Weird you should say that because Jay even admitted on Blueprint 2 that he got murdered. Hot 97 has always been pro Jay and yet he lost the vote on there. Nas' diss had more impact because it was vicious and it would have taken something special to come back from Takeover. He did comeback and that says a lot. Nas' career was on a down at that moment but he produced something special on that track.
Illmatic
- Thread starter VoetbalWizard
- Start date
Weird you should say that because Jay even admitted on Blueprint 2 that he got murdered. Hot 97 has always been pro Jay and yet he lost the vote on there. Nas' diss had more impact because it was vicious and it would have taken something special to come back from Takeover. He did comeback and that says a lot. Nas' career was on a down at that moment but he produced something special on that track.
It's funny because Jay-Z has always been a witty case when it comes to "disses", examples are endless, like at the start of Kingdom Come, the entire track was a diss but unless you scratch the surface you'd never know... When it came to an ENTIRE diss song, he swung and missed.
Yeah, I know what you mean. He is great at witty punchlines. Takeover was brilliant and most rappers would've folded under that but Nas somehow managed to put out track that was just that little bit better and with it revive his career.
Yeah Ether was dope, it was the type of shit that makes your shit burn slow...He really destroyed Jay-Z on it
Memory Lane best track on Illmatic.. But whoever said Stillmatic is better than the Blueprint is on CRACK!!!
Stillmatic is a fecking hot album though
I bump this track when I'm feeling triumphant
I bump this track when I'm feeling triumphant
you know I have never even heard Stillmatic - I pretty much gave up on Nas after It Was Written
Downloading it as we speak ...
Downloading it as we speak ...
Another classic from Stillmatic, Nas dropping that knowledge
Yeah I loved Stillmatic, probably listen to it more than Illmatic, although the latter is certainly the better of the two.
You missed out on the revival of one Hip-Hop's favourite sons
well i guess i disagree with both hot 97 and jay Z himself then!
for me the 'one hot album every 10yr average' line was the hottest line of the entire battle and takeover got at nas from several angles, whereas ether was pretty much 'you're gay and want to be on my album'. I think Nas got a lot of 'sympathy' (for the want of a better word) following JayZs super ugly verse where he mentioned Nas' ex, people felt he didnt come correct on that one and people sided with Nas
dont get me wrong, as i said i love Nas and he's definately the better emcee but takeover was the better diss record IMO
Perhaps my being a massive Wu fan clouds my judgement a little but i prefer OBFCL. RZA was at the top of his game and from start to finish the albums flows from track to track, weaving together the gritty staten island crack stories with the eastern martial flavours he's famous for and with the album running at almost twice the length of illmatic thats some acheivement. Rae & Ghost were at their brilliant best rhyming back and forth to the point they seem like 2 voices from the same mind, its hypnotizing, tracks come and go and you're not even sure which one or both or neither of them were on it! Great album i love it
Oh and halftime is my fave off of illmatic btw,
I drop jewels, wear jewels to never run it
Wit more kicks than a baby in a mother's stomach
'one hot album every 10 year average' was a good line, as was 'yea I sampled your voice, you was using it wrong, you made it a hot line, I made it a hot song' 
Is that the stuff he was supposed to release after It Was Written but then at last minute he put out all that average commercial stuff instead?
Apparently so! I knew 'Ether' as a single but never realised the whole album was highly rated - will give it a spin and see what all the fuss is about - although I refuse to believe it is anywhere near the raw class of Illmatic
Illmatic is undoubtedly better but Stillmatic is still top drawer, in my humble opinion.
Yeah, it was supposed to be part of "I Am", but the songs leaked. After Stillmatic, Nas remastered those songs. If the songs were released on "I Am", it would have reached the levels of Illmatic, IMO.
And for what it's worth, I think "It Was Written" was a very good album. It's only problem was it was a radical change in his profile, from street poet to a drug lord. It was blatantly copying OB4CL, AZ's Doe or Die and Kool G Rap's last album.
well i guess i disagree with both hot 97 and jay Z himself then!
for me the 'one hot album every 10yr average' line was the hottest line of the entire battle and takeover got at nas from several angles, whereas ether was pretty much 'you're gay and want to be on my album'. I think Nas got a lot of 'sympathy' (for the want of a better word) following JayZs super ugly verse where he mentioned Nas' ex, people felt he didnt come correct on that one and people sided with Nas
dont get me wrong, as i said i love Nas and he's definately the better emcee but takeover was the better diss record IMO
Perhaps my being a massive Wu fan clouds my judgement a little but i prefer OBFCL. RZA was at the top of his game and from start to finish the albums flows from track to track, weaving together the gritty staten island crack stories with the eastern martial flavours he's famous for and with the album running at almost twice the length of illmatic thats some acheivement. Rae & Ghost were at their brilliant best rhyming back and forth to the point they seem like 2 voices from the same mind, its hypnotizing, tracks come and go and you're not even sure which one or both or neither of them were on it! Great album i love it
Oh and halftime is my fave off of illmatic btw,
I drop jewels, wear jewels to never run it
Wit more kicks than a baby in a mother's stomach
I think we will agree to disagree about the Takeover vs Ether debate. Had too many of those with friends.
