**Official Kendrick Lamar Thread 4th Studio Album ''DAMN.''Out Now**

[MVP]

Yea lyrically Illmatic still has the crown, you wylin on that one.

 

[close that door]

Nas & 50 debut albums were a gift & a curse

It cemented their legacies in hip hop but it transitioned into an average rap career

Like when jennings dropped 55 his rookie year & everyone thought he was up next but been average ever since

50 was the penny hardaway of rap & nas was grant hill

 

[tay1]

Nas & 50 debut albums were a gift & a curse

It cemented their legacies in hip hop but it transitioned into an average rap career

Like when jennings dropped 55 his rookie year & everyone thought he was up next but been average ever since

50 was the penny hardaway of rap & nas was grant hill

nvmd

 

[close that door]

If your debut is unanimously your best body of work

That means Your career was avg & you showed no growth in your craft

Truth hurts

 

[Deleted member 37467]

 

[MVP]

Migos stay trolling everywhere

 

[the 7th mile]

Stillmatic is Nas' best album though

 

[close that door]

Migos stay trolling everywhere

Truth hurts b

Nas had a avg rap career for a dude who been in it for so long

 

[close that door]

What years can you truly say nas was running the game?

Mid 90s was bad boy death row

Late 90s, em, jay & x

Early 2000s, jay,em,nelly

Nas was never at the top of the game

 

[the coolness]

I'm so glad I picked up the CD today. It just sounds so much better than listening on my phone through the AUX cord

 

[trill nimley]

NaS had an average rap career?

You write the OLD testament to the Hip Hop Bible.

Sophmore album is widely seen as a classic now. Spent 4 weeks as the #1 album in the country. This is 96, Biggie and Pac are a alive.

3rd album receives good reviews. #1 album as well.

NaStradamus. Can't defend this. But there are STILL a few gems on there.

Stillmatic. Classic.

GOD's Son arguably a Classic.

Streets Disciple if it was ONE disc it would been a 4.5. A lot of gems tho.

Hip Hop D Is Dead. Solid album. #1

Untitled. Very GOOD album. Something like a prequel to TPAB as far as theme and subject matter. Another #1

Life Is Good. Critically acclaimed. #1.

Who that was relevant in 94 that dropped an album is still around now? To say NaS had an average career, is to say the average rapper last 20+ years in the game? He had a #1 album 19 years ago. And his most recent album went to #1, does the average rapper do that?

5 (solo) #1 albums in 3 dif decades. There's not many artists in ANY genere still relevant today that can say that.

For an artist who was never really been "mainstream" foreal, to have the the 3rd most #1 albums. Still considered one of the best lyricist.

 

[superblytrife]

Stillmatic is Nas' best album though

Nah. IWW >>>>>>>> any Nasir album not named Illmatic.

 

[are u a god]

As great as "u" is... I skip it the most jus cause it hits a spot in me too hard.

 

[are u a god]

It's so odd to me that It Was Written is being brought up so much in here. Is kendrick the next nas? No. Illmatic n gkmc have no musical similarities nor do their second efforts. He is himself n realty don't notice any comparison other than some 3k/outkast to his style

 

[illkillmatic]

NaS had an average rap career?

You write the OLD testament to the Hip Hop Bible.

Sophmore album is widely seen as a classic now. Spent 4 weeks as the #1 album in the country. This is 96, Biggie and Pac are a alive.

3rd album receives good reviews. #1 album as well.

NaStradamus. Can't defend this. But there are STILL a few gems on there.

Stillmatic. Classic.

GOD's Son arguably a Classic.

Streets Disciple if it was ONE disc it would been a 4.5. A lot of gems tho.

Hip Hop D Is Dead. Solid album. #1

Untitled. Very GOOD album. Something like a prequel to TPAB as far as theme and subject matter. Another #1

Life Is Good. Critically acclaimed. #1.

Who that was relevant in 94 that dropped an album is still around now? To say NaS had an average career, is to say the average rapper last 20+ years in the game? He had a #1 album 19 years ago. And his most recent album went to #1, does the average rapper do that?

5 (solo) #1 albums in 3 dif decades. There's not many artists in ANY genere still relevant today that can say that.

For an artist who was never really been "mainstream" foreal, to have the the 3rd most #1 albums. Still considered one of the best lyricist.

 

[illkillmatic]

Cats don't no trill, been in the game 20 plus and is considered a hip hop legend, but had a average career?.....but back to Kendrick, goin off topic....

 

[close that door]

Yall just throw around the word classic, but like i said when was nas actually running the game, idc if he had a #1 album for a couple weeks, tons of rappers had #1 albums on the charts

 

[finessence]

Yall just throw around the word classic, but like i said when was nas actually running the game, idc if he had a #1 album for a couple weeks, tons of rappers had #1 albums on the charts

NaS ran the game and never really had an "entourage" everyone else who could be considered was part of a crew or label...

