Signing to Def Jam was the best thing to happen to Nas

[The_Third_Man]

honestly jay dropping takeover was the best thing to happen to nas and hip hop........i hate to say it but b4 that nas was lost artistically and he was dropping corn chips like

YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

takeover put the fire back in my man and the rest is history...thanks jay

so "the takeover" still had impact on nas 11 years after it came out?
why "the takeover" didn't motivate Prodigy to be a better rapper?

 

[up in here]

Def Jam actually fukked nas when it came to Untitled, they wasn't even gonna release it, LA Reid was behind him but the others weren't, thats what Hero is about.

Alot of the original songs he submitted ended up on the ****** tape. I still love Untitled and think its a personal classic and does have some of my favorite nas joints on there, but Nas said in an interview kinda recently he wasn't all together happy with how it turned out, and I can understand that because they wouldn't let him run with his artistic vison. At least he didn't just completely give in like Lupe did with Lasers, Nas still gave us some dope shyt on there and then he released the mixtape to go with it.

But Def Jam is definitely doing better than Columbia

 

[tae29]

nah getting rid of kelis was the best thing to happen

 

[iPod Raheem 2.0]

Def Jam is just another faceless major label like Columbia

Matter of fact Columbia might have more of a franchise going on cuz of Rick Rubin

Everyone from the old Def Jam left

I wouldn't credit Def Jam with anything to do with Nas's career

Isn't No-Id current executive vice president of Def Jam?

 

[iPod Raheem 2.0]

That just ain't true. I Am got bootlegged so he scrapped the double album (which most of us heard) and recorded new shyt that became the rush job known as Nastradamus--his most maligned album. If Last Words, Family, Come Get Me, Life We Chose aint "fire in him" I don't know what is. He had already made Blaze a 50, Doo Rags, You Gotta Love it, Wanna Play Rough, Black Zombies, etc. during that same time frame so how did Jay-Z have anything to do with him? The shyt is pure MYTH.......if he lost any fire then it was due to his mom bein diagnosed with breast cancer. Jay just came playin games at the wrong time.

Ain't nobody heard that full album? You may have heard songs that were recorded during that period and that have been rumored to be on it but you ain't heard the full double-disc as Nas may have intended.

 

[Ziggiy]

I honestly agree with this. His run on Def Jam has been nothing short of amazing, however I think that owes more to Nas being reinvigorated than to Def Jam as a label, they haven't really marketed him that well outside of Life Is Good(his best label based promotion in YEARS) but the opportunity to work with Jay-Z, No ID, Kanye West, etc obviously motivated him and sparked a creative tear that began on Hip Hop Is Dead and culminated with the masterful Life Is Good. Hip Hop Is Dead is an excellent album, Untitled is a classic to me, Distant Relatives is near classic (though it wasn't on Def Jam) and Life Is Good is a masterpiece. The one misstep that they made was not allowing him to release Lost Tapes 2... He however has gotten 3 STRAIGHT number 1 albums, 3 Grammy nominations, and an Emmy win out of the deal

I DO NOT agree that Nas was headed to irrelevancy while on Columbia though, releasing 6 straight multiplatinum albums, a Gold selling QB affiliate album, and a compilation of unreleased material that debuted in the top 10 and sold 340k is NOT the definition of an artist headed towards irrelevancy Stillmatic and Gods Son are amongst the most universally acclaimed albums in his discography and Streets Disciple sold well and also was acclaimed. Nas has NEVER been the type of in-your-face artist whose on every radio station/awards ceremony/tv show promoting himself. Life Is Good has been the first album in YEARS in which he's actively promoted himself through these outlets.

Honestly, if he decides to stay with a Major, I don't see why he wouldn't resign with them. He can work with the masterful No ID, has access to Kanye West and any other producer he wants to work with. It seems like their high on him as the current president said that their knee deep in "Nas business" during his prerelease session.

 

[H.S.]

One of my fav Nas lines is "They thought I'll make another "Illmatic"
But it's always forward I'm moving
Never backwards stupid here's another classic "

One of my favorite Nas quotes as well. EVERY Nas album is completely different. Only ones close are I Am and Nastradamas and that material was all recorded around the same time.

His run of Untitled, DR, and LIG are one of the most creative I've ever seen.

 

[labelplant]

Life is Good has grown on me more but I still think it's a little overrated. I don't like the production that much and the lyrics/flow are great cuz it's Nas but he isn't as good as God's Son/Stillmatic Nas... let alone IWW/Illmatic era.

With that said it's his best album since God's Son IMO

1. Illmatic
2. IWW
3. Lost Tapes
4. Stillmatic
5. God's Son
6. Life Is Good

solid 4 mic album but not the modern classic some are making out to be out here.

 

[H.S.]

It's funny that people complain about Nas' beat selection, when DR and LIG are arguably the two best produced records in the last 5 years.

 

[T.H.E. Goat]

Jay-Z won?