Nas or Jigga. Who's Superior?

GodlessInfidel

I'm a huge fan of Jay-Z in my opinion he has three classics in Reasonable Doubt, Blueprint (1), and Black Album under his belt as to Nas's solitary one, Illmatic.
Nas's problem which has blighted his career is his thin ear for a beat which has resulted in patchy album after patchy album. With the exception of Illmatic, It was Written and the Lost Tapes (which isn't really a proper album).
Having said all that when it comes to lyrics, Jigga cannot touch Queensbridge's finest. Also Jay has never hit the heights of Illmatic (few if any Rappers have in fairness).
Which is why Nas gets my vote every time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nfcKfVYCok

WakeUp

Agreed:)

Nas is a poetic genius nobody can touch him in my opinion.

Paul1979

reasonable doubt>>>>>>>>>>illmatic


I sold it all from crack to o-pium, in third person
I don't wanna see em, so I'm rehearsin
with my peoples high to GM, from a remote lo-cation
in the BM, scopin the whole situation like, "Dayamm!"
Metamorphic, as the dope turns to cre-am
but one of these buyers got eyes like a Korean
It's difficult to read em, the windows to his soul
are half closed, I put the key in
Pulled off slow, hopin my people flee-in
Chink tried to knock the only link that tied me in
Coppers was watchin us through nighttime binoculars
This time they got us on tape, exchangin dope for dollars
Make me wanna, holler back at the crib in the sauna
Prayin my people bailed out like Time/Warner
Awaitin call, from his kin not the coroner
Phone in my hand, nervous confined to a corner
Beads of sweat second thoughts on my mind
How can I ease the stress and learn to live with these regrets
This time... stress... givin this **** up... ****

Jay Ru

Jay gets for me simply because of his consistancy. Illmatic is one of the best albums ever release but Nas has been living under its shadow ever since. He has never topped and never will. A big problem with Nas is the production he chooses. Jay Z's first release Reasonable Doubt may not be better than Illmatic but its certainly up there with it, and since then Jay has released at least 2 albums to equil or even better R.D. with the Blueprint & The Black Album. One thing that always bothered me bout both of them though is why they never really done more with the like of Pete Rock. Premier, Tip & Clark Kent. As good as they rhymes are on both debut albums, with those beats i doubt either would be half as good

Jay Ru

u shud add a poll

mufcboy1999

Jay Ru wrote: »

Jay gets for me simply because of his consistancy. Illmatic is one of the best albums ever release but Nas has been living under its shadow ever since. He has never topped and never will. A big problem with Nas is the production he chooses. Jay Z's first release Reasonable Doubt may not be better than Illmatic but its certainly up there with it, and since then Jay has released at least 2 albums to equil or even better R.D. with the Blueprint & The Black Album. One thing that always bothered me bout both of them though is why they never really done more with the like of Pete Rock. Premier, Tip & Clark Kent. As good as they rhymes are on both debut albums, with those beats i doubt either would be half as good

id agree with jay ru,simple jay's consistancy crushes nas. lets be honest the last few years and albums its quite evident nas has fallen off big time

scientific1982

Nas is the best mc alive or dead. Even rakim cant see nas.

Kold

I honestly think Nas sh*ts on Jay Z in every respect. Jay aint deep enough. I also think a lot of Nas' albums are very underrated by anyone without the attention span. Street's Disciple was a bit crap though.

Paul1979

jaz z not deep enough??? u cant get much deeper than the lyrics on reasonable doubt

mufcboy1999

Kold wrote: »

I honestly think Nas sh*ts on Jay Z in every respect. Jay aint deep enough. I also think a lot of Nas' albums are very underrated by anyone without the attention span. Street's Disciple was a bit crap though.

in fairness jay is deep bud, we all know how deep nas is in his songs which is great but can he really make a track which can touch all different kind of audiences from hip hop heads to rock heads to pop heads like jayz? thats why if anyone sh*ts on anyone its jayz>>>>>>>nas.

since there beef when they were competing jay has come so far when you can argue nas got left behind.

if you want to judge this debate over who makes deeper music ,well then clearly nas is the winner but as an overall artist jay is miles ahead of nas.

on another note, the nas and damien marley is my fav album so far this year, and nas's best work that iv heard for a long time.

Orizio

Right now?

Neither.

Boom_Bap

Illmatic is an all time classic. The only thing that comes close from Jay is Reasonable Doubt, which is close to classic status.
Jay has a stronger discography and has been consitent but never reached the heights of Reasonable Doubt.
Nas has 2 good albums after Ilmatic but nothing great since then, just a handful of good songs.

I'm not sure who makes that superior.

But as of now, neither excite me.

mufcboy1999

Boom_Bap wrote: »

Illmatic is an all time classic. The only thing that comes close from Jay is Reasonable Doubt, which is close to classic status.
Jay has a stronger discography and has been consitent but never reached the heights of Reasonable Doubt.
Nas has 2 good albums after Ilmatic but nothing great since then, just a handful of good songs.

