I always felt the narrative that "Nas is a bad beat picker" to be overstated. Does he have questionable picks? Yes. But overall, I'd say he is solid and the beats complement his rhymes for the most part and lets not act like Nas hasn't rapped over some of Hip Hop's best beats
People start the conversation on Nas' beats from the wrong perspective. They're comparing his production to Jay's and other nikkas that run more in the pop lane. Nas is a poet, he picks beats that allow give him the space to do HIS thing, not necessarily for hits or taste making.
Same thing with Em..you're not gonna find him rapping over a bunch of lush over produced shyt that makes him second fiddle to the track.
The beat isn't no Justice League shyt but it's PERFECT for what his style is and allows him plenty of space to actually rap and dominate the track as opposed to being background noise. Same thing with Nas, nikkas act like Salaam Remi is wack just because he's good at making BACKDROPS for one of the greatest poets of our time. And Vlad keeps harping on this shyt trying to get random people to comment on it. Where is Jungle when you need him.