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Originally Posted by Fluffy Kittens
I enjoyed The Blueprint too. However there is absolutely nothing that stands out about The Blueprint. It's boring. The production is nice in parts and sounds catchy, that is about it. What makes it so good?
I don't care about the plays tbh, it's all hype, he just turned himself into a legend through his own hype and people buy into it.
Oh and I agree with realtalk, no chance Jay-Z is more consistent than Nas. Most recent albums - Life is Good was better than Watch The Throne, in fact everything Nas has done since Street's Disciple has been good. Illmatic, It Was Written, I Am were all good albums. He released a stinker with Nastradamus then came back with Stillmatic, The Lost Tapes and God's Son, all three of those were good too.
So 2-3 poor albums aside, Nas has been consistently good since 1994. Jay-Z has had 3 good albums out of about 11 with the rest being average or poor. How is Jay-Z more consistent?
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I enjoy the Blueprint for its variety and its accessibility. To me it personifies the full spectrum of what Jay's capable of. In it he manages to win the battle between him and Nas with 'Takeover' addressing Nas's inconsistency. He talks about everyday subjects such as man's chauvinistic nature with songs like Girls, Girls, Girls. Which would paint him as a person who has no respect for woman and just uses and abuses them in whatever town he has a show. Yet, he manages to completely counter that with the heartfelt Song Cry about the one true love of his life and his feelings when he's on the receiving end of being used and abused. Throwing in a great plethora of styles with other tracks such as Hola Hovita and Never Change, both instantly recognizable he creates an album that manages to carry all its eggs in one basket without dropping them and gives you a snapshot of Jay's versatility.
As for Nas, he has only regressed as time has went on. It's undeniable that Illmatic is the benchmark for hip-hop. Possibly one of the greatest albums of all time. But after that nothing else he did came close. That's not exactly top consistency. It Was Written, another great album but by '99 Nas released a mediocre and a downright bad album months apart. It was clear he could not produce the same quality that he had when he first started out.
For whatever reason that may be, Nas has never managed to recreate his early success. He's like a roller coaster, for every good album he has, he has a not so good album. Hip-Hop is Dead wasn't great, but his Untitled album was, etc. Can you honestly say he has ever came close to fulfilling the potential Illmatic hinted at? And, I'm a Nas fan but I know one thing he's not is consistent.
Jay-Z has not only had 3 good albums. I just happened to mention 3 in my previous points. Besides up to the Black Album and before a 3 year hiatus, Jay released a solid album (at least) each year from 96 to 2003. In the same time frame, Nas released It Was Written, Stillmatic and a bunch of instantly forgettable or even below average records.