top of page
Search

New York Stars: Jay Z & Nas

  • fcpf900
  • Mar 23, 2021
  • 2 min read

Jay-Z and Nas. Shawn Carter and Nasir Jones. Jigga and Escobar. They have many names, and they are probably the most talked about rivalry in Hip-Hop, other than maybe Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls (aka The Notorious B.I.G.).


Shawn Carter was born on December 4, 1969. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York. His first album was released on June 25, 1996. “Reasonable Doubt” is looked at today as one of the best rap debut albums of all time.


Nasir Jones was born on September 14, 1973. He grew up in Queens, New York. His first album was “Illmatic,” one of the most famous rap albums of all time. It is also one of the most famous albums of the 1990s. It was released on April 19, 1994.


Their rivalry came to a climax in 2001, with their diss tracks “Takeover” and “Ether.”


Oddly enough, they have both released 13 studio albums to this date. Nas just won rap album of the year for 2020’s “King’s Disease.” Jay-Z has most recently released his collaboration with his wife Beyoncé, in 2018 when they released “Everything is Love” as The Carters.


These two rappers have been around almost longer than anyone else. They definitely have been among the best and most consistent since they’ve gained notoriety, and are still relevant in Hip-Hop today.


I go back and forth on who I enjoy more, because their music really is different in a lot of ways, although Hip-Hop is a genre that always allows that diversity while fitting into the framework of what the typical listener would expect.


Today, I recommend listening to the rappers albums from 1999 and 1998 This was an era of transition for new Hip-Hop, and “I Am...” (‘99) and “Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life” (‘98) highlighted the clash between old and new school. I find this an interesting comparison.


I am just happy as a listener, that we’ve been blessed to have Nas and Jay-Z around this long making this much great music. No one knows what will happen tomorrow, and that’s why we still honor the legends we lost too soon, like Big L or Mac Miller.


The two legends had beef, which you can read about elsewhere on the internet. My point bringing up that they disliked each other is that it benefited both of them financially, and critically. By 2006, they were at least on good enough terms for Jay-Z to be featured on the track “Black Republican” off the “Hip Hop is Dead” Nas album. The following year, Nas was on “Success” off of the “American Gangster” album.


Here is a playlist for your enjoyment.




 
 
 

Recent Posts

See All
I'm Back

Hello Everyone, Well, time flies by and after a while I stopped posting writing pieces on this site. My last post before this one was...

 
 
 
Music music music music music

On this Friday, I bring you new music opinions. I listened to Polo G’s album “Hall of Fame” right after midnight last night, and it was...

 
 
 

1 comentário


carolynjkirby
24 de mar. de 2021

Nice history of Jay-Z and Nas! I’m looking forward to learning more!

Curtir
Post: Blog2_Post

Subscribe Form

Thanks for submitting!

614-743-6228

©2020 by SkyEyeView Writings. Proudly created with Wix.com

bottom of page