Choose Your Favorite Nas Album Poll - BUT ILLMATIC IS EXCLUDED *GASPARILLIDOONIE*

i'll rep for God's Son...sweet beats and wordplay, and it just starts so hard out of the gate. Stillmatic closely behind, but that album to me loses a little steam towards the end...plus Nas actually namedrops some ridic people in that "My country shitted on me" song.

liked Hip Hop is Dead and Street's Disciple, but the latter is a tough proposition as other than Tech N9ne's Killer I have trouble iwth rap double albums. It was Written is too watered down in spots altho it has some hot tracks....I liked the untitled too, especially Black President. are Nastradamus and I am...as bad as people say?

realistically this is between It Was Written and God's Son for me, but I'm voting for Street's Disciple because I think it flows surprisingly well for a Nas double album and has some really slept on songs, totally doesn't deserve its rep as his worst album

people actually consider that his worst album? (not being patronizing, i just know a lot of people gave that to Nastradamus)

Yeah, I never heard anyone say Street's Disciple was his worst!

For me it's between God's Son and It Was Written but I never heard much of his last couple...

god's son

someone told me Lost Tapes is worth checking out. were they truthin?

i should probably vote for "it was written" or "stillmatic," but "streets disciple" was one of the first hip hop albums i ever bought besides not liking any rap but eminem when i was in fifth grade and listened to it like a billion times.

i squeeze nipples like pimples to get the pus, get it?
form a crew, swallow forty cal' bullets after dinner's finished

I've thought about making this poll about 8 times.

It Was Written, pretty easy. Still bump Stillmatic/God's Son/Street's Disciple occasionally tho.

Never heard anyone say Street's Disciple is his worst either. Seems that dishonor gets reserved for Nastradamus and Hip Hop is Dead

hmm i quite like HIp Hop is Dead :/. tho honestly I like all of the Nas I have, mostly cuz I avoided I am and Nastradamus thanks to warnings from ppls...

Hip-Hop Is Dead is easily my favorite out of all of these, even though I am well aware that Stillmatic and God's Son are technically "better" albums

definitely loved hip-hop is dead at the time it came out, but probably wouldn't dig it as much now. really loved god's son at the time and still play it and dig it, so that one. lost tapes wouldn't really be fair but probably wouldn't get my vote anyway

OK Street's Disciple probably isn't more likely to be called his worst than Nastradamus, but out of his 2000's albums it's the least commercially successful and usually seems like the most likely to get beat up on in convos about his worst records, in my experience.

lost tapes is great, I'm choosing it over stillmatic and god's son. doo rags is one of the best non-illmatic nas songs (poll idea?)

i haven't heard many of these all the way through - god's son is a pretty good album though. untitled is ok but a bit laboured, hip-hop is dead is just bad.

i actually suspect that his new one w/damian marley could well be the easy answer.

only heard the single, but shit is boss

Stillmatic >> God's Son >> Lost Tapes >> I Am >> Street's Disciple (if you cut it down to one disc) >> Hip Hop Is Dead >> It Was Written >> The Firm >> Untitled >> Nastradamus.

Stillmatic is a certified classic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3Sd2gDkSV8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADR0VoSgqWw

and it should have been included

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4O0OTcey1g

Lost Tapes is so much better than the rest of these.

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uWwLX4j970

i made a post about it was written here: nas - it was written....

i never really said, like, SHIT, this is the REAL illmatic. but, i guess it was written nas is just my default nas. i don't listen to illmatic much. to me, it's kind of like the first mobb deep album or whatever, where they're 12 years old. it just isn't that fucking compelling to me, like it was written is, that rap video bright lights lyrical image of nas's imagined new york streets. so, saying that, i guess that's why it's easier for me to dig on nastradamus or i am..., which aren't on it was written level but are full of the type of nas writing and rapping that i like.

this probably sounds really corny or like somebody that doesn't even listen to rap but i always dug on nas's WRITING, and the written quality of the works. everything sounds very well charted and sketched out, like he's reading it (but not like he's reciting it or whatever). i appreciate the fuck out of that quality. it's not unique to nas but he does it the best. even with an az verse, where everything fits together perfectly and it just blows your mind how he's an amazing lyrical builder of words upon words upon lines upon lines upon verse upon verse, you never never feel that legal pad scribbled lines feel. furthermore, i actually want to READ his verses, you know what i mean? this isn't some bullshit about it standing on its own as some kind of legit poetry or whatever because i don't give a fuck about that, but it makes me numb reading rap as text, like tupac raps collected in a book or whatever, but nas is the exception.

