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Lupe Fiasco: Kendrick Lamar Isn't the Best Lyricist

Chicago native names rappers he thinks are better than K. Dot during a Hot 97 interview.

Kendrick Lamar didn't make Lupe Fiasco's list of best lyricists. In fact, he's not even in his top five.

Fiasco stopped by New York City's Hot 97 this week to promote his new single "Mission," and when asked, the Chicago native was (once again) forthright on the Lamar subject, including his "Control" verse from last year.
Fiasco made it a point to state that he has no issue with Lamar or TDE as a whole. "Kendrick is ill, he's super ill," Fiasco noted. "To me the whole TDE team is the illest team. They're the illest team that I've seen in maybe five years. Ab-Soul''s on [my] album, that's my homie … I'm trying to work with SZA right now … I love the creative collective that they got."
As a solo entity, however, Fiasco said he doesn't feel Lamar has reached any lyrical milestones. "Lyrically, I don't think [Lamar is the best]. To me, MF Doom is the best," he said, adding King Los, Logic and Cassidy among some of his favorites. "I think the level of lyricism has to be extremely high and it has to be something that is inarguable," he explained. "You can't argue like, 'He's wack,' 'cause now you coming from a personal place, your personal opinion … When I come as a rapper to other rappers and I hear what you're saying in the rap, where you say you're 'the best' [but] your verse is wack? You can't have a wack verse and say you're the best."

Ultimately, Fiasco argued that Lamar hasn't yet reached his peak, and neither has he. "Listen, I'm nowhere near the best," Fiasco admitted. "I'm a C+."
When he's not dishing out rap critiques, the 32-year-old has been busy pushing his new single, which is an ode to cancer patients and survivors. He has also been named music director for the 2014 FIFA World Cup U.S. Men's soccer team.

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