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Like so many other great things, I have no idea how I got into hip-hop. I remember little chunks, sitting with my brother in the Wal-Mart parking lot trying to find "Big Pimpin'" on the radio, but I have no idea what first turned me on to it or what's happened between then and last night, when I was at a party sharing Nicki Minaj tracks with people I've only met a couple of times. 

Again, I can't quite put my finger on what I find so amazing about rap, either. I don't know if it's the swagger, the lyrics, the music, but I'm at the point where the new music I get excited about is almost exclusively rap. 

There's something about hearing a great beat of lyric for the first time (or something you already love that you haven't heard in a while) that explodes a little corner of your brain, and makes it the most important thing in the world for a second.

Jesse Thorn, public radio host and someone who's about to earn royalties based on how much I'm referencing him, wrapped this up pretty well after the Kanye/Jay-Z remix of "Power" dropped.

Hmm. The "Power" remix seems to have finished playing. What to listen to? Ahh, let's try this "Power" remix.

Exactly. 

The most insane thing to me is that there are people like Rick Rubin and Timbaland who can turn out hits on a regular basis. 

There's a scene in "Fade to Black," the movie documenting Jay-Z's farewell concert in 2004. (He's, uhm, back, by the way.) Jay is in the studio with Timbaland, and the producer is trying out some beats on the Best Rapper Alive.

The first three beats are bad, and Hova knows it. 

But just one second of the beat that would become "Dirt Off Your Shoulder" and it's clear the fix is in. Timbaland's been holding back, and the bounce Jay-Z was looking for exists in this last track. There's some undefinable thing in there and it's clear it's the best of the bunch. 

Something about hip-hop lends the genre to this type of "which one's better?" comparison, not just with beats, but with rhymes, songs, and rappers themselves. 

Back in 2005, Jay-Z lent a verse to the remix of Kanye West's "Diamonds from Sierra Leone" and, in my opinion, absolutely blows him off the track.

Five years later, Jay's back on the remix of K. West's "Power" and he just barely bothers to show up. 

There's no hard rock version of this. Fred Durst didn't show up on a Linkin Park track and try to trade lyrics. 

But when Method Man shows up on "N 2 Gether Now" Fred's still one of the worst rappers in ever, but significantly better than he is in, say, "Nookie."

(It should be noted that I took this all really really seriously ten years ago. I'm a little embarrassed about it.)

There's a moment at the end of the "Dirt Off Your Shoulder" video above where Timbaland says "Every rapper that's out, who's so called 'hot,' will be terminated."

The great moments in hip-hop and rap, the ones that make you lose your mind a little bit and try to remember where the repeat button on your stereo is, come from those moments of escalation. 

This needs to spread. Slam poetry brought the competitive drive to the world of spoken word. We need fine art battles, country music battles, and yes, blogging battles. 

Consider that an invitation.

I'm The Best There Is.