Top 5 MCs of the Moment: Who is the G.O.R.N.?

Make sure you tell me how bad my list is in the the comments! :)
According to the following super arbitrary criteria;
ACTIVITY / PRODUCTIVITY
ARTISTRY / SKILL
STAR POWER / CHARISMA
HEAT / INFLUENCE
BEAT CHOICE
ANTICIPATION
MY PERSONAL TASTE

[@manakqiisj]

prof skye will be the gorn when his mixtape drops

[@prodjakera]

even better, he'll be the goat

[@marvinthompson9010]

Yeah, let's have a GORN list for producers!

[@lollysmolly13]

I second it

[@infrared6973]

Uncle al #1

[@chriswingding3785]

Already know woods is gonna be on the list

[@TrentRoseboro-vx7yf]

Just say he's the best! here's where you sign.

[@jaysemitchells497]

he leaked it on the Doves review

[@user-fs1lc2cj5s]

@@TrentRoseboro-vx7yfain’t that the new paradigm?

[@ellezbeth6742]

Yes to list of greatest producer list!

[@entropyfu]

woods just says he's the best lets not argue

[@camthejellyman]

Love your insights and interesting, measured takes as always. Great video and topic, looking forward to the Producer GORN list!!

[@romanspataro1688]

not one mention of MIKE 🤧

[@jake6766]

i would put mike over mach hommy personally

[@evanalexander7706]

Avaa, came to this video hoping to hear some Jpegmafia discussion, but after seeing the criteria and the list i can agree with a lot that's on here. Your #1 spot is almost unarguable, he is prolific is spectacular and enthralling to watch right now.

[@jagle6085]

AVAA. I'm so glad I've discovered your channel. You're the best! Cheers from Brazil ❤

[@liquidpebbles7475]

billy woods is so good he got professor swearing in the classroom

[@LastBref]

Ransom Elzhi Your Old Droog Black Thought King Crooked

[@pliuy123]

AVAA knew woods would be #1, but was pleasantly surprised by the rest of your list! Definitely looking forward to your gorn for producers!

[@PleaseDontEatMyPetChicken]

Danny Brown is my personal favorite rapper right now, but I can understand him not being so high up on other people’s list. His work on Scaring The Hoes was pivotal to the albums success, I can’t imagine much other rappers being able to effortlessly flow on that eccentric production and provide the right level of hedonism necessary for that release. Him releasing his solo album the same year as well, a complete opposite of Scaring The Hoes lyrically, delving into his struggles and him finding his way out of them.

[@comboballer]

I thought billy woods would be number 2 or 3 but when you didn't say him for number 2 i wasn't even worried he wouldn't be on the list I just knew he was number 1 and when he said it I just nodded my head and said yup

[@user-rz7wr2lv1j]

whats good . i REALLY applaud he way you breakdown hiphop started my sub to you channel today this list you put up makes a lot of sense , with out being a superfan of one or the other . The marciology review got me going back your other videos . big ups to you and your well informed and enlightening videos .

[@limbs2468]

Aye first time long time - respect! A criminally slept on GORN and GOAT is doseone. From A7PHA to clouddead to North American Adonis to subtle to themselves to his solo stuff he's the total package. Completely unique. Admittedly an acquired taste but I think you'd appreciate. He's influential in ways people don't realize. He might be an alien. Just craziness. Inspired by the West Coast underground and just ran even further left with it. Peace man

[@jcg_001]

avaa I think my GORN list would be: 1. Billy Woods 2. Pink Siifu 3. Aesop Rock 4. Little Simz 5. Lil Yachty Also I really want to reccomend Pink Siifu's NEGRO DELUXE - would love to hear your thoughts on it! Its such an intense and very dense album. It might be the best hip-hop release of the last decade tbh.

[@JoeyBergeson-tg3xj]

Avaa, the new bladee and lean project that dropped today is actually amazing and so different from their other stuff definitely would make a banger video imo.

[@jtrealfunny]

I like how this is starting. Let's get to the content and see if it holds up. Little Simz "Beating on my chest throwing apeshit//putting in grave shifts//ain't life what you make it?//Yea it is." A serious person, great range, great live, artistic, sense of history and geography, making her own way, paying homage (missy, mac miller, the streets, lauryn hill), staying both hard and positive, and she's not hyping commercialism. Having a live band or a great DJ is important to me. Rap doesn't need to be underground, it just needs to be independent and not pop, imo. Cool list. I like Ice Spice and JIB from what I've just watched.

