So In 96-97 When Jay Said “Biggie, Jay-Z or Nas” was the argument for Best MCs what other rapper should’ve been offended the most?

[qnsfinest]

You're talking about sales, as if the rest of the country didn't buy those albums. He's talking about NYC's top MC's. Not most sold.

Jay is talking about who was the best in the city and most popular since his debut. That's literally two different things. This isn't about sales or who we like more. This is about the climate of the city during those years. When you went to the Rucker or Dyckman. Whose music was playing? When you went to the clubs. Who was playing? Who was shutting the city down with mad shows? When cars drove by, whose music was always blasting? That's what this is about. You keep talking about albums sold. That's not what he was speaking about, at all.

I mentioned sales and acclaim. All of Wu, especially meth, rae and ghost were bigger and better than Jay. Not even close

And mobb deep. Were much bigger. Don’t forget Jay stole mobb’s style for “where I’m from” video lol. He was rocking fly shyt for RD videos and switched to hometown jersey and henny jerseys.

 

[Piff Perkins]

Dude, OB4CL was '95. Prodigy's prime was also '95 with The Infamous.

And I love Ghost, but ain't no way you from NY talking about the city was saying GFK was the best in NY at the time. Come on, bro.

This is '96-'97, he was talking about. Wasn't nobody in Wu being touted as the best in the city during that stretch. NY at that time was all about Nas, B.I.G., and then after RD and Vol.1, Jay. The clubs at that time were playing those three nonstop. They were also doing mad shows all over the city, and killing sh*t. You couldn't go anywhere without hearing those three being played all over the city. And I love Ironman and Hell on Earth, but those albums didn't have the city in no chokehold. Rae, Ghost and Prodigy was summer '95. That was when NYC was going crazy for them. Not '96-'97.

Wait sir, are you suggesting It Was Written was a popular album that got radio play/support/love in NY?!?! I must consult with the Stretch & Bobbito coalition of real hip hop fans at the time, who told me no one fukked with It Was Written and it's popularity is a recent development.

 

[Awesome Wells]

I mentioned sales and acclaim. All of Wu, especially meth, rae and ghost were bigger and better than Jay. Not even close

And mobb deep. Were much bigger. Don’t forget Jay stole mobb’s style for “where I’m from” video lol. He was rocking fly shyt for RD videos and switched to hometown jersey and henny jerseys.

Sales and acclaim have nothing to do with what he was speaking about though. I was listening to Soul on Ice way more than Reasonable Doubt in '96, but does that factor into what he's saying in the line because it was more critically acclaimed? Nah, lol.

"Ain't No N*gga" was Hot 97's most played song for 7 months. The radio play for that track was so crazy, that Def Jam approached Roc-A-Fella to do a 50/50 distribution deal in '97. So even though RD wasn't selling millions of albums, Jay had so much impact with his singles that a major label wanted to get in business so that they could make bread off of him too. You couldn't go anywhere in the city during that time without hearing dude's music. So by the time Vol.1 drops, his budget is crazier because now he's in a partnership with a much bigger label. You don’t get those kinds of deals unless youre doing damage on radio and getting ridiculous buzz on your own, which he had.

 

[Cladyclad]

I mentioned sales and acclaim. All of Wu, especially meth, rae and ghost were bigger and better than Jay. Not even close

And mobb deep. Were much bigger. Don’t forget Jay stole mobb’s style for “where I’m from” video lol. He was rocking fly shyt for RD videos and switched to hometown jersey and henny jerseys.

Lol

 

[Awesome Wells]

Wait sir, are you suggesting It Was Written was a popular album that got radio play/support/love in NY?!?! I must consult with the Stretch & Bobbito coalition of real hip hop fans at the time, who told me no one fukked with It Was Written and it's popularity is a recent development.

In '96, Nas was still Nas.

We didn't give a sh*t about anything, other than going to buy that album. First day it dropped. He was untouchable from '94-'98. So everything he did was popular. I'm the CEO of the Stretch and Bobbito coalition, so I can tell you. LOL!! Stretch was playing 1/2 of IWW before it even dropped, on underground college radio. So for us underground heads, we got to hear the advance versions and demoes of those songs way before the retail was even in stores.

The Wiz had an open store for IWW that summer, where Nas was scheduled to come in and sign some copies. By Union Square. My NYC people know what The Wiz is. They had to shut it down because too many people showed up, and it became a fire hazard. People were going crazy for Nas back then. So whoever said no one f*cked with that album, was lying.

