Symba Makes The Best Case Ever For Who’s The GOAT
Bay Area Rap veteran Symba is still making an introduction after over a decade in the game. Having worked with Ty Dolla $ign and 2 Chainz, the Antioch, California native landed at Atlantic Records (after time spent at Sony) with a fervor for the mic. His latest single “GOAT” is an example of the intensity and thought that the 29-year-old brings to Hip-Hop and his craft of rapping.
“They ask who’s the best MC: Biggie, JAY-Z, or Nas / Aubrey Graham, Jermaine Cole, Kendrick Lamar / Weezy F, Eminem, or Tupac Shakur / Well, I think it’s ’bout time to make ’em mention the boy / I ain’t even dropped an album; I still ain’t been on a tour / I ain’t got no platinum records and I ain’t won no awards / You know you fight uphill battles while pushing the culture forward,” he begins. At a time when GOAT lists are often limiting, Symba wants to make a case for himself. “And the sh*t they neglected you for make the legends respect you more / See now the game is based off narratives and comparisons / Anything could be true if you get enough people sharing it / How could the facts be faced when this sh*t is opinion-based? / Anyone can enter the race with a mic and an interface / Yeah, that’s why I think I’m the GOAT / I got the glow and the greatest flow I inspired ni**ass to push more than dope / I gave ’em hope Just because you rap like you woke don’t mean you dope / You preaching to the choir ’bout some sh*t we already know / Man, ni**as broke / We ain’t try’na hear all them Malcolm quotes.”
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The MC spends time analyzing the qualities that Hip-Hop Heads expect of the greats. “So what makes a ni**a the GOAT? / Beside the world relating to everything that he wrote / You gotta keep a loaf while keeping culture afloat / And not just musically; I’m talking all inclusively / Endorsements, fashion, movie roles to acting / To be the GOAT, you gotta be great outside yo’ passion / And you can’t add the of all time if it ain’t classic / Most of this sh*t be passive / Just a bunch of f*cking captions / I guess I’m asking / How could a ni**a be the greatest of all time? / If Lebron never got to face MJ in his prime / Or Montana never got to take the field versus Tom / If Mike Tyson never got to fight Ali in his day / How could Floyd be the GOAT if he ain’t see Sugar Ray / Imagine Rakim rapping over 808s.” After using sports analogies, he appears as an athlete in a press conference in the video, embedded below. The song also appears on the official Ambrosia For The Heads playlist.
After asking important questions, Symba pushes for inclusion. “That’s why we’re all the GOAT / If you old and you dope my ni**a, you the GOAT / If you ain’t die in yo’ ghetto, my ni**a, you the GOAT / If you made it out the streets, my ni**a, you the GOAT / If you bought yo’ mom a house, my ni**a, you the GOAT / You post bail for the bro’s, my ni**as, you the GOAT / Take care of yo’ kids, my ni**a, you the GOAT / Ain’t nobody the GOAT because we’re all the GOAT.“
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Asked about his Rap influences by XXL‘s Robby Seabrook III back in 2021, Symba cited, “The greats. JAY-Z, Biggie, Pac, Ice Cube, Snoop, E-40, Too Short—all the legendary people. But I’m also influenced by the young G.O.A.T.’s, too. The Future’s, the Drake’s, the Kanye’s, the Kendrick’s, the Cole’s. I’m very, very lyrically-driven, but I also respect what the young guys do with the melody as well. Lil Durk is one of my favorite guys right now.”
#BonusBeat: Symba’s incredible 2020 LA Leakers freestyle, the same year he released Don’t Run From R.A.P.: