Ironically, Nas has become the most consistent artist in hip hop history

[Peruvian Connect]

I agree. Nas is the most consistant. He has been one of the most unfairly criticized mcs too since It was written.

People throw the word garbage/dud around to describe some of nas albums and act like it's proven fact! To me a garbage albums is an album where at least 50% are unlistenable.

for example, how can an album like Street Disciple be garbage?
How many of these songs are really wack?

-Message to the Feds
-Nazareth Savage
- American way
- These are our heroes- Disciple
- Sekou Story
- Live Now
- Rest of My Life
- Just a moment
- reason
- you know my style
- Suicide bounce
- UBR- Virgo
- remember the times
- Making of perfect bytch
- getting married
- No one else in the room
- Bridging the gap
- War
- Me & you
- Thieves theme

 

[Darts]

Whats the big difference between I Am, Stillmatic, Nastradamus, Hiphop is dead and God's Son. Lyrically It's dreaming, being poor, being rich, surviving and over coming and relationships. Those are wide topics.
And he talks about those topics a lot of times, in different ways LYRICALLY, but he keeps the same flow, delivery, rhyme schemes, sounds of production on a lot of albums and songs. The overall mood setting of the albums are also very similar. Which is why he doesn't have the best catalog in my opinion. Tyler the creator talks about different shyt too, but the shyt still sounds the same.

You could move around a lot of Nas's songs on to different Nas albums and they would fit on there like nothing, cause ain't much changed. I appreciate that he holds the same quality but a little more creativity, courage to do (not say) different shyt, move outside of your comfort zone like Untitled which slightly was outside of his comfort zone just slightly. It's been 18 years since he came in his game and he's still keeping it very similar to how it was when it came out just weaker and weaker production. That's why as a poet Nas is probably #1, just of reading his lyrics. But when I listen to the music he moved down a few spots.


That's the only negative thing I can say about Nas, just like I can say 1 negative thing about all the top 10 rappers besides maybe Pac and Big cause they had such short careers.

- Making a good introspective album when the whole world was expecting a hard edge follow up to Ether/Stillmatic...

- Creating a double lp, with one disc focusing on grown man shyt about marriage and family...

- Creating a album called ******, which focuses on discussing racial issues openly...

- Collaborating with a reggae artist for an entire album on a true best of both worlds shyt...

^^^ these aren't examples of a rapper stepping out of his comfort zone?


Outside of Outkast and Kanye, there are not a lot of mainstream rappers that take chances musically...so I don't see how that can be a rap on Nas, who is more of a street poet type of artist anyway.

 

[feelosofer]

With all due respect, GTFOH. Nobody believes that.

Nah the KRS shyt was very dope actually.

But in 2000-2001 people thought Nas overcommercialized himself and hurt his credibility, when the Jay-Z beef was coming to a head as well as the coming of Stillmatic, he gained his 'street cred back in a sense' though the tales of him him falling off were overatted and has made worse by Jay-Z's rise into what some would say was superstardom and the rise of the Roc.

Nas's catalogue is very consistent but, i would say that his songs have greater merit on an individual sense than his albums per se.

I do think E-40 and Ghostface have better arguments than Nas.

I think Nas's only real dud was Nastradamus and even that had a few classics on it. I would say the sum of Nas's work is greater than the individual parts.

 

[Harry B]

- Making a good introspective album when the whole world was expecting a hard edge follow up to Ether/Stillmatic...

- Creating a double lp, with one disc focusing on grown man shyt about marriage and family...

- Creating a album called ******, which focuses on discussing racial issues openly...

- Collaborating with a reggae artist for an entire album on a true best of both worlds shyt...

^^^ these aren't examples of a rapper stepping out of his comfort zone?


Outside of Outkast and Kanye, there are not a lot of mainstream rappers that take chances musically...so I don't see how that can be a rap on Nas, who is more of a street poet type of artist anyway.

DR was outside of his comfort zone, it's not a solo album though so I wasn't talking about that. Focusing on racial issues outside of Nas comfort zone? Lol. Focusing on marriage and family? Which CD focused strictly on that and even still when has Relationships been outside of Nas's comfort zone? It's like Eminem dropping an LP about baby mothers and you say Eminem dropping an LP about baby mothers isn't outside of his comfort zone?
Nas being introspective is outside of his comfort zone? Who are we talking about here?

