G4Jag

Blue Chips is a monthly rap column that doubles as a scouting report. Each month, SPIN selects a new starting five, a group of rappers who could be Rookie of the Year candidates turned Hall-of-Famers or forgettable flashes in the pan. Only the passing seasons (and the number of streams) will tell. To read previous columns, click here. Big Yavo – “Country Boy” [embedded content] The list of rappers who claim they “don’t write” grows every day. The implication seems to be that every song is spontaneous, one-take with no punch-ins, re-recording, etc. This is patently untrue. Jay-Z — one of the first to vocally declare he doesn’t use a pen — cleared up that misconception long ago. Big Yavo (pronounced yay-vo, not yah-vo) first gained attention outside of his native Alabama when he released “No...