The best rapper from all 50 states

Colorado

Artist – Mr. J. Medeiros

Years Active – 1998-Present

Notable Album – Of Gods and Girls

Sample Rhyme (from single “Pale Blue Dot”):

“Wrapped around a block of C-4 pow your minced meat

And now you’ve blown it

Using physics your god is distant and don’t condone it

Using mystics to bomb your critics and your opponents

You a bigot, misogynistic and homophobic.”

—

Kendrick, of course, isn’t the only one out there who turns to rap to address social ills. Rap’s poetic nature makes it easier to tell a story or frame a case than, say, your average rock ballad or pop song.

Rap’s long history outside the mainstream of American culture also makes it the ideal medium to bear the weight of what might be considered subversive or controversial opinions. It might be used more often these days to sing about cars, women and drugs, but at its core it’s protest music.

Mr. J. Medeiros captures this spirit well. It’s telling that he got his start in Colorado, a state almost literally in the country’s middle, one that’s waxed and waned so much politically over the decades that it is the definition of a “purple” state come election year.

Next: Connecticut