How would you judge Nas' career without illmatic

[Alexander Wiggin]

what if threads are are usually dumb unless you're talking about non retail versions of albums. what if jay never dropped the annie sample? what if big got arrested down south? what if pac didn't go to the fight? what if rakim didn't like to rap?

the goal of this thread (since apparently we have to justify everything and people can't play along) it's no much about what if nas didn't drop illmatic but moreso about is the nas body of work outside of illmatic is sufficient enough to guarantee him the same status he have today. which means a legend, a goat and one of the best lyricist ever

a lot of people don't call iww classic because of illmatic, and until a couple of years nas didn't really embrace the legacy of illmatic but the media started to which is great but he's often know as the guy who wrote illmatic.

which is great but as the same time diminish his scope. and I thought that kinda overshadow his later work. illmatic is maybe his best body of work but to me what makes him the best rapper ever is all the thing that he dropped through his carreer especially during the 98 99 days, the constant quality of verses on featurings, the flow who evolved a little but still lethal to this day plus his underestimate versatility.

illmatic alone makes him top 10, his all career makes him top 3

and I wanted people to embrace that too and not just illmatic

 

[dora_da_destroyer]

9/10

 

[Shadow King]

He would be regarded even higher cuz his albums wouldn't be rated on an Illmatic curve

This

 

[JayBaldacci]

the goal of this thread (since apparently we have to justify everything and people can't play along) it's no much about what if nas didn't drop illmatic but moreso about is the nas body of work outside of illmatic is sufficient enough to guarantee him the same status he have today. which means a legend, a goat and one of the best lyricist ever

a lot of people don't call iww classic because of illmatic, and until a couple of years nas didn't really embrace the legacy of illmatic but the media started to which is great but he's often know as the guy who wrote illmatic.

which is great but as the same time diminish his scope. and I thought that kinda overshadow his later work. illmatic is maybe his best body of work but to me what makes him the best rapper ever is all the thing that he dropped through his carreer especially during the 98 99 days, the constant quality of verses on featurings, the flow who evolved a little but still lethal to this day plus his underestimate versatility.

illmatic alone makes him top 10, his all career makes him top 3

and I wanted people to embrace that too and not just illmatic

iww B+
i am C-
nastradamus D-
stillmatic B
lost tapes A
god's son B
sd F
hhid C-
untitled C
lig B

 

[TEH]

Once he did Stillmatic, God's Son and Lost Tapes I would be good and my eyes he'd still be top 10.

 

[big_controversy]

He's a HOFer off of IWW & Stillmatic alone

All the hit singles came after Illmatic

And the man had a hit single at close to 40...which equals longevity

Esco The King

 

[mr.africa]

he still has it was written, stillmatic, lost tapes and god son!!!
i personally love untitled,distant relatives and life is good as well!!
he is still influential (iww gets mentioned more by up and coming rappers than illmatic,it seems)
he still has the hits (they really only started with iww)
and longevity as well
he falls from GOAT to top 10!!!

 

[Absolut da poet ®]

Legendary. He'd be a GOAT without Illmatic to me, he's done a lot of great work.

^ this

I barely remember illmatic being talked about that heavily at the time when it came out

as a matter of fact I recall "Verbal Intercourse" on Rae's album getting more pub than his singles

It Ain't Hard to Tell got alot of Play in Philly
and although we recognize the album overall as a classic

it's hardly necessary for him to be considered a Goat with all the other work he's put in

I always felt It Was Written was the better album anyway to each their own

 

[The Ruler 09]

Illmatic is a classic to me, but so is Stillmatic, God's Son and Distant Relatives, he also has some other really dope albums and mad dope songs, Illmatic obviously enhances his legacy but I never bought into the idea he's nothing without Illmatic.

 

[ADP]

according to moi his unreleased material and natural skill alone lands him in my top five, illmatic just crowns him goat

 

[BlackDiBiase]

he would have faded like a lot of talented poetic MCs coming from that era, illmatic showed someone even superior to them. Nas had a few joints here and there after that, that showed his superior abilities but the reason he could make garbage and become irrelevant and still relevent (NY crowd) is because of what he did and the producers on illmatic.

he has never even won a grammy no major source awards/bet or nothing, first major award was an emmy a couple years back for a track on a documentary. he never was a big seller he went double plat with IWW, stillmatic and God son.

so nas >>>> most other rappers, but he wouldnt be glorified but you look around in 2016 he really isnt outside of the coli of course (illmatic is the major foundation for this).

 

[I love Latina women]

he would have faded like a lot of talented poetic MCs coming from that era, illmatic showed someone even superior to them. Nas had a few joints here and there after that, that showed his superior abilities but the reason he could make garbage and become irrelevant and still relevent (NY crowd) is because of what he did and the producers on illmatic.

he has never even won a grammy no major source awards/bet or nothing, first major award was an emmy a couple years back for a track on a documentary. he never was a big seller he went double plat with IWW, stillmatic and God son.

so nas >>>> most other rappers, but he wouldnt be glorified but you look around in 2016 he really isnt outside of the coli of course (illmatic is the major foundation for this).

^powerful postin'^ and i couldn't have said it any better. i agree

 

[nieman]

Let's look at this logically. Illmatic is only 10 tracks, and they aren't even the best 10 of his catalog...but you may be able to sneak 1 or 2 in there. Then you have his endless unreleased tracks. Those are the songs that cemented him as the GOAT. Even without it, you have Lost Tapes, which is essentially his 2nd Illmatic.

So, he'd be the same as he is now. The undisputed GOAT.

 

[Danie84]

Without Illmatic, there's still IWW/Stillmatic/Lost Tape/Gods'son and so on

 

[JahFocus CS]