The 2019 Rapper All-Star Draft

The 2019 NBA All-Star Weekend tips off on February 15th, but the All-Star Game Draft is coming up on Thursday. The new format has added an exciting element to the game. This year’s captains, LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo, will be picking from the pool of All-Stars to build a team that will lead them to victory. Now, what if the rap game held an All-Star Game? Welcome to The Demo Tape, where dreams become a reality. Justice Gray and I selected a pool of rap All-Stars, if you will. The players were divided up into regions based on the conferences in the NBA (i.e. Chicago would be East and Memphis would be West). The All-Stars are listed below, followed by the order in which they were drafted.

Eastern Conference Starters: Drake (Toronto), Meek Mill (Philadelphia), Lil Baby (Atlanta), Future (Atlanta), Cardi B (New York)

Eastern Conference Reserves: Mac Miller (Pittsburgh), Gunna (Atlanta), J.Cole (North Carolina), A Boogie (New York), Tory Lanez (Toronto), Pusha T (Virginia), Kodak Black (Florida)

Western Conference Starters: Nipsey Hussle (Los Angeles), Travis Scott (Houston), Lil Wayne (New Orleans), Kendrick Lamar (Compton), Vince Staples (Compton)

Western Conference Reserves: Jay Rock (Los Angeles), YG (Compton), YoungBoy Never Broke Again (Baton Rouge), Young Dolph (Memphis), Anderson .Paak (California), Tyga (California), Tyler the Creator (Los Angeles)

Round 1: Starters

1. Justice: Drake (Captain)

At this point, it’s undeniable that Drake is the biggest name in rap music. Albums, singles, videos, features - nobody is putting the numbers on the board that Aubrey Graham is. “Look Alive,” “God’s Plan,” “Diplomatic Immunity,” “”Nice For What,” “Yes Indeed,” “I’m Upset,” “Don’t Matter To Me,” “In My Feelings,” “Walk It Talk It,” “Nonstop,” “Mia,” and “Going Bad” all added to Drake’s laundry list of smash hits and features. 2018 was just another day at the office for rap’s one-man Mount Rushmore.

 

2. Brandon: Meek Mill (Captain)

If rap had a Comeback Player of the Year award, it would definitely go to Meek Mill. Since being released from prison after his five-month bid for a parole violation, Meek has bounced back in a major way. This past year has been a great one for music, and Meek’s contributions cannot go unnoticed. In November, he released Championships, his fourth studio album, and the most complete body of work of his career. The album reached No. 1 and has already earned a Gold plaque. With the influence Meek has in the rap game, it’s no surprise that he is a captain this year.

 

3. Justice: Travis Scott

One could make the argument that Travis Scott had the best album rollout in rap last year with the release of his third studio album ASTROWRORLD. Even as a write this, Travis is coming off s Super Bowl LIII halftime performance and on the second tour for ASTROWORLD. His album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, moving 537,000 album-equivalent units. With the 2018 that Travis had last year, he’s now amongst rap’s superstars.

 

4. Brandon: Future

Since the release of Monster back in 2014, Future has been on a tear, and he hasn’t really lost his groove yet. His latest work, The WIZRD, was highly anticipated and it did not disappoint. The project debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard charts, surpassing Drake for the most No. 1 albums in the last decade. In terms of influence on hip-hop, Future has just as much influence as Drake and Meek. His work ethic has set the standard for many younger artists in the game. Future has already established a rapport with Meek, so it was a no-brainer to take him with my second pick.

 

5. Justice: Cardi B

After “Bodak Yellow” dominated the summer of 2017, everyone speculated as to whether or not Cardi B could follow up her smash single with the release of a solid body of work. With the release of Invasion of Privacy, the Bronx rapper did just that. All 13 tracks from her debut album are now certified either gold or platinum by the RIAA, making her the first woman to accomplish said feat. She may have had one of the best breakout years we’ve ever seen in rap (-looks at Brandon’s “Rookie of the Year” nod he gave to Lil Baby), and with “Money” currently soaring soaring up the Billboard Hot 100 and now certified platinum, she looks to carry that momentum into 2019.

 

6. Brandon: Nipsey Hussle

There may not be a rapper more deserving of an All-Star nod than Nipsey Hussle. For the majority of his career, Nipsey was an independent act, never conforming to the industry. Now, he is enjoying all the fruits of his labor. Nipsey released his major label debut Victory Lap at the top of 2018. The album peaked at No. 4 on the charts, but also earned Nipsey a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Album. By the looks of my squad thus far, a victory lap sounds quite fitting.

