Jim Jones recently pulled up to HOT 97 to cohost Mornings With Mero, where he talked about a whole bunch of topics like his beef with Max B and AI music. But one of the most interesting parts of this conversation happened with Miabelle, as Jones was asked which newer generation artists deserve hip-hop's "throne" right now. Capo brought up Drake as the top dog right now, but posited there can be various "kings" of the game at once.
According to Complex, he said it wasn't an easy question, as a rapper has to be "powerful to take the whole throne." Miabelle joked that maybe no one is king right now, which led Jim to name Drizzy. However, a debate then emerged due to the 6ix God already being a veteran in the game, as the conversation was more about a newer generation.
"But there are a lot of kings who sit on a lot of thrones in this game," the Dipset MC posited. "You know what I mean? It's just like the Bible... There were numerous amounts of kings ruling at the same time. And I believe that's how the hip-hop culture is. To say one king is end all be all of it, it doesn't work like that."
Jim Jones On Drake
Jones specifically brought up Jay-Z, Diddy, and 50 Cent as examples of dominant artists who have traded reigns or who ran them concurrently to each other. "We've seen so many great kings come out of this hip-hop culture despite whatever differences I may have," he added. "The truth is the truth and things like that... To command that spot? Uh, it's tough... I mean, shout outs to Meek [Mill], shout out to Lil Baby, shout outs to Future, shout out to all these great artists that are out there that are definitely kings or whatever. Like they put on, they up there... But it's a tough question."
Jim Jones has praised Drake as the "GOAT" before, so this should come as no surprise. But the conversation around the newer generation also shows how difficult it's been for artists to break through into superstardom in the mainstream.
Drake's ICEMAN trilogy (and maybe more...) has dominated 2026 so far, so the assessment makes sense. Still, fans could divide "reigns" into mainstream and underground spaces, regional distinctions, stylistic shifts... The list goes on.
We'll see who the next person is to take control of many corners of hip-hop culture at once. For Capo, it's more about cohesive and separate success rather than trying to rule over absolutely everything.
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