Other than the bravehearts/the firm moments, NaS always stood on his own

 

[close that door]

Didnt nas flop with the firm

 

[Hahahaha]

Didnt nas flop with the firm

Album went platinum. How is that a flop?



50 was Penny and NaS was Grant Hill? My goodness, one of the worst things I've ever read on here.

 

[trill nimley]

View media item 1465810The Firm album was another #1 actually.

Tell me another rapper that has had the #1 album in the country for 4 consecutive weeks. And tell me if that album included "Message", "If I Ruled The World", "Black Girl Lost" or a "I Gave You Power" we're waiting

Tons of rappers had #1 albums? There's 2 rappers with MORE #1s than NaS. TWO in the history of hip hop.

Easily the most influential lyricist of the past 20 years. His DNA is in any MC worth a damn. EXCLUDING nobody.

One of only 2 rappers with with #1 album in 3 diff decades.

Not sure what "running the game means" if your talking from a cultural perspective NaS has been one of the most important voices in hip hop since 94. With fans and critics. Prolly the most RESPECTED lyrcist ever, amungst critics, fans, and other artists.

Don't airbrush history.

We here for Kendrick, you don't have to lie about someone's accomplishments or downplay their impact in order to make another look good. I doubt there will be too many rappers that last for 20 years, still relevant. Still selling units. Still innovative. Still critically acclaimed. Still culturally relevant.

This NaS slander is losing you credibility. FAST.

 

[SoleByThePound]

^^List these reviews from 1994 where critics were calling Illmatic the greatest album of all time and better then Paid in Full, It Takes a Nation, etc.?

Where do I start? This is the generation that feels they need to compare everything to the past for some sort of validation. When illmatic dropped it literally changed everything. It resurrected the east coast, which at the time had taken a back seat to the West Coast. More importantly the album redefined the emcee and raised the bar to a whole new level. The album was deemed a classic from everyone who had a worthy opinion. It was respected globally and has stood the test of time. Many people in the Hip Hop community consider it the greatest rap record ever made and deservingly so.

TPAB has received the same sort of praise and it's not reaching to think that it might surpass illmatic as the greatest rap record ever made, that is something time will tell.

Hes a legend but only has one album considered a classic, that album set the bar too high for his own good
 

There is a saying and it holds true for all musicians, your first album takes your entire life up to the moment you release it. It usually is the most personal piece of work you will ever create. Illmatic was an accumulation of Nasir's life to that point. The universe was aligned for that release. He had 4 of the greatest producers in Hip Hop orchestrate the boards and lay the sound for his poetry. Recapturing that magic is damn near impossible and has been a gift and a curse of Nasir's career. You are correct, the bar was set too high.

Maybe it's because I was only 6 when illmatic came out and I didn't hear it til years later, but albums always been overrated to me. It's a good album and for the time it was probably fantastic. But people need to move on.

You really need to listen more and talk less. I have noticed you talk on lot on this board, but really aren't saying anything. You were humbled with this very album because you felt the need to share an uneducated opinion before actually listening to this album and grasping it. Maybe you should bow out of the illmatic conversation until you really grasp that album.

 
It has nothing to do with going against the grain. There's just nothing about it that sticks with me. The lyricism is pretty standard to me. Production is borderline leaking trash juice / boring. Only thing I really enjoy is his flow.

Quote:

 
NY State of the mind is the only song I like.

The only thing that's leaking trash juice is your opinion my dude.

Nas & 50 debut albums were a gift & a curse

It cemented their legacies in hip hop but it transitioned into an average rap career

Like when jennings dropped 55 his rookie year & everyone thought he was up next but been average ever since

50 was the penny hardaway of rap & nas was grant hill

If your debut is unanimously your best body of work

That means Your career was avg & you showed no growth in your craft

Truth hurts

Yall just throw around the word classic, but like i said when was nas actually running the game, idc if he had a #1 album for a couple weeks, tons of rappers had #1 albums on the charts

Didnt nas flop with the firm

You really need to Close Your Account

 

[close that door]

Album went platinum. How is that a flop?



50 was Penny and NaS was Grant Hill? My goodness, one of the worst things I've ever read on here.

It went platinum because of the hype, album was trash

Vol 1 went platinum, does that mean the album was good?

Saying a album went platinum in the 90s holds no weight

 

[onthenephs]

My features are that of a god, it's not a facade, these rappers wanna be NaS.

i always thought anyone in the rap game who didn't like nas they either some lame dudes who think he is smart and try to downplay his verses Cuz they think jayz gonna come out from the side and give them daps, or they don't even like rap. Because honestly every one of nas albums is hiphop/rap/mcing at its finest for 70+ mins.

Dude had more subject content than 15 different feature films. Prolly have 10-15 novel books worth of writing material.

 

[abematic]

What years can you truly say nas was running the game?

Mid 90s was bad boy death row

Late 90s, em, jay & x

Early 2000s, jay,em,nelly

Nas was never at the top of the game

I dont understand this. 

You only excluded NaS but every other era has more than one rapper. 

I think you just don't like NaS.