Who got more mid in his catalog? Jay or Nas

[Mystic]

Nas got a bunch of really bad albums, and each time he managed to make a decent project, he tried to make a bunch of copies of that same album so him pretty easily

Didn't want to say this but Nas was more mid then good until them Hitboy albums

 

[Chip Skylark]

I listen to a lot of what y'all call mid from both these dudes..

I actually threw on Nasir the other day.

Volume 3 is actually underrated to me

Came in to say this

I actually like Nasir and I don’t hear why others don’t like it. It’s a great project to me. Same with Vol 3. I think it’s better than Vol 2, MCHG, dynasty, BP3, and KC

 

[<<TheStandard>>]

Nas has had 8 albums since hov's last one. and they all came and went

I hate when people say this.

Every album comes and goes in the streaming digital era UNLESS you personally listen to it.

In the streaming era, we're all listening to our own playlists so unless something is super mainstream and getting synced in TVs, movies and commercials or it's popping on Tik Tok, it's always going to come and go.

 

[Stick Up Kid]

I hate when people say this.

Every album comes and goes in the streaming digital era UNLESS you personally listen to it.

In the streaming era, we're all listening to our own playlists so unless something is super mainstream and getting synced in TVs, movies and commercials or it's popping on Tik Tok, it's always going to come and go.

Yeah by that standard, the only album the last few years that didnt "come and go" was Kendrick GNX.

Even Drake's, J-Cole's, Future' etc albums was listened to and discussed for a week, and people moved on.

 

[Stick Up Kid]

I’ve never listened to both BOBW albums, the Linkin Park one, nor Everything Is Love (there was no shot at me ever listening to that album). Man Jay has some STINKERS on this list though

objectively speaking... NAS peak is higher than Jay Z (Illmatic, It Was Written) and Jay's lows are lower than Nas' (Best of Both Worlds, MAGA Carter, Kingdom Come)

 

[<<TheStandard>>]

I'm both a Nas and a Jay fan and I can find something I like from pretty much every one of their albums.

To be honest, I don't think many of their albums are truly wack......there's just certain albums from their discographies that aren't for me.
I personally don't like Blueprint 3 but that's because of the sound and approach he took on that album wasn't for me. I hate the NASIR album tho....Kanye really dropped that ball on that project.


Even on their albums people claim is wack, there's some heat on there. Kingdom Come, Nastradamus.....they have shyt on there that I'd take over a lot of rappers discograhies.

 

[<<TheStandard>>]

objectively speaking... NAS peak is higher than Jay Z (Illmatic, It Was Written) and Jay's lows are lower than Nas' (Best of Both Worlds, MAGA Carter, Kingdom Come)

How didn't you like best of both worlds?

Maybe because I was a DJ but there were a ton of club hits on that album that went hard.

 

[Stick Up Kid]

How didn't you like best of both worlds?

Maybe because I was a DJ but there were a ton of club hits on that album that went hard.

my bad i meant Unfinished Business.

 

[<<TheStandard>>]

my bad i meant Unfinished Business.

Yeah Unfinished Business was TRASH but you can tell him and R. Kelly rushed that one and were trying to rekindle something that shouldn't have been rekindled.

 

[<<TheStandard>>]

Definitely Nas.

One of my favorite MC's of all-time, but after I Am, my guy has at least 9-10 albums that I pretty much pretend never happened, and never listen to. The drop in quality was wild, compared to the early classics, like Illmatic and It Was Written. I honestly listen to his unreleased sh*t, more than the later albums.

With Jay, his catalogue was weird, because he would have some of his best sh*t on albums that had some of his wackest sh*t. But he only has maybe one or two albums that I think were wack overall and don’t even bother checking for anymore (Kingdom Come and Magna Carta Holy Grail). Nas was dropping sh*t that had people confused. So there's a whole period of his career that I just act like never existed because I was so disappointed in what he was making.

This is so interesting to me because I feel like Nas has some heat in his later catalogue. I think NaS took a lot of chances artistically on his later albums so a lot of shyt is hit or miss.

I played Hip Hop Is Dead, Life is Good, KD1, KD2, KD3 and Magic HEAVY but NaS is my favorite rapper.

