JAY-Z Is The GRANT HILL Of The Rap Game

Just because I call myself an "Internets Celebrity" doesn't make it the truth, even though it is the truth. And just because Jigga has called himself the Michael Jordan of recording doesn't make it so either. If anything the comparison that I note is that Jay-Z used his rapping ability to help him become a pitchman for everything under the sun just like Michael Jordan used his basketball skills to make himself a valuable brand marketer, and that is where the similarities stop.

Michael Jordan was clearly far and away the best player in his peer group. You can't make that same argument with Jay-Z. Can you. Jay-Z certainly wasn't better than Notorious. Do you think we would still be talking about Jay-Z had he been killed before his second album was released? Even with the rappers from Jay's peer group that are still alive you would be hard pressed to call him the best. He's certainly not better than Nas, or Ghostface. Even younger rappers like Lil' Wayne, T.I. and The Game are showing more skills than Jay.

Jay seems more appropriate to be the Grant Hill of rap. Jay's best work was when he was younger and more energetic. Grant Hill was a great player when he was matched up with Bobby Hurley and later Allan Houston, but his skills were obviously eroded by the time he ended up in Orlando although he did have a hot R & B chick to call his broad. Grant Hill and Jay-Z both occupy semi-retired status in their respective professions. Grant Hill hasn't played a full season on forever and Jay-Z infrequently releases cameo verses. You would never call Grant Hill the greatest of all time even though he had a pretty brawlic contract with Detroit. GRANT HILL hated being compared to Michael Jordan because he realized that he didn't possess that amount of talent. Jay-Z isn't as modest.

The most glaring contradiction that I see between Jay and Michael Jordan is the fact that Jay officially returned to rap music without a passion for still doing it. There's no way M.J. would have come back to the Bulls or the Wizards without honoring the work ethic that made him the best player in the world in the first place. Can you even imagine Jordan getting on the court with a weak jumper? Rap music doesn't require the same athleticism as basketball but you do need to show that you have stamina and the passion for the game if you want to win it all by the end of the fourth quarter.

And on that note, who was winning when the fourth quarter ended last year? I think I rest my case.