It has recently come to my attention that a cohort of Twitter warriors banded together to start one of the dumbest arguments I’ve ever heard. “Rocky” was trending on January 8th because users felt the need to say he is a better artist than J. Cole. TO BE CLEAR I DO NOT CONDONE THE PARTICIPATION OF THIS ARGUMENT.
If you could not tell already, I am writing this article with disdain and regret. I had a totally different article planned for this week, but I needed to address this. Don’t let the title of this article mislead you, I am not entertaining this argument. I guess you can label it click bait in that sense, even though I don’t really care if anyone clicks on it.
This article will not actually be comparing the two artists. Moreover, it will be discussing why it is a stupid argument, and there are three main reasons behind that.
1. They Aren’t That Comparable
Obviously they’re both rappers. But if you’ve read any other posts, you already know that genres are overrated. They have very different sounds, styles, and lyrics in my opinion. A$AP’s most recent album TESTING was very Travis Scott-ish in my opinion, if that makes any sense. While he certainly has bars, I would dare to say his songs are less lyrically focused, especially compared to Cole who’s a certified lyricist. Cole also has over twice the amount of music that Rocky has, giving him a much larger pool to choose from.
2. Comparing Artists Is Stupid
Expanding on the last point, obviously they’re two different artists. Meaning they approach the broad genre of rap very differently. Some fans value certain aspects higher than others, which will determine your preference. Music is completely subjective, especially when we’re talking about two artists who are as big as these two are. This is why award shows, such as the Grammy’s, are also stupid.
3. The Real Reason
I mean c’mon… I think we all should know the real reason this is a stupid argument. To be frank, Rocky is not on Cole’s level, plain and simple. This isn’t debatable I’m sorry. Maaaybe if you wanna talk about who has more hits then it’s a little more of a conversation, but if we’re comparing artists top to bottom, it’s no contest. I’m dismayed to write this because one of the main points of this blog thing is to not be a critique, and this feels negative. However, I couldn’t let this slide. Cole receives an unwarranted amount of hate literally just for being great. It started with the “double platinum with no features” mockery, then moved to the Lil Pump incident. Social media can be a very dangerous place and this argument is just one example of it, be safe out there when you scrolling/posting.
But Yeah…
If anyone has any disagreements with something I said in this article, respectfully, you can keep them to yourselves this one time. I appreciate you if read this far, you a real one. Also before I go, make sure you’re able to form your own opinions and not be reliant on social media, more on this in the future…