Although both share(d) pinnacle hip hop popularity, how come Nas never mainstreamed as well as jay?

[36 ounces]

Originally Posted by chozin87

You can't casually listen to Nas and be content.


Jay's music is simpler to the average listener before they really get to the depth of a lot of his rhymes on the other hand Nas doesn't make songs enough people will just like to listen to.

NAS HAS LOW ENTERTAINMENT VALUE.

RAP IS ENTERTAINMENT.

!@%...?

 

[chozin87]

Nas music is not entertaining to enough people for him to achieve the mainstream success Jay has.

 

[Jordan8]

Originally Posted by chozin87

You can't casually listen to Nas and be content.


Jay's music is simpler to the average listener before they really get to the depth of a lot of his rhymes on the other hand Nas doesn't make songs enough people will just like to listen to.

NAS HAS LOW ENTERTAINMENT VALUE.

RAP IS ENTERTAINMENT.

Bingo. Nas is obviously that dude but come on hes not the most charismatic, party starting, start my day off dude to listen too

 

[ninjahood]

Originally Posted by chozin87

Nas music is not entertaining to enough people for him to achieve the mainstream success Jay has.

considering something "entertaining" is PURELY a subjective opinion..don't try to pass that off as fact.

other then jay-z's first album i can't really listen to him like that...he's like a 5 foot pool, he but only so deep, but most people are contentswiming in a 5 foot pool. Nas's content is a 20 foot

pool...da learning curve is high from da jump.

so if you scared to drown don't dive into da discography thinking you can handle intense subject matter cuz odds are if you not smart its gonna overwhelmyou.

 

[Jordan8]

Originally Posted by ninjahood

Originally Posted by chozin87

Nas music is not entertaining to enough people for him to achieve the mainstream success Jay has.

considering something "entertaining" is PURELY a subjective opinion..don't try to pass that off as fact.

other then jay-z's first album i can't really listen to him like that...he's like a 5 foot pool, he but only so deep, but most people are content swiming in a 5 foot pool. Nas's content is a 20 foot

pool...da learning curve is high from da jump.

so if you scared to drown don't dive into da discography thinking you can handle intense subject matter cuz odds are if you not smart its gonna overwhelm you.

Thats the problem alot of yall find Nas super deep. And if you dont like him its just because your not smart enough to understand him. whenmajority of the time hes just complicating a simple metaphor/subject. He goes around the house 4 times instead of just gettin to the point in goin the house.Again Nas is a great poet he paints great pictures but dude might as well be one of the Last Poets or Big Rube or somethin

 

[inspektahdeck]

Originally Posted by cartune

Originally Posted by ninjahood

Originally Posted by chozin87

Nas music is not entertaining to enough people for him to achieve the mainstream success Jay has.

considering something "entertaining" is PURELY a subjective opinion..don't try to pass that off as fact.

other then jay-z's first album i can't really listen to him like that...he's like a 5 foot pool, he but only so deep, but most people are content swiming in a 5 foot pool. Nas's content is a 20 foot

pool...da learning curve is high from da jump.

so if you scared to drown don't dive into da discography thinking you can handle intense subject matter cuz odds are if you not smart its gonna overwhelm you.

Thats the problem alot of yall find Nas super deep. And if you dont like him its just because your not smart enough to understand him. when majority of the time hes just complicating a simple metaphor/subject. He goes around the house 4 times instead of just gettin to the point in goin the house. Again Nas is a great poet he paints great pictures but dude might as well be one of the Last Poets or Big Rube or somethin

let me guess you was listening to blueprint2 b4 you wrote ya response ?

 

[Jordan8]

Originally Posted by inspektahdeck

Originally Posted by cartune

Originally Posted by ninjahood

Originally Posted by chozin87

Nas music is not entertaining to enough people for him to achieve the mainstream success Jay has.

considering something "entertaining" is PURELY a subjective opinion..don't try to pass that off as fact.

other then jay-z's first album i can't really listen to him like that...he's like a 5 foot pool, he but only so deep, but most people are content swiming in a 5 foot pool. Nas's content is a 20 foot

pool...da learning curve is high from da jump.

so if you scared to drown don't dive into da discography thinking you can handle intense subject matter cuz odds are if you not smart its gonna overwhelm you.

