Is Lil Wayne better than Jay-Z?

No one has ever put it down the way that Jay-Z has. Once he broke into the rap game, he took it over. Time and time again, he had been denied entry into the game. In 1996, he created Roc-A-Fella Records and released Reasonable Doubt.

After the success of his debut album, Def Jam signed Jay-Z and Roc-A-Fella Records to a lucrative deal. His first release on the label was his platinum hit, In My Lifetime, Vol. 1. That album made Jay-Z into a mainstream star.

His next album, Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life, blew the roof off. The album featured many memorable hits. The album ended up selling five million copies in the U.S. alone. From that point on, Jay-Z was the biggest rap star in the game.

Every release up until his 2003 retirement, The Black Album, was a multi-platinum release. From 1996 until 2003, Jay-Z released an album a year. Each album did platinum or better and every album was met with critical acclaim. In 2003, it was the perfect time to say goodbye, so he did.

Never before and not since has a rapper had a run quite like Jay-Z’s. With the release of “99 Problems,” in 2004, Jay officially retired as “the best rapper alive.” During the summer of 2004, Lil Wayne released his album, Tha Carter. On the album, he boasted that he was the best rapper alive since the best rapper retired.

While Jay-Z was retired, Lil Wayne took over the game. Regardless of the artist, Wayne had a guest verse. With every new verse, Weezy became more and more lyrical until some critics felt that he was on the level of Jay-Z. In 2006, Jay returned to the game to “save hip hop.”

Upon his return, Lil Wayne took offense and he began pushing the title “best rapper alive” ten times harder. Numerous times, through television and magazines, Wayne challenged Jay-Z. Each time he would diss Hov, Wayne found himself being ignored. Instead of dissing him, Jay invited him to rap on his American Gangster album.

After Lil Wayne was featured on Jay-Z’s album, he ended all disses and stopped referring to himself as the best rapper alive. Instead, Jay-Z decided to “pass the torch” to Wayne. He details this on their 2008 collaboration, “Mr. Carter.” Aside from that song, Jay was rather quiet in 2008.

In 2009, he made his return with The Blueprint 3. The success of that album earned him the top spot on MTV’s Hottest MCs in the Game list. Birdman, the CEO of Cash Money Records, felt that Wayne was more deserving because he is a hotter, better rapper. It turns out that Beanie Sigel agrees.

He said that Wayne should have continued his feud with Jay-Z to raise his own profile. Beanie Sigel said that Jay-Z intentionally stopped Wayne’s claims to secure his own legacy. To avoid looking like a hater, Jay co-signed Wayne and drew publicity by “passing down the torch.”

Jay-Z had an incredible streak that no one has come close to touching. Once he released Tha Carter III, Lil Wayne promised an album every year. Last year provided C3, this year Rebirth, and next year, Tha Carter IV. With Jay-Z, he never thought this far ahead. Does the fact that Lil Wayne has and his success make him a notch ahead of Jay-Z?