Papoose: Nas Greatness gets downplayed because....

[ISO]

Nobody said anything about hits necessarily being club records. Hits are records you put on in the club and nikkax are with you. Ante Up is not a "club record" but it was a hit. Made You Look wasn't a "club record" but it ended up being a hit and doing very well in the club. Joey has no songs that nikkax want to play in group settings...Puff/Jay be damned

That was more so directed at Ziggiy above talking about Nas getting downplayed because his shyt didn’t bang in the club.

I’m just saying a hit don’t gotta mean club record. One Mic is a hit. I Can is a hit. Nas is Like was a hit. They not club records. Since 2002, Nas hasn’t had them type of records that resonate culturally either not necessarily talking about him not having Oochie Wallys and You Owe Mes.

 

[Devil Plisken…CMS]

I’m just saying a hit don’t gotta mean club record. One Mic is a hit. I Can is a hit. Nas is Like was a hit. They not club records. Since 2002, Nas hasn’t had them type of records that resonate culturally either not necessarily talking about him not having Oochie Wallys.

Bottom Line

 

[Pop123]

One Mic is a hit. I Can is a hit. Nas is Like was a hit.

How are these hits? They are "known" by the hip hop community, is that what you mean? Because a hit record is a very definable thing, and them jawns wasn't "hits". Doesnt take away from their quality or anything, just being honest.

 

[Cladyclad]

How are these hits? They are "known" by the hip hop community, is that what you mean? Because a hit record is a very definable thing, and them jawns wasn't "hits". Doesnt take away from their quality or anything, just being honest.

If I said this my alerts would full of

 

[Pop123]

If I said this my alerts would full of

Cause you disrespectful mane, lol. You don't have to throw roses at the legends feet but you should at least pay a little homage to the legacy, I mean if you're a hip hop head, even if you're not personally a fan like that.

 

[Cladyclad]

Cause you disrespectful mane, lol

Make about 5 amazing posts like that one i repped. U gon be considered the same mane

 

[Pop123]

Make about 5 amazing posts like that one i repped. U gon be considered the same mane

I did, they lightweight tried to barbecue me too, lol. I'm a Nas stan tho so even when I'm speaking what I think is truth about his misses/wack shyt it's still with respect.

 

[ISO]

How are these hits? They are "known" by the hip hop community, is that what you mean? Because a hit record is a very definable thing, and them jawns wasn't "hits". Doesnt take away from their quality or anything, just being honest.

They are recognizable songs that resonated in hip-hop.

Hit record don’t necessarily have to mean Billboard plenty of classics and hits that never touched a Billboard or got a plaque

Also, I Can is actually a hit my nikka it was top 15 on the Billboard we had to sing it at my graduation as a kid big song we had a black principal that’s culture shyt

Nas is Like that joint got 65M views on YT that shyt is iconic Nas with the brimmed skully and bomber jacker in the projects, that Premo beat one of the most recognizable, the lyricism all that one of Nas most recognized songs

There was a whole One Mic viral freestyle challenge a few years ago almost 20 years after that song came out that’s culture shyt!

 

[gluvnast]

The only people who downplay Nas are hip hop casuals that don't know what the fucck they're talking about any people who can't let go of the Nas and Jay-Z battle.

As for everyone else, Nas been literally heralded as THAT DUDE since day one. Since his introduction to the rap world with his Live at the BBQ verse. He was immediately regarded as the "the Rakim". The Source automatically gave ILLMATIC five mics, and people over the decades recognized and revered ILLMATIC to be true. And not only that, Nas still had to pay dues. He had to prove that he can be a multiplatinum commercial selling artist. He had to prove that he can battle against the best, which was Jay-Z. He had to prove his own longevity. Who today is NOT looking at Nas as one of the greatest to do it? Nobody is downplaying Nas. That doesn't mean that rappers was to carve their own lane. You don't have to be the next Nas to be successful or look onto what Nas did and imitate it. But everyone who is true hip hop knows how huge of a contribution Nas gave to the culture his entire 30 year career.

 

[Chris Cool]

Son thats Hip Hop DX. Aint shyt official about them. Untitled went gold before that article and they didn’t even have his official numbers for that. This shyt is what matters right here.
Gold & Platinum - RIAA

NAS
Title: STREET'S DISCIPLE
Previous Certification:
Platinum | November 18, 2005

Jan. 28, 2006, 5:15 PM PST / Source: Billboard


Nas revealed his peace-building mind-set two years ago with the release of his Ill Will Records/Columbia double-CD “Street’s Disciple.” The album has sold 687,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Nas, Jay-Z bury hip-hop hatchet for album deal

 

[Ziggiy]

I'm not gonna comment on the SD thing, I don't know either way. But in terms of Def Jam...consider the deal again. 10 mil to Nas. Promo handled by the label, NOT taken from the advance. Two labels involved in profits. 1 platinum album. 2 gold albums. Labels get (at best) around 62% of sales after you take out distribution, samples/publishing, the artist cut, etc. You don't need a finance degree to see that doesn't add up to a profit for Def Jam or Sony.

