if you are (like myself and alot of the posters in here) then KRS-ONE's originality, zany energy, and unmatched skill for rhyming over spare, classic production will do it for you each and every time over Jay because while Jay is a talented rhymer (especially for the new school he comes from) he rarely (and admittedly) rhymes in the same urgent diction that KRS does.

BUT

Jay's accomplishments are more stunning given his admittedly compromise to 'dumb down' and still make quality product. I personally am on the fence about Jay. To be honest he's the last connection to the golden age of modern rappers, at least in the sense of being able to make albums of that aesthetic and command lots of attention. and for that i give him his props, especially for the run of his last few albums. (Black Album, Kingdom Come, American Gangster, and Blueprint 3) It's like he's actually trying as an artist to make quality music first and then make sure it fits the cultural climate instead of gaming the system and making us think that what he said was all that was important.

For as bombastic and smug as his fans can get, KRS is the better MC maybe not in an objective way you would measure an artist, but in the insane, blind way we devote ourselves to our favorite MC's. "My guy is the best and that's that." There's no way inside of that bubble of logic. And for Jay to sell his own skills short and not continue making music of quality relative to his Reasonable Doubt days, he can't be the 'goat MC' based on my admittedly crazy standards.

However, by any rational scale 'Jay won'. He's sold more than anyone, made crossingover seem effortless and un-compromising, he's able to make music on his own terms, and he seems to be at the peak of his abilities this many years in.

If music is what makes hip-hop to you, KRS, is probably your guy. If all the other stuff makes hip-hop, hip-hop to you Jay's your man.