Control

Let me just say, first and foremost that nobody and I do mean nobody does a better breakdown of "Good Kid M.A.A.D. City," of Kendrick Lamar, and of the rap game in general and Kendrick's place in it than Ghostface. Yes! The Ghostface Killah, man of a thousand aliases. When you have a second, go to read his Ghostface review of the album. 

Right now though, let's discuss Control. I'm not talking about Janet Jackson breaking out of her shell. I'm talking about the best verse hip hop has heard in a decade, easily. Big Sean was coming out with an album a few weeks ago. In preparation for this album he released singles and other promotional materials to drum up buzz for his project. Pretty, standard. Fast forward to a few days before the album comes out. Due to licensing issues he wasn't able to clear a sample for certain song. Being the benevolent artist that he is, or whatever, he released a song over the internet for the public. What happened after was magic. 

I know a lot of people who make music, some are professional, some are aspiring, some live in between the world of making it not quite there. What I also know is: rappers, do features. It's not an uncommon practice for artists to collaborate. But it is also a strategic choice. Artists buoy their fame to each other. On a feature the goal is keep up with their peers, and out shine them when possible. Sometimes when trying for either, an artist manages to do both. 

And that cross section, in the Venn diagram of rap, is where we get "Control." 

I don't know everything about music history, but there have been quite a few instances where one artist, blows their compadres out of the water. This was most true in recent years with Nicki Minaj's verse on Kanye West's "Monster." She, was able to get on a track with two of the biggest names in Hip Hop and one of the hottest artists of that moment. She could have done a decent verse, and everyone would have been happy. But what she did was change the conversation. People will dispute this, but that was the verse that everybody was talking about the next day. For weeks even. 

Kendrick Lamar took that multiplied it by 10, churned it with mortar and spit, threw it in a concrete mixer, and poured it on top of the heads of everyone in the rap game. The song starts out with a solid verse from Big Sean. Then Kendrick comes on, using that magical Black Hippy sprite flow that he loves. Is lyrical. It's melodic. It comes out of left field and welcomes you to yet again to his universe. Then the second part of his verse starts and he proceeds to smack everyone with lyrical brick. He starts naming names. He calls out all his peers. He proclaimed himself "The King of New York" as a reference to something 'Pac used to say. He inserted himself into rap's Mount Rushmore and let all the young guys know, that even though they were pals, even though they have mad respect for each other, he wanted obliterate them. To make sure that they were never seen or heard from again. Because that was the only way to to prove that he was indeed the best. To rip the core fans from underneath them would solidify his legacy. 

With all that he singlehandedly re-injected the art of competition, through the art of rhyme. By the time we finish that verse we had to go back and make sure that we hadn't heard wrong, lest all this excitement be in vain.

People did say that the verse wasn't all that, they've heard better lyrics. If we start with the first of all the verses to ever be done in history of verses and end with someone's bathroom rap, or the last bar from ''Nothing Was The Same," I'm sure we can find plenty of arguments for who has better cannon fodder for the ear. But what he achieved was a rare moment of having the most effective verse on a song. What makes this verse so impactful, what makes it so exciting, what makes it legendary and what makes it worthy of being remembered, discussed, and praised: is the fact that he has the audacity to say what he said,  how he said it and where he said it. He overshadowed people with bigger reps and resumes than him, and that is greatness wrapped in a few expertly positioned bars.