[@ChappieCrosby]

1.) Billy Woods 2.) JPegmafia 3.) RAP Farreira 4.) Elucid 5.) Danny Brown

[@weekendsonlyy3947]

billy woods needs to start a podcast

[@azarathe5901]

okay, im new to your channel (already a fan, AVAA, is that right?) and at face value this list in HILARIOUS. but yeah, i guess you lowkey nailed it.

[@WaxPundit]

Nas not being on your all time list but being here is respectfully, utterly backwards. You're a gentleman and a scholar but thoroughly wrong on this one both qualitatively and quantitatively. I'd be happy to stand on business and debate you to this end!

[@Leo-gy8lg]

I think kae tempest could possibly also be in this conversation, of course they're prominently in the lyrical side of it, but their beat selection especially on the latest release with Dan Nigro was incredible! Their storytelling is incredible and their poetry is matched only by someone like rap ferreiera. I also think their work outside rap is very important aswell, their plays and writing and poetry are incredible, a true artist

[@lilfigurative]

AVAA!!! btw if u want more rxknephew, Early Age Death is fantastic and his performance on the song evolves to the point where it might genuinely might be the angriest i’ve ever heard any rapper get!

[@Blancoplanet]

Also Skye! How have we not seen a Blonde Review?! Avaa

[@remyhanna5826]

AVAA, I highly recommend you review Lelo’s new album Nightingale. He’s a good friend of mine and the album is actually perfect. It’s not too long and his delivery and cadence are so smooth that he never needs a hook.

[@lauric1464]

Prof, you absolutely need to check out the album “there is no threat” by anonymuz. He’s a denzel curry collaborator and frankly that is one of my favourite albums of the last few years

[@meiriversofborg]

woods def #1 run now but the only other rapper who’s on a run like his is MIKE. Once u rlly tap in to how great of a producer he is, his run is generational fr. As a fan we are spoiled by his greatness!

[@tinhose69]

avaa prof cant wait to see conductor up on that GORN producers list

[@RSVaughan33]

MIKE!!! AAVA tho and yes I would love a producer list

[@antkain]

AVAA This man is an artist! 👏🏽👏🏽

[@BelzertheRippler]

AVAA, It’s a good list! Only complaint I have is maybe Ice Spice. I love her, don’t get me wrong, but I feel like her flows are getting kinda one note. Not sure if she can mix it up enough to make her album great. I hope so though. I’d put Denzel Curry instead of her. I think he’s releasing this year?

[@lukeyoung5709]

AVAA! are you gonna be reviewing the new Moor Mother album? it might be a ten outta ten for me

[@ShingieLee]

avaa, favorite music critic on yt rn

[@samvinetti]

u gotta review the new MIKE album that just dropped

[@HappyNBoy]

Billy Woods is an excellent choice for the GORN. I am not strictly a hip-hop consumer, I listen to a lot more folk and pop than most other genres, but I have listened to Maps over a dozen times since last year, and when I went back through his catalogue and found History Will Absolve Me... that record blew my mind. I cannot believe that's a 12 year old record... it's both incredibly fresh and completely timeless, kinda like a Nas record. The fact that you were able to name some 20 other artists that didn't even make the list who I also have an immense amount of respect for shows just how strong the genre is right now. It's an exciting time to be a fan, even a fairly casual one, like myself. I think Little Sims and Lil Yachty would have made my list, personally, I've gotten a lot of milage out of SIMBI and Let's Start Here. I don't really know how I'd make my own list of this type... seems awfully hard. Well done. AVAA

[@yunglear]

great video, all of your explanations made sense! i think MIKE is extremely overlooked, especially when you take into account your criteria. either way, AVAA

[@dffgffffffdddddddddd]

I don't think he's ever going to understand MIKE, probably a generational thing? He called him "mumble-rap" lol I'm honestly bored of seeing MIKE getting disrespected for no reason

[@spaco181]

@@dffgffffffddddddddddhe liked him a lot tho

[@calyoungblood9453]

damn i didn’t agree with a single one of these picks😂 mach hommy was close but i haven’t liked the recent stuff he has put out. I don’t know much about billy woods so thanks for putting me on

[@Ben-mr6rt]

Good list! Love the GORN metric. Here’s my top 5: Open Mike Eagle Westside Gunn Lil Yachty Tyler, The Creator Vince Staples

