i think rakim created his style. and for the style everyone else was using, he was ahead of everyone. nothing about ya boy is any different than any other mixtape rapper using punchlines.
we havent even had a rapper that has had that much effect on the rapping game as a whole in a long time. the only person i can really think of who was like that was maybe chino xl back in the day, or ras kass when people really thought he was the 'king of the west'
kurupt in his prime or something or a keak or e40 in the bay ...brotha lynch is definately a good one..i dunno but i dont think yaboy had the effect lyrically on the game rakim has but yeah sure if we compared them now, im sure yaboy will write a more lyrical verse, i dont think rakim is even trying to prove a buncha lyrical shit anymore.
but back then, all that 5% talk in his rhyme,, that was some scientific shit back then. this is a decade plus after wu made the 5% think mainstream as all hell..
and i still hear rakim how i used to hear him, so lyrically hes better, hes just a simple rapper who might say some shit that goes over your head sometimes
and there is complexiy in rhyming simple, but for the most part i just think
yaboy is like any other mixtape rapper and cant be compared to anyone whos done something to change the face of lyrics. i think if in ten years lrics have gotten even more complex that dosent take away from tupacs legacy as a lyricist even if in 2021 or some shit his shit is looked at simple as fuck...
i guess theres a difference between looking at the two currently, than looking at them seperately..