You can thank will.i.am for the Jay-Z versus Black Thought conversation that’s been dominating the discourse in rap social media circles.
The Black Eyed Peas frontman made an appearance on Sway in the Morning on July 22, during which he told the radio host that he thinks Black Thought is a better rapper than Jay-Z while having a conversation about technical skills on the microphone.
“Black Thought is a trillion times better than Jay-Z,” he proclaimed before further elaborating after Sway pushed back a bit. “Seeing Black Thought, what he’s capable of just off-the-top — and yeah, Jay’s off-the-top is dope too — and Jay’s dope, don’t get me wrong, but Jay has already said everything that … he’s just regurgitating everything he’s already said. When everything that Black Thought comes up with is like, ‘Wait, I never heard that one. Wow, you split that word up like that?’ And that’s just my personal preference — that’s just me.”
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He then named his top five rappers, which included the Philadelphia MC.
“Now there’s a lot of people that’ll be like, ‘What the f—k you know about hip-hop, will.i.am?’ I don’t give a f—k what you think. I just think know what I think … in my head? Top five MCs is always Biggie, 2Pac, Nas, Jay. I’m like, KRS, Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, Nas, Black Thought … Pharaoh Monch is another one, ‘What is that cadence?’ And yes, Jay-Z’s awesome, I’m not taking away from his brilliance, I just don’t think he’s better than Black Thought.”
Will then added that he thinks someone will eventually use AI to determine who’s really better between the two rap titans. “I like to see them n—as battle,” he said. “And if they don’t wanna battle in person, someone is going to get an AI simulator that takes all their body of work and all their concerts and flows and you’ll see exactly who’s doper and somebody’s gonna make it.”
Speaking of which, will.i.am has been a big proponent of AI.
Last year, he launched an AI-driven interactive radio experience with with RAiDiO.FYI, partnered with LG on an AI-enhanced boombox and told Gunna that he feels artists will be competing against artificial intelligence as early as 2030.
You can watch the full interview below.
