Now more than ever, a rapper’s “technical ability” has become the subject of hip-hop discourse. Especially after Eminem dropped Music To Be Murdered By, an album that featured the fastest verse ever laid down by mortal man. Around the same time he asked for Joe Budden’s Slaughterhouse spot, Lupe Fiasco engaged with a fan about who he considers to be the best current-day rappers. And given that Lupe is himself a masterful technician when it comes to the words, it’s fair to name him an authority on the topic.

“No such thing as best,” he begins, keeping a level playing field. But at the high top tier levels it’s Aesop Rock, Homeboy Sandman, Black Thought, and King Los.” For the most part, his followers chimed in with approval; many singled out Rock and Sandman as two of the game’s more underrated and thought-provoking writers. 

 Mainstream bility be damned, these are the four Lupe considers pioneers with the pen. Would you say his assessment is accurate, or did somebody get the notable snub? Given his own interest in joining Slaughterhouse, you’d think he’d send some love to Royce, Joell, and Crooked; perhaps Lupe’s top tier is a lofty pedestal reserved for four and four alone.