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It's not just that KRS has higher highs than Ace. It's the sheer number of "highs" that he has that have defined his career. Again, I love Ace, but his two best albums are SH and DA. KRS has SEVEN albums that either better than or nearly as good as both of those. That's what gives KRS the edge in careers.
>again Im goin by there whole careers to date
Well, Ace essentially stopped his career for five or six years in between albums, then released two solo albums, "retired" from making solo albums, and has released two collaborative albums since. KRS, no matter what you say about him, has never stopped making music. Closest he got was between "I Got Next" and "Sneak Attack," and much of that was due to label drama. Since getting off of Jive, he's been positively prolific, and has become a hip-hop "activist", which is as much as part of his career as any of his music. You can argue that his "activism" shades to corny, but dude is one of the few MCs making an effort to make hip-hop more than just music.
>BDK & Slick Rick have gone on record saying that they have >essentially stopped makeing records because they cant compete >in todays market
Slick Rick spent what would have been the prime of his career in prison. He only really got to release two albums the way first wanted to: The first one, which is at least as good as, if not better than all of Ace's albums, and the fourth one, which is quite excellent and certainly comparable to nearly all of Ace's albums. Also, Slick Rick was gone for eight years and tried to re-introduce himself into the mainstream, which is considerably more difficult than coming back from a hiatus and aiming for the underground (more on this later).
As for Kane, I'd say he stopped making records because he'd fallen off by 1991 and couldn't find a way to come back. But I have no problem saying Ace's career is >>>> Kane's.
>Ace, atlest has proven that he can still make a great record >20 yrs after he began
I think what really sets Ace apart during his career resurgence his ability to the right producers and collaborators. Since his resurgence, he's used beats from the likes of 9th Wonder, Marco Polo, Khrysis, DJ Spinna, Dug Infinite, Deacon, Paul Nice, and M-Phazes. These are the types of producer that Rakim and KRS should be collaborating with regularly. KRS only went that route for "Survival Skills," which had the best beats he'd rapped over in about a decade; too bad it was one of the few albums where his lyrics were sub-par.
I'll also give Ace credit that when he decided to make his comeback, he didn't try to chase an audience that wouldn't be there. I find that a lot of these artists who were hot in the '80s and the '90s try to make their comeback, they're still using the mentality that they're trying to get onto the radio and sell a million records. That ship has almost always sailed. Ace is one of the few who was realistic about the listeners that he should be targeting, and has put together his albums accordingly. The only other of the artists that you listed that has gone that route is, yes, KRS-One. -----------------
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