Official Nas Thread
- Thread starter Ronald
- Start date
Stoute was out the mix on Nastradamus correct? After the Hate Me Now video fiasco? I know he ain't get an exec producer credit again until God's Son and that was it
Who was Nas manager in that time frame?
I think Stoute was still in the mix during this time. He CLAIMS he still had dealings with Nas up to Stillmatic even though Matthew Knowles was officially Nas manager during the Stillmatic period.
im pretty sure the leaked material also had an important part with how those two albums came out
nas was likely frustrated that he couldnt see his initial vision completed and he just said fukk it lets just make some money
again speculation but makes perfect sense to me
nas was likely frustrated that he couldnt see his initial vision completed and he just said fukk it lets just make some money
again speculation but makes perfect sense to me
Piff Perkins
Veteran
I Am had a huge budget. Not only did they scramble to record new songs after a lot of money was already spent, they rolled out some heavy hitters. 1999 Premo prices, 1999 Timbo prices, Puffy, DMX, etc. I wish someone at Sony would have said brehs we already spent all this money, why not throw out the double album alongside the new tracks? Add some new shyt to the old tracks to entice fans too. I always felt like Slick Rick would have been perfect on Stay Schemin' for instance. Throw a verse from the Ruler on there man. Throw Mary J on Project Windows instead of Ron Isley, get the Lox on Hardest Thing. If you do that you create a classic album and maybe that year goes differently. When you look at the album sales, I Am came out the gate hot but fizzled as the label moved on. If it got a full press and a third single (You Won't See Me Tonight) that shyt would have gone 4x plat. Hard Knock Life was still gonna do crazy numbers regardless but the entire conversation changes if both Nas and Jay dropped classic albums that year.
spliz
SplizThaDon
I felt this same way when I heard it.It's evil, we diagnosed with something that's untreatable
might be my favorite bar of the of entire KD series so sad but yet true. No hustler talk reality rap
IWasntMadeToPlayTheSon
Mutant Mindframe
Yea but would we have gotten takeover/ether, stillmatic etc…
Jay DID drop in 99 and Nas first Week outsold Jay’s
Piff Perkins
Veteran
I'm bugging, I was talking about Vol 2 which came out in 98, not 99. So Jay's classic was in 98, and neither of them dropped a classic in 99. Vol 3 is cool but...nah.
Sales wise with I Am though, it comes out the gate hot and then tapered off fast due to the label moving on. It's 2x plat to this day. I'd imagine it's probably close to 3x by now but if the machine hadn't stopped pumping. I truly believe it could have quickly gotten to 3-4x. You put out a dope video with Aaliyah in May or June 1999 and it's a wrap. Which of course is one of many reasons why the changes to that album are so depressing. The original album tracks (Project Windows, Hardest Thing, Stay Schemin', etc) plus the new songs (Nas Is Like, You Won't See Me Tonight, Small World, etc) and you get a classic album. Assuming they left off the worst shyt like Big Things of course lol.
So imagine how that looks if Nas drops a classic double LP in spring 1999 (with three hit singles), and Jay drops Vol 3. I'm sure the Coli's resident Hovenger would be telling us to this day that Jay had the better album that year but for the rest of the rap world? Hell no. You completely alter the future with that. We probably don't get Stillmatic as we know it, if Nas dropped an undeniable classic two years prior.
I Am as it was was critically acclaimed when it dropped. 4.5 Mics in the Source, 3.5 stars in Rolling Stone, 4 Stars from NME. All of these are higher scores than It Was Written.
Nastradamus of course wasn’t as acclaimed but it still went platinum in two months and made Nas only the second rapper to have two platinum albums in the same year. Nas had plenty of success and acclaim, if that was going to stop Jay from dropping Takeover then it would have. I’m of the opinion that double album or no double album, Jay was going to diss Nas. It was fated. I mean we gotta look at everything that led up to Takeover/Ether besides sales and acclaim.
Jay was sleeping with Carmen
Nas subliminally dissed Jay SEVERAL times between 96-2000
Nas dissed Memphis Bleek. Bleek responded. Nas tore his head off on QB’s Finest
Beanie Sigel sent a shot at Nas on Hot 97 when he dismissed the Nas Is Like beat.
The whole “H-Money Bags/E-Money Bags” debacle.
Jay dissed Nas because he thought he had the ultimate trump card with messing with Carmen, and because he’s always been a cocky Brooklyn nikka lol. People forget that this is the same tactic 2pac used on Biggie, except Jay tried to he a lil more slick and cryptic with it. Then Nas diffused the bomb by admitting to it in the Source after Takeover dropped.
Piff Perkins
Veteran
Oh for sure, you're 100% right the clash was inevitable. I'm just saying the facts on the ground would have resulted in a different battle and different perceptions. If Nas is coming off a classic album, Jay would have leaned even more into the Carmen stuff because no one would buy the "fell off" stuff. And Nas would have leaned more into...well, what he did so effectively. Snapping on Jay and clowning him. I think a Nas victory under these circumstances would have really secured him as the GOAT too. You drop a classic, win a battle, and then presumably drop another dope album in 2001 or so, assuming similar timelines? It would be a wrap with no blemishes on the resume.
HNIC973
R.I.P Bandana P
song is timeless perfection not a bar wasted
Icewatermetallik
TheEastisintheHouse
We need a Lost Tapes 3 brehs with all those songs from the prior page (Crabs in a Barrel, etc) from that Stillmatic/Gods Son era.
Nas was in such as zone then and if I'm not mistaken most of Lost Tapes 1 was from that era (I Am, Nastradamus, Stillmatic, Gods Son sessions)
Seems some dude has access to the Def Jam/ Columbia vaults and Nas still has alot of unreleased tracks from that era.
Nas was in such as zone then and if I'm not mistaken most of Lost Tapes 1 was from that era (I Am, Nastradamus, Stillmatic, Gods Son sessions)
Seems some dude has access to the Def Jam/ Columbia vaults and Nas still has alot of unreleased tracks from that era.