Thats the problem alot of yall find Nas super deep. And if you dont like him its just because your not smart enough to understand him. when majority of the time hes just complicating a simple metaphor/subject. He goes around the house 4 times instead of just gettin to the point in goin the house. Again Nas is a great poet he paints great pictures but dude might as well be one of the Last Poets or Big Rube or somethin

let me guess you was listening to blueprint2 b4 you wrote ya response ?

nah havent listened to that album in a minute. Its the truth Nas reminds of dudes u go see at the poetry sessions. He brags about himself alot hejust disquises it with synechdoch and extended metaphors. It gets old after a while

 

[scotthallwithapick]

Originally Posted by Harlem On The Rise

... Nas' last album was a concept record if you didnt know... & its better than American Gangster...

I think you misunderstand the phrase "concept album". An album about politics =\= Concept album. If thats the case "It Takes ANation of Millions to Hold us Back" is a concept album

 

[ninjahood]

Originally Posted by cartune

Originally Posted by ninjahood

Originally Posted by chozin87

Nas music is not entertaining to enough people for him to achieve the mainstream success Jay has.

considering something "entertaining" is PURELY a subjective opinion..don't try to pass that off as fact.

other then jay-z's first album i can't really listen to him like that...he's like a 5 foot pool, he but only so deep, but most people are content swiming in a 5 foot pool. Nas's content is a 20 foot

pool...da learning curve is high from da jump.

so if you scared to drown don't dive into da discography thinking you can handle intense subject matter cuz odds are if you not smart its gonna overwhelm you.

Thats the problem alot of yall find Nas super deep. And if you dont like him its just because your not smart enough to understand him. when majority of the time hes just complicating a simple metaphor/subject. He goes around the house 4 times instead of just gettin to the point in goin the house. Again Nas is a great poet he paints great pictures but dude might as well be one of the Last Poets or Big Rube or somethin

isn't da point of rap music is to paint vivid portraits of imagery with your words?

while jay-z probably walks right into da house, Nas can tell you whats in da backyard, front yard, who's cooking in da kitchen..where he came from and whatsneakers he's matchin wit

his met fitted awhile moonwalkin to da living room, all in a smooth effortless flow..that's appreciated by any standards.

 

[njstress03]

i've often had similar conversations about jay-z and nas. jay is a business man and i respect that. he is out to make his money by all means. he puts outmusic that the masses will like. on ther other hand, nas is a poet and poets dont always care to be famous or well known. they are more into deliverin amessage regardless of the outcome and/or consequences. hip hop is not about messages anymore, its about dancing and partying so if you really think about itthe answer to this question is almost obvious. jay makes music to accomadate the commercial audience of hip hop (which is of course the majority). nas makesmusic to express his thoughts and opinions on the many subjects of life and if ppl feel him they feel him, if not then he is still gonna be nas regardless.

now on the subject of who is better; i believe its all according to your taste. these two artists are ying and yang IMO. i've noticed that even most fansof the two are pretty opposite to each other. in 01, during the jay-z/nas feud, i had a best friend who was a die hard jay-z fan. of course i felt the same wayabout nas. though we were so close, we were so different. even in appearance. i was a doo rag, hoodie, jeans and tims kinda guy while he was a yankee fitted,enyce sweater, polo jeans and af1 kinda guy. it all comes down to who you relate to, regardless of what the masses think.

 

[m16]

Nas not entertaining ?

Maybe to white kids. Get out of here with that.

I'd rather hear Nastradamus than anything Jay did except RD.

 

[ninjahood]

Originally Posted by M16

Nas not entertaining ?

Maybe to white kids. Get out of here with that.

I'd rather hear Nastradamus than anything Jay did except RD.

let's not get carried away there guy

im a huge Nas fan but i can safely say every single jay-z album >>>> Nastradamus

 

[m16]

^No.

For me Jay post RD is literally painful to listen too.

