POW!, It is I..back with our new blog tentavily titled The Wire...since theres always something we don't cover throughout the week, here's your chance to catch up on what we've missed. This'll just basically be stuff from all over the web and what not so if you have something you'd like to see featured here email us.
Nas' "Greatest Hits": A Track-By-Track Journey With the Pride of Queens
Rolling Stone Magazine did an amazing piece (no homo) with Nas on the release of his Greatest Hits compilation.
The microphone fiend took us through each track on Hits, from the only new song, "Surviving the Times," on which he recounts the notable people and moments of his career, to "Bridging the Gap," a collaboration with his jazz musician father, Olu Dara. Check out the Full Story Here
Shooting Star: Remy Ma Takes Aim At Career Makeover
The Village Voice followed Remy Ma around for a bit and so did some cameras...Remy's currently shooting for a reality TV show that hasn't been picked up by anyone.
Remy, meanwhile, is watching what she says about the shooting, perhaps not only because there's a reporter hovering, but also because of the videographer that is an ever-present part of her life, taping for a possible reality-TV show that has yet to find a buyer.
Diddy Won't Face Charges In Assault Case
The long dragging assault cas Diddy's been facing for punching some guy over a chick is finally coming to a close.
The Manhattan district attorney has decided not to charge either Sean "Diddy" Combs or Steven Acevedo in an incident that took place in a New York nightclub on October 13, Combs' attorney announced Tuesday (November 6). Combs was alleged to have assaulted Acevedo in the incident.
Those are the headlines for now folks.
COMMENTS
Nas = BEST RAPPA ALIVE
I'ma have to 1 up you on that!
second best after Jigga..
NAS BEST RAPPER EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i gotta agree wit my nigga wizzdom nas ethered jay aint no way jay better than esco
no one is the best..they're all great tho...and jay only writes 60% of his lyrics..the rest he jacks!! dont hate yall know its tru...no matter how much ya love him..(no kanye)..dass the new shyt..(no homo/kanye)..lol
nas aint shit ur lucky u reppin sp the motha fuckin ghost or i would show u whata pussi u are for sayin nas is the best
jay aint got flow nas is the truth hate it or love it this.nigga is out of your budget
Nas Is the best. Jay Z second and Lil Wayne third!! Remy Ma Should go ahead and invest in a popeyes so she can have a job as soon as she realizes the fact she fell off.
wow second never thiught id get it but yea nas is one of the best no doubt,idk if im gonna get his greatest hits though i want some new material
yea i made this nas cd like ah year ago minus the two new ones.... hes still tha man when it comes to hip hip..
Nas 1 OF THE BEST
I'll be coppin' the Hits album, even though I have all the tracks already of course, just to support my dude! Nas is the greatest ever! Nobody can touch his combination of style, creativity, positivity, street credibility, versatility, word play, storytelling, finesse, and straight rawness!
Ever hear of a rapper named Jay-Z?
Nas is NASTIER than Jay... sorry to say.... Jay don't want it wit' Nas... Nas already proved that back in '01.
I don't need 2 remind everyone of any song titles, now do I?
Right... well I don't want to start an argument.. but you believe that
ive been sayin this since 2001
jay-z won that battle
takeover is a legendary diss record cuz it came out of nowhere
and superugly was better then ether
umm ppl keep sayin jay better than nas like nas aint body jay name one song thats better than "rewind".....okay "one mic"?......how bout "i gave you power".....yea i thought so
I won't say better but just a good at the least: Meet the parents, Da Evils, Lyrical Exercise
1. Nas
2. Jay
3. The Carter
naw jadakiss better than wayne id put jada at 3
question: whats diddy looking at???
http://youtube.com/watch?v=6QNbBg06JFg
this guy is on the same level...
yeah i agree nas is the best rapper alive den comes jay
aaa....FUCK U
HATE IT OR LOVE IT,NAS IS THE BEST RAPPER ALIVE,LIKE GAME SAID,HE'S THE KING OF HIP HOP
FUCK JAY Z...PAC SAID NAS IS THE RING LEADER OF EAST COAST RAPPERS...JAY DONT GOT NO LOVE HERE IN C
According to the World Anesthesia online publication:
"Ether can form a cool flame at concentrations around 20% to 35%, when heated to as little as 200°C. The cool flame then travels along the mixture, eventually dying off. However, the danger is that it can act as a powerful ignition source if it encounters an explosive mixture. In addition, it may remain unseen until it is too late! A classic example occurs when ether is spilled on the floor and, because it is heavy, does not spread, forming a very rich localized mixture. A faulty electric plug could then ignite the ether mixture, causing a cool flame, which then travels along the floor until it reaches a place where the mixture is explosive."