after it was written, i'd probably rep for street's disciple. maybe i tolerate too much bullshit but among the bullshit is some of the best rapping and rap writing of all time. to me. i'd dig out examples but i'm trying to grind out a paper on ge fei. so, fuck it.

after it was written and street's disciple, probably i am.... nas, he's deadly convincing on the murderer shit he does a lot on i am... and then sorta appealingly unconvincing. the album's got some really deep narrative raps that nobody even approaches today (or ever approached). and, shit, even on a bullshit track with dmx or whatever, doing pretty pedestrian shit, the raps are just so, like i said, perfectly written, perfectly tailored and delivered with pure fucking arrogance-- the effect is... nobody else has come close to it, that mean, perfect swagger. and the goofy politics that come out on i am... and foreshadow all the bullshit that comes later... i dig it because it's sincere.

i'll put this here, a track off i am... that's a straight narrative thing:

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

and the dmx one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8o-iGytI8ks

and "ghetto prisoners" because i love it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1X0vEcYLN08

lol this thread was like a fukkin bat signal for dk

not sure I take his love for IWW quite that far, but anyone hating on that album in 2010 goes way past zzzzzzzz into MAN UR RONG territory. 9/10 album imo

yeah when i saw this poll i was kinda like "this is unfair, should be post-IWW albums," the dude who rates Stillmatic AND I Am AND Hip Hop Is Dead over it is fronting

Am I the only one who finds "Rewind" to be pointless? It seems like a discarded gimmick song by some undie rapper. I never understood why people think it's brilliant.

cause he pulls it off better than a gimmicky undie rapper would have?

He just tells a boring story backward.

execution, dude

that nipples like pimples line is absolutely revolting

yeah gross Nas sex talk is so much worse than goofy Nas concept songs. not a big fan of "Rewind" either, but then I'm not sure I've ever gotten totally over my anti-Stillmatic stance from when my roommate in 2001 was a big Nas partisan and I was a Jay fan, even though the 1-2 punch of "One Mic" and "Made You Look" made me finally come around on post-Illmatic Nas in general.

gross Nas sex talk is so much worse than goofy Nas concept songs

^
^
^
^
^

as long as he isn't trying to be sexy or funny post-illmatic nas is aces by me

Ok maybe i'll give It Was Written another spin but I remember not caring for more than a couple tracks (I Give You Power was fire iirc.)

only track that doesn't work is the Dr. Dre one (which doesn't suck per se, but feels way out of place) "The Message", "If I Ruled the World", "Street Dreams", "I Gave You Power" are CLASSIC CLASSIC CLASSIC

it's definitely a solid album. when I first bought it there were hate fumes coming from the Nas populace about it like it was some commercial pap in comparison to Illmatic and I heard it and said "hmm ok same flow same lyricism, more tracks, slightly less compelling beats...what's the deal?".

I mean I hated If I Ruled the World when it came out cuz I retroactively love it - the meter is much different than a lot of the hip hop that was on MTV at the time.

"If I Ruled the World" was the first Nas song I heard. Really the first east coast rap song other than LL Cool J I can think of getting airplay where I grew up around 95/96 when I was first starting to listen to the radio. That was before it got all dominated by Biggie/Puffy/Mase the next year. It really sounded like nothing else I was hearing at that point and it's been one of my favorite songs ever since.

i love "If I Ruled The World" because it sounds like nothing el— https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xq-jANkqpQo

ps, i know what you said/meant, rev, i just thought I'd post some Blow

-se I was hearing at that point.

Sorry if I wasn't up on all my old school rap when I was 10.

so whats your excuse for not being up on Mudhoney? ;)

i'm not trying to zing, i'm just ribbing u a little, tbh

im with dylannn, for whatever reason over the last few years it was written has supplanted illmatic as my default nas album. 'take it in blood' is probably my all-time nas joint.

It Was Written was the first Nas I heard as well. A couple tracks in and 'Street Dreams' is wack as hell. Nas as Scarface listening to the Eurythmpics lols.

