Battle Of New York: Jay-Z vs. Nas

[showtimekid13]

who's better

 

[smangalang]

 

[jmansmc23]

Are you asking overall, right now, certain time periods?

 

[Hahahaha]

Nasir

 

[str8hood]

This is a never-ending argument. Queens vs. Brooklyn, etc.

Set up a POLL and let's see...

I vote Jay-Z

 

[cj863]

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[hypebeast mcstreetwear]

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[Mound Raised]

Nasir

 

[mossman1975]

Nas all day

 

[mjpaftermath04]

Nas all day

 

[young handsome]

Jay all day

 

[antidope]

This shouldnt even be a question. JAY-Z and its not even close

 

[ravagebx]

This argument is very very tired. Both are all time greats. Nas is the greatest lyricist of all time. However ALL things considered Jay is undeniably the GOAT imo. He just fills way more lanes than Nas and does so at a high level. If you wanted to throw a party today you could purely off Jay songs. Can't say the same for Nas. If you tallied classic features Nas would lose again. Mainstream success, Jay. Impact, Jay again. He has become the standard for what a rapper can accomplish. Sold out shows overseas headlining festivals traditionally reserved for other genres. Selling out stateside venues that never opened their doors to rap before. Etc. And his music remains quality and relevant. For the hardcore hip hop head who just wants ill lyrics and good to great songs Nas is the guy. For the hip hop head who wants it all, its Jay.

 

[Hahahaha]

This shouldnt even be a question. JAY-Z and its not even close

Don't understand how people can think like this. Jay hasn't had a lyrical album since Vol.1 Everything else is commercial with 3-4 lyrical tracks.

Vol. 2 MAD commercial, big fan
Vol, 3 MAD commercial, it was straight
Dynasty solid album. Still pretty commercial though. Some great lyrical joints on here though.
Blueprint is his best album, production is what really makes this album
Blueprint 2 is the definition of filler
Kingdom Come is one of the worst albums of all time.
Black Album, never got into it. Production sounds the same after awhile.
American Gangster, solid. His best album since Blueprint
Blueprint 3 is nice but all that I'm filthy rich and I have so much money that I'm talking about **** you don't know about got old fast.

 

[shorty doo wop]

I'm not even going to post this will NEVER end

 

[heshua]

Pretty much. I think Jay is better than Nas personally, but I can see why someone would like Nas more so it's whatever to me. Also, Nas raps a lot about having money, slaying pretty women, riding in nice cars etc as well, so i dont know what some people are talking about.

 

[fazar89]

this is never brooklyn vs Queens, Im a brooklyn boy, but i **** with nas more then jay z. if you listen closely to there lyrics, nas rarely has bad lyrics but jay z says some stupid **** from time to time which makes :x. And just to be fair the Dynasty ablum was not a solo project from jay, it was the entire roc. but at the end it was BIggie who was the best, even with just 2 albums.
BIGGIE and Big L type for first pace.

 

[nationaltruckerdave]

These threads never end well

 

[mastamind033]

Jumping back in the Delorean to 2001 I see, makes me feel like I'm back in high school. :\ Anyways, I think Nas is the superior MC but it really just comes down to preference and these vs. threads never work out.

 

[King of Trash Style]

Illmatic>Reasonable Doubt..but Jay-Z has had the better career

 

[goldenchild9]

Nas is a much better lyricist, not even comparable really. He's much more poetic.

Jay is a faaar superior songmaker.

I listen to both of their discographies weekly and it still startles me every time how much more lyrical Nas is and how much more accessible Jay is.

B.I.G. was better than both.

Had Jay's charisma and hit making ability with an elite level of lyricality that was easy for everyone to absorb.

 

[memphisboi55]

OVERALL....

I would rather listen to jay's catalog.

 

[antidope]

This shouldnt even be a question. JAY-Z and its not even close

Don't understand how people can think like this. Jay hasn't had a lyrical album since Vol.1 Everything else is commercial with 3-4 lyrical tracks.

Vol. 2 MAD commercial, big fan
Vol, 3 MAD commercial, it was straight
Dynasty solid album. Still pretty commercial though. Some great lyrical joints on here though.
Blueprint is his best album, production is what really makes this album
Blueprint 2 is the definition of filler
Kingdom Come is one of the worst albums of all time.
Black Album, never got into it. Production sounds the same after awhile.
American Gangster, solid. His best album since Blueprint
Blueprint 3 is nice but all that I'm filthy rich and I have so much money that I'm talking about **** you don't know about got old fast.

Oh. Wasnt aware that subject matter was the end all be all. Guess we should laud Nas for being diverse with his subject matter to the point of being contradictory every other song. Black Girl Lost and Shorty Owes him for ice dude. Because the world NEEDS to hear Nas be a psuedo intellectual and talk about the plight of others, yet never coming out his way to actually do anything about it. I could be wrong but I've never heard about Nas doing anything Philanthropic, only talking about it a ton, and a lot of good that does. Guess every rapper that doesnt use every one of their bars trying to let the world know how smart they are is wasting their time on the mic. Nothings wrong with the subject matter IMO

I really have no interest in breaking down that guys "catalog" so I'm just going to respond to the quite frankly disrespectful comments you just laid down about those JAY-Z albums.

Vol 2. Yeah it was so? It was a great album just like you said. First JAY album I ever got and if it wasnt for it, who knew if I would have been a fan. He needed to broaden his scope so people could see how truly nice he was

Vol 3 wasn't mad commercial to me, IMO it was the perfect blend of commercialism and street rap. It was good for any kind of listener.

BP1 was his best album IMO, but it wasn't the production that made it, it was a total package type deal. 

The Dynasty was a very good album, you're looking for non commercial songs how did you not find them there? Where Have You Been, Soon You'll Understand, This Cant Be life? Some of the most heartfelt JAY-Z lyrics were on those tracks that can and will make you sad when you hear them.

BP2 THE GIFT was the definition of filler, not the Curse. You really have to separate them cause they were two totally different albums. In fact he was one of the few rappers who put out a double disc, claimed that they would sound different from each other, and they actually did.

Kingdom Come, I was just talking about this album today, it wasn't a bad album, it was just a sub par JAY-Z album. That "bad JAY-Z Album" would be the majority of artists greatest album.

Black Album, how could you not get into this? Its one of my favorite JAY-Z albums and is the epitome of rap story telling. From song 1 to 14 it told a story and it was great.

American Gangster did the same thing and I agree it was great.

BP3 also falls into my "perfect mix of commercialism and street rap" category. Every song on that album could have been a single, and yet, you can still throw on some headphones and vibe to any of them and get that "this is real rap" feel out of them. Nothing wrong with that album at all.

Like I said previously JAY-Z is better than Nas and it isnt even close. Then again hes the GOAT so that should be a given. 

 

[fudgemoney24]

To me, Jay-Z

But I guess I'm biased because he's my favorite musical artist

 

[the bad guy]

Originally Posted by HypeBeast McStreetwear  

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