 

7. Justice: Kendrick Lamar

Fans of Kendrick Lamar have become accustomed to not receiving a studio album from the Compton rapper each year. After the release of DAMN. in 2017, Lamar sat out the solo album conversation last year. However, Lamar and Top Dawg Entertainment founder Anthony Tiffin produced and curated the soundtrack for Black Panther, one of the biggest blockbuster films of the year. Amongst the tracks on the soundtrack, “All The Stars” landed Lamar nominations for a Grammy, Golden Globe, and Academy award. A relatively quiet year for Lamar was still a successful one.

 

8. Brandon: Lil Baby

I don’t think there’s any doubt that Lil Baby was the rap Rookie of the Year in 2018. From not taking rap seriously until about a year and a half ago, to where he is now, is truly remarkable. He secured the highly-coveted Drake feature on “Yes Indeed,” and things have been rapidly picking up for Lil Baby since then. In 2018, he released three projects (one collab project with Gunna) and all three of them peaked in the Top 5. He also earned three gold and two platinum singles. With the cagey veterans, Baby brings some new blood to the starting lineup.

 

9. Justice: Lil Wayne

Words can’t described how happy Lil Wayne’s 2018 comeback made me. Seven years separate Tha Carter IV and Tha Carter V. That 7-year period felt like watching your favorite team win the Super Bowl with the belief that they could begin a dynasty, and then succumbing to a championship drought. However, Wayne’s comeback proved that he’s still a relevant, household name. Tha Carter V debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, moving 480,000 in album-equivalent units i nthe first week. With Wayne’s label woes now behind him, hopefully we can get more music.

 

10. Brandon: Vince Staples

Rounding out my starting five, is one of the brightest young talents from the West Coast. Staples delivered an effortless 22-minute summer project in FM! last year. One of the qualities that stands out about Vince Staples is that he’s outspoken and not afraid to keep it real and speak his mind. Although he hasn’t garnered the accolades of some of his peers, Staples is a model of consistency at a young age and he is continuously getting better.

 

Round 2: Reserves

1. Brandon: Mac Miller

Mac Miller’s nod has nothing to do with his untimely death, but more so to do with the impact that he made while he was here. Mac released one of the most impressive rap projects of 2018 with Swimming. Over the course of his career, you could quite clearly see the evolution of Mac in every project that he dropped. On Swimming, probably more than any other album of his, he pushed the envelope and displayed a massive level of creativity. He was a no-brainer to select at the top of Round 2.

 

2. Justice: J. Cole

Say what you want about J. Cole, but he’s put in a decade’s worth of work to have an established fan base that supports all of his releases. Said was the case for his 2018 album KOD, which broke streaming records previously held by Drake and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200; Cole’s fifth consecutive number one album, making him five for five. While he’s been known for “no features” on his albums, Cole took it upon himself to land features on the projects of other rappers in 2018 as well. “OSOM” by Jay Rock, “Pretty Little Fears” by 6LACK, “My Boy” by Wale, and “A Lot” by 21 Savage were just some of the features Cole bodied last year. With Revenge of the Dreamers III and The Fall Off due for some time this year, Cole shows no signs of letting up.

 

3. Brandon: YoungBoy Never Broke Again

It came as a shock to a lot of people that YoungBoy is the most watched artist on YouTube, I’m not all that surprised. Obviously, in the grand scheme of things, he is not as big of a name as Drake or Ariana Grande. However, this younger generation is fascinated by him. To be honest, YoungBoy stands out from a lot of other names in this new class. He can actually rap and makes very enjoyable music. His debut studio album, Until Death Call My Name, earned a gold certification. He also had two singles go platinum in 2018, to go along with one gold. YoungBoy has star written all over him.

 

4. Justice: Pusha T

Don’t let his beef with Drake distract you from the fact that Push T released one of the best rap albums last year in DAYTONA. At just 21 minutes, the album gave you enough material assert the previous statement, while also thinking to yourself “damn, I kinda wanna hear more though.” That’s exactly what great albums do though, and even with the rollercoaster year that Kanye West had, the duo of he and Push were still able to release one of the most enjoyable albums of the year.

