Jay-z vs. Nas
Recent Rivalry
For a long
time I have considered Shawn Carter aka Jay-z and Nasir Jones to be 2 of the
best rappers not only alive….but all time. I’m not trying to favor one over the
other, but this particular blog compares their discographies latest additions.
I’m going
to do their last 2 solo albums, and their recent collabo albums. Let’s start
with their most current works….
Round 1
|
Category
|
Jay-z
|
Nas
|
Winner
|
|
Title(is not
graded)
|
Magna Carta..Holy
Grail
|
Life is Good
|
|
|
Lyrics
|
B+
|
A
|
Nas
|
|
Production
|
A-
|
B
|
Jay-z
|
|
Legacy
|
B
|
A-
|
Nas
|
|
Songs
|
B-
|
B-
|
Tie
|
|
Use of Features
|
A-
|
A-
|
Tie
|
R1 Winner: Nas-Life is Good.
Nas
edges out Jay recently, which doesn’t surprise me. LiG was a better album overall,
and one of Nas’ best. It was better lyrically and I feel it added a lot more to
Nas’ legacy than Jigga’s. Intersting enough I felt the songs and the artists
guest spots were a tie. Both albums have their not so high almost filler
moments.
Round 2
|
Category
|
Jay-z
|
Nas
|
Winner
|
|
Title
|
Watch The Throne
|
Distant Relatives
|
|
|
Lyrics
|
B+
|
A
|
Nas
|
|
Production
|
A
|
C+
|
Jay-z
|
|
Legacy
|
A
|
A
|
Tie
|
|
Chemistry
|
B+
|
A
|
Nas
|
|
Songs
|
A-
|
B
|
Jay-z
|
Round 2 Winner: Tie
This
was a lot harder to grade. WTT and DR are great albums, but I would be quick to
tell you that Distant Relatives is a little bit better. However Jay-z and Kanye
West had some really good singles on the album. Lyrically WTT was inferior, and
vice versa with DR’s production.
Round 3
|
Category
|
Jay-z
|
Nas
|
Winner
|
|
Title(is not
graded)
|
Blueprint 3
|
Untitled
|
|
|
Lyrics
|
B+
|
A+
|
Nas
|
|
Production
|
A
|
C
|
Jay-z
|
|
Legacy
|
A
|
A
|
Tie
|
|
Songs
|
A
|
A-
|
Jay-z
|
|
Use of Features
|
A
|
B
|
Jay-z
|
Round 3 Winner Jay-z
These
are two great albums, and imo they are actually tied. However Jay’s album had
better features by far(and more of them). I also felt that BP3 had a slightly
better songs than Untitled.
Ok after 3 rounds its Jay-z 1, Nas 1, and a Tie…..therefore I
will look at more of their albums going backwards….next time.