Best Rapper of the Decade

The best rapper of the decade, according to a Benedict News Survey, shows Drake won the top position by a hair with 26.7 percent. And, coming up in at a close second was J. Cole  with 26%.

Out of the 131 Benedict students who responded to the survey, 20 rappers were nominated. They included a range of popular rappers such as Lil Uzi Vert, Youngboy Never Broke Again and A Boogie wit da Hoodie.

Students had a range of opinions on who their favorite rapper was, and some gave detailed explanations as to why they considered certain rappers to be the best of the decade. “Drake was the best rapper of the decade because he shows a lot of emotion in his music,” said SY Chrisley Alexis. 

UD2 Ian McGaw thinks that Kendrick Lamar is the greatest rapper of the decade.“Kendrick is the greatest because of how deep his lyrics are and how lyrically advanced he is. He can also switch up his flow really nicely.”

SY Kevin Jackson agrees with Ian that Kendrick Lamar is the best of the decade. “Kendrick Lamar is the best rapper of the decade! His music is full of messages that motivate people to respect and understand their identity. He is the only rapper to win a Pulitzer Prize — an award writers work so hard to get — he won off of a rap album.” 

UD1 Israel Small said that J. Cole is the best rapper to come out of this decade. “J.Cole is versatile and he can rap about subject matter that is important and he does it better than anyone else.”  UD2 Matt Meles added, “J.Cole is the greatest rapper of the decade because he provides hope for the direction that rap is going. Cole is one of the only prominent rappers that steers from strictly rapping about womanizing and drugs. Instead his raps send out messages that resonate with people going through their personal issues.”

Showing how wide-ranging opinions can be when it comes to music, still others favored Kanye West. “I think Kanye West is the greatest rapper of this generation because of his creativity and his ability to push boundaries,” said FY Jonathan Benisson.

Rap music influences an immense amount of young people all over the world and that is no different at St. Benedict’s. Many students listen for different reasons, whether it be the feeling the rapper’s music gives them, or the lyrics that the student relates to. 

“I think it’s cool that some of the artists we listen to come from the same background we do,” said SY Dario Guzman. “They can serve as an inspiration to kids like us.”