For a new piece the hip hop bible CNN talks Nas turning 40 at the top of his game, here’s a snippet:
Let’s begin with a disclaimer: Nas doesn’t endorse the following sentence. But he’s the greatest lyricist of all time. Those words were carefully chosen: “lyricist” over “rapper” or “hip-hop artist;” “greatest” instead of “most successful;” “all time” rather than “today.”
OK, no lists then; just a strong case for Nas being the best rhymesmith ever, the GOAT, numero uno, and a humble concession that this is but one man’s opinion and yours are enthusiastically welcomed below. With “Life is Good,” Nas dropped his ninth No. 1 hip-hop album since 1994. Seven of those have gone platinum, which places him second among rappers only to Jay-Z with 11. It also ties Nas with Snoop Dogg or Snoop Lion or whatever his name is, and it puts the Queens native one plaque ahead of Eminem, Too Short, OutKast and LL Cool J, all of whom belong in the greatest-ever discussion, as well.
Thoughts? And if Nas isn’t your favorite, then who is??
{ 43 comments… read them below or add one }
It’s true, Illmatic is the benchmark for “lyricism” in RAP. so, yes he IS the single most lyrical Master, amongst other masters. Other MCs do get going and do it good, but Nas Crafts gems with potent subject matters.
Other MCs are great. But Nas is most interesting.
Besides Pac…I’ll definitely ride with this. Nas is a BEAST lyrically…
CNN, may not be the “hip hop bible” but they are the leader in wordwide news and their credibility is internationally known. Unlike most hop blogs, radio stations & magazines who use their personal biases & payola to disrespect an artist such as Nas in favor of another. CNN, the leader in wordwide news is given Nas his respect that the hip hop community has failed to do for years & it is quite astonishing that it took CNN to give Nas this GREAT accolade. Congrats to Nas on receiving his respect due from CNN…HE DESERVES THAT & MORE!
Well Said. And it’s sad that CNN had to put everything in perspective for the hip hop community with all the so called hip hop experts with have. Well written article, it’s hard to dispute it.
Well said indeed!
I wouldn’t say well said. What you said was ok. Just remember that any commercialized entity has biases in one way or another even when it comes to something that they seemingly would have no reason to be bias in. That being said, it is arguable that Nas is the greatest of all time, but lets not act like he isn’t already consistently on most credible hip hop pundits top five pound-for-pound list. Nas gets his respect, but often times he is merely in the top five rather than holding the top spot.
Nas is in my top five, but I don’t get excited for his music like that. I listen to Nas for one reason, introspection, he doesn’t give me any other looks besides that. I haven’t felt the full gamut of emotions through Nas’ music. He also doesn’t show the type of growth I look for in someone like him. His music hasn’t really evolved at all. Even when his subject matter changes his approach is the same.
I know I’ll get some flack for this because everybody hates when Hov is your favorite MC, but that is my pick. None of his albums sound the same the progression is obvious. He changes his flow, the narrative and he is not afraid of a popular song. Nas is great at that one thing he does and that makes him Basquiat, but to me Hov is Picasso, he goes through periods like the blue period which has shown up a few times in his career and cubism and his not afraid to paint a portrait of his famous friends like Picasso did with the Steins. I could go on forever… I’ll just stop here. But Big ups to Nas.
I was wondering when a Jay Z stan going through in their 2 cents. Atleast you said Jay Z is your favorite so you gon ride for him. I think on thing to fail to understand that Nas makes the music he want with no radio singles and went 7 albums platinum. Jay Z makes hit records, so more likely you going to appreciate him. Consistency wise, didn’t Jay Z make Kingdome Come, Black Album, In my lifetime Vol. 1? Those albums were trash, but you would probably disagree.
So you’re not a nas stan? He stated his opinion with facts, black album trash? So I guess everything between illmatic and stillmatic was awesome shit?
To be 100 percent honest jay has more classics than nas and just an overall better album list.
Reasonable doubt, hard knock life, the blueprint, life and times, american gangster, the black album, watch the throne was a comp album but his verses stole the show.
Like I said I knew the flack was coming, but you didn’t say anything bruh… Black Album trash? You might be a Jay-Z hater the Black Album is classic. Kingdom Come was progressive, have you ever been outside of the hood? Probably not that’s the only reason I can think of that would have you say some shit like that. And Jay doesn’t make what he wants? Do you think a label would want him to make guns n roses on BP2? Or DOA on BP3, or to turn in Kingdom Come? Labels don’t like new shit they want that same ‘ol shit that got you where you are and they would rather you NOT grow, just like Nas, he consistently gives the label traditional Nas records and never really steps outside of the box besides God’s Son and Hip hop is Dead, which his hardcore fans didn’t even like, which I think were two of his dopest, most progressive joints. I’m guessing you probably didn’t like either of those albums because you can’t see past the hood homie, but that’s ok. later for that stan shit, I have bought every Jay album and almost every Nas album, you’re probably a bootleg type dude.
Black album trash?!?? Blasphemous!!!!! Go listen to it right now and tell me you don’t fall in love with that album all over again
You Jay-z fans are so INSECURE when it comes to the GOAT Nasir Olu Dara Jones!
totalie agree it amazing how these so called hip hop media sources outlook him ……mtv for one put @ number 5 for the goat the guy is a living legend the greatest mc the world has ever seen congrats to cnn for shutin own these nas haters long live nasit jones the goat.
