Better MC Rakim vs Nas

[Rakim Allah]

i have listened to his full catalog. he raps about rapping a lot.

So what, that's an art within itself. But he also has plenty of varied subject matter throughout his catalog.

 

[Trajan]

Nas

Come on now. Don't let nostalgia cloud your judgement.

Nas does so many things effortlessly. From amazing story telling tracks, pure rhyming to exquisite concepts.

His discography is up there with the best.

He has been on the rap mainstream for over two decades.

Nastradamus.

 

[Adidastar]

I voted Nas........came up on Rakim and he's 4th in my top 5. Personally, I think he should be mandatory Top 5 for anybody 35 and over because of what he did to revolutionize the mechanics or rapping. Many people today say that his main knock is he didn't "evolve' but how does one do that when he is in fact the evolution? I connected more with KRS and Kane as a teenager but I don't think they are mandatory----maybe Kris was a lil too preachy and self-aggrandizing for some---maybe Kane went too mainstream too early for others----Rakim got respect in all corners of Hip Hip, in all regions. EVERYBODY rocked with Paid In Full. I Got Soul came on at any party and it was goin down---LA, Chicago, New Orleans--where ever. The thing about Rakim is unless you were from NY and study lessons and mastered 120, you didn't even know half of what he was spittin about---but it was still COLD.

With that said, Nas is my favorite artist period. He's had his missteps but they all do. He's poetic and at times profound with it. I think the Ra comparisons come from the depth of their writing but that's about it. Like someone said earlier, Nas seemed more like a descendant from the G Rap tree. But even that may not be completely accurate and here is why: "Before Nas, every emcee focused on rhyming with a cadence that ultimately put the words that rhymed on beat with the snare drum. Nas created a style of rapping that was more conversational than ever before...Nas....changed the way most rappers that came after him would rhyme." Kool Moe Dee--There's A God On The Mic. He said that Kris did it a little but Nas basically made it a staple. This, even tho Kool G Rap was already 4 albums deep. But Moe Dee has the credibility to speak from a technical aspect and historically so his word carries weight with me.

 

[Mike Otherz]

also, i fks with Follow The Leader more than Paid in Full. Lyrics Of Fury, Microphone Fiend, FTL title track. Rakims technique on that album is unsurpassable. Especially when you consider the time he did it.

 

[Art Barr]

young cats sound outdated to me. They're rappin like pre Melle Mel/Caz/Moe D era.

thank you,...

all the new rappers are offkey and wack now.

that comes from not having a gen that recognized the pillar of emcee'n.

or what rakim brought to the table and stands as a technical rubrick.


art barr

 

[Art Barr]

To be honest I disovered nas on the late, like I knew him since if I ruled the world and nas is like, but the first album i heard from him was stillmatic. But since then, I was so passionate with the mc that I studied everything about his albums, how they were recieved and all of that. I know that people hated iww and hate me now, and thought he reached rock bottom with nastradamus.

But like you say he's maybe the antechrist of this shyt. Personnaly I don't believe so. But let's admit I go with that. To me it would be kind of the fall of lucifer story, beautiful angel or golden child as you say who fall out the sky to become the devil. In the way I find this as beautiful as well in a tragic kind of way cause that's a part of history, cause you can't take that part of the holy book. Like Romeo and Juliet or the real little mermaid story, the story ends in a bad way but it still beautiful anyway
That reminds me of a line nas said on "blunt ashes"

"And I wouldn't change a thing, mistakes of the greats
This is what came from their pain
From their hurt we gain, an unfair exchange"

Nas is that kind of genius that lost his way personaly and musically at some point, but to me that helped reinforced his music and made it stronger. Tracks like black zombie, rise and fall or drunk by myself wouldn't have seen the light of the day if Nas was still the perfect herald of his genra. And i'm still conviced that he would have disappeared if he had tried to follow the lane of illmatic with his second album, he would have been az or ac status by now. To make a perfect example, I will take masta ace, the guy dropped quality music so far, never a flaw in his discography but yet none of his album have the grandeur, ambition, depht and mystique that nas' album have, they're good, but kinda flat. Each nas album tells us a story about how the man his an giant with an achilles' heel. That's why Nas albums are ones of the most scrutinezed albums by the fans, you always find a way to improve his albums with the unrealeased joints because it's like he's dropping raw diamonds to play with and we need to polish it

if you weren't cognitive, when nas came out.

