Militant said:

it is somewhat.....but consistency doens always mean quality. ask jay-z.

junebug18 said:

When I said consistency.....I meant consistency as in continued greatness.....not just overall quantity. I agree, Jay-Z releases albums regularly but many are sub-par.

But the people you mentioned...wow. There was a time where Nas would be in my Top 5, but IMO he has only ever made two GREAT albums - illmatic and stillmatic.
I enjoy it was written and god's son as well.....but he has dropped some really crap albums.....nastradamus....i am.....hip hop is dead.....untitled.....no consistency there at all.

as for rakim and krs, neither of them has made a good album in over a decade and they haven't been truly great since the 80's....

young mc. or the sugarhill gang.

Militant said:

i agree with what you saying bout rakim and krs but what they have done for hiphop qualify them for a high ranking IMO. their rhyming style, innovation, the albums they released in their time ("by all means", "paid in full" etc.) were the blueprint for what we have today for many artist including nas and jay.


as for nas, 'it was written' is a great album (4.5 mics). 'untitled' is good too, hip hip is dead is good, 'i am' was okay and 'nastradamus' is weak, (yes we all know that one lol), to me, two weak albums from 1994-2008 to me is not bad at all.

and even though the lost tapes wasnt an "album", its still a great release as well.

just like whitney houston....all her good material is her older stuff and while her newer stuff is nothing special, she is still one of the all time female greatest R&B singers as far as what she has done in her time....

another example is the roots (whom i love). they have showed consistency in released good material since the mid 90s to their most recent rising down album last year, but then again, is black thought the greatest rapper of all time? he's real nice, but not "the greatest"...very underrated though.

i really cant think of too many rappers that have shown consistency in releasing quality material for more than a decade til this date.

Krs-1

2pac.

junebug18 said:

It really depends on if you look at artists selectively or judge their entire careers.

I don't agree that "It Was Written" is a great album. It has some stellar moments "The Message", "Street Dreams", "Take It In Blood", "Affirmative Action", "If I Ruled The World", but it has a lot of crap as well - "Nas is Coming", "The Set Up", "Black Girl Lost", "Shootouts" and "Silent Murder" never get any play from me when I'm listening to Nas. The tracks I didn't mention are somewhere in between. Sure, The Source might have given it 4.5 mics but it doesn't deserve in my opinion. 4.5 mics means if Illmatic is a 100% perfect album then It Was Written is 90%, and I don't know any Nas fan that would agree with that.

"Untitled" and "Hip Hop Is Dead" did absolutely nothing for me, bar maybe 2 or 3 tracks on each release. The last Nas album I really enjoyed was "Street's Disciple".

I agree that "The Lost Tapes" was awesome. Why those tracks didn't make Nastradamus/I Am is completely beyond me.

Scarface to me is a million times better than Nas, because although he's arguably only made two classic albums - "The Diary" and "The Fix" (add Geto Boys 'We Can't Be Stopped' to that), all of his releases are generally pretty damn good.

I know that I can pick up anything Scarface releases and enjoy it. I used to feel that way about Nas, but like I said - I haven't really enjoyed anything he's done since Street's Disciple. I used to rush to buy a Nas album on release day.....but he doesn't excite me anymore....

Militant said:

I really dig Scarface but is it his "rapping" of those hard core beats?

There's no such thing as the "best rapper in history."

But, Nas is my favorite. Very poetic.

Since we're talking about "In HISTORY", I think I'm gonna go with this dude:

nurseV said:

He's not my favorite, but I gotta give it to him.

BlaqueKnight said:

Didn't big pun have a beef with that nigga.

voyevoda said:

lol.....

Graycap23 said:

His rapping. I think Scarface has the ability to paint pictures more so than 99% of rappers. He really creates the scene vividly in your mind with his words and flows.

perfect example:

Graycap23 said:

Hahahah that was a good one!

Timmy84 said:

THIS^ correct answer should've ended this thread on page 1.

Tony Mortimer fo' sho'.

Militant said:

"Nas is coming" is the only song Id say is "crap" on IWW. "Black Girl Lost", "Shootouts" etc. are all avg or better. And what about "Take It In Blood"? "Affirmative Action"? "I Gave You Power" (my fav)? All stellar joints homie.

Streets Disciple tho is Nas 2nd worst album to me. Way too much filler and that album was all over the place. Not to mention he picked the wrong singles to release (well, he does this on almost all his albums lol)

Scarface is one of my favs too (greatest rapper from the south) but id put him in the top 10 off all time. he's consistent, put outs good material etc. and yes he has two classic. I will say though The Fix is better than any Nas album this decade besides Stillmatic. But he aint better than Nas IMO. I see what you mean though. I havent been "exited" to get a Nas album either, but his most recent releases (HHID, Untitled, The N!gger Tape etc.) are all at least avg IMO.

Graycap23 said:

junebug18 said:

Scarface doesn't have a record better than "Illmatic", although "The Diary" comes pretty motherfuckin' close, so Nas beats him there. But overall, looking at the entire careers of both of them, I prefer 'Face and absolutely makes it into my Top 5 list whereas Nas would probably just miss out and come in at number 6, lol.

I agree that Street's Disciple had a lot of filler, but I think the really good material on there like "Sekou's Story" and "Live Now". for example is up there with the best stuff Nas has done in this decade. And how could I forget - "Just A Moment" - one of my favorite Nas songs EVER.

I mentioned "Take It In Blood" and "Affirmative Action" as being two of the truly excellent tracks from "It Was Written".

"I Gave You Power" is mad over-rated IMO. The whole gun/person metaphor was done a lot better by 'Pac on "Me & My Girlfriend".

"Black Girl Lost" and "Shootouts" are very uninspired IMO. And yeah "Nas Is Coming" is complete trash.

I think Nas just disappoints me the most because he's proven himself as being so amazing, on rare occasions, but most of the time it's like he's not even trying. I remember running to get Nas albums on release day. I remember copping "Stillmatic" on release day and getting the original pressing with the song "Braveheart Party" which got removed after the original pressing because Mary J Blige didn't want it on the album.

The last two Nas albums have almost been a parody of himself.

Man this discussion got me listening to Nas again after a long time, lol. I mean I bump Illmatic on the regular, but most of his other albums haven't gotten much play from me in a long time, lol.
[Edited 10/12/09 18:57pm]

btw, junebug, I dunno if you heard this joint before, but it's one of my favorite Nas joints of all time. It's unreleased.

"The Second Coming"

mf doom

/thread

voyevoda said:

No, but Joni Mitchell did. She even dared to question that dude's manhood.

Gonna piss everyone off and go with Jay Z.