 

[Ed MOTHERFUCKING G]

Method Man

36 Chambers went triple platinum
Tical went platinum with a #1 hip hop and #3 overall billboard single
Wu-tang Forever went 4x platinum.
He had verses on Biggie's album and Tupac's...he was on global tours since 93

Sales aside, he was more popular than Jay-Z by far and he was as or more skilled than him. His place in history has slowly faded because of narratives like this.

 

[up in here]

I love Ghost and Ironman is one of my favorite albums but nobody was putting him next to Nas and Biggie.

At that time Rae was still in the conversation but without new music he wasn’t up as high anymore.

Prodigy was definitely in the conversation. Dude was a beast.

Jay wasn’t in the conversation in NY but at the same time the song is about Marcy so I always figured maybe in Marcy they put Jay in the convo.

 

[vino]

When Volume 1 came out, I wasn’t hearing that conversation. That had to been a very new york conversation.

 

[Piff Perkins]

In '96, Nas was still Nas.

We didn't give a sh*t about anything, other than going to buy that album. First day it dropped. He was untouchable from '94-'98. So everything he did was popular. I'm the CEO of the Stretch and Bobbito coalition, so I can tell you. LOL!! Stretch was playing 1/2 of IWW before it even dropped, on underground college radio. So for us underground heads, we got to hear the advance versions and demoes of those songs way before the retail was even in stores.

The Wiz had an open store for IWW that summer. By Union Square. My NYC people know what The Wiz is. They had to shut it down because too many people showed up, and it became a fire hazard. People were going crazy for Nas back then. So whoever said no one f*cked with that album, was lying.

Thank you lol. People want to act like that album had no impact or disappointed everyone, or was completely commercial. Yea there were "real rap" fans who were mad that Large Pro and Pete Rock weren't on it. Ok. But you can't deny the impact or the fact that Nas was on fire. Even in 1999 with all the I Am leaks. The demand for Nas music was insane for a lot of back to back years.

That's what people don't get when they discount Nas compared to Biggie/Jay. If Nas was just some guy with one good album he wouldn't be...Nas. We wouldn't be talking about him much today beyond "man Illmatic sure was dope."

 

[DontEemTry]

Big himself said the only nikka fukkin with him was Jay.

And he was cool with a lot of other emcees when he said that. You can disagree but them there's the facts.

 

[Cladyclad]

Big himself said the only nikka fukkin with him was Jay.

And he was cool with a lot of other emcees when he said that. You can disagree but them there's the facts.

motherfukkers try to keep jay boxed to any year prior to 1998. We in 2023. let this time period die.

 

[Awesome Wells]

Thank you lol. People want to act like that album had no impact or disappointed everyone, or was completely commercial. Yea there were "real rap" fans who were mad that Large Pro and Pete Rock weren't on it. Ok. But you can't deny the impact or the fact that Nas was on fire. Even in 1999 with all the I Am leaks. The demand for Nas music was insane for a lot of back to back years.

That's what people don't get when they discount Nas compared to Biggie/Jay. If Nas was just some guy with one good album he wouldn't be...Nas. We wouldn't be talking about him much today beyond "man Illmatic sure was dope."

Nas was still wild popular to levels of madness probably up until like '99.

They said I Am was the first album to be bootlegged using mp3's. At the time, I remember him saying that his bootleg went gold, lol. The demand for his music was still crazy 4-5 years after Illmatic.

 

[Awesome Wells]

Big himself said the only nikka fukkin with him was Jay.

And he was cool with a lot of other emcees when he said that. You can disagree but them there's the facts.

This right here!

Lil' Cease told a story recently, about how one night he was at the club with Jay and BIG, doing a show. And when they left, BIG told him, 'I think that n*gga is better than me". BIG thought Jay was incredible. He told Jay they should both move to Atlanta and start their company down there and form a group. That's when the whole Commission thing came out.

 

[Tommy Gibbs]

I think he was referring to the current crop of NY rappers in their popularity. Most people that listen to Jay, Biggie, and Nas faithfully don't know who Monch is and G Rap's best years of popularity were behind him(thought he was and still is a top tier all time great lyricist).

 

[MikeStamina]

The answer is Prodigy.
fukk are you y'all even arguing

Cube not from NY
LL is the era before
AZ please
Ghost ehhh
Meth possibly
Rae ehhh

Seems a lot of you have forgotten how many NY records was sampling Prodigy