it would be hard for you to culturally understand the magnitude of what nas did.

when he soldout on iww,...by the time, that occurred.

he had ruined any hope of the culture winning the battle it was in.

nas wounded the protection mechanism so mortally,.....it did not take puff much to wield excalibur and give the culture it's killing stroke.

which is exactly where we are now,...

on hate me now,..

nas went back to the scene where he mortally wounded the culture protection mechanism. f

found and followed the trail where hiphop was crawling away.

seeking survival from its mortal wounds and going through decompose'n.

then, nas pissed and contaminated the last remaining germ culture of dna remaining for hiphop.

nas pretty much found where the culture could have possibly been revived and tampered the small dna culture left.

that is how serious it was,...then later, duped the noob gateway public into thinking.

a whole host of names where possibly the culprits for hiphop's death.

that is how masterful of a mastermind nas was in killing hiphop.

the same way anakin was supposedly killed by vader in lore. yet obi won lied to luke to keep him from the truth. till he needed to be told by the proper party. except in this situation,..there is no luke and no obi won either.

just nas as the soul stirring vocals of james earl jones as vader.


pretty much what has to happen now is starchasers has to play out.

some true caring slave has to find the hilt with no blade,.…
when not to many people know of this movie to begin,.....


Art Barr

 

[Art Barr]

I voted Nas........came up on Rakim and he's 4th in my top 5. Personally, I think he should be mandatory Top 5 for anybody 35 and over because of what he did to revolutionize the mechanics or rapping. Many people today say that his main knock is he didn't "evolve' but how does one do that when he is in fact the evolution? I connected more with KRS and Kane as a teenager but I don't think they are mandatory----maybe Kris was a lil too preachy and self-aggrandizing for some---maybe Kane went too mainstream too early for others----Rakim got respect in all corners of Hip Hip, in all regions. EVERYBODY rocked with Paid In Full. I Got Soul came on at any party and it was goin down---LA, Chicago, New Orleans--where ever. The thing about Rakim is unless you were from NY and study lessons and mastered 120, you didn't even know half of what he was spittin about---but it was still COLD.

With that said, Nas is my favorite artist period. He's had his missteps but they all do. He's poetic and at times profound with it. I think the Ra comparisons come from the depth of their writing but that's about it. Like someone said earlier, Nas seemed more like a descendant from the G Rap tree. But even that may not be completely accurate and here is why: "Before Nas, every emcee focused on rhyming with a cadence that ultimately put the words that rhymed on beat with the snare drum. Nas created a style of rapping that was more conversational than ever before...Nas....changed the way most rappers that came after him would rhyme." Kool Moe Dee--There's A God On The Mic. He said that Kris did it a little but Nas basically made it a staple. This, even tho Kool G Rap was already 4 albums deep. But Moe Dee has the credibility to speak from a technical aspect and historically so his word carries weight with me.

moe dee isn't factually credible.

as he ducked the battle with silver fox..

then attacked silver fox's young herald and was soon dispatched.

so i really don't give him cred aa this great guy.

as he would have been slayed in his day.

by argueably one of the most complete ahead of his time emcees in silver fox.

anyway when it cimes to nas,..he never worked up all his skills. plus evident by his inability to technically master different sonic landscapes. he definstley isn't not better than rakim now either.

as seventh seal again showed why rakim was the second all time emcee in the history of emcee'n.

nobody is touching krs still though,.....


art barr

 

[The_Third_Man]

Another poster who has NEVER listened to Rakim's discography...if you REALLY have this nonsense wouldn't have spewed out!!

Do you know me?

