So NAS got 4 classics
- Thread starter Digga38
- Start date
iPod Raheem 2.0
D, mother****er, D.
Now I do.nikkas always gotta' be so gotdamn condescending.
Let's be clear. You don't really know what the fukk you're talking about anymore than the next person who has a personal opinion on the topic.
You can't even come up with a coherent definition of "classic" to justify the shyt you're talking about. You're all over the place. And this is fine because, like I said, the subject is entirely subjective. Your criteria for grading albums won't completely be like mine. And that's because there is no objective criteria/standard for calling something a classic album.
To answer your question, though, I think Lost Tapes is a classic record because I think every song on that tape is fukking great. I can play it front to back any time. I love the nostalgic feel of the album--themes of despair, hopelessness, and living in the inner city abound. The production is great-- Alchemist, LES, Rockwilder, D-Dot, Pone and Toke, etc. laced him with some great music. The range of social themes and commentary is dope. Nas's perspective on life and sharing stories from his environment and experiences is provocative. Nas's rhyming, flow, and introspective lyricism is as sharp and enjoyable as on any album I've heard from him. More than anything, conceptually, I love that the record is a compilation of records that he recorded during different recording periods. Adds to the mystique of Nas, considering that these were "just leftover tracks." While some might argue that this makes the album less cohesive, I think it still works and depicts Nas's versatility as an artist (plus, it's nice to have mastered versions of songs). Also, I think this gives the album a different feel from what he usually releases. No singles. No features. No marketing schemes. No concern for selling records. Just Nas making great fukking music. It's my 2nd favorite Nas album next to illmatic.
Just my opinion.
For the record, MC Hammer's "Please Hammer, Don't Hurt Em" and Vanilla Ice's "To the Extreme" are NOT classics just because they were commercially popular.
Digga38
The seperation between what's fake and what's real
nikkas always gotta' be so gotdamn condescending.
Let's be clear. You don't really know what the fukk you're talking about anymore than the next person who has a personal opinion on the topic.
You can't even come up with a coherent definition of "classic" to justify the shyt you're talking about. You're all over the place. And this is fine because, like I said, the subject is entirely subjective. Your criteria for grading albums won't completely be like mine. And that's because there is no objective criteria/standard for calling something a classic album.
To answer your question, though, I think Lost Tapes is a classic record because I think every song on that tape is fukking great. I can play it front to back any time. I love the nostalgic feel of the album--themes of despair, hopelessness, and living in the inner city abound. The production is great-- Alchemist, LES, Rockwilder, D-Dot, Pone and Toke, etc. laced him with some great music. The range of social themes and commentary is dope. Nas's perspective on life and sharing stories from his environment and experiences is provocative. Nas's rhyming, flow, and introspective lyricism is as sharp and enjoyable as on any album I've heard from him. More than anything, conceptually, I love that the record is a compilation of records that he recorded during different recording periods. Adds to the mystique of Nas, considering that these were "just leftover tracks." While some might argue that this makes the album less cohesive, I think it still works and depicts Nas's versatility as an artist (plus, it's nice to have mastered versions of songs). Also, I think this gives the album a different feel from what he usually releases. No singles. No features. No marketing schemes. No concern for selling records. Just Nas making great fukking music. It's my 2nd favorite Nas album next to illmatic.
Just my opinion.
For the record, MC Hammer's "Please Hammer, Don't Hurt Em" and Vanilla Ice's "To the Extreme" are NOT classics just because they were commercially popular.
InstantKlassik
...
If people are nullifying Life Is Good from being classic based off Summer On Smash alone, then based off that reasoning, none of the following hip-hop albums are classic with that fukked up logic
The Black Album because of "Justify My Thug and "Change Clothes"
All Eyez On Me because of "What's Ya Phone Number"
The Blueprint because of "Jigga That nikka"
Life After Death because of "Another"
The College Dropout because of "Workout Plan"
Late Registration because of "Gold Digger"
How stupid does that sound
Nas dropped a classic and nikkas can't stand it.
Deal with it mufukkas
The Black Album because of "Justify My Thug and "Change Clothes"
All Eyez On Me because of "What's Ya Phone Number"
The Blueprint because of "Jigga That nikka"
Life After Death because of "Another"
The College Dropout because of "Workout Plan"
Late Registration because of "Gold Digger"
How stupid does that sound
Nas dropped a classic and nikkas can't stand it.
Deal with it mufukkas
RhymesWell
All Star
I would say Illmatic, Stillmatic, Untitled, and LIG.
up in here
Superstar
Lost Tapes is a classic because what it represents for Nas as an artist. It is a collection of some of his best unreleased, undilitued, non-commercial tracks collectively put together specifically for the fans. It wasn't just a compilation of random unreleased tracks (i.e. no You Wanna Play Rough or Tales From The Hood), it is a project put together that shows the introspective/artistic/contemplative side of Nas that fans had been waiting for. Its not just a personal classic to a handful of people, it is a classic to a whole lot of people.
There are different qualifying factors for different classic albums. I agree Vol 2 and GRODT are classics based on impact, even though they aren't my favorite albums, I also would say that Lost Tapes and RD are also classics, based on different criteria, even though they were not commercially successful.
You said, "impact or popularity isn't the end all be all, but an album isn't a classic unless people cared about it" (weird double negative). Well people cared about this album. It is considered one of Nas best and is often used as the measuring rod after illmatic. The reason Lost Tapes 2 was hyped is because Lost Tapes is a classic and is important in what it represents. Also, the album was also given a retrospective XXL by XXL.
