With a beat that’s haunting, reminiscent to a horrorcore track, Thug’s lyrics are a manifestation of the grizzly, grim, dark, and violent dealings of Thug’s drug-induced maneuvers in the streets of Atlanta.īoth Young Thug and Ghostface Killah have a plethora of similarities that span from their wordplay & lyricism, their approaches to experimentation, to their vocal manipulation that molds over a landscape of beats.
He’s threatening, ferocious and the wordplay is on another level (the ice/teeth play on Ice-T/Coco). We the monsters, we slime, we not kind folk I’ll show niggas that’s with it no blindfold On 2016’s Slime Season 2, Thug raps circles around Southside’s production on “Big Racks:” Thugger is probably rap’s most versatile artist today. His ear for production is as elastic as his flows with influences ranging from reggae to EDM to R&B to Cloud Rap. Thugger is like a cartoon character fully animated, unpredictable, and at times so surreal it makes you double take. Young Thug is infamous for his striking fashion statements, his off-kilter vocal pitches, and his enigmatic personality. On the other hand, we have Atlanta’s Young Thug - the rapper with more flows than Chris Jericho has wrestling holds. On Supreme Clientele’s “ Ghost Dini”, his high-strung voice cracks as he maneuvers through verses so seamlessly, you see the magic that supports his nickname: “like Ghostface this, Ghostface that/Ghost sold crack, now his revelations spoken thru rap/Valored down like the sheik of Iran.” He’s able to chop through any beat selection like a butcher he’s rough and brash, but he’s perfect in his craft. That’s what makes Ghostface so layered, complex, and explosive all in the same time. Why? “Scooby snack plastic Jurassic ass booby trap” – Ghostface Artists like Outkast and the Goodie Mob used elements of funk and soul to highlight the hardships of being a Black man living in the South. By contrast, in Atlanta, the music was filled with bounce, dirty-south rhythm, and the flows were rubber band elastic.
During New York City’s glory days, MCs such as Ghostface Killah, Mobb Deep, and Raekwon were defined by their lyrical prowess - the grit and grime that surrounded every bar spit and the dynamic deliveries that sliced through even the hardest of RZA or Havoc beats. And the genre’s dynamic regionalism is a highly debated point of contention amongst fans. Different styles and influences are cooked together like a melting pot. Rap is one of the most notably diverse genres. For the first edition we look at a comparison that might seem odd but works the more you think about it: Ghostface Killah and Young Thug.
Photo Credit: Johnny Nunez & Joseph Okpako for Getty Graphic: Okayplayer Battle Of The Eras is a new series where we compare and contrast two rappers from different eras.