Let me start first with "overrated" (though you can really plug underrated in for this scenario as well, just reverse it). I dislike when people can't appreciate an album for what it it is,(or artist for that matter) which obviously set out to do different things than the album that the person calling it overrated may favor, so they just throw in the word "overrated" because it's not their cup of tea.
Next we really need to establish what overrated is, merely being praised left and right by magazines and Hip Hop heads as the best thing since sliced bread doesn't automatically make said album/artist/ whatever overrated, so long as they can live up to their hype. Granted this is subjective (hate this fucking word as well too) but compared to an artist that doesn't get as much hype but isn't as good as the previous artist would probably fit the bill of being overrated more. Let me explain, let's take Eminem ( shocking
) and compare him with generic underground rapper who just fits in half assed dictionary rhymes while stumbling over some try hard marble mouthed delivery, add in repetitive subject matter for good luck and voila! You got a subpar underground artist who probably has cult fans that praise him like no tomorrow, and hail him as the GOAT. Obviously he won't get as much praise as Eminem, but one can easily make a case that Eminem deserves the GOAT title, far more than the "shitty" underground rapper who really only appeals to a certain niche, and definitely gets his abilities as a rapper blown out of proportion. The point of that example was that even though said artist isn't as huge as Eminem, he still has his certain crowd that would balloon his accomplishment like there's no tomorrow, so in theory that would make him overrated. Probably more than Eminem, if you compare the QUALITY of their work to the amount of praise they get, and if they're deserving of said praise.
On to underrated, people tend to misuse this as well. Let's apply to this Eminem/Jay/ and Big L.
Eminem in most people's eyes is far from underrated, as a matter of fact you can even make a case for him being overrated (yeah I went there), but there's no denying that there are people who like to discredit him for whatever reason, whether it being his skin color or being a mainstream icon, people like to look for lesser known rappers that are more skilled than him. Even though they probably know that deep down, Eminem is a deserving GOAT candidate ( I didn't say undisputed GOAT). Hell lot's of Hip Hop forums outside this like to downplay Eminem and dismiss him over retarded shit, that's been refuted countless times over. Despite all this, I wouldn't really call Eminem underrated, maybe underestimated perhaps. (Yes semantics are important, as there's a difference that I'll address later on).
Jay z also is the brunt of a lot of Hip Hawp heads, and is one of the most picked on rappers in the mainstream despite being able to put together a coherent album and having crossover appeal as well as being able to rip a track when the need arises. Yes, I know many of his faults, and he probably gets hated for shit that has more to do with his character than his music, so I won't really address that. Though I can see people being angry when he bites or pays "tribute" to Big, which is a whole nother can of worms I'd rather not open. Point is Camel Face gets a lot of unneeded hate, when most of it outside of the booth.
Big L is an interesting type of overrated/underrated that should be addressed. On one side you have people who don't know who he is, and he should get some respect. Being as he was ahead of his time in terms of multies and flow, though his punchlines were meh (minus a few exceptions). Aside from that, I can't see his mystique and wonder why people would put him on such a pedestal, when he was such a one dimensional rapper in that regard. He could kill features and rap about raping bitches, but in making a decent song with an actual concept, than he kind off falls flat. I'm always intrigued by why people would put him up next to guys like Eminem, Pac, Nas, and hell even Jay or Big, when he has so little material to really be put up next to them. Maybe it's death hype, and the fact that he died at such a young age which he was basically robbed, but it's all just baseless conjecture whether he would have been some unstoppable force in the mainstream or Beanie Sigel, level.
Finally, I'd like to address "Underrated" as most people get tripped up by this word (me included) and tend to mix it up with underappreciated. Which is why you have people naming albums like American Gangster/Relapse/The New Danger with albums like State of Lunacy/Done by the Forces of Nature/LOPD. The former being albums criticized for having abysmal quality, while the latter not being as known to the public and haven't recieved proper attention, even though they deserve more fans.
Well, whatever I probably have logorrhea and am babbling on now, but I hope you all got my point. Didn't want to turn this into some live journal shit.
