šŸŽµ How Good Are They Really šŸŽµ Nas

illmatic is perfect, it was written isnā€™t far off, has a couple of other decent albums. begrudging 5/5 for the cloth-eared idiot.

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despite being a hiphop geezer have tried so many times with him, but i really donā€™t get what it is that people love so much about illmatic. i honestly find it so middle of the road and basically a bit boring. obviously extremely subjective and itā€™s me thatā€™s missing out. itā€™s from an era of hiphop that i donā€™t like that much as well, guess itā€™s just an overall sound i canā€™t get on board with.

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whereas this, i love

Also canā€™t be bothered lavishing praise on Illmatic again so Iā€™ll pick up on his new stuff a bit.

Yeah, definitely this. I find it confusing because Kingā€™s Disease II is such a competent album, almost startlingly so from someone whoā€™s made so many bad musical choices over his career. Musically his best record since at least Stillmatic/Godā€™s Son for me. The beats are good, he nails the flows over different types of tracks, he finds a good balance between his 90s rap lane and current trends, with the exception of maybe Brunch on Sundays there are none of the real cringe worthy clangers his albums are known for, none of the bewildering efforts at chart hits.

AND YET, I still find I have close to no interest in listening to what he says. I think with a rapper you need to be invested in the person, or the persona being portrayed. When youā€™re not their raps are diluted. Think itā€™s the same as for Kanye on Donda, heā€™s rapping again, but does anyone really care anymore? Ye just fades into the background a lot of the time. As does Nas does on every album for me, even if heā€™s near enough the only voice on it, even if he delivers a great performance on the mic. As you say, the magic is long gone, and a lot of that is because of consistent let downs both in terms of the music and the man behind it.

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best song imo

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Illmatic just never clicked for me. No idea why and I appreciate that Iā€™m wrong, but it never grabbed me. Never checked anything else out as his undisputed classic left me cold. Plus he seems to be a horrorshow of a human being.

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Fully agreed. Second verse is the pinnacle of rap for me.

I always think there are three elements that I latch onto with rappers and I need any combination of two of the three to enjoy (with the holy trinity being the God tier stuff)

  1. Technique and flow
  2. Having something to say
  3. Cool fucking voice

Nas hits the trinity early on but never again for me.

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Iā€™d add 4. beat selection to that as well, which is the area he fell off the hardest

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Yeah, for sure. I was talking purely in ā€œart of MCingā€ terms but thatā€™s the other key thing innit

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im guessing youā€™re up on this but just in case notā€¦ premier has been doing a little dive into some of his biggest tracks and the series is really good

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I love Preemoā€™s voice so much. Wonder if he ever tried his hand at rapping in his youth.

lol of course nas wanted the other version

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sad lol

Kind of wild to me thatā€™s the same vocal take as well. That track is all about how fucking locked in he is to the pocket of that beat, kind of destroyed a bit of the allure knowing that he was rapping over something else initially.

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Liked both Kingā€™s Diseases a good amount, but mostly as fun catchy distractions rather than significant new albums by an all time artist

Think I get more into Illmatic the more I listen to it, it wasnā€™t one of the ones I fully latched onto when I first got into rap (unlike 36C or Outkast) so itā€™s still got a lot more to give me I think. AZ with the best guest verse of all time maybe? (AZ also gets a 4)

A couple of lesser known favs - think the beat to Queens is pretty wild and unique

yah an all time great raspy voice, trying to think what rapper has a smilar voice? maybe jadakiss a bit?

could say it helped start a wave. roc marciano types kinda took off w that no drum sound.

Ja Rule.

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Sticky Fingaz from Onyx maybe?

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