Nas Fans Unite...Almost 20 Years After The Fact It’s Probably Ok Now To Admit...

[Devil Plisken…CMS]

You were scared shytless for Nas career prospects once Takeover hit the streets...I know I was.

Jigga had the ability
Jigga had the hits
Jigga had the streets
Jigga had the pop crowd
Jigga was on the verge of dropping the best album of the decade

As a Nas fan I can admit these were veryyyyy scary times. Nas was iceeee cold having falling out of favor progressively over the Years Hey I’m

Don’t get it confused. There was some months between Takeover & Ether. In my neighborhood there wasn’t exactly many Nas loyalists

Go head and lie tho

 

[Ziggiy]

Not really

Nas was coming off his habitual two year album cycle in which he put out TWO platinum albums in the same year. Yes Nastradamus had a lukewarm response but this “Nas was all but DONE” narrative is complete and utter bullshyt. If he had outright flopped on Nastradamus then yea, there would be some trepidation, but he was still one of the most popular rappers in the world at the time

I am’s first week OUTSOLD Vol. 3’s first week. Was Grammy nominated and critically acclaimed

 

[Jimmy Two-Times™]

fukk that dikk suckin lips fakkit light skinned Camel. Nobody ever thought that nikka with the hoofs would win.

Never cared for him much apart from the Streets Is Watching


fukk him and his fakkit mum x2

 

[Devil Plisken…CMS]

Not really

Nas was coming off his habitual two year album cycle in which he put out TWO platinum albums in the same year. Yes Nastradamus had a lukewarm response but this “Nas was all but DONE” narrative is complete and utter bullshyt. If he had outright flopped on Nastradamus then yea, there would be some trepidation, but he was still one of the most popular rappers in the world at the time

Nas wasn’t even in the top 10 most popular at the time...BIG LIESSS

 

[Da_Eggman]

And now I smile like a proud dad watching his only son that made it

 

[Jimmy Two-Times™]

Nas wasn’t even in the top 10 most popular at the time...BIG LIESSS

Were you even alive then?

You Wikipedia nikkaz, man.

 

[krazykid18]

Yep i was nervous the first half of school year in 2001 people were shytting on Nas hard and using the LAAAAAMMMMMEEEE shyt fell from top ten to not mentioned at all, and i thought Nas was done then Got Myself Again came out and it was hard and i think he had another mixtape joint out around November and then bam Dec...ETHER came out and everybody was like damn and then Stillmatic the first 10 songs on Stillmatic except for Smoking were hard...


but muthafukkas were scared especially in Queens never forget Mr Jackson in Edison(chemistry class) telling us about Ether and a smile on my face when he told me damn he destroyed Jay ...i don't like the beat but those lyrics man ...waiteda few days and copt the Street Wars mixtape that had Ether on it

 

[ManBearPig]

I'm a fan of both.

If Jay-z made Illmatic then he would have been my favorite rapper

 

[Ziggiy]

Nas wasn’t even in the top 10 most popular at the time...BIG LIESSS

Were there 10 other rappers who could put out TWO albums in the same year and go platinum? Because nobody during that era not named Nas and DMX attempted it.

 

[Kyle C. Barker]

My best friend at the time was a huuuge jay fan so he really got in my head at the time. And let's be honest, Jay is a fukking force and probably the goat double entendre line dropper. On paper that type of style should beat out the goat story teller in a battle...


But championships aren't won on paper

 

[Juggalo Fred]

Were there 10 other rappers who could put out TWO albums in the same year and go platinum? Because nobody during that era not named Nas and DMX attempted it.

2pac in 1996

Icp in 2000

 

[verbalkint]

It actually was lol......and in any given group Nas fans never seemed to be the majority. I came out of some debates like a vet with ptsd.

 

[BulletProof]

Not at all.

I was for Mobb Deep and was right to find out.

 

[Piff Perkins]

Not really

Nas was coming off his habitual two year album cycle in which he put out TWO platinum albums in the same year. Yes Nastradamus had a lukewarm response but this “Nas was all but DONE” narrative is complete and utter bullshyt. If he had outright flopped on Nastradamus then yea, there would be some trepidation, but he was still one of the most popular rappers in the world at the time

I am’s first week OUTSOLD Vol. 3’s first week. Was Grammy nominated and critically acclaimed

Was it about sales? Nastradamus was a big step down from I Am's sales, but more importantly it wasn't received well from anyone. It was a weak album. Meanwhile DMX was blowing up and Jay was Jay. I Am outsold Vol 3...but Hov's next album sold significantly more than Nastradamus and had a higher first week number than I Am. It's hard to deny Nas was falling while Hov was rising at that time.

It was the perfect time to strike and I get why Hov did it; hell, Nas got why Hov did it too. Of course we all know it ended with Nas winning but I think it's safe to say that AT THE TIME it looked like Nas was in trouble.

BTW in terms of Nas' comeback lets not forget that The Blueprint BARELY outsold Stillmatic first week despite having hit records. To deny Nas' comeback and achievement would be foolish. Not saying you're doing that obviously, I just don't think many people give Nas the credit he deserves for fighting back, beyond just "Ether was a great diss record." It was more than that.

 

[Robbie3000]

Same way I was worried for Cube when I heard “Real nikkas” on N4L album.

The days when disses came out months apart.