Nas is widely believed to be the victor in his and Jay's clash, and to strengthen their argument, CNN pointed to a 2006 MTV News interview with both spitters, where Jigga acknowledges the Life is Good rapper as "one of the best lyricists ever."
Where Jay stopped short of declaring Nas the one, CNN saw no problem in anointing God's Son. Still Nas is quite sure that there will one day be a new MC to over take his place in the annals of rap, just as many believe he supplanted 1980s icon Rakim.
"There was never a next Rakim. There's only one Rakim, and you can compare people to me, which is a great honor to me, but those guys are really on their path to becoming great Kendricks and greater Lupes," he said. "I think it took years after Illmatic, after my first record, before people started to get used to me and started to get into what I was all about and what the Nas story was."
I know you probably been asked this a million times but do you think Hip-Hop is still dead?Yeah, yeah it is. Yeah, but the new artists that I’m loving they coming from the UK, they coming United States, they coming from all over the world and a few in particular are J. Cole, Jay Electronica. I’m really into them and I’m excited for Lupe Fiasco’s new album ‘Lasers’ and Raekwon’s new album so the spirit of Hip-Hop is alive and well. The spirit is, can’t kill the spirit.
| While in the midst of listening to "It Was Written" as a teen I was completely unaware of the existence of "Illmatic"...I remember some dudes beating a song in a car that sounded like a Nas song and I asked my homey what was that and he was like "Its from Nas 1st album"...then on a trip to my sisters college I was in her boyfriends dorm room and he had a poster of the "Illmatic" cover and I was like what is that and he was like "that's Nas 1st album" and just so happened he had a copy (he also had a copy of "The Infamous" which is another story altogether...Yeah Prodigy...Mobb Deep played a big part in the evolution of Lupe)...So I puts "Illmatic" inside the CD Walkman, strap on the headphones and proceeded to have my life changed forever... It became my soundtrack for a time...all day everyday, everywhere...along with "IWW"...time passes..."The Firm" drops, memorized the damn thing and then named myself from it...time passes...one faithful day I was at my sisters house and was watching BET don't remember the exact show but probably Rap City...and who do I see sitting on the project steps in the pea-soup green flight suit (I HAD THE JACKET!!!) with the big ass QB chain then cuts to the bathroom with him rapping to himself in the mirror with Premo in the living room on the wheels of steel???... NEW NAS???...WTF???...yup "Nas Is Like"...consider that memorized, consider that instrumental copped and rocked to at the High School Talent Show..."I Am" drops...heard "Hate Me Now" on WGCI that same night asked Pops (R.I.P.) to take me to Circuit City where I copped the King Tut covered imperfect masterpiece and first heard the odd line that still sticks with me to this day... "Heard Her Body Guard Took Snook To God" - "Small World"...go figure...I love that line...live with it....memorize it...life soundtrack status...but there were songs that just seemed like filler...hmmm...in the booklet there is a picture of the next album..."Nastradamus"...and I patiently begin to wait...time passes...some how, some way a copy of the bootleg of "Nastradamus" gets into my possession and it is a classic..."Belly Button Window" "Poppa Was A Playa" the original "Project Windows" yup...yet another life soundtrack...(I kept it for a long time and eventually gave it to Stacks Bundles (R.I.P.) and he took it back to NY with him and I never saw it again...I was heartbroken)... when the official version of "Nastradamus" dropped I was super excited when the lead off joint "Life We Chose" blazed though the speakers of my little stereo..."Come Get Me" was ridiculous and a few others but it wasn't sticking like the other albums and some of the heatrocks that were on the bootleg weren't on the official version...it didn't have the life soundtrack effect like the other albums...its wasn't great...I didn't feel it as much..Damn!!! OH NO!!! Was Nas Falling Off?!???!!!???...Damn....I started to question...then something magical happened...The Beef With The BIg Homey!!!!...OHHHH SHHHIIIITTT...I was front row...Jay had just finished "Takeover" and we were some of the first to hear it at Bassline and it was murderous...I was like its over...Nas is finished...Yeah I counted him out...I was like he cant come back from that...I remember the only person in my circle that had faith in Nas was Stacks' Uncle...and he was like watch...just watch... and sho nuff...a little while later back in Chicago...one night our cell phones exploded with 212, 718, 347 & 646 area codes...New York was on fire!!!...The "Ether" dropped...and Jesus was it a comeback!!!...then one word reigned supreme "STILLMATIC"...with the strings crying and the words "Blood Of A Slave, Heart Of A King" resonating in the X5...YUP!!!...Nas was back!!!...I swayed from the flock but now I was back with a vengeance..."Rewind" "2nd Childhood" "Rule" and the crown jewel "What Goes Around"...soundtrack to my life stuff...then another chink in the armor..."God's Son"...I honestly didn't like it...coming after "Stillmatic" I was like damn...what happened?...(R.I.P. Mrs. Jones...thanx for giving us a light in the darkness via your son)... I take it on the chin with the knowledge now to never count out Mr. Jones...and he does not let down...he roars back with the double whammy "Street's Disciple"..."U.B.R. The Unauthorized Biography Of Rakim" is all that I needed to be more than impressed...FUCK!!!...excuse my french...then comes the statement that pissed off hip-hop and sent niggaz back to the stu to prove him wrong "Hip-Hop Is Dead"...it had a few...wasn't glorious...wasn't really moving...but good...damn Nas...I started to question again...I started to doubt..."NIGGER" (yeah I still call it Nigger...Fuck the press!!!)...really???...this nigga is naming his new shit "Nigger"???...hmmm...interesting...publicity stunt?...of course it is...did it work?...hell yeah!...people were pissed...it was great publicity wise...but the music, the message...would it be that "soundtrack to life", thought provoking, undeniably revolutionary, conceptually impeccable, stunning, invigorating, inspiring, down right send-you-back-to-the-drawing-board quality PIFF!!! that N-A-S is capable of ????????????.................. I avoided buying it...I avoided watching the videos online....I avoided downloading any of the leaked music...I was scared...I put it out of my mind...I refused to participate.......I was afraid it wouldn't be............until today...............and the answer to the longwinded question is...... |
New Nas album in stores now!!!
N*E*R*D - Spaz