Nas as Scarface listening to the Eurythmpics.... LOSS

'Street Dreams' is wack as hell

man fuck u

My man put me up for the share, one-fourth of a square
Headed for Delaware, with one change of gear
Nothin on my mind but the dime sack we blazed
with the glaze in my eye, that we find when we crave
dollars and cents, a fugitive with two attempts
Jakes had no trace of the face, now they drew a print
Though I'm innocent, til proven guilty
I'ma try to get filthy, purchase a club and start up realty
For real G, I'ma fullfill my dream
If I conceal my scheme, then precisely I'll build my cream
the first trip without the clique
Sent the bitch with the quarter brick, this is it
Fresh face, NY plates got a Crooked I for the Jakes
I want it all, ArmorAll Benz and endless papes
God sake, what nigga got to do to make a half million
without the FBI catchin feelings

^^ "wack as hell"

the IWW singles definitely put me off thinking Nas was interesting at all for most of my adolescence until i heard too much about Illmatic to keep ignoring it -- good lyrics but the overall effect of the hooks/samples/videos was kinda lame

I like the hooks/samples/uh.... the "If I Ruled the World" video (yeah, the "Street Dreams" vid is totally wack) but it might help that I didn't get any of the reference points at the time

also probably helps that I had no conception of east coast rap standards for those songs to not live up to. the rap I was used to hearing was melodic and hooky anyways.

yeah it's not like my standards for rap were very evolved yet in '96 either, those songs just didn't grab me much

IWW is dope overall. This thread brings me back to the days of rec.music.hip-hop when everyone went apeshit over how terrible IWW supposedly was and how Nas was a sell-out traitor. (Those folks hated Reasonable Doubt too, but half-heartedly.)

xp to myself: which is probably why a station that was playing strictly west coast/southern/BTNH/r&b/LL Cool J at that point picked it up in the first place. it fit right in in a way that, say, mobb deep would never have.

BTNH?

RESURRECTION

oh duh

even though I am well aware that Stillmatic and God's Son are technically "better" albums

Whiney -- explain?

i've always meant to start a thread or something grandstanding this (possibly challenging) opinion, but Nas albums post-Stillmatic >>>>> Jay albums post-Blueprint

even though I am well aware that Stillmatic and God's Son are technically "better" albums

i mean, Stillmatic has stories, wicked battle raps, and the call-it-a-comeback vibe. God's Son has 'Pac-style poetry. They're way more emotionally affecting than the grumbling of HHID and have touched WAAAAY more rap fans on a sincere and personal level, which is is pretty why we elevate guys like Nas in the first place

i just like Hip Hop Is Dead because the beats are real lithe, throwbacky and it's kind of cranky in a cool way.

I mean, even in 2001, sampling the crappy Sopranos song was CoRnY aS fUcK

the fucking worst theme song of a great show. dude would have been better off sampling the theme from The Nanny...

HE'S THAT BROTHER IN RED WHEN EVERYBODY ELSE IS WEARING TAN

I'd probably vote for God's Stepson, 9th Wonder's reworking of God's Son, if it was an option.

Stillmatic also interpolates the Tears For Fears song that was the theme to the Dennis Miller Show at the time, leading to my theory that Nas was sitting around watching a lot of HBO during the long break between albums

ahahahahaha

too bad he didn't flip Arli$$

Also, Whiney hilariously OTM.

xp

I never had HBO (or heard that Tears For Fears song) until after Stillmatic, so I was just as clueless to those reference points as I had been 5 years earlier. Always dug "Got Urself a Gun" tho.

rev, you do know if you're gonna be a successful critic you have to start pretending like you know everything, not braggin about all the stuff you don't know

personally, i was actually born with a working knowledge of the john zorn discography and all the eighties afropop that didn't appear on Indestructible Beat Of Soweto

I didn't know shit when I was a kid, I do now!

it was written. hhid is a turd

should probably give IWW a listen. I was among those who was convinced by nas stans saying everything inbetween illmatic and stillmatic wasn't worth it

lol @ nas the pharaoh though

it was written. hhid is a turd

― am0n, Tuesday, March 2, 2010 10:59 AM (30 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

u still have a copy of your whirlwind of beef photoshop? i just looked for it but the URL i had doesn't work anymore.

more challopsing xposts but bone thugs suck

nice trolling

u still have a copy of your whirlwind of beef photoshop? i just looked for it but the URL i had doesn't work anymore.