You basically just said Nas rapped about relationships, racial issues and he was introspective so he was outside of his comfort zone. ehh okay.
Like he wasn't talking about that on Illmatic, Stillmatic and I am? lol. Anyway in case you missed my point, it wasn't about what he talks about even though it's mostly close related but how he talks about it. As far as my top 10 goes, Nas is the one who changes how he talks about shyt or how his music sounds overall the least.

 

[feelosofer]

Whats the big difference between I Am, Stillmatic, Nastradamus, Hiphop is dead and God's Son. Lyrically It's dreaming, being poor, being rich, surviving and over coming and relationships. Those are wide topics.
And he talks about those topics a lot of times, in different ways LYRICALLY, but he keeps the same flow, delivery, rhyme schemes, sounds of production on a lot of albums and songs. The overall mood setting of the albums are also very similar. Which is why he doesn't have the best catalog in my opinion. Tyler the creator talks about different shyt too, but the shyt still sounds the same.

You could move around a lot of Nas's songs on to different Nas albums and they would fit on there like nothing, cause ain't much changed. I appreciate that he holds the same quality but a little more creativity, courage to do (not say) different shyt, move outside of your comfort zone like Untitled which slightly was outside of his comfort zone just slightly. It's been 18 years since he came in his game and he's still keeping it very similar to how it was when it came out just weaker and weaker production. That's why as a poet Nas is probably #1, just of reading his lyrics. But when I listen to the music he moved down a few spots.


That's the only negative thing I can say about Nas, just like I can say 1 negative thing about all the top 10 rappers besides maybe Pac and Big cause they had such short careers.

With this I have to severly disagree, Nas definitely has a different steez with each of his albums here, though there are some common themes, I'll break it down.

Illmatic - A grimey gritty tale of the streets told from a persective of Nas on his day to day shyt. Also a tale of his youth and his point of view on what the streets of Queensbridge means to him.

It Was Written - Nas becomes a character of his own making Nas Escobar, he is living out his own movies instead using himself as the main character. He has his own crew as well (The Firm) who have dreams of Big Money far away from the streets they came up in. He even fantasizes about being the implements of his own destruction at times (I Gave You Power). In between these reveries, he reflects on the realities that still plague his community and mourns the misery and lost potential (Black Girl Lost, If I Ruled the World

I am - This is sort of like Nas kind of getting out of the Escobar phase and the Nasty Nas to become something of a hybrid, just Nas in a sense. I think he handles this concept somewhat clumsily to be honest though. He has songs that hearken back to Illmatic (Nas is Like), while really reaching out trying to get a more mainstream fanbase though his songs about love gained and lost and challenging peoples perception of him at this point in his career (Hate Me Now)

Nastradamus - Kind of a continuation of I am, again clumsily handled, if not moreso.

Stillmatic - Nas coming full circle thematically, I think this album is closest to Illmatic though fast forwarded 7 years later. Nas is no longer a child but a grown man surrounded by the same pitfalls he's seen in the streets (You're da Man, 2nd Childhood, One Mic) as well as reflecting on how far he's come and commenting on the world today

God Son - A personal album where Nas delves into his personal life, unpublicized beefs with rappers, and the his influence on the Youth, in a sense channeling his inner Slick Rick (who I think influences Nas more than a little)

Streets Disciple - Nas talks about the pitfalls of adulthood and why he can't go back, he also shows his bragadocious side and acts as something of a historian subtly harkening back to days long gone.

Hip-Hop is Dead - Nas's manifesto on the state of hip-hop, now 15 years deep into the game, he speak on what he believes his influence has been on others, he joins contemporaries as a way of bringing unity to the game. He speaks on what hip-hop means to him, what it used to be, what he thinks is wrong with it, and why he still is optimistic.

Untitled - Nas speaks on race relations and what the word ****** means to him. He also speak on how Black people have progressed and to an extent gives them an idea of where they need to go. But in all honesty the final product is watered down and a lot of the message gets lost in the weak attempts to be accessible

Life is Good - Nas celebrated the ups and downs of life. His marraige and divorce, the relationship with his daughter. His influence in the game now he's 20 years deep and the continuation of his legacy

At least that's what I see.