I'm not sure who makes that superior.

But as of now, neither excite me.

just curious mods did ye not like the distant relatives album from nas? i know its not a solo album but it is his new material...

i think once any rapper makes a classic album most of the time he will never be able to top it because the fans will always compare there new work to there classic album, there is the exception of a few rappers who have dropped more than 1 classic like dre with chronic and 2001 etc

Boom_Bap

mufcboy1999 wrote: »

just curious mods did ye not like the distant relatives album from nas? i know its not a solo album but it is his new material...

i think once any rapper makes a classic album most of the time he will never be able to top it because the fans will always compare there new work to there classic album, there is the exception of a few rappers who have dropped more than 1 classic like dre with chronic and 2001 etc

I like the Distant Relative record but i dont really think of it as a solo album. In saying that, I think Damien Marley is better on DR than Nas. He carries more energy and is more commanding and Nas falls off into the background. Nas has some top moments on it but it's Marleys versatility that steals the show.

Orizio

'Distant Relatives' put me to sleep. Bar 'Nah Mean', which was nice.

Bodhisopha

Nas has no sense of music, his pseudo profundity and faux gangsterism is at times embarrassing.

Jay Z is better, maybe not in all respects, but in most.

That said, i think Nas won the "beef".

speedboatchase

I think Hip Hop needs to grow up and stop trying to say who the greatest of all time is - no other genre does it and at this point who even knows what it means? I don't think any rappers comes close to Nas and Jigga since Biggie and Pac died but as has been said - neither are really firing on all cylinders or have done for the last few years. These GOAT debates just get a bit annoying after a while because it's like you need a license to impart any kind of viewpoint with some people - I think Kanye is the most exciting artist of the last ten years, not that he's an amazing rapper but just taken as a complete package I still think he's pretty untouchable for the last few years

floggg

speedboatchase wrote: »

I think Hip Hop needs to grow up and stop trying to say who the greatest of all time is - no other genre does it and at this point who even knows what it means? I don't think any rappers comes close to Nas and Jigga since Biggie and Pac died but as has been said - neither are really firing on all cylinders or have done for the last few years. These GOAT debates just get a bit annoying after a while because it's like you need a license to impart any kind of viewpoint with some people - I think Kanye is the most exciting artist of the last ten years, not that he's an amazing rapper but just taken as a complete package I still think he's pretty untouchable for the last few years

Or more importantly, why are this arguments also confined to the one or two popular names, like there's some sort of induction ceremony you have to go through in order to get considered.

No offence, but the fact that Biggie or Pac are still being mentioned in the GOAT arguments is just silly. There are tons of rappers who could rap circles around Pac in particulars, and tonnes more who got just as emotional. Except in a more techincally proficient manner.

there will never be an answer to whether Jay or Nas is best. You may as well ask Lyons or Barrys.


For the record, Lyons all the way for me. The ones in the green box, none of your fancy gold blend stuff.

GodlessInfidel

floggg wrote: »

Or more importantly, why are this arguments also confined to the one or two popular names, like there's some sort of induction ceremony you have to go through in order to get considered.

No offence, but the fact that Biggie or Pac are still being mentioned in the GOAT arguments is just silly. There are tons of rappers who could rap circles around Pac in particulars, and tonnes more who got just as emotional. Except in a more techincally proficient manner.

there will never be an answer to whether Jay or Nas is best. You may as well ask Lyons or Barrys.


For the record, Lyons all the way for me. The ones in the green box, none of your fancy gold blend stuff.

of course there will never be a definitive answer it's all about opinion and a bit of fun.

2pac may not technically be the best rapper you will ever hear. but he had heart and passion which comes through in alot of his material. he also had a conscuious side (16 on death row, brenda's got a baby, keep ya head up) which alot of rappers lack.

yes lyrically and technically pac may not come close to someone like aesop rock for example but he did reach tens of millions of people which must count for something.

just like bob marely did as opposed to sizzla who is twice the artist
(in my opinion )

and ask yourself this one question. is your preference for lyons based on a bias for all things dublin? lol

(pg tips man myself)

Bodhisopha

GodlessInfidel wrote: »

of course there will never be a definitive answer it's all about opinion and a bit of fun.

2pac may not technically be the best rapper you will ever hear. but he had heart and passion which comes through in alot of his material. he also had a conscuious side (16 on death row, brenda's got a baby, keep ya head up) which alot of rappers lack.

yes lyrically and technically pac may not come close to someone like aesop rock for example but he did reach tens of millions of people which must count for something.

just like bob marely did as opposed to sizzla who is twice the artist
(in my opinion )

and ask yourself this one question. is your preference for lyons based on a bias for all things dublin? lol

(pg tips man myself)

Negro please. Tupac may have had a conscious side but he was also rapping about killing another mans children and attacking men in hotel lobbies with the help of his bodyguards of course. Not to men his criminal conviction for a sex offence.

