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Post by abjordans on May 13, 2017 13:52:34 GMT -5
I used to think Ether was a knockout blow, but Takeover has aged SO much better and is just a way better song. Plus, Superugly was just so mean, I am of the opinion Jay not only won, but kinda sorta tuned Nas up. We were just talking about what early 2000s hip-hop has aged well at the office the other day. We all kinda agreed that Jay-Z's stuff can be really hit-or-miss from Vol. 3 through The Blueprint 2. Some stuff has aged exceptionally poorly, but, yeah, I listened to Takeover for the first time in a long time and it holds up. Ether is actually one of the worst beats of all time. That is why that song doesn't age well mainly to me. |
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Post by Stu on May 13, 2017 13:53:55 GMT -5
I had the hardest time keeping track of rappers during that period. I was always confused between Jay Z, Nas, 50 Cent and Ja Rule. Given recent events, I'd say the latter has fallen the furthest. How? They have all very distinct voices and styles. That's like saying I had a hard time of keeping track of Blink 182, Slipknot, Nickleback, and Linkin Park during that time period. I don't even listen to a lot of hip hop but if I heard a Jay Z song I never heard of before I can recognize his voice. I just didn't follow rap or hip hop back then, nor do I to this day. Their names kept popping up at the time, but I never kept track of who's who, nor did I pay attention to who sang what. |
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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2017 14:07:43 GMT -5
How? They have all very distinct voices and styles. That's like saying I had a hard time of keeping track of Blink 182, Slipknot, Nickleback, and Linkin Park during that time period. I don't even listen to a lot of hip hop but if I heard a Jay Z song I never heard of before I can recognize his voice. I just didn't follow rap or hip hop back then, nor do I to this day. Their names kept popping up at the time, but I never kept track of who's who, nor did I pay attention to who sang what. I'm not arguing about fandom or keeping track who sang what. I'm just arguing about the sound and voices being pretty damn distinctive even if your only exposure is them being background noises in public places. Like it was impossible to not get an impression hearing Ja Rule's gravely voice for the first time similar to hearing Tom Wait's for the first time. I'm just saying those examples are pretty distinct from one another and it's nowhere near a Theory of a NickleSeetherFaultCreed situation. |
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chazraps
Wade Wilson
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Post by chazraps on May 13, 2017 14:08:41 GMT -5
I just didn't follow rap or hip hop back then, nor do I to this day. Their names kept popping up at the time, but I never kept track of who's who, nor did I pay attention to who sang what. I'm not arguing about fandom or keeping track who sang what. I'm just arguing about the sound and voices being pretty damn distinctive even if your only exposure is them being background noises in public places. Like it was impossible to not get an impression hearing Ja Rule's gravely voice for the first time similar to hearing Tom Wait's for the first time. I'm just saying those examples are pretty distinct from one another and it's nowhere near a Theory of a NickleSeetherFaultCreed situation. I don't think he listened to them, I think he meant reading their names in the news since those two beefs were pretty high profile. |
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Post by Stu on May 13, 2017 14:24:13 GMT -5
I'm not arguing about fandom or keeping track who sang what. I'm just arguing about the sound and voices being pretty damn distinctive even if your only exposure is them being background noises in public places. Like it was impossible to not get an impression hearing Ja Rule's gravely voice for the first time similar to hearing Tom Wait's for the first time. I'm just saying those examples are pretty distinct from one another and it's nowhere near a Theory of a NickleSeetherFaultCreed situation. I don't think he listened to them, I think he meant reading their names in the news since those two beefs were pretty high profile. Pretty much. Only read about them here or there, or heard their names through word of mouth. Can't really name a single song by any of them. All I know is Jay Z married Beyoncé, 50 Cent is broke and Ja Rule is great at planning music festivals |
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Post by Magic knows Black Lives Matter on May 13, 2017 15:53:14 GMT -5
