Aight, first of all, this post was not a cry for attention. Anybody who gets on the internet to get attention and hopes and prays for a "display all" sign is a herb. If you get excited when you see a "display all" next to your post, you are a herb.<P>Second, I'm not ignorant. I've heard all the verses y'all have posted. What's the point of listing songs? I own the Roots last three albums (excluding TRCA). I've been to the Roots show (sans Malik, of course). I know what I'm talking about. I'm just as big a Roots fan as y'all (well, maybe not, cause some a y'all are crazy as eff).<P>Third, why the name calling and ish? I question Malik's skills and all of a sudden I'm a "clown"? Heads comin at me on some "if you think you're better, then pick up a mic and blah blah blah..." Yo. I'm not getting paid to emcee. Malik is. Other people tryin to fight me and ish? What is that? Is this the OkayArtist DISCUSSION board, or the OkayArtist Dickriding board. I'm serious, y'all. If I would have come on here like "MALIK B SUCKS!! -NM-" then you can call me out. But I actually had somethin to say. I'm sayin, is this gonna be a discussion or not? If I'm gonna get another 30 responses like "Malik is the illest, how can you not see it?" with no explanation, then let's kill this thread now. Whatever.<P>Back on topic. Those verses y'all posted. Unimpressive. They're simply not that good. I'll call out his verse from "Step Into The Realm" since more than one of y'all singled it out as a standout verse. <P>"Yo, I walk a-cross this, world that's deceptive<BR>Beats are perfected, the ghetto's infested<BR>with more destruction, my vocal eruption<BR>was speakin bout corruption with no introduction<BR>Approach me with caution cause I spark losses<BR>M-Illitant the rap arson, marchin<BR>Leavin niggaz stiff like I'm starchin, departin<BR>Hollywood samples are jokes just like Martin..."<P>Is this what passes for impressive lyricism around here? Seriously. I mean, the first four lines. He says absolutely nothing. He has said nothing. The words rhyme, true, but this is on some Big Pun ish. "Approach me with caution, cause I spark losses"? That's weak. It barely rhymes. Then he calls himself "the rap arson"? Does he know that arson is the crime and not the criminal? "Leavin niggaz stiff like I'm starchin..." Now there's a decent simile. It's simple, but it's original. I've never heard it used anyway. "Hollywood samples are jokes just like Martin..." Jokes just like Martin. That's not the illest simile I've ever heard. It's extremely simple. I guess it's effective in the rhyme scheme, but I'm sayin. This man's rhymes are too simple "More drama than a soap opera"? That's some simple Emceeing 101 ish. And he's always sayin stuff like that. And he's never said anything deep. Just a bunch of cliches thrown together. The world is deceptive. The ghetto's infested. Blah blah blah. Do you not understand that these are cliche phrases? HE HASN'T SAID ISH! <P>Somebody said that he's ill, considering the fact that he's constantly in Thought's shadow. I disagree with that. If you have skills, you shine. Period. Inspectah Deck, for example, is under Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface, RZA, ODB's shadows. All 'a them have personalities or whatnot that overshadow his immensely. Yet, most people regard Deck as the illest lyricist in the Clan. Why? Cause he has skills. Period. He says mad ish that just blows people away. When he's spittin lines like "move mountains with the presence alone, before the words rip through the microphone, chrome dipped lyrics are known to split stone..." or "suplex your rep, left ruined like the Aztecs, parasites, double edge dice your larynx..." That's how shines. And I'm just usin Deck as an example that being in someone's shadow (or many people's shadow) has nothing to do with whether or not you shine on the mic. So that argument is invalid. If Malik were comin with some ill verses, he'd get props from me whether he rapped under Thought, Common or Puff Daddy. <P>Lastly, saying Malik is a nice complement to Thought is called justification. That's like saying Mase was a nice complement to Biggie. After all, Biggie had a hard, sometimes violent voice and flow, and Mase was laidback and slow. Whatever. While that may or may not be true, that says nothing about Mase's skill level. He may have been a perfect contrast/complement to Biggie, but if he sucked then he sucked, period. And I'm not sayin Malik sucks. I can't say that. I've never heard him freestyle (or perform live), and personally, I put a good deal of stock in freestyle skills. But I'm sayin that his writtens - what he comes with on albums, on records - it's simple and unimpressive. Nah, I don't think Malik sucks at all. I felt like he improved a lot on TFA, but his skills still aren't up to par with the high quality of hip-hop that the Roots bring to the table. That's basically what I'm sayin.<P>---------------------------<BR>"when science finally locates the center of the universe, some people will be surprised to learn they're not it."<BR>- unknown<P>"words - so innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in a dictionary, how potent for good and evil they become in the hands of one who knows how to combine them."<BR>- nathaniel hawthorne<P>"whatever happens it was written, meaning God meant it..." <BR>- nasir jones