Ten Years Into “Forever”
The modern era of rap supergroup collaborations started ten years ago with the star-driven 'Forever'. Off of Lebron James's More Than a Game soundtrack, the track gives Drake, Kanye West, Lil Wayne and Eminem some of the best featuring verses of their respective careers. Released in August of 2009, the victorious single is currently celebrating ten years of being internet fodder - who had the best verse? Who won from this song? In this edition of the Rap Clash, I'll break it down for you and give you my personal thoughts on those questions and the winner of the debate - who gets to last forever.
Singing the chorus and the first verse, Drake delivers what could be argued as being the best opening verse line of his career with "last name 'Ever', first name 'Greatest'; like a sprained ankle boy I ain't nothing to play with." The entire verse deals with how he is finally accepting fame and the greatness that comes with it - a stark difference from the usual struggles that he talked about at that time on projects such as Comeback Season and Thank Me Later. There is a confidence in his tone and in his verse. He delivers bomb after bomb; he's relentless with his bars and gives more punchlines than an Will Smith in Ali. In the ten years since 'Forever' was released, Drake has seen success after success, with multiple multi-platinum albums, unprecedented commercial success with little to no chinks in his armor in an astounding ten year run.
Kanye West performs a second verse that, ironically enough, deals with the struggles of being famous and how he doesn't want this feeling to last forever. Ye perceives it as everyone believing the life is glamourous when it really isn't, claiming "You would think I ran the world like Michelle's husband; you would think these n***** would know me when they really doesn't". It's one of Kanye's best verses of his career and a powerful statement. Of all of the performers on this single, he is the one to have the most critically successful decade. Yet, his controversial stance on certain subjects overshadowed his music, alienating some of his core fans.
Third verse was provided by the incomparable Lil Wayne. While Drake and Kanye both talked about newly acquired fame and the dangers of said fame, Weezy is obvious: he loves where he is. During this time, he had already called himself the Best Rapper Alive and that is something that few could contest. To put it into focus, he calls himself 'Space Jam Jordan [...] like Nevada in the middle of the summer; I'm resting in the lead, I need a pillow and a cover". In the decade that has followed the release of 'Forever', Wayne lost the title of the best rapper alive but definitely entered the conversation being the greatest rapper in history. Those arguments are supported by successful efforts in Tha Carter IV, multiple mixtapes and Tha Carter V in the meantime.
Finally, providing the victory lap in this absolutely stunning tack is Eminem - he is hungry. His entire verse deals with returning to where he was before his retirement as he goes to recapture his fame. 'I'm Hannibal Lecter so just in case you're thinking of saving face; You ain't gonna have no face to save". There was nobody that was going to stay safe. Since the release of this verse, he stuck to his word, releasing some of his most commercially successful tracks and albums of his now revived career.
This track personally stands as being the best rap collaboration by a non-group in Hip-Hop history - standing far and beyond better than anything DJ Khaled has ever put out. Who had the better verse is up to anyone to decide, but the syllabic complexity of Eminem's double-timed verse is what I prefer. However, of all of the artists in this track, the biggest winner is Drake, gaining the respect of the elders of Hip-Hop in this track by standing toe-to-toe with two of the best of all-time on a beat that was impartial to all parties involved, catapulting his future success. In conclusion, 'Forever' is one of the quintessential rap tracks of the 2000's and remains a powerful track ten years after its release; making it a true classic.