I ain't no joke
I know you got soul
Move the crowd
as the rhymes goes on
My Melody
Eric b is president
Mircophone fiend
lyrics of fury
Musical Massacre
Put Your Hands Together
the R
No Competition

Thats just off Ra's (short) first 2 albums.

 

[Rakim Allah]

Do you know me?

I ain't no joke
I know you got soul
Move the crowd
as the rhymes goes on
My Melody
Eric b is president
Mircophone fiend
lyrics of fury
Musical Massacre
Put Your Hands Together
the R
No Competition

Thats just off Ra's (short) first 2 albums.

That's just that, his 1st 2 albums. He has touched on many different topics since Follow Leader.

What U know an EMCEE speaking on EMCEEin!! Appreciation for showcasing your technical skills have become a lost art esp on Hip Hop fans who started listen to Hip Hop in the 90s/00s.

All those songs are classic Hip Hop single/album cuts. I don't see the problem. I guess cause Nas is not great at making songs about EMCEEing.

Here are plenty of songs where Ra speaks on a different topics

Paid In Full
Follow The Leader
In The Ghetto
Mahogany
Set Em Straight
Friends(Jody Watley)
What's On Your Mind
Teach The Children
Casualties of War
Rest Assured
Juice(Know The Ledge)
What's Goin On
Keep The Beat
New York
Remember That
Stay Awhile
Show Me Love
Mystery(Who Is God)
Finest Ones
Uplift
I'll Be There
Strong Island
Waiting For The World To End
Walk These Streets
Documentary of A Gangsta
Man Above
You And I
Holy Are U
Won't Be Long
Workin For U
Message In The Song
Dedicated
Psychic Love
Put It All To Music
Hip Hop
Living For The City
After U Die
Welcome To The Hood
New York City
Love 4 Sale
Last Resort
Man With A Gun
Various Shades of Black
Hoodlum
Run

 

[prophecypro]

Nas

 

[Pop123]

young cats sound outdated to me. They're rappin like pre Melle Mel/Caz/Moe D era.

HAHAHAHAHA, i was just sayin this to my barber last week, these new dudes all sound like goofy versions of mid-80's mc's. that is absolutely horrible considering this is damn near 30 years later, lol, how are rappers in 2012 lyrically on the same level as the n!ggas in 85? . rakim in 87 sounds like a time traveler from the future lyrically compared to 80% of the rappers on today's radio

 

[Rakim Allah]

HAHAHAHAHA, i was just sayin this to my barber last week, these new dudes all sound like goofy versions of mid-80's mc's. that is absolutely horrible considering this is damn near 30 years later, lol, how are rappers in 2012 lyrically on the same level as the n!ggas in 85? . rakim in 87 sounds like a time traveler from the future lyrically compared to 80% of the rappers on today's radio

1985 EMCEEs sh1t on the majority of the rappers now. The T-La Rocks, Silver Foxs, LLs, Ice Ts, MC Ricky Ds, Kool Moe Dees, Kangol Kids, Doctor ICEs and so on.

I was speaking on new booty rappers being more like EMCEEs that really didn't rap/rhyme that good technically but rocked the party in the mid to late 70s(B4 Melle Mel/Caz/Moe D). Nothing wrong with that but when damn near EVERYONE(besides a select few) sounding devolved it is depressing.

 

[Rakim Allah]

My composition, composed in critical conditions
Lyrical ambitions to slaaam competition
Dealing with realism projected on a record
Now who got the ruggedest style...Check It - Rakim

 

[Rakim Allah]

Many ways to say the unsaid
Born with 3 7s in my head
Artifacts with smarter raps on harder tracks
Don't even bother black cuzz I give em heart attacks
I leave old rhymin EMCEES
With alzheimer's disease
Gotta em losin they mind to make these - Rakim

 

[Rakim Allah]

I manifest and compress black steel by the fist full
Apply pressure like a pitbull and and grip til
I crush microphones with my bare hands
Stretch your attention span cuzz it takes time to understand
I don't like my elements to be elementary
When I indent then I invent will be permanently
I got the mind to stand the test of time
Leave ya staring in between the lines...Tryin To Write Rhymes - Rakim