Dr. Sweets
I will be honest... I think both Drake and Jcole rap better than Kendrick. Kendrick is usually better at subject structures but bar for bar... i think Cole and Drake are better.
As a rapper and as a person.
Cole jumps on a feature and eats. Kendrick has an unbeatable aura though.
Kendrick is the better lyricist, but overall Cole has the better flow and voice. It's hard to say which one is more "skilled" at rapping, but I'd consider Cole the better rapper in general.
Kendrick has weird voices and flows I don't fuck with. He was at his best during Section 80 and GKMC.
I can see the evil I can tell it I know it's illegal I don't think about I deposit every other zero thinking of my partner put the candy paint it on the regal diggin in my pocket ain't a profit big enough to feed you everyday my logic get another dollar just to keep you in the presence of my chico AH
This is one verse has Kendrick over Cole for me any day of the week. There's no world I see Cole doing that over any sort of production, as much as I love his style. The intensity, the virtuoso cadence, the seamlessness of the flow on top of keeping it artful and on topic. All love, I don't think ya'll have listened to enough of both discographies to make actual good judgements.
It took me along time to realize kdot is the best current rapper,Cole right on his heels if the falloff is a classic
Cole is the better rapper, Kdot is the better artist
I think one thing Kendrickās excels at is being poetic. Tpab is so great not becoz of bars. This is the peotic and storytelling elements of the album which shines
There are many wordsmiths better than him. Cole probably too
Obviously
Hell to the nah to the nah nah nahhhhh
On the technical side J cole is up there with Eminem. But I think Kendrick's swag, different flows, versatility edges him forward. It's subjective in what sounds better.
What are we even doing?
I love Cole but no Kendrick beats him in every category but height. Better technical skill, better flows, better artistry, better hooks, he's just better. Maybe if Cole would ever back up his "I'm better than all these rappers" talk we could actually find out but that's not gonna happen. Cole is much more accessible and very talented in his own right but you guys think too highly of him.
Cole has more pleasant to listen to vocals but that doesnāt always make him better.
Yes and no, like kendrick is a better writer, and I don't think it's close, but if you're talking about just URL style punchy rap then cole is king but just the art of like poetry kendrick is probably the goat they're both amazing story tellers too I think kendrick and cole are like the Yin and yang of "lyrical miracle" and ig you would say like "back pack" or "boom bap" and then drake is just a chameleonššš
They act like two legends cannot coexist
I would say they on the same level
It's true
Besides grippy coles features are unmatched.
No, not even close
You wildin. J Cole doesnāt have a classic
Stop playing with me For I turn you to a song.
Dude are yāall for real. Kdot addresses complex real issues painting pictures with his lyrics and pushing boundaries of what defines ā a rapper ā. N95 is quite literally genius. Rich Spirit & Count me out are all very recent tracks that ARE INCREDIBLE! Lyrically and musically his skills are unparalleled, as they should be, thereās only one Kendrick Lamar. Jcole is great, Iām not disputing that at all.
I dont think kenny has anything special to offer except bringing good lyricism throughout his catalog he also shows good rapping and awesome production from the likes of dr dre and etc (i wont google who produced for him just because of a reddit post) But in the end j cole has almost everything a rapper needs to be perfect. Does he use it every time: no. Is he a bad rapper because he has a few songs that feel boring and not worth my time. Absolutly not. He is and will always be in my top 5. So i personally think he is better then kendrick lamar.
Kendrickās a lil more raw but his stuff goes deep. Theyāre both fantastic lyricists in their own right.
Actually true, but most will say no
Tbh they both have songs abt how slavery is a no no for them so I think they equally great šššššš
I think theyāre both extremely talented and I like both. For me Cole has more memorable and quotable bars. I canāt rap an entire Dot verse solo without fumbling. I can do that with Cole. Iām a woman and catchy quotable bars is something we like a lot. Itās not as prevalent now but there was a time where every girls IG caption was a Drake bar.
Damn I donāt like the direction this is going. Before it was if you liked one you liked the other too, now after the beef itās more black and white
Cole is a better pure rapper, his wordplay, flows and technical ability are better than Kendrick's imo, but Kendrick is a better artist, he's better at storytelling and album creation and complex artistic messages, Cole is much more direct with his messages than Kendrick is, they're both the best rappers of their generation and I love both of their music but Cole's my favorite because his music does for me what Kendrick's just doesn't
When did this become the Kendrick sub
Listen to Black Friday and come to me .
It's debatable
FPS solidified this for me
When I went to the kendricks DAMN tour back in 2017 he brought out Cole and he sounded way better live than Kendrick did
no
Yāall are seriously running out of post ideas, this keeps coming up.
To reiterate the truth: they have different styles. Cole is more bar and internal rhyme heavy, embodying his Wayne and Eminem influences more in that regard. Kendrickās writing style is a lot less direct, more metaphor heavy and in many instances less focused on just rapping as hard as possible.
But weāve seen that both of them are capable of switching it up. Weāve seen Cole drop the wordplay and just focus on storytelling, and weāve seen Kendrick bar tf up. Whatās important is that while both operate in a similar lane, that of conscious hip hop, they have entirely distinct styles.
Yes!!
Iām taking drake over j Cole
Theyāve both changed their rap styles recently. This battle with Drake is the first time Kendrickās been all bars for a while. While for the last few years, Coleās just been taking a kinda battle rap approach where heās just doing nothing but throwing bars for a whole verse.
Jcole had a much more intentional, methodical style to which he rhymes and flows
He has nested flows and rhymes, with the matching flow / rhyme a scheme after another inner set of rhymes / flow
He is also probably the best punchline rapper
His style is very traditional, he is very much a student of nas
He also has amazing melodic sensibilities, and has the ability to go into sing / melodic mode whenever he wants. He is one of the best at creating traditional melodic rap hooks and chorusās as well
He also has amazing versatility, on KOD he played the role of a melodic trapper very very well, and on basically every feature since 2018, he is basically able to rap in whatever style the main artist raps in, and out does them at their own game
Kendrick is temperamentally, the complete opposite of Cole
While Cole is very methodical and intentional with every single decision he makes in every aspect of putting his voice over a beat, Kendrick seems to be much more a continuous stream of intuition
Kendrick is capable of everything that Cole is capable of, he can rap in every style, in every way, but when Kendrick raps, he doesnāt necessarily pick one of those styles to rap in at a certain time
Kendrickās melodic, lyrical, mumble, goofy, etc, all sort of just morph in and out of each other
Kendrick does not intentionally create massive rhyme and syllable schemes, you will never see him go back and complete a flow / rhyme he set up
Kendrick does not rap for the sake of rapping, he never flaunts his skills without an explicit artistic purpose / to convey an certain emotion in his songs
To compare it to another medium, painting,
Cole is meticulously when he is painting on his canvas, he obsesses over every little detail, often going back and painting little details. Cole goes into a songs with a complete finished product in his mind on what exactly his piece is going to look like / represent artistically, and the creation process is a pursuit to best represent that internal vision for what he wants to create
Kendrick paints in a much more impulsive, intuitive way, he paints with heavier strokes, with each stroke very intentional, but also made very much in the spur of the moment. Kendrick doesnāt start with a complete picture in his mind, his songs evolve throughout the process, with the act of creating being a source of inspiration itself.
I think Kendrickās methods make him the best rapper over Cole,
he has a very raw genius inside of him that allows him to expel creative energy into a mic and can mold that energy into a completed product during the creative process
Cole is a student of the game, he is an expert lyricist, and every word he spits into the mic, is said with an explicit intention of a greater preconceived artistic vision, he can meticulously copy basically every different rap style, and when he wants to, can deliver infectious melodies and chorusās of any energy, and rap in any style over every beat
I think Kendrick is more of a natural intuitive genius
Cole is more of an analytical, meticulous genius
Overall I think Kendrick is the best rapper
But Cole is the best at what he does
Kendrick might be able to do what Kendrick does, but he chooses not to, and it would likely take him much longer to do it
I donāt think Cole is quite capable of what Kendrick does
Depends. Cole is better at the kind of stuff I don't care much about, all that punchline rap type stuff. Kendrick's lyrically better at the stuff I care about, emotional evocation, more poetic writing, etc.
I swear JCole wouldn't get half the shit that gets said about him, and would be universally loved if people stopped comparing him to Kendrick Lamar.
I respect them both and habe always said their evenly matched in ability it's just a matter in what style you like more. I choose Kendrick because he's most confident to do any genre imaginable, and the versatility impresses me. But Cole is nothing to be trifled with. He may not be a chameleon of styles but he always finds a unique delivery to meld to any genre he may get placed in. It's an incredible skill, that no other rapper besides Kendrick seems to do. They're both in a league nobody else is touching. I can admit I bump Cole more of Coles music in social gathers or just to turn uo but I can find a Kendrick song for any situation and sit & be amazed by his bars equally with Cole.
I bet my money on Kendrick if we're talking head to head but if it was to "go to decision" Cole can get a W any day of the week
just listen to nosetalgia or black friday
Yall really treat these rappers like pokemon cards
As an artist I prefer Kendrick but that's valid I think Cole usually raps better
They are both pretty neck n neck. Cole has had some crazy smart bars but Kendrick has better lyricism and is more versatile so Iām putting Kendrick ahead.
Yes. No explaining needed
No heās not
We need a Blackfriday pt 2 š
Cole can rap. His albums just don't do it for me.
Kendrick just goes above a lot of yāallās heads. Both are great.
I'll say Cole's a better at weaving stories, but then again, my perspective is skewed because I listen to Cole more than Kendrick. I wouldn't want to pit these two against each other. Two legends can coexist.
Nah. But itās very very close.
Kendrickās screaming and screeching annoys me
Facts
Simple answer: No. Complex answer: No.
J Cole is a better freestyler than Kendrick.
And while I think KDot is prolly more conceptually ambitious with his records and albums.
I do think bar for bar, Cole has better bars. And Cole is a better punchline rapper, IMO.
Naaah
Honestly, I donāt think thereās a single thing Cole does better than Kendrick except put out music. Cole is consistently great, but when Kendrick puts out itās simply on another level.
NO
Fuck no
Heās so much better that he backed out of the battle right ? Lmao ššš¤«š¤«
Can you really say that after grippy? Nah.
Cole is good, don't get me wrong. But there's no major thing that he does better than Dot.
Man who listens to Kendrick Lamar can we stop lying to ourselves š¤£
āItās itās itās grippyā and ānow sheās strictly dicklyā is all you need to hear when discussing this drop one Kendrick bar as garbage as these. Iāll wait š¤¦āāļø
Another op suspended. It's weird that they all post stuff related to Drake, Kendrick and Cole.
Depends on the criteria that's being graded. Bar for bar it's Cole. If it's how verses are set up to complement the theme of the song, it's Kendrick. This beef is annoying af. K Dot needs to drop the video for "Not Like Us" so we can all go back to enjoying the music.