B.O.B. has been on the scene for a minute now and has churned out major crossover hits, created hardcore street anthems, and pushed the envelope musically yet many still view him as Bobby, the guy from Atlanta who makes catchy songs. To write him off as just that is ridiculous. B.O.B is like Neo in the beginning of the Matrix, certain people are underestimating him, not realizing his importance. The truth is, he’s a musical genius. He plays instruments, makes beats, and has some serious lyrical ability. He weaves his way in and out of genres effortlessly, one minute collaborating with Hayley Williams of Paramore and the next trading verses with lyrical monsters Tech N9ne and Hopsin. And let’s not forget to mention that he can write hooks of T-Pain and Krizz Kaliko like proportions with ease. In my humble opinion Bobby Ray is the reigning king of the South. He’s T.I. without the jail time, he’s Jeezy with a broader audience, and he’s a more relatable version of Andre 3000. And speaking of the mythical Andre 3000, and I know I’m going to catch flak for this one, but is B.O.B. not the next Andre? The die-hard Andre fans obviously aren’t having this but look at the facts. Bobby may not be there quite yet lyrically but he’s damn close and when you add that to all the other weapons in his arsenal, it’s not hard to see that he’s a legend in the making. Let’s look at the playing field. You have T.I., who is one of the best but hasn’t been able to recapture that huge buzz since his second stint in prison. You have Luda, who despite being one of the best the game has ever seen, is likely to focus less and less on music due to his successful film career. Jeezy is one of the realest rappers since Tupac but he can never have the commercial appeal that B.O.B. can have. Big Boi is already a legend but has been doing it for 20 years and then there’s Andre who just doesn’t seem very interested in making music. He’s only 25 years old and has three dope albums under his belt. Bobby Ray has nowhere to go but up and let’s not forget, it’s known fact that Slim Shady himself was aggressively trying to sign B.O.B. All Bobby needs is one classic album, a masterpiece, which he was already pretty close to having in The Adventures of Bobby Ray, and his fate will be sealed. If you ask me, the South already has its king in Bobby Ray but for all the doubters and naysayers, mark my words, the man is an integral part of hip-hop and will be very important to the genre moving forward. If he raps as until he reaches Jay-Z, Nas, or Eminem age then he’s going to have a lot of chances to make it happen for himself but I suspect by that time he’ll be sitting pretty as hip-hop royalty in the South or anywhere else.
Article By: Jon DaBove
