Legendary DJ and cultural arbiter Funkmaster Flex recently dove into the contentious “Greatest Of All Time” debate in hip-hop, offering fascinating insights and, in a unique twist, translating the fierce lyrical competition into the language of the NBA’s biggest superstars.
When asked where LL Cool J fits among hip-hop’s GOATs, Flex was quick to acknowledge his unique standing. “He’s a weird GOAT as well,” Flex noted, emphasizing LL’s formidable track record: “I’ve seen him ruin a lot of careers so his track record of battling is enormous.”
Lumping LL in with two other lyrical heavyweights, Flex admitted that a definitive winner remains elusive: “But Nas, LL and Jay-Z are all multi-platinum artists with different styles so I don’t know who would win that! That’s probably a three-way tie because if you really… but I can’t call who would win that!”
The NBA Analogy: Offensive and Defensive Versatility
The conversation took a sharp turn toward basketball when Flex was asked to translate this hip-hop rivalry into NBA terms, specifically referencing all-time greats like Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, LeBron James, and Kobe Bryant.
Flex’s analogy centered on the multi-faceted nature of the rappers’ skills: “They’re different things at different times,” he explained. “Like, LL for example I’ve seen him on the defense and I’ve seen him on the offense.”
While he couldn’t definitively match the rappers to the NBA titans, he characterized the lyrical assassins with a shared trait: “LL, Jay-Z, Nas… they’re all sneaky aggressive and their pen games are all super strong.” This suggests that in Flex’s view, the top-tier rappers share the competitive fire and skill of basketball’s elite, capable of attacking and defending with equal prowess.
Flex’s Favorites and the Drake “Discrepancy”
Flex went on the record to declare his personal GOAT: “Jay-Z is better than [Notorious B.I.G.] to me; I gotta be honest and Jay is my all time favorite.“
In a surprising modern twist, Flex named French Montana as a favorite in recent years. When prompted to place French Montana in the current NBA context—say, the Giannis Antetokounmpo or Victor Wembanyama category—Flex shifted gears to address one of the most polarizing figures in modern music: Drake.
According to Flex, Drake’s potential was limitless—with one crucial asterisk. “Drake would be the greatest of all time if he wrote all his lyrics. Hands down better than Jay. Hands down,” Flex asserted. He painted a picture of a potential GOAT whose versatile talent—”The boy sings and the boy raps!”—eclipsed everyone.
However, the “pen discrepancy” became the definitive roadblock. “If he didn’t get caught in that little mishap, he was the GREATEST OF ALL TIME — records, music, parties, concerts; but since we had a little ‘pen discrepancy’ I guess Jay-Z,” Flex concluded, cementing Jay-Z’s status due to his verifiable lyrical authorship.
Flex wrapped up his personal ranking by giving due praise to others: “Second? You can give me Nas, Drake… those are my top guys. Jadakiss is top five, it’s all good shit!”
In Flex’s world, the hip-hop GOATs are not merely musicians; they are sneaky aggressive versatile athletes whose strong pen games determine their rank on the all-time roster, making the rap battle as dynamic and competitive as an NBA Finals matchup.
