Can you still be considered one of the top rappers in the game if you use a ghostwriter? Jadakiss weighed in on the subject with two answers that he called "politically correct." The veteran emcee recently shared his anticipated and acclaimed project Ignatius, so he stopped by Sway in the Morning to chat about the record. While there, Jadakiss was asked if an artist can be considered one of the "Top 5" emcees if they use a ghostwriter, and the rapper answered both yes and no.
"In our era, no way at all," Jadakiss said. "In today's [era], it don't matter." He added, "In our era, it wasn't even a thought. You wouldn't even think...once that happens, you outta the thing. You ain't gettin' a yellow jacket after that. Today, that don't even matter. If you can turn up to it and do whatever crazy-ass dances they do, they don't care. And that's what I don't like that's happening to the game." Jadakiss added that he's happy that the young artists are able to make money and have success, "but...when we're just erasing things out of the original black book of hip hop, I can't really condone that."
During his talk, Jadakiss also revealed why the early days in his career were more "fun" for him. "In this particular business, when you get success, you get a target on your back," he said. "You gotta move different and accordingly. Watch family, friends, the snakes, spiders, things of that nature. It takes some of the happiness out of it. Opposed to when you going for that, that journey in the beginning is more fun 'cause the valleys and peaks and meeting people and learning new stuff. Then after you cross that line, the financial situation, everything is much better, but it's also that much dangerous and that much more snakes."
Check out more from Jadakiss including his take on why he agrees with Young M.A about a lack of R&B in the current music culture below.