spliz
SplizThaDon
"They shooting, ahh made u look.."
Is it fair to say that Nas is a better writer than Jay-z but Jay-z is a better rapper than Nas?
- Thread starter Pop123
- Start date
True. Never stop, Never settle.
spliz
SplizThaDon
"That's why I fukked yo bytch.." lol.True. Never stop, Never settle.
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spliz
SplizThaDon
"nikkas talk alotta shyt, but that's after I'm gone..."
In what sense is Jay-Z not lyrical just because he's popular?
Circa 1999
Nas being less 'popular than Jay-Z isn't for lack of trying.
And now we talking about who takes advanced lit classes...nikka...
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spliz
SplizThaDon
In what sense is Jay-Z not lyrical just because he's popular?
Circa 1999
Nas being less 'popular than Jay-Z isn't for lack of trying.
And now we talking about who takes advanced lil classes...nikka...
Both tracks fire.
Nor do I.
But I can see the challenge and skill for rappers, especially those who are more lyrically dense/intricate to find a route to making a successful commercial run.
This is why, while I will argue til I'm blue in the face Lupe > Kendrick, he himself says that Kendrick is the "better artist, I get what he means even if I disagree.
In what sense is Jay-Z not lyrical just because he's popular?
Circa 1999
Nas being less 'popular than Jay-Z isn't for lack of trying.
And now we talking about who takes advanced lit classes...nikka...
one again…jay z in reference to nas is not lyrical. you keep trying to pivot back to talking about son in a vacuum.
i already said nas isn’t the songwriter/pop artist. that aint the absolute litmus for writing.
In what sense is Jay-Z not lyrical just because he's popular?
Circa 1999
Nas being less 'popular than Jay-Z isn't for lack of trying.
And now we talking about who takes advanced lit classes...nikka...
Nas went against this partly because of fan backlash, from 97-99 Jay-Z wasn't all that more popular than Nas, it was after this period he widened the gap.
How so?
Being good at writing isn't the absolute litmus test for rapping,..now is it?
Controversy
Superstar
Nas made Stan a pejorative...think about the context it's used in today
Some of the first lines I think of w/ Nas:
Pro-black, I don't pick cotton outta aspirin bottle
I'm Huey P in Louis V at the eulogy throwing Molotovs for Emmett
Freedom or jail, clips inserted, a baby's being born the same time a man is murdered
A thug changes. And love changes. And best friends become strangers
Life’s a bytch but god forbid the bytch divorce me
Speak with criminal slang, Begin like a violin...end like leviathan, its deep? well let me try again
Broads play with pentagrams in they vagina Like the Exorcist, then they gave birth to my seeds
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The challenge for Nas was always his own self ideals, his introvert personality and who was around him. Even the commercial success he had was largely due to the moves of Steve Stoute and always felt like was achieved through gritted teeth, you get artists like that, who are more introverted concerned with art but don't necessarily want to be the biggest artist in the world, and even if they do don't accept it as well as others and do everything in their power to go against the grain... see Lauryn Hill etc.
There are a load of Nas tracks which should have been bigger with the right marketing, the right moves and pushing them. Jay-Z is a great business man as well as rapper so certain moves he made felt more natural, and he also had Dame behind him in the early part of his success. I don't think you can equate it to one simply being a better songwriter, when a lot of these rappers biggest hits are down to getting the right singer on the hook, beat or using a catchy sample.
Its funny you use Lupe as an example, but he rejected his biggest hit and gave it to BOB, that hit was really made by the singer Hayley Williams.
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Trajan
Veteran
They both have quotables and life lessons, painting vivid pictures. It might come down to preference and what mood you're in. What I will say tho is not many people can capture human nature like Nas
And now the projects is talkin' that somebody-gotta-die shyt
It's logic, as long as it's nobody that's in my clique
A glass of 'Zé make a man Cassius Clay
Also, overall his music is more mature than Jay Z even though I prefer Jay sometimes depending on my mood. Jay Z only began to make Nas type music in his middle age and up hundreds of millions
My skin is a art gallery, right, with paintings of crucifixes
Hopin' to save me from all the dangers in the music business
Was once a young gangsta hangin' with youth offenders
But since I tasted paper it started losin' the friendships
Watchin' kids freeze in winters, they still poor
How could I tease them with Benzes and feel no remorse?
Drivin' past them in the lively fashion, diamond colors clashin'
Red stones, blue stones, red bones and black ones
Let my cash invest in stock
Came a long way from blastin' TEC's on blocks
Went from Seiko to Rolex, ownin' acres
From the projects with no chips, to large cake dough
Dimes givin' fellatio, siete zeros
Bet my 9 spit for the pesos
But what's it all worth? Can't take it with you under this earth
Rich men died and tried, but none of it worked
They just rob your grave, I'd rather be alive and paid
Before my number's called, history's made
Some'll fall, but I rise — thug or die
Makin' choices that determine my future under the sky
To rob, steal or kill, I'm wonderin' why
It's a dirty game, is any man worthy of fame?
It's little shyt like that where in the midst of flossing and enjoying the trappings of luxury he has moments of self reflection
And now the projects is talkin' that somebody-gotta-die shyt
It's logic, as long as it's nobody that's in my clique
A glass of 'Zé make a man Cassius Clay
Also, overall his music is more mature than Jay Z even though I prefer Jay sometimes depending on my mood. Jay Z only began to make Nas type music in his middle age and up hundreds of millions
My skin is a art gallery, right, with paintings of crucifixes
Hopin' to save me from all the dangers in the music business
Was once a young gangsta hangin' with youth offenders
But since I tasted paper it started losin' the friendships
Watchin' kids freeze in winters, they still poor
How could I tease them with Benzes and feel no remorse?
Drivin' past them in the lively fashion, diamond colors clashin'
Red stones, blue stones, red bones and black ones
Let my cash invest in stock
Came a long way from blastin' TEC's on blocks
Went from Seiko to Rolex, ownin' acres
From the projects with no chips, to large cake dough
Dimes givin' fellatio, siete zeros
Bet my 9 spit for the pesos
But what's it all worth? Can't take it with you under this earth
Rich men died and tried, but none of it worked
They just rob your grave, I'd rather be alive and paid
Before my number's called, history's made
Some'll fall, but I rise — thug or die
Makin' choices that determine my future under the sky
To rob, steal or kill, I'm wonderin' why
It's a dirty game, is any man worthy of fame?
It's little shyt like that where in the midst of flossing and enjoying the trappings of luxury he has moments of self reflection