 

[Harry B]

Do you nikkas read what you wanna read? Or read what is written?

Those are wide topics.
And he talks about those topics a lot of times, in different ways LYRICALLY, but he keeps the same flow, delivery, rhyme schemes, sounds of production on a lot of albums and songs.

You dudes just spent two posts talking about something I never disagreed with.

 

[OG Talk]

Why is it ironic? He's the GOAT...

 

[Darts]

Do you nikkas read what you wanna read? Or read what is written?



You dudes just spent two posts talking about something I never disagreed with.

Do u read? I already covered that...

Not many mainstream artists changes up their steez musically. Basically u would be criticizing the entire world of hip hop save a few like Outkast and Kanye etc.

And Nas has experimented with his flow/delivery/beats on numerous albums...u just not paying attention.

 

[bigesco]

I find Nas to be lame corny mundane and usually flowing off beat for the last 10 years or so

Last time I was feeling Nas was stillmatic/Lost Tapes(old records tho on LT)

I dont check for his music no more , I downloaded LIG and I already deleted it

 

[Tom]

Agreed


Nas unreleased material is


the world and the legal downloading cacs are missing out on all this piff

 

[Taadow]

I'ma tell you why Nas is the most consistent (imo):

people mentioning Ghost, Ice Cube, etc are forgetting when it comes to making MUSIC, NONE of them had the pressure on them to produce a classic everytime out of the gate like Nas did after Illmatic. They have an easier time making albums than Nas do because they don't have the pressure of the main stream AND from his core fans. How many times is Illmatic mentioned when you read a review of any Nas that comes out?

I gotta throw the flag on this one...

Ghost, Cube, and i'll add Scarface who was mentioned in here; their careers (like Nas) started with (serial) classic material.

Ghost - 36 Chambers, half of OB4CL, Ironman (that is classic material, I don't see how anyone can dispute that)

Cube - Straight Outta Compton, Amerikkka'z Most Wanted, Kill At Will, Death Certificate

Face - Grip It!, We Can't Be Stopped, Resurrection, The World Is Yours, Mr. Scarface Is Back

And that was just their beginnings. I would say the most definitive mark of their consistency is that most can't agree on what either one of theirs' best work is, despite their having so much classic material...

 

[Taadow]

Not many mainstream artists changes up their steez musically.

You know why that is?

Because fans want the same chit alot more than we would say. We don't mind a little variety, but we don't want a completely different departure from an artist we like.

When MC Eiht used to drop an album, you know exactly what you would get:

- a new compton anthem
- another "Late Nite Hype"
- another "Def Wish"
- one time would try to gaffle him up again
- he would have a song to tell hoes to save the drama for they mama
- he would have one or two story raps where he took an L
- he would ask if he could still kill some puccy
- multiple shoutouts to Li'l Hawk & Bird

and then a couple of other cuts.

And we loved it, lol. It was just sequels of songs we liked with new beats. And he wasn't the only one...

 

[prophecypro]

He is pretty consistent in terms of the formula.

Weirdly enough the people who say he's inconsistent sight this...which would actually mean he's consistent.

His longevity for better or for worse has got him still here though.

 

[Mensch Fontana]

Nastradamus was a pile of shyt tho

 

[Tom]

1. "The Prediction"
2. "Life We Chose"
3. "Nastradamus"
4. "Some of Us Have Angels"
5. "Project Windows" (featuring Ronald Isley)
6. "Come Get Me"
7. "Shoot 'Em Up"
8. "Last Words" (featuring Nashawn)
9. "Family" (featuring Mobb Deep)
10. "God Love Us"
11. "Quiet nikkas" (featuring Bravehearts)
12. "Big Girl"
13. "New World"
14. "You Owe Me" (featuring Ginuwine)
15. "The Outcome"

the bolded were all dope tracks imo, how was that album garbage? It's not Nas's greatest body of work but its much better than 95% of the shyt yal praise nowadays....rather bump it over a Gucci, Waka, Bossie album any day of the week.




there are only 4 weak tracks, the first and last tracks don't count cause they're intros/outros