The Posse Cut as we knew it was a dying art form by the time 2012 rolled around. Once a staple of the late 1990s, with each passing year, the star-studded music style seemed to disappear, a possible side effect of the increased volume of rival labels. And yet the Posse Cut has never dedicated itself entirely to death. With his celebrated Live album. Hope. Love. Love. A$ AP, A$ AP Rocky has once again breathed life into the genre with “1Train,” a lyrical theatrical attack filled with top-tier lyricists in the bombardment. Throughout addition to Rocky himself, the guest list alone is sufficient to drop jaws: Kendrick Lamar, Joey Bada$$, Yelawolf, Action Bronson, Danny Brown, and Big K.R.I.T.
Backed by a Hit-Boy string-driven groove, each emcee stakes his claim as the unofficial winner, leaving different sections of conversation in shambles throughout the web. From the frenzied spazzing of Kenny to the dexterous flow of Yelawolf, from the clever imagery of Action Bronson to the elegant closing announcements of K.R.I.T, “1Train” has something for everyone. To this day, the best verse still has to be determined by unanimous vote; if and when the subject is addressed, it remains one of the unyielding controversies of hip-hop.
And so, why not revisit the conversation on this quiet afternoon of October? Who emerged all those years ago as the king of “1Train?” More specifically, where is this one among the great Posse Cuts of the genre?