After digesting MCHG, I'm saying Nas > Jay as an artist

[mjsaver]

How is a Nas album personal because he talks about his wife ,kids, and financial situation ?

But Jay talks about all that and more including religion, fame, slavery etc but he ain't rapping bout nothing , it's repetitive blah blah.

Sounds like a double standard to me

It's all good though we make exceptions for our personal favorites all the time, just recognize it and stop trying to act as you're giving some unbiased objective viewpoint.

 

[PRIME]

Nas lost.

 

[htg designs]

GKMC>>>>>>LIS+MCHG

 

[dt43]

How is a Nas album personal because he talks about his wife ,kids, and financial situation ?

But Jay talks about all that and more including religion, fame, slavery etc but he ain't rapping bout nothing , it's repetitive blah blah.

Sounds like a double standard to me

It's all good though we make exceptions for our personal favorites all the time, just recognize it and stop trying to act as you're giving some unbiased objective viewpoint.

Jay-Z raps with excessive bravado that makes him difficult to relate to.

 

[AZwildcats]

GKMC>>>>>>LIS+MCHG

and its not even close. 

Jay rapping about his millions has gotten pretty stale. I initially liked MCHG but after re-listening the subject matter has gotten old. Its the same "im richer then you" ******** over and over again. The days of "Hard knock life" and "99 problems" are gone, and I understand Jay has evolved musically. But behind the glitzy production (Picasso Baby has a nasty beat), its a very shallow and materialistic album. 

 

[tupackshaker]

Thats how I feel about Biggie vs Tupac. Sure Big was better technically and "lyrically" but he actually wasn't saying anything. It was cool when I was younger to hear him brag about money and murdering and raping people while I nodded my head aggressively and mean mugged into a mirror. Now I listen to those songs and they are just superficial and meaningless.

Nas and Jay are like this but to a much lesser extent. Nas was heavily influenced by Tupac and Jayz by Big.

 

[dt43]

I wouldn't say Nas was heavily influenced by Pac, they were peers. He was influenced by Rakim mostly.

 

[solefood229]

Jay too rich, people like rappers they can relate to in some way, most people ain't shopping at hermes and going to basquiat shows.

Nas got the IRS on his heels, baby momma drama, high *** child support payments. People can relate to that.

 

[law3001]

A better comparison would be Rakim/Nas, Big Daddy Kane/Jay-z.

Jay always been on his rich rap ****, I dunno its just not dynamic as it once was. I still bump MCHG, but he lost something I just can't quite put a finger on it. No matter though Jay and Nas and leaps and bounds above 99% of the rappers out now.

 

[Magic33]

BDK had more substance than Jay, partly due to the era, but he also was a practicing 5%er like Rakim..so its not really a good comparison
Plus BDK started gearing his stuff to the ladies, like a Fab. Jay never really did that, he did some of everything, but it's natural.
A comparison, would be them using metaphors and saying slick ****...but really that's about it

Nas has more substance than Jay, but I don't think he's a better rapper. Because part of being a rapper is to be entertaining. Half the time I don't find Nas very entertaining.

Life Is Good was boring to me. I can only listen to 3 or 4 songs on it. I like MCHG better.

 

[mossman1975]

Jay-Z aint made a good album since The Blueprint

 

[Magic33]

Funny, I don't think Nas has made a good complete album since It Was Written. Four or five songs, the rest I delete.

 

[yeeupp]

Don't know about all that OP, but I wanna hear Nas on the caliber of beats Jay had on MCHG​

I wanna see what he can do with some Timbo, J. Cole, Pharrell, Hit-Boy, Travis Scott, Kanye West, etc. production. Along with Premo and some more Justice League cuts.​

Please, Nas chooses some boring beats, very great lyricist.

 

[certifiedflyboi23]

Wait. As an artist Nas >Jay?


No! Nas ear for beats is horrific and he spend a good 10 years trying to find himself..

Since day 1 we knew what Jay was about.

 

[dland24]

This is a laughable thread.  If the topic was Nas > Jay-Z as an MC?  Sure, I could vibe with that.  I wouldn't personally agree, but its all about personal taste in music.

As an ARTIST though?  This really isnt even close.  When you say "as an artist," that means EVERYTHING.  And when you factor in live performances, growth as an artist, keeping up with the times, setting trends, making music that a wider audience can enjoy, popularity, personality, influence, ability to open up gateways for new artists, and ability to withstand the test of time, Jay-Z wins in an absolute landslide.

 

[roc boy jada]

LIG is one of my least favorite Nas albums.

Since first becoming a Nas fan (around the early 2000s, since I was too young to take notice of any of his other work), this is the first release from him that I was disappointed in. Even with the mixed reviews albums like SD, I Am received, I still like those albums very much. LIG consisted of a few bad tracks, a couple great tracks, and the rest of the tracks didn't appeal to me much, although I did not think they were particularly bad songs. I couldn't say the album is something I care to go back and play, unlike almost any other Nas album.

 

[King of Trash Style]

LIG is good is my second favorite rap album of the past 3 years. MCHG was hot the first couple of listens but all the tracks sound the same for the most part after a while.

 

[gambit215]

At the end of the day Jay and Nas are one of the few rappers who I check because I know not only are they talking about actual things that have happened to them, they also dropping some slick NYC line that only a few people catch............

Rapgenius don't know everything.....


Cherish them now fellas.....


Both Nas and Jay have both seen their best days behind them,they both peaked as artists around 01-02, they both 40, what more do you expect from these guys?

 

[Hahahaha]

Cherish them now fellas.....


Both Nas and Jay have both seen their best days behind them,they both peaked as artists around 01-02, they both 40, what more do you expect from these guys?

I agree with this but the difference for me is I feel like NaS is alive and well when it comes to his albums. Jay is like Ric Flair or The Undertaker. Yeah, you have a name and you were great at what you do but now it's the same **** over and over. Jay hasn't delivered a worthy album since "The Blueprint" He has some great songs and verses but his albums are empty. He's run out of **** to talk about but it will continue because people will continue to buy his music and blindly worship his (new) music

 

[antidope]

I disagree with the OP and those who agree with him

 

[bentrill]

ive been saying dat for years.

 

[certifiedflyboi23]

I think Jay needed a Just Blaze track on this album. Take off BBC and replace it with a Just Blaze track...

 

[Hahahaha]

Albums since Blueprint and Stillmatic.......Jay's albums you can't even tell apart anymore they're so repetitive.

Blueprint 2
God's Son


Black Album
Street's Disciple

Kingdom Come
Hip Hop Is Dead

American Gangster
Untitled

Blueprint 3

Distant Relatives
Watch the Throne

Life is Good
MCHG

 

[antidope]

The only two of those albums that come even remotely close to sounding the same are BP2 and 3. The Black album and American Gangster were both storytelling albums that told two different stories, Kingdom Come was a coming of age album, and the influence of KanYe made WTT unlike any other Hov album. He would never get on a beat like N.I.P or Who Gon Stop Me without Kanye being there and wanting it.

 

[certifiedflyboi23]

BP2 is underrated in a sense.

Meet The Parents is better than any song Nas dropped since Stillmatic...