Who is hip hop's "next big three"

Dissecting the generational run of Kendrick, Drake and J. Cole

I promise one day I’ll write a hip hop article that isn’t nostalgia-bait, but I’m not there yet. I’ve slowly started dipping my foot back in to the pool of new hip hop (have you heard this dude Skilla Baby? Pretty good!), and maybe soon I’ll have formidable enough opinions on the state of the culture to say something interesting. For now, though, I’m firmly planted on the sidelines.

I think that’s because the era I cut my teeth in is officially over. It went out with an undeniable bang. Hopefully the Drake/Kendrick beef is remembered as a quintessential moment in hip hop history. Unfortunately, it might go down as the millennial Altamont — an unceremonious and ugly end to the delicate balance behind an era once billed as “rap’s second golden age”.

A big chunk of that feud, including the bar that initially sparked it, centered around the idea of hip hop’s “big three”. For anyone living under a rock, that’s millennial hip hop’s holy trinity of Drake, Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole. As these generational talents round out of their musical primes and into legacy status, conversations about who will replace them are starting to ramp up. “Who’s the next big three” has been an Internet talking point for a few years now, but with the last era seemingly stamped and sealed during 2024’s mega-rumble, people are looking eagerly to the future.

As barbershop banter, “who is the next big three” seems interesting enough. It basically asks which three rappers will define hip hop’s next generation. That’s a valid conversation to have. The premise has a fatal flaw, though. It assumes there will be a “next big three”, like what Kendrick, Drake and Cole did over the last 15 years is replicable. It’s not. Their generational run is a once-in-a-lifetime event that will probably stand as a singular moment in hip hop history.

I’m not saying they dominated the game unlike any rapper ever has or will. That’s patently untrue. But what people miss from this conversation is that the “big three” wasn’t just about “who are the three hottest rappers right now” by whatever metric. It was about three generational artists existing at once to help sustain an elongated period of cultural importance for their chosen art form.

Never before had the greatest hitmaker, greatest conceptual lyricist and best pure MC reached their primes concurrently and with sustained relevance for an entire era of hip hop. On top of that, all three artists had a range of skills that endeared them to multiple types of rap fans. Kendrick had songs for the club. Drake had bars you could dissect. Cole put dissectible bars in his club anthems. People had preferences, but any well-rounded 2010’s hip hop head would gladly admit to liking all three artists in some capacity.

Numbers don’t lie on that front, either. Every single Cole album is certified platinum. Drake has more number one hits than The Beatles. Kendrick Lamar’s Good Kid m.A.A.d. City hasn’t left the Billboard 200 since it debuted in 2012, making it the longest continuously charting album of all time. Hip hop reached a new level of commercial viability in the 2010s, and the big three constantly making music with both substance and mass appeal was undoubtedly a major catalyst for that.

You could argue some people gave them a run for their money. In 2012, nobody would have blinked if you said ASAP Rocky, Big Sean or even someone like Danny Brown would be able to take spot four on the Mount Rushmore. That never happened, though. Kanye West probably came the closest. He certainly maintained a heightened level of relevance during that time. I don’t personally think the quality of his post 2009 musical catalog comes anywhere close to the level of Drake, Dot or Cole, but I seem to be in the minority on that opinion.

I also think you have to mention Future when talking about the last ten years of hip hop. He’s had a similarly lengthy run of dropping well-received projects, and his influence on “trap” music, hip hop’s current commercial cash cow, is outsized to say the least. At the end of the day, though, Future never eclipsed Drake in the songwriting department and his pen game doesn’t come anywhere close to making the other two feel any sort of pressure. I’ve always maintained Nicki Minaj deserved a spot in the conversation, too. Still, her lingering ever-presence seems to stem more from the world of pop stardom than props from dyed in the wool hip hop heads, even though her contributions to mainstream rap deserve more recognition than they get.

I think the fact that some rappers managed to stay in the big three’s orbit gives people the false impression that what they did happens every generation. But as their careers enter the twilight phase, it’s becoming more and more clear there won’t be a “next big three” for the conceivable future.

Let’s compare mainstream hip hop’s current artists who best represent the three-headed monster of hitmaking, artistry and MCing. It’s hard to say exactly who that is, but let’s say it’s Travis Scott, Tyler the Creator and JID. They’re all solid artists, but none of them have the ubiquity that defined the “big three” of the 2010’s. Nobody with mob ties is listening to Tyler the Creator. Nobody who reads beyond a fourth-grade level thinks Travis Scott has a pen. JID’s only platinum certification came gift-wrapped courtesy of J. Cole on Revenge of the Dreamers III.

That’s the difference. The only archetype of mainstream hip hop fan who consistently disliked any member of the big three were NOI uncs and their white counterparts (European-coded Eminem enthusiasts) who thought Drake was gay for singing. For the most part, the big three had something for everyone.

That’s why asking “who is the next big three” is a misleading question. It’s like wondering what the next east coast/west coast beef would be or “who are the next Magic and Bird”. You can’t force that kind of synergy. If it happens again, it will be an organic thing.

Kendrick kicking off 2024’s nuclear rap feud by saying “fuck the big three, it’s just big me” unfortunately seemed to have manifesting powers. When he surprise-dropped his new album GNX last week, the reception (at least online) reflected hip-hop's increased balkanization and ugly descent into stan wars. The tri-force is broken. Sales are down. Lawsuits are pending. Three artists who were once complimentary pieces in any balanced listening diet are now tokens for hip-hop's version of the Jordan/Bron debate.

Nothing lasts forever, though. The fact that we got to see Kendrick Lamar, Drake and J. Cole elevate hip hop for close to fifteen years is a blessing we shouldn’t take for granted.