[@YTwoKay]

Vince is so underrated, its crazy

[@Squidditch]

Westside Gunn love

[@danielgamez8754]

Atmosphere - earl sweatshirt

[@user-fs1lc2cj5s]

I actually agree with your list. even tho i don’t listen to ice spice i’m a substitute teacher and that’s all my kids talk about. maybe i should give her an honest try

[@victormartins7867]

producer top 5 would be cool! aava

[@frogfan449]

In my list there would be one rapper similar to or being Cartier'god, lostrushi, yabujin, all of drain gang and such. (note that yabujin seems to have retired so he couldn't be there) To me, a lot of what they do is futuristic as well as delightful. Out of them I suppose I would choose cartier, the most productive and innovative

[@treyandrews5716]

Avaa would love to see a GORN producer video

[@hue59]

For someone who went a while without listening to modern hip hop you’ve got some good taste

[@comrade4792]

AVAA! Do you plan on reviewing Pinball by MIKE?

[@TameHorchata]

Good call with Woods👑

[@manyasterisks]

AVAA surprised RAP Ferreira didnt make it but cant argue with your takes tbh

[@ThePhonzee]

Skye needs a Rate Your Music account !

[@souvikdeb808]

AVAA I liked most of your picks but I would have put Latto or Meg over Ice Spice. She is good but her skill is kinda lacking. And otherwise a great list. PS you are one of the GORNs of youtube for me.

[@Riokaii]

active release within 1 year feels overly restrictive, many active artists frequently take 2-4 year breaks between albums. Some of the "best" artists this is even more common because they have high standards of quality over quantity for their work. I would say something like 2 albums in last 6 years is a better metric. Aesop Rock, J Cole, JID, Kendrick, RTJ, Lupe Fiasco, feel missing AVAA

[@camcam6508]

AVAA: PLEASE review the new Fahim!

[@dublplus3332]

Danny Brown

[@TheRobinCox]

For shure! One of the most interesting right now.

[@alexlopes3930]

ICE SPICE? NAHHHHHHH

[@e5141981]

she an industry plant

[@rafaelfranco5193]

Yes! GORN OF PRODUCERS PLS

[@joelwilson289]

yes, ha, I called it - billy woods has been killing it for a while now. His poetry is extraordinary - as a lyricist myself I'm baffled by woods' originality, wit and flow.

[@r.e8018]

AVAA Chuck Strangers just dropped a new album I think you’d enjoy. Some good alchemist production on there

[@klemensasremeika3042]

God this is smooth expression

[@avengervastey]

AVAA I saw Woods 3 weeks ago in concert.

[@Peter-gf4qd]

Thanks for speaking out against gambling AVAA

[@EayuProuxm]

1. Prof Skye's passionate defence of Playboi Carti is one of the reasons why he's the goat and the gorn music youtuber 2. I think an argument could be made that sales also play a prominent part in pop music. Bc pop music's literal intention is to be popular, so if you're not selling, you're not good. The differences I feel is that direct competition isn't a feature of pop music the way it is in rap. But that's bc pop music isn't a defined culture in the way that hip hop is, so it's difficult to compare the two. But I still think it bears mentioning.

[@noyd4172]

thanks for "letting it ride" with the continuous talk; there's a lot of other video content where I would be interested in the topic and potentially the message but having someone shift around and run into the back of their own words because of obsessively editing for high stimulation just drives me crazy; avaa

[@professorskye]

Well then this is the channel for you! Over a thousand videos, around 10 videos with an edit. 😁

[@teigeo]

WE WANT A PRODUCER LIST (and it better have The Alchemist on it)

[@withnail-and-i]

Still hoping for a review of the Erick the Architect album! He was the producer for 2010s new York group Flatbush Zombies and it's a versatile, very underrated album with featurings from the like of James Blake and George Clinton (!)

[@abuslang5715]

i think the active/productive thing might not be that important cuz the music gets replayed everyday and the musics still there to be listened to.

[@alupelimjamekwana2174]

Please do a top producer list.

[@sirisirih]

He already did one for top 5 of all time

[@liamout]

yessss i completely called the billy woods at #1. totally agree. he's been on an insane tear the past couples years

[@ricky2ist]

bro.... where's the jpeg? not even a mention...