On December 4th, 2001, Nas toyed with a mixture of Ether himself. The slow-burning substance traveled across the mixtape circuit, a good diss but a dream killer?
--
The most common complaints leveled against Ether are that the beat sucks and Nas takes the homophobic insults a bit overboard. Well, yeah, the beat sucks (though because of how anthemic the song has become, it transcends Ron Brownz cheap production), and "Gay-Z and Cockafella" isn't exactly the world's most astute diss. However, there are more than enough good shots to satisfy even the staunchest ammo aficionado. In addition, Ether is not all punchlines, rather it has proven to be more a biting psychological critique, especially seen in detailing several key points:
1) Jay-Z's obsession with Nas
"You been on my dick, nigga, you love my style . . . With Hawaiian Sophie fame, kept my name in his music . . . . . . You a fan, a phony, a fake, a pussy, a Stan . . . Wanted to be on every last one of my classics"
From sampling Nas on Dead Presidents, from sampling Nas on Rap Game-Crack Game, from referencing Nas on Sunshine, from referencing Nas on Where I'm From, from asking Nas to redo the hook on Dead Presidents, from asking Nas to appear in the video for Dead Presidents (where Jay apparently contacted E Money Bags to get at the Illmatic MC, "calling my crib and I ain't even give you my numbers"), the obsession had previously been a relatively guarded secret, but, with Ether, Nas put it on blast for the whole world to see. Many people have said that the verse from Takeover was directed at Nas almost from the point of view of a fan. In this context, that evaluation makes perfect sense.
2) Jay-Z's relationship with Biggie
"First, Biggie's ya man, then you got the nerve to say that you better than Big . . . How much of Biggie's rhymes is gon' come out your fat lips?"
From using Biggie's lyrics on a handful of songs, including a couple of his most notable, and even the very first track on Blueprint, Jay-Z has consistently crowded the border between homage and exploitation. A quote here or there is cool if they had a relationship like that, but, from all apparent sources, especially the current Reasonable Doubt XXL issue, while there may have been a mutual respect, the deep friendship that Jay continually portrays seems to have been more fiction than fact. What's more, on the song Hola Hovito, from Blueprint, Jay boldly stated, "if I ain't better than Big, I'm the closest one." Beyond having to rely on the late-great's lyrics at times, how are you going to say something like that when a) you're supposed to have been boys b) Big's not alive to cosign.
Moreover, there's a parallel between these first two attacks of Ether. Ready To Die came out in 1994, along with Illmatic. In that class of New York MCs, it was Biggie and Nas, alongside Raekwon and Ghostface too. Jay-Z then established himself in 1996, like an underclassmen, an upstart outsider, whose desire for greatness and simultaneous insecurity always made him want to hang with the older crowd and be accepted on their level. If we read into this theory, that explains Jay constantly wanting to partner with Nas and be seen as an equal with Biggie. It was the one way he felt he could belong; this then ties in to Ether's overall third point.
3) Jay-Z's insecurity
"You ass went from Jaz to hanging with Kane, to Irv, to Big . . . You a dick-riding faggot, you love the attention"
In subsequent interviews from around the time of Stillmatic, Nas took shots at Jay and how he, Nas, didn't need to put out an album every year, have a song out every summer. Implying that Jay's flooding the market was born out of some great insecurity, Nas focused in on a suspect pattern in Jay-Z's behavior. However laudable or forgettable his output might have been, by jumping on whatever was hot at the moment and would keep his name in the air, we see almost a deep streak of personal inadequacy in Jay-Z's actions, the brand of poor self-esteem that overcompensates with overconfidence, a career based on chasing the cool. It's the type of shaky demeanor that makes it appear a necessity to be on the dial every second. So whereas Nas planned out a patient attack that saw months go by between Takeover and Ether, Jay-Z couldn't rest. He couldn't be satisfied with letting the battle end there. Instead, he rushed out his response. In the final score, it was this insecurity that eventually lost the battle.