The man was a hypocrite at best, a fake at worst.

GodlessInfidel

Bodhisopha wrote: »

Negro please. Tupac may have had a conscious side but he was also rapping about killing another mans children and attacking men in hotel lobbies with the help of his bodyguards of course. Not to men his criminal conviction for a sex offence.

The man was a hypocrite at best, a fake at worst.

or a contradiction like we all are are we not? we all say and do good things and bad. granted he was on the extreme side can't deny that.

at least he did have a conscious side which i wished featured more predominantly in his music but at least it was there and contributed to some great work.

i am not condoning his behaivour but if you're gonna start being judgemental you may as well stop listening to rap beacuse alot of rappers say and do bad things. alot of rappers have also commited crimes and served time in prison.

he also shot at two off duty drunk racist police officers who were harassing an innocent black motorist which one has to take their proverbial hat off to

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUBw3DzYDNk

Notorious97

Jay-Z i personally prefer, but i do like Nas too. Reasonable Doubt, BP1, Black Album and american gangster are classics.

thats said, Jay-Z said it best 'and if i aint better than Big im the closest one'

Biggie = GOAT in my opinion and plenty of others!

HalloweenJack

This thread isn't about the GROAT, it's about who is better between Nas or Jay-Z.

FWIW, I prefer Nas but I only have the one proper Jay-Z album (Black). It's a good album.

Illmatic and Stillmatic are both classics for me. God's Son, Nastradamus, It Was Written and Hip Hop Is Dead were also very good. I'd rate them higher than Black Album.

Makaveli

That may be the first time I've seen Nastradamus and very good in the same sentence without "wasn't" in there too.

For me I think I probably prefer Jay-Z.

floggg

1. Bob Marley > Sizzla.

He's the one dead guy who actually deserves the posthumous praise.

2. I'm a cluchie. My love of Lyons is based entirely on the quality of their teas.

3. PG Tips? get the **** out of here!

4. To be honest, I don't really see much point in arguing the 2pac thing. I doubt I'll ever change your mind. I doubt you'll ever unearth the missing recordings where he actually exhibits sufficient skills to merit his inclusion in "greatest ever" conversations.

Sure, he had "passion" and his fair share of personal demons. But so does DMX. In fact, DMX has far more demons and contradictions, and can be far more passionate. Is he G.O.A.T.? No, he's a crack fiend!

Bodhisopha

GodlessInfidel wrote: »

or a contradiction like we all are are we not? we all say and do good things and bad. granted he was on the extreme side can't deny that.

at least he did have a conscious side which i wished featured more predominantly in his music but at least it was there and contributed to some great work.

i am not condoning his behaivour but if you're gonna start being judgemental you may as well stop listening to rap beacuse alot of rappers say and do bad things. alot of rappers have also commited crimes and served time in prison.

he also shot at two off duty drunk racist police officers who were harassing an innocent black motorist which one has to take their proverbial hat off to

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUBw3DzYDNk

And Ian Huntley was great with children most of the time...

GodlessInfidel

Bodhisopha wrote: »

And Ian Huntley was great with children most of the time...

...and Hitler loved animals


anyway bak to Nas and Jigga

CrackisWhack

Nas all the way!


Not one of the Jigga mans albums comes close to Illmatic.:cool:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEs5FMYeVQY

horsebox09

Haha 2pac always seems to make his way into these kind of threads, its only a matter of time before he gets mentioned in the Dre vs RZA thread

On topic, I honestly don't know
I agree with the poster above me that said Illmatic is better than any of Jay's albums, but Jay has released some great material too

I suppose it's all about taste, and personally I would prefer Nas

horsebox09

Bodhisopha wrote: »

Nas has no sense of music, his pseudo profundity and faux gangsterism is at times embarrassing.

Jay Z is better, maybe not in all respects, but in most.

That said, i think Nas won the "beef".

I agree with you there, as Jay-Z once said about Nas:

" Cause the n**ga wear a coofie, 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 bull**** that he write
Is it "Oochie Wally Wally" or is it "One Mic"?
Is it "Black Girl Lost" or shorty owe you for ice? "

Nas has contridicted himself a lot, at times even on his own albums (especially Stillmatic)

PoppyRowe

Both Jay-Z and Nas are very talented and have done alot for themselves. I don't think is a case of who's better because people will always prefer one or the other for whatever reasons. Commercially Jay-Z has gained the most success so in that regard he would be more famous. They are both amazing rappers, as much as I love Nas I have to hand this one to Jay. I've loved Jay-Z since I was very young and I never felt the same passion for Nas. llmatic is an insane album but Nas never managed to make another...and naming 'Stillmatic...'Stillmatic' was really questionable. Anyway, it's all relative to a person and what they feels best.