[@user-ze1bk6hv7y]

If my course was this entertaining maybe I'd be getting my work done faster 😭

[@michaelisaslin]

hey future and baby keem both have albums slated for the next couple of months

[@dakotaamesoriginals]

Let's get GORNographic

[@gregstanard2026]

AVAA no mention of Westside Gunn is craaaaaazy

[@RITASAMIISALIVE]

What is your all time top 5

[@chriscrowley3904]

AVAA. New music Friday reminding me if the criteria for Gorn was 2024 only, Gorn rapper would be Crimeapple and Gorn producer would be Cookin Soul.

[@TarajaWorrell]

AvA ,can you review Roc marciano

[@tblank123]

Firmly within your blind spot, but i think Veeze absolutely belongs on this list. I dont know if he'd be your cup of tea but he's on an absurd run right now and fits every single category youve laid out. Overall love the list but wanted to add him as one person left out of the conversation

[@carloscano8848]

I there 👋. I've been meaning to ask. 1. Is what your doing with your reviews psycoanalizing the artists? 2. If it is what your doing then. Is it something that the artists are doing consciously?

[@crespomunozalecxavier2522]

Mach-Hommy is an icon.

[@jake6766]

avaa god bless professor skye

[@pjkerrigan20]

For me Danny Brown’s the obvious GORN at the moment. I think the rest of my 5 would include Little Simz, JID, RAP Ferreira, and Smino. Billy Woods is up there too he’s great. Also shoutout to the undisputed Irish GORN, Kojaque. He deserves some love in the US tbh. Also shoutout to some great Italians like Ele A and Massimo Pericolo.

[@LucasRutting]

Not so much into your more mainstream picks, but really like your "analytical framework" for choosing your five G.O.R.N.'s! That said, I'd go with 1. Billy Woods (yeah, he's the best right now); 2. Roc Marciano; 3. Action Bronson; 4. Rome Streetz; 5. Pink Siifu... Something like that! Haha.

[@prod_paragon]

avaa check out i used to just cry about it by quinn one of the best projects of last year imo

[@e55570]

Sadistik has to be more present in hip-hop conversation, every student here should check him out, criminally underrated

[@yourboibigbrain7353]

This is definitely an interesting list 😂 i cant call you close minded! AVAA

[@nimasalmanpour7627]

AVAA. I paused the video before you said your number one and i'm guessing it's Kanye. Ok, let's see... I was wrong, whaat not even a kanye mention?? Oh and I almost forgot, day 11 of watching and commenting on a Professor Skye video until he reviews Tetsuo & Youth. Honestly we would probably be fine with a pharaoh height review too. It's kinda similar to house in that it's short, cool, abstract and I have absolutely no clue what it's about.

[@e5141981]

ransom, stove god, boldy, earl, and the Goat himself Roc Marciano

[@Coltrane360]

I can't stop saying the word GORN now

[@lollysmolly13]

Peggy deserves to be included in the GORN of either rappers or producers, if not both, at least in my book.

[@joeclarke9086]

Mr woods

[@persha23]

100% agree your GORN

[@Llamasondeck]

The reason people say "the only good music is in the underground" is because that's where the real progression happens. Mainstream rap is almost always derived from styles that have been created and popularized in the underground, for example Ice Spice ran off with a drill style that had been popular in NY for years. Not saying she didn't put in work to get where she is but I do think she's coasting off of a wave made by the underground in NY, and theres plenty more examples of this like Drakes constant biting and even Playboi Carti derived his sound from his past associates from Atlanta. I don't agree that success is a metric of the quality, it's more a metric of the artists capability to network or go viral and a lot of these artists will build off what's already established in the underground

[@biggestfanofroger]

Yeah Billy Woods is easily the greatest rapper right now. He‘s on an unbelievable run.

[@yunglear]

yes please g producers orn AVAA

[@alexanderwebster3894]

Future is releasing an album this year

[@jaysemitchells497]

woods, Carti, Mach-Hommy all dope and would be my picks too! I'd throw Boldy James and JPEGMAFIA in there though. AVAA

[@jaysemitchells497]

fuck I forgot Aesop Rock, he's one of my favorites of all time, JID too.... way too many GORNs & GOATs these days. not a bad problem to have tho

[@hunterdelaghetto]

Boldy..

[@Marek7_]

AVAA but Rakim is dropping a album

[@Ben-xj2rf]

I’ve got Wayne and Nas on both my gorn and goat list but i feel like it’s not in the spirit of a greatest of right now list

[@danielgamez8754]

Aesop Rock - Billy woods.