Jay-Z's response, Super Ugly, was a failing attempt to try and rationalize with fans why he wouldn't lose, to try and convince himself that he hadn't lost already. Unfortunately, for him, this "I slept with your baby's mother" freestyle, only further served as evidence of an obsessive relationship with Nas. Even still, arguably the lowest point for Jay came after a Hot 97 radio poll, where listeners declared Ether victorious over Super Ugly. With the Brooklyn rapper coincidentally in studio on Angie Martinez's show, right after the results were announced, Martinez asked, "if you weren't you, would you think Ether was a hot joint?" Often taking long pauses or stuttering, Jay's answer was completely absent of his usual confidence, "Um . . . I would be a little--like, like me, as a guy, like, I would listen to the last verse and be like, 'wow . . . like . . . wow.' Y'know what I'm saying? Like, like, it just--it--it's uneasy. Y'know . . . like, I mean, me being--like, like . . .with the uh . . . it just--just--just . . . it's far, man, very vulgar."
Nas' public reaction to Super Ugly, on Fat Man Scoop's radio show, was a stark contrast, sounding all the more confident and unfazed: "When [Jay-Z] put on the Dre beat and started going into my baby moms, I said, 'oh, man, he's pissing her off, and he's really sounding emotional. . . . This is the biggest disrespect he feel like he can do.' He didn't feel like he could come at me with science in his rhymes, he felt like he had to come with disrespect. And I felt like it was disrespect. We all knew it, the whole crew knew it, we was bugging, we was laughing. I called my baby moms, she was laughing. She didn't hear it, but she heard about it. It was like, wow, this dude really overdid it. . . . Let's be real, man, I did Ether to him. I got into his soul, and it's obvious that I broke his spirit. He was on the radio the next day with a broken spirit sounding like crazy. . . . I felt sorry for Jay. And I prayed for him, and I asked a few of my peoples to pray for him, because I felt that his spirit was really broken."
A battle is not won or lost on one song, on one side's attack, rather it is decided by the reaction, the counterattack, that the opposition puts up. If I throw a left hook at you, and you hardly move, it cannot be said that my left hook was the winning blow. If I then throw a right jab at your chin, and you fall backwards and to the mat, the right has made me victorious. See, a punch doesn't win or lose by itself, it's how my competitor receives the punch, how it makes him react, that ultimately sways the judges. You can say Ether had a wack beat and corny jokes, you can if you want, but something in those four minutes stung Jay real hard, sent the God MC to the mat. His reaction to the brutal slow-burn body shot that was Ether was a rushed freestyle named Super Ugly and an appearance on Hot 97, where all the normal Jay-Z charisma and energy had wilted away, until, finally, defeat sat in. At that moment, the ether mixture had reached its most explosive point.
dude, why are u tryin' to rewrite the bible?! the fuck?! its only Nas and Jay-Z... besides, they on the same team now! the fuck?!
Exactly...just copying and pasting some suburban dude's posting...
They'll be doing an album together real soon anyways!
~Be Eazy!
IF THEY DO AN ALBUM TOGETHER I GOT ARES IMMA DOWNLOAD IT CUS OF GAY Z...FUCK GAY Z
bloody — damn!!! where you from?..anyways Nas is the shit man and i personally rank him second to none that's after Pac..
ever heard about ETHER???
Birdman05 you ever heard of a song called Blueprint 2?
yea it was alrite compared 2 ether it means nuthin now cus he did it a whole album later an by the way blueprint2 was ASS CHEEKS i like jay but u gotta admit stillmatic 2 god's son was better than blueprint to blueprint2 they in the same echelon of elite rappers but nas got it in my eyes
I don't know about that but hey to each is own. The Takeover was a couple of verses for Nas. Nas came with Ether...a whole song dedicated to dissing Jay...quick response was Supa Ugly....The official response to Ether was Blueprint 2. Which is a helluva song. The album was far from ass.
okay on a different note....FUCK DIDDY SNAKE ASS FUCK-FACE ASS BITCH cant respect a man that fucks over so many careers an got his own artist locked up fuck p.shitty
nas is hot, he has mad intelligent flow. him and game together is straight crack.. real talk.
yessir
He we go with bullshit conversation of who's better than who. It's no way you can prove who's better. It's all a matter of opinion. They both have classic albums, crazy lyrics, storytelling, and longevity. Most importantly they changed the game. If your favorite is Nas or Jay...that's a cool choice but don't spend 99% of your post bashing the one you don't like to make a point.
They both got classic albums...The so called Reasonable Doubt is not to be compared with illmatic or It Was Written but can favorably be compare to Stillmatic.Nas is the fuckin best after Pac,Fuck it
Bloody you can be mad at Jay all you want...it's cool wit me. Bottom line is that your wasting time comparing those albums to each other. It's certified classic material. Jay, Nas, Pac all have a huge fan bases. If you feel Pac is better than everyone, cool....I feel Jay is no.1 in my eyes. No.2 Nas - No.3 Rakim...Got much love and respect for Pac but he's not in my top 5.
