Jim Jones believes Drake is ruling hip-hop at the moment, but he doesn't think the genre only needs one king.
During a recent interview on Hot 97 with Miabelle, the Dipset veteran was asked which artists deserve the throne, particularly among the newer generation. Jones admitted it wasn't an easy question.
"They gotta be powerful to take the whole throne," Jones said before taking a few moments to think about his answer.
After Miabelle joked that perhaps nobody had the throne, Jones eventually landed on Drake.
"I don't think so. I mean, right now it's Drake. He has a throne," Jones said.
When someone off-camera pointed out that Drake is already a veteran, Jones explained that his definition of hip-hop royalty doesn't require one artist to rule over everybody else.
"But there are a lot of kings who sit on a lot of thrones in this game," he said. "You know what I mean? It's just like the Bible."
Jones compared hip-hop to an era when several kingdoms could exist simultaneously, arguing that different artists can dominate different corners of the culture.
"There were numerous amounts of kings ruling at the same time," Jones said. "And I believe that's how the hip-hop culture is. To say one king is end all be all of it, it doesn't work like that."
According to Jones, hip-hop history has repeatedly shown that artists can enjoy their own periods of dominance without permanently owning the crown.
"Some kingdoms have their time of ruling just like others and things like that," he explained. "We've seen [Jay-Z] take it for so many years. We've seen Diddy have it for so many years. We've seen 50 [Cent] have it for so many years."
Jones added that personal relationships or disagreements don't change how he views someone's accomplishments.
"We've seen so many great kings come out of this hip-hop culture despite whatever differences I may have," he said. "The truth is the truth and things like that, you know what I mean? To command that spot? Uh, it's tough."
When the conversation shifted back toward today's generation, Jones gave several artists their flowers.
"I mean, shout outs to Meek [Mill], shout out to the Lil Baby, shout outs to Future, shout out to all these great artists that are out there that are definitely kings or whatever," Jones said. "You know what I mean? Like they put on, they up there, you know what I mean? But it's a tough question."
Jones' latest comments are consistent with the respect he's shown Drake in the past. Even after the Toronto rapper's highly publicized battle with Kendrick Lamar, Jones defended Drake's overall legacy in 2025 by comparing him to another all-time great.
"Michael Jordan lost games too," Jones said at the time. "But shit, we still consider him to be the greatest, right?"
