While Jay-Z holds the crown as the GOAT, according to both fans and Billboard and Vibe’s top 50 rappers list, some feel as though he never really captivated the world in comparison to some of his peers. Big Gipp recently sat down with The Art Of Dialogue where he argued that 50 Cent and DMX were bigger artists than Jay. Though many would deem Jay-Z the King Of New York, Gipp explained that Fif was discredited because he worked with West Coast producers like Dr. Dre.
“When 50 came out, I ain’t hear no JAY-Z music — it just stopped playing,” he said. “I was there When 50 came out, he shut everything down. And the reason why they didn’t give it to 50, you know why? Because the West Coast did his music.” From there, he stated that DMX also had a bigger breakout than Hov off of the strength of his back-to-back 1998 releases of It’s Dark and Hell is Hot and Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood. “To me, DMX was bigger than shawty all day,” he continued. “Shawty put out two albums in one year that smoked anything he put out!”
Big Gipp Thinks Jay-Z’s GOAT Title Stems From Industry Politics
Some suggested that Jay-Z paid Billboard to make him the #1 artist on their rappers list in collaboration with Vibe. Though Gipp didn’t necessarily come to that conclusion, he doesn’t think Jay ever had the type of appeal that his contemporaries had. “Fuck this industry, man, ’cause y’all still want who y’all want to be the best, but the numbers say DMX is the biggest thing walking round here. And when it wasn’t no DMX, it was 50 Cent,” he said. However, he admitted that Jay remains one of the “best technical and baddest rappers” out of New York.
In addition to Jay’s own musical output, Gipp also suggested that Roc-A-Fella didn’t come close to Murda Inc during their reign. He based the argument on numbers, considering the success of Ja Rule and Ashanti compared to Beanie Siegel. In this instance, he felt as though his crossover appeal in other regions weren’t as strong as people make it seem. “Jay-Z ain’t never been on the radio here hella crazy. No!” he said. “He has big records, but all the records that people probably heard in New York, they never heard them records down here. Same goes out West,” he added, citing songs like “Big Pimpin” and his collabs with Beyoncé as his most successful efforts across America. Check the interview above.