Jay can never be on the same rank with Pac or Nas lyrically..He's a business man that's what everybody knows abt Jay apart from that,he's a pussy..haha
Your just on nigga with an opinion playa. For the record Pac is not that lyrical at all. His lyrics were very straight forward. Not much thinking is required to follow Pac's lyrics. Cant say that with Nas or Jay. Jay is witty as hell with his wordplay while Nas is very intellectual with his words.
bloody, you have to be dumb as fuck if you think 2pac was lyrically better than Jay.Pac was about as lyrical as my 1 year old nephew...Come to think about it, I'm insulting my nephew by comparing his lyrical ability to Pac.When people talk about the greatest lyricist, Pac is always the worst of the bunch.He was an average lyricist at best, but because he put words together sometimes dudes call him a lyricist.Jay-Z paints picture, Pac tells simplistic that are as easy to follow as a Dr.Suess children's book.
from sampling Nas on Dead Presidents, from sampling Nas on Rap Game-Crack Game, from referencing Nas on Sunshine, from referencing Nas on Where I'm From, from asking Nas to redo the hook on Dead Presidents, from asking Nas to appear in the video for Dead Presidents.
So you wanna tell me after all this he better than Pac and Nas....nigga go back to sleep,u really got some sleepin sickness
This dude is just going to keep running his fingers on the keyboard thinking he is convincing someone he's right.
SERIOUISLY, WHY SHOULD ANYONE GIVE A FUCK ABOUT JAY-Z’S COMEBACK WITH THE SO CALL AMERICAN GANGSTER ? THIS DUDE IS THE MOST OVERATED HIP HOP ARTIST OF ALL TIME, HIS SONGS ARE ALL ABOUT MONEY, BITCHES AND HOES.THEY ARE NON- INSPIRATIONAL, HIS LYRICS ARE BORROWED, I MEAN I COULD GO ON AND ON, BUT THIS DUDE IS JUST ANOTHER RAPPER TO ME. THERE IS NOTHING UNIQUE OR "GREAT" ABOUT HIM. HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH BEYONCE IS ONLY BASED ON THE FAME AND SUCCESS THEY BOTH HAVE, I DOUBT IF THERE IS AN ACTUALL LOVE COMMITMENT BETWEEN THE TWO. I AM NOT TYRING TO SOUND LIKE AN ASS OR ANYTHING BUT IT IS THE FACT. HE BETTER STAYS RETIRED RATHER THAN COMING OUT WITH THOSE WACKEST ALBUMS OF HIS WHOLE CAREER AND MAKING A FOOL OF HIM SELF.
This nigga talking about inspirational...with all TI's guns as his avatar. lol
Yea whats good family.Why do all these young bloods and new baby niggas claim that jay is the greatest rappa alive ya dig.Jay was a no talent cock sucka since he came out the nut sack.I'm not tryna disrespect but It would be a miracle, to say that this fagot ass nigga is lyrical,Like bloody-said his lyrics are borrowed.You deserve to be my sunshine right jay, ya fagot ass bum.
Nas is man,cute and sexy as hell
U funny man,Nas is ya favorite rapper's favorite rapper and to tell you man,it aint TI's guns take a look at em better.I got more gunz than TI am not been funny,im abt to handle my biz ya'll sittin on internet talkin greasy.
I knew you too cats we related..lol..Hate is a hell of a drug. Noughskrilla I thought your ass was a dude. With the last part of your comment you better be women.
Bloody, the only nigga talking greasy is you. I must say it's pretty damn funny. Be careful with those gats playa...They giving niggas football numbers.
Evil-Dre, to say your nephew is lyrically more talented then Pac...you are crazy & obviously retarded closed minded. Everyone has their choice in music, but to say that Pac was not good??? Get the f*** out here. That man was way beyond his time & he was super talented in so many ways. Jay is cool, but he's starting to fade away. Nas is fantabulous, he doesn't get the credit he disserves & still talks real ish! Nas definitely has the upper hand in my eyes. But seriously people lets stop comparing East & West coast because they are totally different styles. Just like clothing & I'm sure a gazillion other things. Come on people lets open up our ears, eyes, & mind!!!
