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

[Palm Tree's & Blunts]

He was in Saudi Arabia at the time Breh.

 

[JustCKing]

How were the sales consistent? One album sold a million less than the other and they dropped in the same year. That's half as many copies sold from one album to the next. That's a huge decline in audience.

It was his lowest selling album since his debut. That's not a coincidence. And Nastradamus went platinum in a month, which means a lot of it was off of his name & rep. It was also buoyed by being release in the 4th quarter, which is notorious for higher sales because of the Holidays. So from 2000 til Stillmatic dropped, he sold almost no albums or singles. He dropped almost no music that resonated with mainstream fans. So of course he disappeared from mainstream consciousness.

And If I Ruled The World wasn't a hit in the way you think it or You Owe Me were hits. Street Dreams and I Can were actual hits.

It's a classic song, but it's not a hit. Ruff Ryder's Anthem wasn't a hit either. It was a B Side. But it's a classic and it has more lasting value than any other hit DMX song or single. Same goes for PSA for Jay Z. If I Ruled The World is in that category. You Owe Me isn't.

But Nas isn't a singles artist, he's an album artist. Which is why it's a bigger deal that he sold half as much and then didn't drop anything of substance til Stillmatic.



He found his footing again 2 years later. That was my entire point. He disappeared after Nastradamus flopped and came back in 2001. He even said it in Last Real nikka Alive. I'm making a simple point here.

BTW, I'm 30, for whatever that's worth to you.

And the wiki title is simply a reflection of the public's perception of Nas, which is all I'm pointing out by mentioning it.

You can make the same argument for any artist that has dropped two albums in one year. One is going to sell significantly more than the other. There are a few exceptions.

You don't know what you're talking about because him getting a platinum plaque in one month doesn't mean he sold 1M copies. Nas never disappeared from the mainstream. He simply took his usual two years off.

No matter how you try to slice it, "You Owe Me" was a hit.

 

[Danie84]

Even X would tell you Nas is the GOAT

 

[SirBiatch]

But that one song ain't what blew him up. If u remember the time frame. U would know how the streets was reacting to DMX's album. It was the whole package that drew people into him. It was different from what was going on in the game at the time. From his rhymes and style to the production. Ruff Ryder's Anthem was far from the only song people fukked wit. It was just the most catchy for the radio.

we know all this already. what we're arguing is who did the best work with X. You can't say Dame Grease when he never had any of X's big songs on his own, and to top it off, flamed out after the first album. While Swizz continued to carry X on his back.

 

[Nintendough]

I'd rather listen to prime X over prime Knause.

 

[IllmaticDelta]

 

[How Sway?]

ehh, I was a huge x fan and still am but nas was always the better rapper and had a much longer career with a better catalog.

Its a shame b/c x was HUGE in the early part of his career. Like on the cusp of becoming a household name esp. on the action movie side

 

[Alpha Male]

this poll is trash.

x in his prime was making music as good as nas.

nas is a better technical lyricist, i won't deny that... but i'm sorry IDAHIH is as good as any nas album.

 

[bigbadbossup2012]

Anyone in here clowning Dame Grease wasn't a day one fan of DMX. Period.

Dame never made x's best music nor made people fall in love with X,swizz did. You can say people loved X cause of dame but you're wrong and just speaking off emotion. I never loved dude's beats like that. Get at me dog was not a fav of mine,thought it was meh. RR anthem rocked the world.

My favorite x songs off IDAHIH were
The intro
RR anthem
How's it going down (video version's the best)
DAmien
fukking wit d
Stop being greedy.
I can feel it

I liked the Damien beat but i never cared for the I CAN FEEL IT production like that.

Dame's beats dont stand out like that. Swizz beats actually do.
RR anthem is catchy as hell and different.
Beats like:
My nikkaz
AINT no way
It's all good
Flesh of my flesh
Heat

Simply put Swizz on Flesh of my flesh production > Dame on IDAHIH
and it's not even close

 

[qnsfinest]

Ahhh yes, another classic "is this *insert rapper* better then nas" thread. These usually pop up every other week.

The answer is quite simple, no, fukk no a case can't be made for dmx. I'm a huge fan of X and have the up most respect for him and his impact but he doesn't come close to touching Nas.

You're honestly comparing a 2yr run to a 20+yr run. You're comparing one classic X album to 3-4 classic nas albums. X has more dud albums then good, everything after "and then there after X" has been below average.

There is no comparison, no debate, it's not even close. Nas is one of the GOAT's, most have him as high as 1 and some have him as low as 5, X is not in my top 20, Nas is number 1 to me

 

[Suleiman Bey]

The answer is yes, but teh problem then becomes all teh things you could use to place DMX above Nas, can be used to put DMX above pretty much everyone. It wouls also place Hammer, Ja Rule, Nelly, Ludacris, Will Smith etc. above Nas and others.

 

[bigbadbossup2012]

i'd rather listen to prime x over nas ,any day.
However. Nas been on point too long,so x cant be compared to him

 

[JYoung24]

Dmx is top 10 nas is top really top 3

 

[The Exchanges]

I grew up listening to X and D-block so I'm biased as shyt.

But Nas caught me with that reverse song

 

[spliz]

we know all this already. what we're arguing is who did the best work with X. You can't say Dame Grease when he never had any of X's big songs on his own, and to top it off, flamed out after the first album. While Swizz continued to carry X on his back.

Yes I can. Cause he produced 85% of his best album musically.