 

[ninjahood]

c'mon man....

imma huge nas fan...but you can't deny jay-z...that's like me being a jordan fan and act like kobe is a oblivious entity

 

[chozin87]

I'm not getting into my personal preference and to say I'm not smart enough to understand Nas is untrue.

The reason Jay is more popular is because more people like to listen to his music.

Ultimately, he sells.

 

[ninjahood]

if Nas wanted he could've done what jay-z does all day and dumb it down for da masses..but he chooses not to and it hurts his music from transending...butto sell at his level

and still do da music you like is appreciated.

 

[m16]

Unlike sports music is pretty much completely opinion. I mean, I can see why people like him.. I just don't. There were songs here and there but no albumof his after RD I could sit through. His voice/flow/lyrics just annoy the hell out of me.

 

[harlem on the rise]

Over that past 17 years NaS was been EXTREMELY successful with his career, that's including album sales... He has 4 #1 albums, earliest being 1996 &the most recent was last summer... A lot of the #*+% you guys are saying are foolish... How many artists, of ANY genre had a #1 album in 1996, and had anotherlast year??

That entertainment argument is stupid... Its a cop out rappers used to use so they won't get in trouble for their lyrics, and now brainless fans are usingit

... Hip Hop is an art, yes it can be "Entertaining" to some, but its an artform and everytime we treat it as something different we do hip hopas a whole a HUGE disservice...

 

[addict4sneakers]

Originally Posted by I Live In Texas

'Cause his flow is lacking. If he still kept the flow he had on Illmatic and It Was Written, I'm sure he would be more successful. Now it seems as though he's bored when he steps into the booth.

"Yo......this is Nas....Queens." I don't want to hear that.


And also, Jay chose to venture out and create different business opportunities.

 

[ninjahood]

Originally Posted by iHateTimeDotCom

nas sucks at commercial music where as jay doesnt... and jay was up on all the fashion n $%**... nas just can rap good he dont seem too cool...

Last time i checked Nas was doing big budget commerical videos with hype Williams years before jay-z was ever really on.


Nas can be as shallow as jay-z if he wanted to but he chooses not to do it nearly as often.

 

[ninjahood]

Originally Posted by iHateTimeDotCom

Originally Posted by ninjahood

Originally Posted by iHateTimeDotCom

nas sucks at commercial music where as jay doesnt... and jay was up on all the fashion n $%**... nas just can rap good he dont seem too cool...

Last time i checked Nas was doing big budget commerical videos with hype Williams years before jay-z was ever really on.


Nas can be as shallow as jay-z if he wanted to but he chooses not to do it nearly as often.

what the hell does a video have to do wit being commercial?

hello...big budget video gets paid buy your LABEL because they have FAITH that your gonna SELL ALOT OF RECORDS.

 

[ninjahood]

that was one of da first million+ hiphop videos...done by none then hype williams.

coming off the successful debut of illmatic sony/steve stoute wanted Nas to really go in commerically and kicked off it was written wit a bang.

 

[ninjahood]

back in 1996 and comparing it to illmatic that was HELLA commerical...in 2009 puff daddy and da family's no way out looks like damn

near a Mobb Deep/MOP/Duck Down collection of B sides

here's another example..




hella commerical, i mean you got puff daddy on your song doing absolutely nuffin but addlibing, another million dollar + video by hype williams...

if you was looking for commerical appeal back in da 90's your video HAD to be a hype video..everyone knows this.

 

[ninjahood]

Originally Posted by iHateTimeDotCom

u obviously dont kno what commercial is...

commercial = can i get a, girls best friend, etc..

you young b...thats why i don't consider you a total idiot.

commerical in da 90's is NOT commerical rap in 2009

look at da wutang's forever album in 1997





this was they first single to a DOUBLE ALBUM that cost 21.99...#@$! like that would NEVER fly now..but back in da 90's this was on MTV 1000000's oftimes a day and all over da radio....girl appeal?

no one needed girlsto sell records back then.

 

[ninjahood]

that %@%$ still wasnt commercial tho...� a song wit no hook could never b commercial...

why do you think us old heads love da 90's...cuz youcan be free of ridiculous notions like what just assumed right now and still be

commercially viable as a rapper or rap group.