He’s at the top.. I’d say Tupac, Jay Z and Nas in no specific order
CNN I CAN”T BELIEVE YOU HIT IT!!!! IT IS MORE ABOUT THE SUBJECTS THAT NAS WRITES ABOUT. BECAUSE OF HIS ENVIRONMENT WITH HIS FATHER JAZZ GREAT OLU DARA NAS IS ABLE TO ADD COMPLEX MUSIC TO HIS LYRICS. tHE COMBINATION OF THE TWO ARE UNBEATABLE!!!
You cant really argue with that…
He is the GOAT!
I concur!
“Nas, u one lucky bastard!”
About time they gave him his props, and it’s sad it had to be CNN. He might have the money and business savy, but Nas is the greatest lyricist. Period. 7 platinum albums with no #1 singles or platinum singles. That means Nas has always had the luxury to make the music he wants with worrying about selling. Just being himself and l also think that has a lot to do with his 20 years in the game. He’s real with his music.
Told yall!
Yall need to come to terms with this man.
Nasty!
“….Cause the nigga wear a kufi, it don’t mean that he bright
Cause you don’t understand him, it don’t mean that he nice
It just means you don’t understand all the bullshit that he write”
#bleedhate
co-sign.
Cause you don’t understand him that’s why you don’t see that he is nice… Now go read a book….You sandbox ass nigga.
Jay-Z > nas.
Hi Hater! Don’t worry, Jay Z still got more money. That should make you happy.
Im mad you took my name and threw 3 cheesy ass ^^^ infront! Wth use hour imagination cornball
JAY-Z is the greatest….meanwhile yall mentioning albums so lets be clear Nas has 9 #1 hip hop albums with global sales around 15 mil… JAY-Z with 50mil sold has 12 #1 ALBUMS across all genres and only second to the Beatles(19)…its important that we dont compare these two in terms of global dominance because the homie Nas isnt even in the building…
but yeah meanwhile JAY-Z is the greatest of all time no matter what you call it rap hiphop lyricist it dont matter.
Best ever?
There is no objective measurement of this criteria. I would have actually appreciated some actual Nate Silver type analysis – like percentages of metaphors/similes per 16 bars. Greatest percentage variation in subject matter. Comparing rhyme scheme complexity.
Only with this type of shit can you make an objective argument. Anything else is just assholes.
There are so many dope rappers throughout the history of hip hop it’s an insult to so many artists to just crown one dude. Nas wins on longevity – probably hands down – he’s been rapping since the year I was born. But IMO he’s a pretty one dimensional rapper – and unlike other artists – it’s not clear to me that he lives what he rhymes – which suggests artistic inauthenticity.
don’t be over analytical with music. It’s music, not the presidential election. You the type who pulls out a calculator for 1+1 cus you trust a computer than common sense. 7 platinum albums with no hit singles should also be calculated Nat Silver. I would be interested in seeing what he comes up with.
nigga – my point is that you can’t be analytical at all.
saying nas is the “greatest” anything is a meaningless statement. gay fanboy shit at its worst.
my point was— and i’ll dumb it down for you – is the only way you can make a “greatest” argument that holds water for anyone other than yourself is to make it objective and about the numbers. since there are no numbers – this whole nas is the greatest argument is bullshit.
do you understand now or does it need more dumbing down?
You can’t make something that is subjective into something objective, its music, therefore its is solely based on a person’s preferences. Just because you know who Nate Silver is doesn’t make you smart, it means you might read the NY times, but probably not. Also, there are plenty of well informed idiots, so lets not get too pretentious in anonymous comments sections. This is all fun ‘n games.
I don’t get the point of this statement other than to say you agreed with me.
So if someone’s preference is that Wiz Khalifa is the greatest lyricist, we shouldn’t look sideways, right? So no one can say Michael Jackson is the King of Pop or Whitney Houston has on of the best voices in R&B because music is subjective? If it’s about numbers, does that mean Flo rida is one of the greats? I guess Tupac is the greatest cus he sold the most for hip hop. I agree, Smart dumb people. POW!
You haters love Nasir Jones.
What about great lyricists outside of rap? Bob Dylan? Neil Young? Leonard Cohen? Jim Morrison? Bruce Springsteen? Thom Yorke? Elliott Smith? Steven Malkmus? Curtis Mayfield? All of these people and many others deserve consideration as well.
I love this…Lyricsim is about make its way back into the game….And Jay and Nas about to drop some hot shit.
Talib Kweli is a million times better than Nas and Jay Z, but somehow Jay Z only comes up in conversation. Nas is like the first girlfriend or high school sweetheart for some people. In many cases his subject matter sucks, and its as if he writes five versions of the same song that become songs for his next five cd’s. Hes good. If you are defining album sales as talent then you are silly.
Nigga Please.
Niggy is delusional. Talib is nice but thats about it. He had a hit ” get by” and proceeded to maKE 6 MORE SONGS THAT SOUNDED THE SAME TRYING TO GET SOME SHINE. If only Kanye stuck by his side…….
Talib Himself considers Nas the Greatest….according to him (Kweli) Nas’ body of work seperates him from every other MC.
NAS IS THE GOAT!
Yes no doubt nas still holding it down the crown been his he run New York t.i run the south and mid west and the game run Cali and the lox run the streets all ova
2chainz garbage meek mill super garbage drake is just what his name means a duck lil Wayne thinks his jay z pusha T killed him with exodus why is he still rapping let alone breathing