Nas - King's Disease III (Discussion Thread)

Piff Perkins

Piff Perkins

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Alexander Wiggin said:
100 facts. I like coop's takes on nas usually, but since he's talking to the Twitter girl from nas' team he's way off. It's like she brainwashed him.

I mean first of all he need to stop comparing nas to Jay. Jay got a status that goes beyond rap music because of his mogul status and his couple with Beyonce. And even then they would use marketing tools to sell their albums. Jay and Beyonce went to the Louvre museum to do a clip for their joint album.
Nas did an add with lebron, great, but it was for Nike. At no point this ad was promoting his album release. When you want to sell big, you have to put yourself out there to advertise your shyt and to attract new listeners, that's marketing 101. Coop really thinks because nas is the best he should sell accordingly. He's living a dream. Artistic integrity has a cost. And to me nas has found the balance to have both, dude need to chill. He's starting to fukking up the convo the way he's cutting Mike, don't even let him talk and be almost patronizing
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I also feel like there's some history rewriting going on. I vividly remember the era of "Nas isn't chasing hit records and doesn't care about the radio." Since 2002 Nas has had two hits, both from that year. Since 2002 Jay has had at least 15 hits (even more if you count features). Hit records, relevant street hits/anthems, etc sell records, they build relevance/mindshare, they create new fans, and they lead to bigger opportunities. Bigger tours, more sales, etc. We're talking twenty years, that's a long time. Generations of people growing up never hearing you on the radio.

Obviously the fact that Nas has done what he's done without hits is crazy impressive and worthy of praise. I'm just saying you can't have your cake and eat it too, when it comes to mainstream attention or sales. They took different paths, both are in great positions and deserve props. But now that it's 2022 we can't suddenly wonder why the sales are different and blame it on a conspiracy, when these are the fruits of seeds planted long ago...at a time when many of us praised the decision. I remember those SOHH threads.
 
Ziggiy

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Piff Perkins said:
I also feel like there's some history rewriting going on. I vividly remember the era of "Nas isn't chasing hit records and doesn't care about the radio." Since 2002 Nas has had two hits, both from that year. Since 2002 Jay has had at least 15 hits (even more if you count features). Hit records, relevant street hits/anthems, etc sell records, they build relevance/mindshare, they create new fans, and they lead to bigger opportunities. Bigger tours, more sales, etc. We're talking twenty years, that's a long time. Generations of people growing up never hearing you on the radio.

Obviously the fact that Nas has done what he's done without hits is crazy impressive and worthy of praise. I'm just saying you can't have your cake and eat it too, when it comes to mainstream attention or sales. They took different paths, both are in great positions and deserve props. But now that it's 2022 we can't suddenly wonder why the sales are different and blame it on a conspiracy, when these are the fruits of seeds planted long ago...at a time when many of us praised the decision. I remember those SOHH threads.
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Funny thing is Hip Hop Is Dead (single) was actually a top 40 billboard hit and his last single to date to crack the top 40.

Hip Hop Is Dead was more successful chart wise than Thiefs Theme
 
Piff Perkins

Piff Perkins

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Ziggiy said:
Funny thing is Hip Hop Is Dead (single) was actually a top 40 billboard hit and his last single to date to crack the top 40.

Hip Hop Is Dead was more successful chart wise than Thiefs Theme
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I was counting top 20 tracks, whether on the rap charts or billboard 100. But certainly a fair point.

Also I can't find it but there's a vid of Salaam saying him and Nas took Thief's Theme to radio stations in person, to play it for DJs. And they were concerned about the tone, or thought Nas was up to something. I always thought that was an interesting, weird detail. It certainly sounds like a street record, which radio was used to receiving first from most New York artists at the time. Maybe the story was just Salaam highlighting the divide between NY radio/DJs and Nas at the time, post-Ether. Classic track IMO.
 
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