By Giacomo Kuzma, Rap Columnist
Ever since its emergence in the ‘80s, Southern rap has had an irrefutable influence on hip-hop culture. The Geto Boys, OutKast, UGK and 8Ball & MJG shaped Southern hip-hop with their lingo, rapping style and heavy, bass-loaded beats.
Lil Wayne became known in the early-to-mid-2000s, alongside artists like T.I. and Ludacris. Kodak Black, on the other hand, comes out of a newer group of Southern artists, along with 21 Savage and Lil Yachty, who came into public awareness around 2015 and have since then gained a substantial following.
To generally compare individual styles, Kodak Black’s lyrics are often descriptive of his lifestyle, both as a wealthy artist and as a self-proclaimed “project baby” living in the Golden Acres Projects of Pompano Beach, Florida.
From Kodak’s “Skrilla”:
“Polo down got me in here flexing, call me Ralph Lauren/I was in the projects stressing, I was still riding foreign . . . ”
Lil Wayne’s rapping style consists largely of wordplay. An example of his use of punchlines can be found in his track “6 Foot 7 Foot”:
“Paper chasin’, tell that paper, look, I’m right behind ya . . . real Gs move in silence like lasagna . . . ”
In January, Kodak Black challenged Lil Wayne to fight him.
“If he whoop me, he’s the best rapper alive,” Kodak Black said.
When it comes to a rap battle, competitors must out-rhyme their opponent. Though the Kodak-Wayne rap battle is only theoretical, sophomore Lewis Kanagy had something to say.
“[Lil Wayne] has way more experience . . . and he speaks in a way that most people can understand,” Kanagy said. “Wayne is more talented, lyrically.”
Sophomore Kalen Cunningham shared similar views to that of Kanagy.
“His music really meant stuff,” Cunningham said. “Kodak’s music is him just mumbling. But his beats go hard, so I listen to them.”
He also had an opinion on who would win the battle.
“Kodak would get messed up,” Cunningham said. “Supa Hot Fire [a satirical rapper who parodies rap battles on YouTube] could beat Kodak.”
Though Cunningham enjoys the beats Kodak raps on, he didn’t believe even the perfect beat would aid Kodak in the battle.
“I feel like Wayne has way more experience,” Cunningham said. “All Kodak has is [his] rapping about drugs and money. Wayne has flow, and all Kodak has is rhyming.”
Junior Jackson Higuera compared each artist’s ability to freestyle rap — delivering rhymes that are improvised, much like a jazz solo.
“Kodak said only a couple of simple bars, and Lil Wayne’s [freestyle] has so much depth and complex rhymes involving similes,” Higuera said.
Higuera also believes that Lil Wayne would beat Kodak in a rap battle.
“[I]t is mostly about experience,” Higuera said. “Kodak hasn’t been in the game long enough. … It does have to do [with rapping] style in part.”
In common with all these opinions is the feeling that if a theoretical rap battle such as this ever became reality, Lil Wayne would win. Kodak Black is not as experienced as Lil Wayne, and Lil Wayne is more talented in his rapping regardless.