Honestly what Vlad says holds very little interest to me, his channel has some good interviews but when it comes to credible opinions on Hip Hop he's not somebody I give that to or take seriously.
Dj Vlad tells Charlamagne that "Illmatic" is Nas only good album
- Thread starter FreshAIG
- Start date
Vlad is absolutely right. And if y'all can't see it, we listen to hip hop very differently. Notice he's the only one who actually explains why Illmatic is way better (hunger and honesty) while Charlec00n pretends to be a hip hop fan, and says dumb shyt like "Hate Me Now".
Nas is my favorite rapper ever. His only classic is Illmatic. It's clear as day. He's had a lot of classic songs since then, but no classic albums. Lost Tapes is the 2nd best album in his discog and has classic tracks but as a whole isn't classic.
Ironically, if you add all the classic unreleased and studio released songs together, Nas has the best beat selection/discog in rap history.
Nas is my favorite rapper ever. His only classic is Illmatic. It's clear as day. He's had a lot of classic songs since then, but no classic albums. Lost Tapes is the 2nd best album in his discog and has classic tracks but as a whole isn't classic.
Ironically, if you add all the classic unreleased and studio released songs together, Nas has the best beat selection/discog in rap history.
Obviously its a generalization, but its based off observations, reading magazines and convos I've had with heads older than me.
If you follow the blogger Dart Adams on twitter he has talked about this before. Your opinion of Nas depends a lot on what your first Nas album was.If your first Nas album was Illmatic, then you probably think It Was Written was a step down and Nas fell off after that. If your first Nas album was It Was Written (or something later) and THEN you heard Illmatic...then you probably think Nas is amazing.
Illmatic didn't go platinum until the 2000s, but It Was Written was double platinum in 97, so a lot people became Nas fans after he was a already a mainstream star but a lot of his original fans think he fell off/sold out.
I started reading hip hop magazines in 1997/98 (mostly Vibe
cuz thats what my sister bought). And I always noticed that the older heads that wrote for the magazines ALWAYS had some negative shyt to say about Nas. Nas has maintained a STRONG core fanbase through his whole career which has always made him relevant. But other than a brief period after Ether (like 1 year tops), he didn't really start getting love again until like 2009....
The point is there is an argument for it being his best record. Regardless if you agree or not, you can make a strong case for it being his best song
The War Report
NewNewYork
The World is Yours is top 5.
2 vultures in agreement, no suprise.
act like stillmatic, the lost tapes, Untitled, god son, I'am, LFIG , and IT WAS WRITTEN don't exist brehs
Talk like that, and you bound to get stomped out. Nasir da Gawd is a household Hip Hop legend and Vlad would get stomped out to death if he said that to the public.
TransJenner
Banned
I mean Vlad is right 
infamousred
All Star
If its a great album then I shouldn't be skipping multiple tracks through out said album. I can't listen to any nas albums from front to back besides illmatic and lost tapes.
BigL187
MOPAO
this nikka vlad is smoking crack
The War Report
NewNewYork
If OP is quoting him correctly, then Illmatic is not the only "good" album Nas put out. If you're talking about an album that is genre changing, then Illmatic would be the only album. But how many people can even put a "good" album let alone a genre changing album?
Nope, Jay-Z is undeniably as great of a rapper as he is by any metric.
And Jay Z isnt as boring as him
ManBearPig
half man half bearpig
How It Was Wriiten wasn't great?
Seriously.
I loved God's Son and LIG but I can somewhat see how people not claiming it as traffic albums.
Stillmatic and IWW werr great and theres no other way around that
Seriously.
I loved God's Son and LIG but I can somewhat see how people not claiming it as traffic albums.
Stillmatic and IWW werr great and theres no other way around that
Life is Good
All Star
Nas is laughing at the haters with 8 solo platinum/multi-platinum albums in the United States alone and 22 years after his debut album he is still lyrically STRONG!
Last edited: