>Everyone has the same measures to me. I'm not grading these
>cats on a curve.
>

Not that I think Kendrick doesn't match up to some of the other great groups / MC's that are listed in this post, but I do tend to be biased towards the older acts. I'm sure a lot of it has to do with my age when I heard the legacy acts, because there are a lot of current MC's who are good but I don't listen to them regularly.

I think a lot of it is simply the climate which hip-hop is in versus the climate back in the 90's. The culture is a lot different in a few cases for the better. But I also know that so much of what a lot of purists liked about hip-hop has been stripped away. I think that's why Kendrick gets so much acclaim; he reminds people of the days when hip-hop was more focused on creativity and originality.

He's one of the few artists, in any genre, that really puts thought into his work and is able to present challenging ideas and perspectives in ways that are stimulating and articulate. He's refreshing, even if what he's doing isn't entirely new.