XXL (magazine) - Hip-Hop Database Wiki
Albert Pujols
Rookie
If people are nullifying Life Is Good from being classic based off Summer On Smash alone, then based off that reasoning, none of the following hip-hop albums are classic with that fukked up logic
The Black Album because of "Justify My Thug and "Change Clothes"
All Eyez On Me because of "What's Ya Phone Number"
The Blueprint because of "Jigga That nikka"
Life After Death because of "Another"
The College Dropout because of "Workout Plan"
Late Registration because of "Gold Digger"
How stupid does that sound
Nas dropped a classic and nikkas can't stand it.
Deal with it mufukkas
not enough 5 mic joint on that bytch, maybe 2-3 the rest is dope 4 star joints, a few 4.5s as well... 10 5 mic joints allows 1 or 2 3 mic joints. But 10 4 mic joints is automatically already not a classic. that just my take on it tho. Im gonna have to wait too c if theres any impact or influence on the game tho, it's not looking very bright. hiphop is dead and untitled definitely had more impact and influence on the game. untitled socially and hhid on hiphop. Untitled even backed it up music wise.
nikkas always gotta' be so gotdamn condescending.
Let's be clear. You don't really know what the fukk you're talking about anymore than the next person who has a personal opinion on the topic.
You can't even come up with a coherent definition of "classic" to justify the shyt you're talking about. You're all over the place. And this is fine because, like I said, the subject is entirely subjective. Your criteria for grading albums won't completely be like mine. And that's because there is no objective criteria/standard for calling something a classic album.What I do know is that there is a difference between personal favorites and classics. Im not all over the place and the definition that I have for classic albums is perfectly coherent. Classic albums are simply defined as albums that stand out, mark a period of time, and have made an impact on the game according to the hiphop masses. Thats a pretty objective standard. We can debate whether specific albums meet that standard, but the standard itself is objective. What you're saying is that there are no classics, only personal favorites.
To answer your question, though, I think Lost Tapes is a classic record because I think every song on that tape is fukking great. I can play it front to back any time. I love the nostalgic feel of the album--themes of despair, hopelessness, and living in the inner city abound. The production is great-- Alchemist, LES, Rockwilder, D-Dot, Pone and Toke, etc. laced him with some great music. The range of social themes and commentary is dope. Nas's perspective on life and sharing stories from his environment and experiences is provocative. Nas's rhyming, flow, and introspective lyricism is as sharp and enjoyable as on any album I've heard from him. More than anything, conceptually, I love that the record is a compilation of records that he recorded during different recording periods. Adds to the mystique of Nas, considering that these were "just leftover tracks." While some might argue that this makes the album less cohesive, I think it still works and depicts Nas's versatility as an artist (plus, it's nice to have mastered versions of songs). Also, I think this gives the album a different feel from what he usually releases. No singles. No features. No marketing schemes. No concern for selling records. Just Nas making great fukking music. It's my 2nd favorite Nas album next to illmatic.What question are you supposed to be answering here, because you're not answering 1 that I posed? I asked you what besides your personal opinion makes it a classic? Your personal opinion is all good, but who cares? I don't. Again, if you're going to say that classics are all about personal opinion then it goes both ways. If you can say that LT is a classic because you and other Nas fans feel like it is, then non Nas fans can deny that Illmatic is a classic if they don't personally like it. What would you say to someone who denied that Illmatic is a classic?
For the record, MC Hammer's "Please Hammer, Don't Hurt Em" and Vanilla Ice's "To the Extreme" are NOT classics just because they were commercially popular.Except the definition that I gave for classic is based partly on popularity and success amongst the hiphop crowd/masses, not the pop masses. Those albums were never acclaimed by the hiphop audience, they were strictly commercial hits.
Digga38
The seperation between what's fake and what's real
iPod Raheem 2.0
D, mother****er, D.
Definition is more coherent, no question about that.
But...Who are the hip-hop masses? Is it: the casual listener? the person who only listens to rap? people who actually buy rap music? people of all races? people who live in big cities?
How many make up the hip-hop masses? Is it: 1,000? 10,000? 100,000? 1,000,000? 10,000,000?
What percentage of the hip-hop masses does it take to proclaim something as a classic? Is it: 10%? 25%? 50%? 90%? 100%?
And finally, why are you limiting it to the "hip-hop masses" and not just the "general masses" if something is truly a "classic"?
Sorry if I'm being obtuse, but these seem like legitimate questions if we're trying to be objective.
See up in here's response. Maybe he does a better job of arguing why Lost Tapes is a classic. It's a little more tailored to your definition of what is a classic.
If someone told me illmatic wasn't a classic, I wouldn't trip. I would give them the
, ask them if they actually heard illmatic, ask them what they consider a classic to be, ask them for some examples of classic albums, ask them for their top 5 rap albums, and keep it moving. That's all I would need to know really. Wouldn't really change my opinion of what I thought of the album; I'd just get some understanding of why they don't like it. At most, I'd probably talk about why I liked the album and why I think it's great--you know, all that subjective shyt. 
What do you think of Eminem then? Or other rappers (Kanye, Jay-Z, Lil Wayne) who have been commercially successful among audiences that are decidedly "pop"?
There's only a handful of instant classic hip-hop albums and Life Is Good isn't one of them.
If nikkas are still listening to it regularly in 2017 then the question can be asked.
If nikkas are still listening to it regularly in 2017 then the question can be asked.