 

5. Brandon: Gunna

If Lil Baby is the Rookie of the Year, Gunna isn’t really too far off. He didn’t take music seriously until 2016, when he met Young Thug, but it turned out to be a really good decision. He and Baby have developed a strong chemistry and they are definitely the best duo in rap right now. Last year was big for Gunna. He dropped his best project to-date in Drip Season 3 and also collaborated on Drip Harder with Lil Baby. The project featured the platinum smash hit “Drip Too Hard.” I grabbed Baby in Round 1, so it’s only right he and Gunna join forces like they’ve done in the past year.

 

6. Justice: Jay Rock

Jay Rock’s Redemption was one of the best releases of 2018, and criminally underrated. “Tap Out” could have easily been a summer smash, and “Redemption” may be one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard. Luckily for Rock, tracks “King’s Dead” and “Win” did get the love they deserve, with the first featured in Black Panther and the latter spotlighted in commercials for the College Football Playoffs.

 

7. Brandon: YG

Grabbing YG in the middle of the second round may actually be a steal. It goes without saying that he is one of the most respected names in the industry and in the streets. He released his third studio album, Stay Dangerous, last year and it peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard charts. YG enjoyed the success of a pretty hot single, “Big Bank,” which went double platinum. YG brings both experience and toughness to an already well-rounded squad.

 

8. Justice: A Boogie

A Boogie had a rather lackluster campaign for the majority of 2018. However, to close out the year, he released his sophomore album Hoodie SZN to beat the buzzer on December 21. The album peaked at number one on the Billboard 200, making it Artist’s first number one album. To date, four songs from the album have charted including “Look Back At It.”

 

9. Brandon: Tory Lanez

You have got to admire the confidence of Tory Lanez. He never backs down from a challenge and he has an unwavering belief in his talent. And said talent, is undeniable. Rap beefs aside, Tory has had a very impressive career thus far. His latest album, Love Me Now, debuted at No. 1 on the rap charts and was a pretty solid showing for the Toronto rapper. People have gotten so used to the auto-tune sound from Tory, that they forget that he can actually rap. His versatility meshes quite well on my team.

 

10. Justice: Anderson .Paak

If not already apparent, Anderson .Paak is one of the most talented musicians in rap right now. He’s especially built his case in recent years with the release of Malibu in 2016 and Yes Lawd! with Knxledge. Andy returned in 2018 to give us Oxnard, with standout tracks like “Who R U?” and the Kendrick Lamar-assisted “Tints.” While the album failed to receive the same level of praise as its predecessors, it was still greeted favorably from fans and critics.

 

11. Brandon: Kodak Black

Kodak Black’s career has been somewhat marred by controversy, but it’s hard to ignore the star potential that hasn’t been fully realized. He celebrated his first No. 1 album in Dying To Live to close out last year. The project featured five charted songs, two of which went platinum (“Zeze” and “Wake Up in the Sky”). Kodak’s music is relatable, so he’s built up a very loyal fanbase and his popularity just continues to grow.

 

12. Justice: Tyler the Creator

Like Kendrick Lamar, 2018 was a relatively quiet year for Tyler, The Creator in terms of solo releases. However, like Kendrick, Tyler had a hand in soundtrack for a major motion picture in The Grinch. In addition to contributing two songs to the soundtrack, Tyler also produced Music Inspired by Illumination & Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch, a 10-minute, six-track EP.

 

13. Brandon: Young Dolph

Young Dolph released his fifth studio album, Role Model, last year and while it didn’t put up big numbers, it was still solid. Looking back at the theme of my team, Dolph just seems to be a perfect fit. He comes with a great deal of street cred and wisdom. When Dolph speaks, the people listen, and that’s because so many people around the industry respect him. I have no doubt that my team is the better of the two and would rise to the occasion if the teams were pitted against one another. With Meek, Nipsey and Dolph on your squad, how can the rest of the troop not be motivated?

 

14. Justice: Tyga

I see Brando giving Meek Mill the Comeback Player of the Year, and that’s cute. Honestly though, Meek released Wins & Losses in 2017, which peaked at number three on the Billboard 200. So can we really consider 2018 a “comeback” for Meek? He just got out of jail and released an album, and that’s the same thing Remy Ma did first. Tyga gave us a summer smash in “Taste” after suffering a PR nightmare for years - that’s what we call a comeback.

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