Melle Mel says that Lil Wayne should be eliminated from the conversation for the best rapper of all time because he uses autotune. The iconic Grandmaster Flash and Furious Five rapper explained his reasoning during an interview with The Art Of Dialogue. Mel had been responding to a list of the greatest rappers of all time, which placed Wayne at No. 7.
“How could you know? How?” he asked. “If his voice is on autotune, was something wrong with his voice for them to put the autotune on his voice? Or is it just something that they did in the studio to give it that rawness? But how could you know?”
Melle Mel At The Grammys
Wayne’s placement inside the top 10 of the list wasn’t the only issue decision Mel took issue with. He also didn’t agree with Kendrick Lamar ranking as the second-best ever. He argued that Lamar has no influence over hip-hop. “I don’t know what records he made like that,” he said. “I might know one or two of them, but I don’t think you even hear Kendrick in the club like that.”
The controversial takes didn’t stop there either. Mel also claimed that Eminem is only considered as great as he is because he’s white. “Obviously he’s a capable rapper,” he said. “If you was talking about sales, he’s sold more than everybody. If you were talking about rhyme style, okay he got a rhyme style. But he’s white. He’s white!” 50 Cent took particular issue with that comment and fired back on social media. He wrote in part: “I am not sure if it would be what it is today with out artist like Eminem. Shit I am not sure I would be who I am with out him but you know it is competitive so n****s gonna hate.” Additionally, Melle Mel also claimed that Busta Rhymes should be ranked higher on the list than Jay-Z.
Melle Mel On Lil Wayne’s Legacy
[Via]