: )
Brofist! :D
Meh. I just like their music a bit more.
Fair enough lol. I suppose I can't argue against opinion.
We can't judge their career off of just one song though.
Of course not. But the fact of the matter is, Renegade was a great showcasing of both of their abilities as artist. Jay-Z had a great flow arguably on par with Eminem, and his punchlines and lyricism were some of the best you can find in the rap game.
However, even with that being the case, he was STILL outshined by Eminem. And not just a little bit. But by, like, an obvious margin. Basically everyone who heard the song, Nas, and even Jay-Z admitted that he got killed on that verse.
When it comes to lyricism and flow, Eminem is just Jay's superior.
He's most people's superior honestly. All bias aside, I honestly can count on one hand the amount of times that either Eminem has been beat on his own song, or when he hops on somebody else's song and doesn'tmurk them.
Unless, we're to accept a Nas's bodyguard being a better rapper than his is... Plus, Hov had the superior verse on another song they collaborated on called "Syllables".
Here's the problem with Syllables.
Jay-Z arguablyhad a better verse in that song. Arguably. With Renegade, the winner was obvious. But with Syllables, it would be split down the middle who had a better verse.
Besides, that song was weak overall as far as flow goes. The lyrics had some depth, but nothing special. It's definitely neither of their best performances, whereas their verses on Renegade have been stated to be some of their best!
Illmatic is easily one of, if not, the most influential Hip-Hop album of all-time. Nas also has two other classic in It Was Written and Stillmatic and a bunch of other solid albums. In terms of lyrical ability, Nas is far superior to 2Pac and is a slightly better than Eminem imo.
And the Marshall Mathers LP was easily one of, if not, the most influential Hip-Hop albums of all time.
I mean, let's look at what exactly makes a Hip-Hop album "influential."
Statistics:For a album to be considered great in a lot of people's eyes, it's got to have good numbers. Well, there is NO doubt that Eminem takes the advantage in this category.
There are feats that the MMLP has accomplished that will never be touched. It’s the fastest-selling solo album in music history (1.76 million) and the biggest-selling single disc album in hip-hop history (10.7 million in the U.S.). Illmatic (or really any Nas album) can't come close to that.
Storytelling/Lyricism:Being able to tell a story is one of Nas' strong suits, so while you'd think he'd have the advantage here, Stan easily makes up for pretty much every storytelling song on the Illmatic. As for lyricism, they're pretty much matched. I wouldn't give anyone the advantage here.
Flow:Whereas Nas' flow is can't be imitated, it's also very much the same. He doesn't really switch it up most the time, which is fine because if it ain't broke don't fix it!
However, Eminem switches up his flow in a moments notice, and sounds good doing it each and every time.
From the black humor of Criminal to the technical know-how in Kill You, Eminem displayed in this album that he can conquer any type of flow.
I'd give Eminem the advantage.
Influence:I couldn't think of any other way to word it, but the songs of the MMLP just held more weight then any songs on Illmatic. Songs like The Real Slim Shady and the Way I Am proved that Eminem can appeal to both hardcore rap fans and the general audience alike.
Again, Em's advantage.
IMO, Eminem just holds every advantage over Nas. I like him as a rapper, but I don't think he should ever top Em.
Big L is the greatest punchline rapper to ever exist imo. Not to mentioned one of the best battle rappers of his time:
Fair enough, I'll have to give him a listen!
Log in to comment