By 2010, Nas was feuding with Def Jam and upset about only being offered 200k for Lost Tapes 2. If his run was as successful as you say, why was he so upset AFTER releasing multiple albums that sold decent to well? I thought Nas overall did well on Def Jam. The problem (from the label perspective) was that he was given a deal he would have deserved at one point in his career, but a deal that was too generous to the artist at that time, given the type of music he was making.

The thing about labels is that a small handful of artists keep the lights on. Everything else is kind of just...there. Whether you're a modest success or a modest loss, at the end of the day the label will let you ride out your contract as long as they have a Lady Gaga or Beyonce or Drake or Hov to make everything work. Not to mention catalog/legacy sales (Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, etc). Nobody lost their job because of the Nas deal. But you don't give a 10mil deal to someone unless you expect them to sell multi platinum albums and have hits. That's not what happened. And as a label guy who worked in finance, that's all I'm looking at. The other stuff is whatever.

All we have from Nas’s feud with Def Jam is the email he sent that got leaked. According to the email his record sales weren’t the issue with Lost Tapes budget. The issue was



1). Nas wanted Lost Tapes 2 to be more than simply a collection of “Lost Tapes” from the vault. Nas was trying to get Pete Rock, Alchemist, and other producers to make songs SPECIFICALLY for the Lost Tapes 2. He wanted an album budget for what was understood to be a smaller compilation


2). Def Jam didn’t want Lost Tapes 2 to count towards the album agreement that Nas owed them. They gave him a “freebie” when Distant Relatives was released via Universal Republic and didn’t want to give him another one.


Whats funny is that Lost Tapes 2 ended up coming out pretty much as Nas’s original vision. The Pete Rock and Alchemist tracks made it on there, and of course released singles and shot videos. Of course 2019 is a different time period than 2010.



I get the strategy on Nas’s end. He did the same thing with the first Lost Tapes in 02. Drop the compilation, which tends to be more laid back and lyrical, to satisfy the “trapped in the 90’s nikkas”. Then drop the REAL album a few months later to feed everybody. Its a great strategy.




Now again i don’t look at Nas’s email and think that Def Jam was mad at the sales of his previous two solo albums and didn’t want to release it. If anything it seems like Def Jam wanted to save the “real album” budgets for the albums that would produce new material and “count” towards what Nas owed them. When Life Is Good dropped he got at the very least as good of a marketing push as he did for Untitled and Hip Hop Is Dead. He got FOUR videos out of that album, bunch of promo interviews, that big ass poster in time square, etc.

 

[Devil Plisken…CMS]

How are these hits? They are "known" by the hip hop community, is that what you mean? Because a hit record is a very definable thing, and them jawns wasn't "hits". Doesnt take away from their quality or anything, just being honest.

One Mic was a big enough hit MTV wanted him to perform it back in the day

I Can & Made You Look were featured on these compilations and if you were around back in the day you probably know that these albums only featured songs that were performing well on the charts across genres

 

[Pop123]

They are recognizable songs that resonated in hip-hop.

Hit record don’t necessarily have to mean Billboard plenty of classics and hits that never touched a Billboard or got a plaque

Also, I Can is actually a hit my nikka it was top 15 on the Billboard we had to sing it at my graduation as a kid big song we had a black principal that’s culture shyt

Nas is Like that joint got 65M views on YT that shyt is iconic Nas with the brimmed skully and bomber jacker in the projects, that Premo beat one of the most recognizable, the lyricism all that one of Nas most recognized songs

There was a whole One Mic viral freestyle challenge a few years ago almost 20 years after that song came out that’s culture shyt!

Yes, those are recognizable joints to the hip hop heads, definitely. Trust me, I was at his Illmatic 25th anniversary show in VA, the crowd went NUTS when "I Can" dropped.

It's not a hit record tho...but I won't be a dikkhead, lol, I know what you tryna say.

 

[FunkDoc1112]

Always figured it was Di’caprio seeing as Nas also did “Shine On Em” for the Blood Diamond soundtrack .

Dicaprio's also best friends with Q-Tip since the '90s

 

[ISO]

Yes, those are recognizable joints to the hip hop heads, definitely. Trust me, I was at his Illmatic 25th anniversary show in VA, the crowd went NUTS when "I Can" dropped.

It's not a hit record tho...but I won't be a dikkhead, lol, I know what you tryna say.

What’s a hit record to you?

shyt if those not hits then Nas must not have any to you