except kanye west isn't gangsta rap.

^^
Show's then that I know nothin' about commercial rap, and that's the way I like it!

kanye west is the only decent commercial rap artist on the radio. to lump him in with the rest is stupid.

Why is it? I don't like him, and my son is well into this sort of music, so I have heard plenty enough to form an opinion. He strikes me as no different to the rest. THE GAME is gangsta (?) rap, and he is tolerable. I much prefer stuff like Talib Kweli, Mos Def and Busdriver.

You just made my point for me. No one will ever compare Kanye West and the Game.
Kanye West is the exact same style of rap as Talib Kweli, that is probably his number one comparison actually. Talib Kweli is featured in a ton of his songs.

Kanye West, Talib Kweli, Common, etc. are one type of rap

the Game, 50 Cent, etc. are another type.

that might be the stupidest thing i've ever heard.

kweli is nothing like kanye, and common may be similar to him but not the same style.

kweli is nothing like kanye? do you have ears or are you just playing devils advocate?

Compare Kweli's "The Manifesto" to Kanye's "Gold Digger", and they sound nothing alike.
The main difference between the two, is that Kanye raps primarily about hoes and capitalism,
while Kweli raps about issues and polical/racial events.

Compare Kweli's "Get By" and Kanye's "Jesus Walks".

Just because you can choose two songs that are polar opposites doesn't mean that the two musicians are not unarguably similar. They are. By your logic no two rappers can be compared to one another. In fact, apparently I couldn't even say that Kweli is similar to...Kweli. Listen to "Guerilla Monsoon Rap", and then listen to "Joy". They sound nothing alike. The subject matter in Kweli's and Kanye's songs are essentially identical. Religion, politics, marijuana, etc.

Also, how in the world could you honestly say with a straight face that Kanye mainly raps about hoes and capitalism. Have you actually heard a Kanye song besides Gold Digger and Breath in Breath Out?