I understand why you like OB4CL and I do too. Its like there is a handful of hip hop albums that defined the genre and they a lot of great albums were dropped early 90's to mid 90's. Illmatic, Reasonable Doubt, Ready to Die, OB4CL, Dont sweat the tecnique...the list goes on and on
Nas is a brilliant rapper and he's got some great albums, but I'm a much bigger fan of Gang Starr myself.
Perhaps my being a massive Wu fan clouds my judgement a little but i prefer OBFCL. RZA was at the top of his game and from start to finish the albums flows from track to track, weaving together the gritty staten island crack stories with the eastern martial flavours he's famous for and with the album running at almost twice the length of illmatic thats some acheivement. Rae & Ghost were at their brilliant best rhyming back and forth to the point they seem like 2 voices from the same mind, its hypnotizing, tracks come and go and you're not even sure which one or both or neither of them were on it! Great album i love it
OB4CL is a banger but remember who had the hottest 16 on the entire purple tape.
nas.
love that verse.
"Through the lights cameras and action, glamour glitters and gold
I unfold the scroll, plant seeds to stampede the globe
When I'm deceased, by then the beast arise like yeast
to conquer peace leaving savages to roam in the streets
Live on the run, police paying me to give in my gun
Trick my Wisdom, with the system that imprisoned my son"
At least finish the verse
Smoke a gold leaf I hold heat, nonchalantly
I'm grungy, but things I do is real it never haunts me
while, funny style niggaz roll in the pile
Rooster heads profile on a bus to Riker's Isle
Holdin weed inside they pussy with they minds on the
pretty things in life, props is a true thug's wife
It's like a cycle, niggaz come home, some'll go in
Do a bullet, come back, do the same shit again
From the womb to the tomb, presume the unpredictable
Guns salute life, rapidly, that's the ritual
fyi, that verse nas put on verbal intercourse originates from this classic nas cut... deja vu.
Sick track. I use to spin Verbal Intercourse on heavy rotation.
You gotta love Guru on a sick Premo beat. I loved the Moment of Truth album...fav track 'Work'...
Interesting documentary Boss. Cheers for that.
Oh and Takeover > Ether
slap yourself 3 times.
Ether is one of the most cutting diss tracks ever. Have you heard Jay-Z response upon hearing it for the first time?
(It was never a good idea to be on radio and listen for the 1st time)
Ether had too many hip hop quotables 'dick sucking lips', 'tae bo hoe' etc will forever be classic insults.
And its a trend with Nas he will battle with people, smoke them and then they will take it far Jay Z did it with Super Ugly, Cam'ron did it with the hate me now freestyle (I think).
Cam'ron later apologised for taking it too far, it just goes to show how hard Nas hits if they feel the need to go that far, making them lose control.
Ye I still listen to It Was Written now and again - not a bad album at all, it was after that he seemed to make some bad decisions and it all went downhill for Nas. Would be interested to hear these 'Lost Tapes' at some point.
So anyway I have listened to Stillmatic a few times - IMO it has 5/6 good tracks and the rest is average - those talking about it being better than Illmatic need to cut down on their weed intake.
Never better than Illmatic but I still think it was a good album
I like Stillmatic more than Illmatic, for me Stillmatic is Nas better and improved. It's his comeback into the game, when people had written him off,so many tracks are triumphant and remind you why he's the best lyricist in the game.
Whether it's ether, the intro, You're the man, The Flyest, for me it's Nas back better than ever. He was on a hiatus and he came back stronger than ever.
Whether it's ether, the intro, You're the man, The Flyest, for me it's Nas back better than ever. He was on a hiatus and he came back stronger than ever.
what's a steelo?
Illmatic is a great album. . . 36 Chambers is the only hip hop album that compares, in my very humble opinion.
Illmatic is a great album. . . 36 Chambers is the only hip hop album that compares, in my very humble opinion.
i agree, stillmatic felt better at the time as it was certainly a return to form following a couple of duds, but listening back now its not as good as you think, certainly nowhere near illmatic. street disciple and the N album are as good as if not better than stillmatic imo.
Streets Disciple is an amazing album, Oh Yeah, good times
i love thiefs theme, 'kin banger of a tune much better then 'hip hop is dead' where he used the same beat
The Low End Theory, Buhloone Mindstate and Liquid Swords are up there.
I think with modern hip-hop you are never going to get many classic albums as there is no continuity with too many guests and producers, and far too many filler tracks to up the running time.
GAH, NO NO NO !!!
NEVER should have been 2 discs... Amazing tracks cancelled out by half-ass efforts.
HHID and Untitled were great albums over-shadowed by the markey he so clearly can't dive into anymore.
Slow down folks. NO WAY was Streets Disciple in the same bracket as Stillmatic. Not even close. If you lose the filler tracks then maybe but even then Stillmatic was a formidable album which would've catapulted any hip hop artist to the top if it wasn't Nas.
God's Son, HHID and the N/Untitled were good follow ups and Nas seems to be more consistent now with his track selection than ever before.
God's Son, HHID and the N/Untitled were good follow ups and Nas seems to be more consistent now with his track selection than ever before.
can't disagree with that, its the price of commercial success i suppose
Street Disciple is far more understated than Stillmatic but is as good lyrically imo
All 2-disc albums suffer with consistancy, i cant really think of any that've pulled it off (except maybe R U Still Down which is more a compilation than an album) Street Disciple comes pretty close though
would agree with that too, its odd really that since he's gone to the more commercial def jam records his number of guest rappers and producers has gone down and his albums are less commercial as a result.