Who actually won the war of words? Well, Nas wasn't the one crying on the radio after hearing Ether so he won in that area. Wait, literally? Or just like, whining? Depends on who you ask and the audio is rough sounding but it certainly sounds like Hov was shedding a few tears during an interview shortly after he heard Ether. |
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Post by sfvega on May 14, 2017 1:20:29 GMT -5
Lyrically, at the time, Nas probably won. I wholly disagree. "Takeover" was ONE verse that was line-for-line all facts. Nas' was a handful of barbs between projected homophobia and barstool hearsay. "Superugly" didn't have to come out and probably lost Hov some steam in the moment, but "Takeover" is by far the better song than "Ether." Nas just had the advantage of coming off of the two career-low singles ("You Owe Me" and "Oochie Wally") so the bar was so much lower for him to knock it out of the park. 50 summed it up better than I could. “If you would ask someone who listens to lyrics who won between Nas and Jay Z, they would say Nas. Ate that boy alive. But if we looked at Nas and we looked at Jay Z at this point right now we see something that reflects something different. It’s what kind of win are you looking for,” 50 Cent said. |
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chazraps
Wade Wilson
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Post by chazraps on May 14, 2017 2:02:11 GMT -5
I wholly disagree. "Takeover" was ONE verse that was line-for-line all facts. Nas' was a handful of barbs between projected homophobia and barstool hearsay. "Superugly" didn't have to come out and probably lost Hov some steam in the moment, but "Takeover" is by far the better song than "Ether." Nas just had the advantage of coming off of the two career-low singles ("You Owe Me" and "Oochie Wally") so the bar was so much lower for him to knock it out of the park. 50 summed it up better than I could. “If you would ask someone who listens to lyrics who won between Nas and Jay Z, they would say Nas. Ate that boy alive. But if we looked at Nas and we looked at Jay Z at this point right now we see something that reflects something different. It’s what kind of win are you looking for,” 50 Cent said. But Nas' lyrics weren't better than Jay's. The guy said "Gay-Z and Cockafella Records." Outside of the title, how many quotables are honestly in "Ether?" "Takeover" gave us "you made it a hot line, I made it a hot song," "had a spark when you started, but now you're just garbage," "smarten up Nas," "one hot album every 10 year average," etc. And he packed it all into one verse. |
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Post by sfvega on May 14, 2017 2:44:14 GMT -5
50 summed it up better than I could. “If you would ask someone who listens to lyrics who won between Nas and Jay Z, they would say Nas. Ate that boy alive. But if we looked at Nas and we looked at Jay Z at this point right now we see something that reflects something different. It’s what kind of win are you looking for,” 50 Cent said. But Nas' lyrics weren't better than Jay's. The guy said "Gay-Z and Cockafella Records." Outside of the title, how many quotables are honestly in "Ether?" "Takeover" gave us "you made it a hot line, I made it a hot song," "had a spark when you started, but now you're just garbage," "smarten up Nas," "one hot album every 10 year average," etc. And he packed it all into one verse. First of all, Cockafella Records is pretty good. There's homophobic stuff in SO many of rap's feuds. Just a difference of opinion, man. I'm not gonna convince you of shit. I'm just saying, at the time, the majority thought Nas won. I'm more of a Jay Z guy, myself. More Black Album though. But the rap community leans Nas won, and not really by a small margin. There's no real quantifiable way to prove this, but it's what I see. |
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Post by Manute Bol on May 14, 2017 12:54:15 GMT -5
Jay-Z has had a better commercial career. Nas has had a better critical career.
So it comes down to what you value more: fame and fortune, or respect and credibility?
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Post by Alice Syndrome on May 14, 2017 22:06:47 GMT -5
I had the hardest time keeping track of rappers during that period. I was always confused between Jay Z, Nas, 50 Cent and Ja Rule. Given recent events, I'd say the latter has fallen the furthest. I think Ja Rule promoting a festival in 2017 is another case of Mandela Effect, seeing as I distinctly remember Eminem murdering him in 2003 with "Do Re Mi". |
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