T.I. Says Kendrick Lamar Is The ‘Most Successful Revolutionary Rapper Alive’
T.I. has gone on the record saying that Kendrick Lamar is the “most successful revolutionary rapper alive.”
In a recent appearance on Apple Music’s The Ebro Show, T.I. spoke about Kendrick after talking about his “The Message” playlist that celebrates black love and that Kendrick is featured on it multiple times. This prompted host Ebro Darden to ask T.I.: “What [does] Kendrick mean to you as a fan of rap?”
T.I. responded by voicing his respect for Kendrick and his commercial achievement. . “Present day, I think he’s probably the most successful revolutionary rapper alive,” T.I. said. It's hard to sell. It's hard to do good business in the revolutionary category, you know what I mean? It's not easy.”
“Artists like KRS-One, even Common, Mos Def, the Roots, usually have to trade commercial success for speaking truth in the revolution.,” continued T.I.. “And Kendrick has been the one who has been able to simultaneously achieve both. And I think that's extremely special. That's an art within itself."
Kendrick has had an already legendary run in hip-hop at just 33 years old. He’s won 13 Grammy Awards, been named one of Time’s most 100 influential people globally (in 2016), and has two triple platinum and one platinum album under his belt. His politically conscious music often addresses various causes and social movements that are relevant to today.
T.I. also voiced his opinion on Lil Baby’s socially conscious song “The Bigger Picture” that dropped earlier this year. "That was very well played. It was so unexpected," said T.I..
"I think he was of the percentile of youngsters that people kind of assume would stay out of the discussion, so for him to so eloquently speak from his perspective, not necessarily compromising one position for another, was very well played,” he continued.
Check out T.I.’s conversation at the link up above.