I felt like Streets Disciple was too bloated and was all over the place. I actually thought the ****** Tape mixtape he did with Green Lantern was better than the ****** album. I think he tried to get too deep on the ****** album.

 

[<<TheStandard>>]

Yeah by that standard, the only album the last few years that didnt "come and go" was Kendrick GNX.

Even Drake's, J-Cole's, Future' etc albums was listened to and discussed for a week, and people moved on.

Yeah there's nothing to keep the hype machine going after albums drop now.....unless you're a fan of that artist and looking forward to going to their show.


Pre streaming/internet, they were releasing new singles and videos from an album for a year to a year and a half after an album dropped. Now you get the whole album and it's just over and done with. Maybe you get a few videos but people aren't sitting around watching videos the way they used to.


Everyone hears the album right away. DJs pick out the songs they want to play in the club immediately and start playing them. It's not like back in the day where they might service singles months after the album dropped and then they get pippin.

It's not like they're going to randomly pop up on Rap City, 106 and Park or TLR live to promote one of their singles.

 

[Awesome Wells]

This is so interesting to me because I feel like Nas has some heat in his later catalogue. I think NaS took a lot of chances artistically on his later albums so a lot of shyt is hit or miss.

I played Hip Hop Is Dead, Life is Good, KD1, KD2, KD3 and Magic HEAVY but NaS is my favorite rapper.

I felt like Streets Disciple was too bloated and was all over the place. I actually thought the ****** Tape mixtape he did with Green Lantern was better than the ****** album. I think he tried to get too deep on the ****** album.

Nah, I agree.

After '99, he said he was depressed and had a lot of personal sh*t going on with family. So I think his approach changed from what most of us liked in his music in the 90's. There was a lot of experimenting. Which is cool, but for me, it was so different from what I was going crazy for with his music before, that I started being disappointed with a lot of the projects. Definitely hit or miss, like you said.

Magic was dope, to me, because it sounded like Nas in '98. But it was also only 9 tracks. So that worked because I think Hit-Boy is wack, lol. But I think being such a huge Nas fan in the 90's had my standard mad high, so when he started slipping a little, I wouldn't anticipate the albums like I used to.

 

[Ziggiy]

Came in to say this

I actually like Nasir and I don’t hear why others don’t like it. It’s a great project to me. Same with Vol 3. I think it’s better than Vol 2, MCHG, dynasty, BP3, and KC

Nasir was a victim of larger than life expectations and Kanye playing mad scientist. Everyone expected no less than a perfect 5 Mic classic from Kanye and Nas but Kanye was in the midst of a month-long mental illness induced meltdown and didn’t send Nas any beats until the WEEK of release, so what we got was some rushed production and Nas writing to beats he’d only heard a few hours beforehand. Kanye had Nas rapping and recording in a car DURING the QueensBridge release event. Gg

Taking it was for what it is I like Nasir, its a good album to bump in the whip but knowing what it COULD have been had Kanye taken his meds and he and Nas locked in the way he and Hit-Boy went on to do, I can understand why people were disappointed. Kanye shyt the bed on Nas album, his own solo album, and Teyana’s album.

 

[Awesome Wells]

Nasir was a victim of larger than life expectations and Kanye playing mad scientist. Everyone expected no less than a perfect 5 Mic classic from Kanye and Nas but Kanye was in the midst of a month-long mental illness induced meltdown and didn’t send Nas any beats until the WEEK of release, so what we got was some rushed production and Nas writing to beats he’d only heard a few hours beforehand. Kanye had Nas rapping and recording in a car DURING the QueensBridge release event. Gg

Taking it was for what it is I like Nasir, its a good album to bump in the whip but knowing what it COULD have been had Kanye taken his meds and he and Nas locked in the way he and Hit-Boy went on to do, I can understand why people were disappointed. Kanye shyt the bed on Nas album, his own solo album, and Teyana’s album.

You actually like Nasir?



Quick question then, which Nas album(s) do you NOT like and think was weak?

 

[Ziggiy]

You actually like Nasir?



Quick question then, which Nas album(s) do you NOT like and think was weak?

Nastradamus is too uneven and in-cohesive for me to listen straight through. I usually only listen to Life We Chose, Project Windows, and Last Words from that album.