Can a case be made that DMX is better than Nas?

[Kyle C. Barker]

@spliz

I never really thought about it until this thread but you are right. Dmx did MUCH better work with Dame grease than he did with swizz.

I guess I caught up in the swizz ruff riders hype

 

[mson]

FomF isn't better than IWW.

 

[Black Lightning]

Oochie wally are the greatest songs nas has ever made

 

[Yehuda]

I bet the people saying yes don't even listen to any DMX album post And Then There Was X.

 

[Guru]

I bet the people saying yes don't even listen to any DMX album post And Then There Was X.

Or maybe they just believe X is far better musican/rapper/artist than nas

 

[mson]

I'm 21. I listen to mostly hip hop and 90s R&B currently.

Top 6 in no particular order; can't really decide on 5 right now

Kanye
Jay
Method Man
Drake
Ice Cube
Dmx

What got you into "old school rap"?

 

[Yehuda]

Or maybe they just believe X is far better musican/rapper/artist than nas

Sure.

 

[Kyle C. Barker]

Or maybe they just believe X is far better musican/rapper/artist than nas

How do you even judge a rapper? Is lyricism even a part of the equation for you?

 

[Nomad1]

Yes it would. Dying early always helps in hip hop because nobody seen the fall off

Mostly not true.

 

[Guru]

What got you into "old school rap"?

Myself really... I try to educate myself on the genre i'm listening to before i decide to bash it ignorantly. (and i'm still learning.. not liking a lot stuff out of 90s especially Nas but).. The three old school rappers i chose for my top 6 i all like for different reasons but to me if you was to put all those 3 bodies into 1 you would have the Greatest MC (if you put all 6 on my list you'll have yourself the GOD MC )

Meth - His flow is amazing... greatest charisma of any rapper ever

Ice Cube- Voice. Greatest hip hop voice of all time bar non

Dmx- Energy. Can rock a crowd better than anyone in the history of hip hop

 

[Guru]

How do you even judge a rapper? Is lyricism even a part of the equation for you?

Voice, Flow and Energy

but musicianship is also very very important to me

 

[Kyle C. Barker]

Voice, Flow and Energy

but musicianship is also very very important to me

Do rhyme schemes matter to you?

And how do you define musicianship with rappers.

Imo they are both good artists. Nas can paint a picture with words better than dmx. Plus his rhyme schemes are a lot more complex which in turn gives his lyrics a more natural rhythm (rhythm and flow are synonymous with me)

Dmx suffers from bipolar disorder and he's more on the manic spectrum. His mania is really apparent in his music and to be honest I haven't seen too many people capture that on record like he did. Plenty of manic depressives have captured their depression in the studio, but he was different because he displayed the manic side of things. It was truly a special thing. I have to give him credit for that.

 

[Wacky D]

Dmx is real nas isn't cormega fukked nas up.

mega beat up nas?

I didn't know they fought.

No, the case cannot be made.

DMX had one really good year, I'll give you that.

DMX only had one good year now?

If DMX died in 2000. He'd be the greatest ever

yep

along with snoop, if he lost that murder trial.

U loss in life. Dmx is spoken on as a what coulda been. Nas is put in a whole different convo. I'm the nikka that bring X up in convos cause I remember how great at his best was. But he will never be in goat convos, it's impossible for him to be cause he has a classic album, good album and all the rest of them are average

I gave you power(hip hop head side) and if I ruled the world(commercial side) are both more remembered songs than any song x had on his best albums.

Stillmatic is iconic to the genre, I don't think its close to nas best, but the time it came out makes it more impactful then just quality of music. Ether, destroy and rebuild, one mic

DMX reached heights that nas couldn't dream of, and he was there for a good 3-4 years. and before the Viacom takeover, the standard run was 3-5 years. the idea that DMX was just lightning-in-a-bottle is usually just post-2000s rap fan rhetoric. when the politics started to dictate everything.

DMX' run was standard length, and actually greater than standard considering everything that he crammed into that window. plus, X still wouldn't have fallen completely out the picture like he did if it wasn't for drugs & def jam.

"if I ruled the world" is just a big-budgeted, yet still watered-down version of AZ "sugar hill". the same AZ that nas basically patterned his career shift after, coupled with the hype machine that AZ didn't have.

aint nothing iconic about stillmatic breh. its not a classic. and it wasn't an album filled with hits neither.

2.IDAHIH didnt save Def Jam. The Warren G G-funk era did. But they love to downplay them west coast g's.

those albums are 4 years apart breh.

they both saved def jam during their respective eras.

I know it's from one album,cause they wised up and passed duties to swizz.
Most of them songs you named had meh beats .
Swizz had them memorable grooves,not that nikka

ehh. ruff ryders giving the duties to swizz was moreso a mix of nepotism & a low-cost business move.

but yea, swizz was a much bigger hit-maker than dame grease. on the flip, dame was the better choice for holding down a project. we saw it again a decade later with max b & hell rell.

as much as I hate how under-appreciated swizz beatz is on the internet, and in this thread. your disdain for dame grease is no better.

both producers are great. I bump IDAHIH & FOMFBOMB like a two-mood double-cd.

No. I don't see how. ACTUALLY it's the opposite. nikka got and gets criticism for shyt that ALOT of other legends got passes for. Ever since his second album. Him oweing his legacy to Illmatic is retarded as well considering that most Nas fans got on to him thru IWW and went BACK for Illmatic. And alotta people feel IWW >>> Illmatic even tho I myself don't feel that way. DMX was untouchable to me at one point. Like I said the only person on this site whose may be a bigger fan of X than me is @FreshAIG . But this comparison is nonsense if we ain't talkin bout 98-2000..

I stated it poorly.

I moreso meant his top 10 status.

I wasn't trying to say he was doggystyle/snoop dogg status.

 

[NormanConnors]

Cut this shyt out BTW,swizz made most the big hits ,not that nikka

The big hits/singles weren't the best tracks though

 

[mson]

Myself really... I try to educate myself on the genre i'm listening to before i decide to bash it ignorantly. (and i'm still learning.. not liking a lot stuff out of 90s especially Nas but).. The three old school rappers i chose for my top 6 i all like for different reasons but to me if you was to put all those 3 bodies into 1 you would have the Greatest MC (if you put all 6 on my list you'll have yourself the GOD MC )

Meth - His flow is amazing... greatest charisma of any rapper ever

Ice Cube- Voice. Greatest hip hop voice of all time bar non

Dmx- Energy. Can rock a crowd better than anyone in the history of hip hop

You don't like a lot of stuff out of 90's as opposed to what? And you don't like Nas especially for what reason?