Why CunninLynguists Is One of the Best Groups Ever Posted by Lucas Garrison on 09/18/13 | Filed under Opinion, Cunninlynguists

Who is the best group in hip-hop history? While everyone’s answers are subject to change there are a few obvious answers. Wu-Tang, obviously, A Tribe Called Quest, and The Roots are all the top choices and while there is no argument here, I want to throw another group into the ring; CunninLynguists. Though they have been releasing dope music for over a decade, they seem to be constantly slept on. I consider myself a big fan and even I was underrating them. It wasn’t until today, when I heard Natti’s Deacon The Villain produced cut “Bright Lights Big City” that I was reminded of their talent:

This cut is dope, no doubt about it, but it isn’t so much the song itself that hit me as the fact that I had totally been sleeping on their greatneed. Well, lets call it napping, because I was once hip to the game, but since they haven’t really been making waves lately, I feel back asleep. It might seem weird that I am putting a group that I napped on in the same category as Wu-Tang, but I think that's my point. Now before you say, “Lucas is nuts, he said CunninLynguists is better than Wu-Tang” I want to make it clear, I am not saying CunningLynguists is the best group ever, only that they deserve to be in the conversation. When a fan of their own music is sleeping on them, something needs to change.

Thanks in large part to K.R.I.T, there is now a lot of talk about lyrical Southern rappers. The South gets the reputation of being more about candy paint and lean and less about lyrical content, but it seems like that is changing. There is no question Krizzle is a lyrical southerner, but CunningLynguists were blending lyricism with southern inspired hip-hop when Krizzle was still in middle school, yet they get no love. People act like KRIT is the first and only lyricist from the south nowadays. 

Take “Dirty Acres” as an example. Kno’s beat has that distinct southern soul and swang to it that's set off  the stretched sample. Deacon and Natti could have just spit a few bars about smoking, drinking, and cars but that just wouldn’t be them - their strength is in their lyrical content - instead they provide some bars really make you listen. No offense to less lyrical Southern emcees, but you can miss a bar or two and not feel like you missed much, but Deacon and Natti really make you listen. Go ahead and chew on this section of Deacon’s verse, the perfect blend of consciousness and southern spice.

Singin with Sam Cooke about a change comin’ as we keep pourin Liquor out for those that passed It's killin our livers because we dying so fast Low on cash, who ain't? Ain't no jobs Either you slang, you make music or you detail cars You cut hair, you sell clothes or you live on charge I barely got enough bread to give a cell phone bars Fuck puttin bars on paper, there's bars on the face of Half my niggas.

Even songs that aren’t the most “conscious” are still lyrical as all hell. “Beautiful Girl” is a weed song, but it is unlike any other smokers anthem I have ever heard. Weed getting personified as a girl named Jane has been done before, most emcees only do it for one line; CunningLynguists take the metaphor and extrapolate it into a whole song, with incredible lines like, "Love so strong it can't be wrong for her to share with another / Long as she touch my lips and my fingers, fuck it, we swingers”. There are literally thousands of weed songs, but I have yet to hear one as well-done and conceptual as “Beautiful Girl”, plus the beat is absolutely incredible.

CunningLynguists are southern smokers, yes, but if that’s how you label them, then you are sorely mistaken. Most groups have one lane, when you have a lot of moving parts it can be difficult to successfully change up your style, but CunningLynguists can literally do it all. “Thugged Out Since Cub Scouts” is one of their more unique, “out there” cuts and it works just as well as their more typical stuff. While the concept is different than normal, their approach isn’t. As always their music is done with a high emphasis on quality and depth. It might be a goof song about pre-pubescent, grade-school “thugs” but their bars are more thorough than your typical goof song; the vivid imagery is second to none. Shit, even Kno, typically just the producer, has the best verse on the cut; diversity on top of diversity. 

Rifling through their library, I am literally kicking my self that I haven’t been more of an advocate for CunningLynguistst. The trio has been cranking out memorable tunes for 13 years and it is a shame they aren’t given more credit; their body of work can match-up to any other groups. Maybe not in sales, Twitter followers, fame, or endorsements, but where it really counts, the music, they can run with anyone, which is why I am officially putting CunningLynguists on the ballot for best hip-hop group ever.

Discuss...

See Also:  What’s the Best Rap Album Outro of All-Time?
See Also:  Who’s the Greatest Rap Duo of All-Time?