Be EazY!!!
hold on radamez im not tryna BASH jay cus i like jay but nas my favorite rapper so yea my opinion is biased but nas is the best 2 me an i got good points to back it up with thats all bra
Birdman05 I respect that.....it gets corny as hell when cats spend there time bashing trying to dis-credit your favorite instead of making intelligent convo to prove your own point.
Juliyssa, you are obviously too stupid to understand a purposely over exaggerated joke, so I suggest you hit the books before you come at me.Besides the fact that you can't read(Where did I say Pac was not good?), to your claim that Pac was "super talented",whatever that means, without explain what was his talent,only makes you look like the village idiot.
"retarded closed minded"
Smh
Evil Dre get the f*** out of here with the BS...Guess you can't take a joke muthafu**. Just go kill yourself ok. Get on the top of you card board box & jump......LOL I'm jut kidding & these are just jokes. You have your opinion & you are entitled to it, just like how we all have a$$wholes. Chill & be EAZY.......HOLLA
Um, HOV IS THE BEST EVER!!!!
Let me tell it like this...Jay is the most consistent artist ever in our generation. He is the GOAT! People tryin to say he fell off but have ya heard A.G.? It's another classic album.
Nas should have had more albums and hits in his career. End story! Nas is a sick lyricist but he made alot of mistakes in his career. He's lucky he ain't Ja Rule cause ya'll must not forget that he had some wack ones in there.
Name some wack Jay tracks, granted he had a few but not wack albums (Kingdom Come excluded) lol
I can name a lot of wack track, and a lot of bite tracks from Big,Pac ect(oh including Mike Jones)But you sound so dumb,this tells me you r not a good Jay fan you wouldnt have asked me.
How the fuck is Gay Z considered the greatest rapper ever, When we all know the greatest rapper of all time is and will always be Tupac Shakur/Makavel
big lipped,unoriginal ugly man can never be the Goat,hahaha
Nas is the shit right now,hate it or love it bump it or dump it
Yea whats good family.Why do all these young bloods and new baby niggas claim that jay is the greatest rappa alive ya dig.Jay was a no talent cock sucka since he came out the nut sack.I'm not tryna disrespect but It would be a miracle, to say that this fagot ass nigga is lyrical,Like bloody-said his lyrics are borrowed.You deserve to be my sunshine right jay, ya fagot ass bum.
Nas is man,cute and sexy as hell
Why teh fuck is a "supposed to be" MAN (bloody)...
Judging how cute another MAN is? FUck outta here!
Ya avatar is saying nothing... except that you're trying to come off as something... well mission accomplished... FAG!
FUck outta here. I hate reading all these nut ass, fake thug ass postings from girls...and guys dressed as girls (noughskrilla).
How many muthafuckas borrow Jay's shit? It's gonna continue to happen.
*****dumbest shit I read thus far*****
bloody — about 2 hours ago
I can name a lot of wack track, and a lot of bite tracks from Big,Pac ect(oh including Mike Jones)But you sound so dumb.....
It's an insult for anyone to be called dumb by you...
Ya whole fucking opening line was pre-schoolish!
FUCK OUTTA HERE!
Radamez stop wasting ya time with these "Lost Ones"!
By the way...that gun talk means nothing to me fam...
~Be Eazy!
Once again well said. Those two are funny.
You r a bitch wiz101 u aint kno shit either dont lemme use u for my breakfast..lol faggot ass bitch
dam ppl seem 2 take shyt a tad bit 2 far on this dam internet huh doe? lol
damn at least talk about the story of the article before you drift off to an argument. now as for Nas's greatest album, it's a classic. There are some tracks i thought it would be included such, "It ain't hard to tell" etc...
In opinion the entire Illmatic album is a greatest hit, i don't know if many agree but that (Illmatic) is the BEST rap album.
Illmatic is definitely one of THE greatest rap albums...My girl even bangs that shit still in her car... Now THAT's what you call WIFEY! :)
I'll definitely be supporting him...PERIOD!
~Be Eazy!
ah i meant to say "Represent" not "it ain't hard to tell"
lol Looks like I started an argument anyway
whoa yea smart members collide wit tha dumb main page members it was bound to happen,lol
Nas is the bra, Jadakiss is better than hov, but hov is the g.o.a.t.
nah i cant give hov the g.o.a.t. title but i agree wit everything else Pac the g.o.a.t. to me wit biggie a close second only cus he had just 2 albums
if Jada is better than Jay z,how could Jay be the goad?Pac,Nas,Big one of em can hold that title not jay