1520 Sedgwick Avenue: The BRA Tournament, 2Pac Bracket, First Round
It’s a time-honored tradition in hip-hop to spend more time squawking about who the “G.O.A.T.” (Greatest of All Time, for the uninitiated) is, or squabbling over who the “Best Rapper Alive” is, than actually listening to their music and reacting to it at a personal, critical level.
Still, the idea of settling it all still fires passions and drives page views, so VIBE is doing a month-long, pale imitation of what could be a great idea. Here’s your bracket. Let’s hop in.
So I’m picking who I want to advance, who I’m voting for, and, counting the Internet’s and humanity’s proclivitites for stupidity, picking who I think will advance. (And some cases, one person will fit both.)
We’ll resume with the 2Pac Bracket. Only half of it makes sense.
1) Eminem vs. 16) Soulja Boy
Prepare for the apocalypse.
Part of my problem with this is that Em should probably be flipped with the #2 seed in this bracket; the other half is that he’s been off the grid for about four years and tired of his talent since “Lose Yourself,” which is, bar none, one of the ten best raps ever written.
And yet, though Em’s probably still going to destroy pretty much anyone on Earth on wax when properly motivated, that classic up there has a paltry 6.3 million views compared to DeAndre Way’s YouTube juggernaut, which has multiple double-digit million play videos on its results page.
Soulja Boy does lowest common denominator reactionary rap, answering the masses’ wants instead of creating art for himself. You like dancing and clubs? Here’s a dance I can teach you. You like superheroes? I’ll name some and do a dance. You like that derivative snap beat sound? Let’s set it all to that.
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