― waka yoga flame (some dude), Tuesday, March 2, 2010 11:31 AM

haha what thread was that on. i'll be bummed if that got lost to the ether (no pun) of the 'net

i'm not even sure, i looked but it doesn't appear to have been on any of the 3 threads about HHID

more challopsing xposts but bone thugs suck

― 80085 (a hoy hoy), Tuesday, March 2, 2010 8:43 AM Bookmark

sb 51 eternal, amirite?

maybe it was a rolling thread. was that 2k6 or 7?

Rolling 2006 Hip Hop Thread

lol

http://www.crailtap.com/c3/newrandoms/1-3-05/hyphy.jpg

ah it was on the sandbox. i must have nuked that flickr acct :(

Rolling Temporary Hip Hop Thread

damn, classic material though

god's son, just for the first three tracks + the alicia keys one and 'revolutionary warfare'

firm slice pies, couple of trife guys in tinted up white 5s

i had the firm cd for forever without bothering to listen to it, but i got the bootleg-ass az/nas duets cd a while ago and the last 20 (out of 60, i think-- another 20 of the 60 are az drops for the no name dj that put it together, then another 10 are remixes of 'life's a bitch'...) tracks are just the firm album.

some of it is CLASSIC nas, like:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sy-s0dCbEYY

nas late 90s super arrogance organized crime raps

JEEPS TAHOE, SHOES BE SALVATORE FERRAGAMO

some of it's good

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ByY849CeNI

and

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKKqKTM7RqQ

az verse is ridiculous

too bad nas wasn't on those bravehearts albums more, or we'd have a consensus pick for worst album.

anyways, here's something with bravehearts with everyone coming pretty credibly on a beautiful beat. i'm feeling this so much right now. this is my soundtrack today. ha, EVERYONE is good on this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rV2uG4nWCzw

sorry for making a mess, posting nas youtubes here, unreleased or guest tracks or whatever, but, you see, i'm generally making a case for post-illmatic nas.

KOOL G RAP FT. NAS AND AZ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOU8RXGQ1LI

and i'm gonna just put this here because we're talking about nas and that's a good enough excuse. this is the realest piece of music i've ever heard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umf0jJSMXnQ

post away man, nothing makes an argument better than aural proof!

i don't think digging nastradamus is some crazy fringe thing. man, it's got some good songs on it. if nas released 'life we chose' or 'project windows' as a single right now, what would it sound like? these still sound really fresh to me, really real. what are the really lame tracks on nastradamus? even 'you owe me' is aight now and it's stuck way at the end of the album so you know it's just the radio song like the lauryn hill one was (also stuck at the end of the record).

come get me (premo beat) <-------- just hope ur favorite rapper's consensus worst album has a track like this on it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpuVaCA8_gg

life we chose <--------- top 10 nas verse, sorta it was written vibe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pL4lLFoDJx4

project windows ft. ron isley <------ sensitive nas shedding tears for the streets, for illmatic loving crew

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JV_-aemTtTc

family ft mobb deep <---------- tinny beats (dame grease), p and havoc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9GPbXllBLc

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dq2aHcDkYkE&NR=1

so i waited with them sigs blat blat blat

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

pretty good results

kinda surprised by the strong showing for HHID, liked it at first but have come to regard as the weakest of his '00s albums

ha weirdly i had HHID on in the car today. it's a good album but it's definitely flawed and corny as hell at times ("who killed it?" in particular has aged even worse than i'd expected). probably liked it more when it came out than i do now.

totally forgot how gay "black republican" is

"esco, what up"
"what up, homie"
[nas and jay grunt and moan in synchrony]
"yeah, that's perfect" [grunts]
[more grunting]
[laughing]

hahaha

i totally don't remember "Black Republican" sounding at all like they were ever in the same room, let alone any "Coming of Age"-style pillow talk

haha it's in the intro, listen to it

that black republicans intro sounds like it was cut and pasted from dj drops and other intros.

preemptive updated "myths nas stans believe" entry:

nas murdered jay on black republicans.

finally checked out I Am. think this one's a little underrated. obv not a patch on God's Son, Stillmatic, or It Was Written but a worthy addition imo