right now, the mainstream is kind of weird in the sense that I feel that the people who are constantly put into conversations with Kendrick - his peers, like J. Cole for example, are really nowhere near him. I don't really think there is a past era of hip hop where I can say that the "best" MC was that far ahead of his direct competition. Musically and lyrically (I don't consider Lupe to be "direct" competition)