Does Kendrick have more classics than Nas?

ThirdAct

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I love Pride…the song God I’m with you. But that argument doesn’t really hold weight. Stillmatic has Braveheart party which is in the running for worst song ever recorded. It’s so bad they tried to rewrite history and remove it from future versions.

I think you can have A dud if literally every other song goes. More than 2 is when you have to remove it from the conversation

I can't stand the beat on Pride. Just repetitive and clangy, sounds like someone clanging a metal stick across a bike rack or something. The only songs I see as outright classics on Damn are DNA, FEEL, FEAR, and DUCKWORTH. It has other good songs, YAH and LUST have dope vibes for instance, but those four kinda stand head and shoulders above the rest. And when certain songs tower over the other songs, you gotta question its consistency as a classic. I'd give it a solid 4/5 though, it's a good album.

Nas is my favorite rapper but I can't front, Braveheart Party is his worst song. Funny thing is I don't think he wanted the song off the album, Mary J. requested it to be taken off for some reason. She did him a huge favor with that one. Where I actually differ with my fellow Nas stans is I don't think the production held up entirely on Stillmatic, a couple beats didn't age well...which is why I don't have it as an indisputable Nas classic with Illmatic, IWW and TLT. Most would disagree with me on that one (don't kill me fellow Nas stans). I think LIG, KDII and Magic are more consistent production wise. But where it does hold up is his performance, he was on fire for the whole album. One of his best pure rap performances.
 

Braman

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I can't stand the beat on Pride. Just repetitive and clangy, sounds like someone clanging a metal stick across a bike rack or something. The only songs I see as outright classics on Damn are DNA, FEEL, FEAR, and DUCKWORTH. It has other good songs, YAH and LUST have dope vibes for instance, but those four kinda stand head and shoulders above the rest. And when certain songs tower over the other songs, you gotta question its consistency as a classic. I'd give it a solid 4/5 though, it's a good album.

Nas is my favorite rapper but I can't front, Braveheart Party is his worst song. Funny thing is I don't think he wanted the song off the album, Mary J. requested it to be taken off for some reason. She did him a huge favor with that one. Where I actually differ with my fellow Nas stans is I don't think the production held up entirely on Stillmatic, a couple beats didn't age well...which is why I don't have it as an indisputable Nas classic with Illmatic, IWW and TLT. Most would disagree with me on that one (don't kill me fellow Nas stans). I think LIG, KDII and Magic are more consistent production wise. But where it does hold up is his performance, he was on fire for the whole album. One of his best pure rap performances.
Agree to disagree. But just a thought, do you think prime Nas lyrically, energy wise is comparable to current Nas? Personally I don’t think it’s close.

So if you look at stillmatic and KD2, let’s say KD2 has more songs you like than Stillmatic but it’s close. Imo it’s still not an apples to apples comp, bc prime Nas songs aren’t just ‘good’, they bring an energy and there’s a situation around it that just can’t be duplicated by current Nas: Current Nas can’t replicate Ether lol Current Nas can’t replicate the back to the wall energy of Stillmatic intro, or the back to the wall depth/sadness of You’re Da Man. He can’t replicate the young hood energy of Destroy and rebuild. Just off where he was in life

So I know it’s all opinion but Imo Stillmatic and young Nas overall was on another level that can’t be compared, even if the album hs stellar production like KD2.

Another example, even tho it’s a different album, but take ‘Dance’ for example, about his mom who just passed. You can’t replicate that pain. The beat could be the best ever, Nas could lace it, etc, it doesn’t matter, and prime Nas is full of songs like that, and Magic or KD2 don’t have that
 

ThirdAct

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Agree to disagree. But just a thought, do you think prime Nas lyrically, energy wise is comparable to current Nas? Personally I don’t think it’s close.

So if you look at stillmatic and KD2, let’s say KD2 has more songs you like than Stillmatic but it’s close. Imo it’s still not an apples to apples comp, bc prime Nas songs aren’t just ‘good’, they bring an energy and there’s a situation around it that just can’t be duplicated by current Nas: Current Nas can’t replicate Ether lol Current Nas can’t replicate the back to the wall energy of Stillmatic intro, or the back to the wall depth/sadness of You’re Da Man. He can’t replicate the young hood energy of Destroy and rebuild. Just off where he was in life

So I know it’s all opinion but Imo Stillmatic and young Nas overall was on another level that can’t be compared, even if the album hs stellar production like KD2.

Another example, even tho it’s a different album, but take ‘Dance’ for example, about his mom who just passed. You can’t replicate that pain. The beat could be the best ever, Nas could lace it, etc, it doesn’t matter, and prime Nas is full of songs like that, and Magic or KD2 don’t have that

On certain songs, yes. He's experimenting with his flows in crazy ways I've never heard before, like on Rare. He's spitting crazy on Speechless and The Truth and 40-16 Building, arguably better than certain songs on Stillmatic and God's Son. He's still dropping vivid poetic Nas verses on Nas Is Good and 10 Points and The Cure and Store Run and Dedicated IMO.

You do bring up with something interesting with Dance though. He was definitely in a darker place in that 01-02 era than 20-21 with his moms passing, the Jay battle and people doubting him after Nastradamus and that's why a lot of Stillmatic sounds moody and angry and Lost Tapes and God's Son sound dark and melancholy. Somewhat similar to LIG sounding wistful cuz of his divorce. He's clearly in a better place now in his life than he was and that's why KD and KDII maybe sound more relaxed and while Magic is a bit more amped up and aggressive it doesn't have that "fukk everything" moodiness of Stillmatic/The Lost Tapes/God's Son. I don't know if we'll ever see that Nas again because he's not in his 20's anymore, he's pushing 50. But I also never thought he'd drop something as hard as Magic again and then he did so I've learned not to doubt him.
 

Heavy_Handz

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As bad as Nastrudamus was from Nas.

Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers was equally as bad. If not worse. Terrible album.

Illmatic, It Was Written, I Am…, Stillmatic all are vastly superior to any Kendrick Lamar album not named GKMC & Damn. :ufdup:
 

the elastic

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Kendrick wasn't born in New York, so he will never be fully accepted and respected as a legend.
 
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