Aone10 wrote:While G Rap is the godfather of mafioso rap, it wasn't until Rae put out OB4CL that everyone jumped on the bandwagon. Biggie, Nas, and Jay-Z, Mobb Deep (4 of the biggest names in hip-hop) were all directly influenced by OB4CL. Biggie and Nas both took on their mafioso-alter-egos (Frank White & Escobar) because of OB4CL.
Mobb Deep and Jay z owe more to nas than the Wu, Mobb Deep being it was Nas who made QB notable at all and they probably never would have gotten as much shine if illmatic never released. And Jay for completely reinventing the way he rapped after illmatic dropped, and we all know he was Nas’ biggest fanboy with the constant samples and constant namedropping in just about every album of his.
It wasn't just about mafioso rap though, it was also the sound of the album. RZA changed the production game yet again by incorporating heavy strings and movie samples to create a cinematic feel. Something everyone started doing after Cuban Linx.
I’m not denying that the Wu as a whole are influential as hell and they probably are more influential to rap than Nas, I’d arguably say they indirectly are what caused backpacker underground rap and are without a doubt the reason MF Doom took on a comic book persona and samples his favorite cartoons, I’m just saying that illmatic is every bit as influential as Enter the 36 chambers, your argument is that because it came out a year before illmatic than Nas wouldn’t have been rapping the way he would have. When his album was in development before he even heard of the wu and his album was gonna drop with or without them.
Then ofcourse, Cristal. No one was drinking Cristal in rap videos or mentioning it in their songs until the Wu did on Cuban Linx.
What a random arbitrary thing to bring up, lmfao. No offense man but who gives a shit about this.
Then Enter the 36 Chambers is the album that paved the way for an Illmatic and a Ready to Die.
No, that would be Live and Let Die by G rap who was the progenitor to hardcore east coast hip hop when the West was dominating and NY was still following the Native Tongues movement with jazzy bohemian esque rap ala De La, A tribe, and Das Efx. He was the first one to truly bring hardcore Hip Hop back to the east and without him albums like Infamous, Illmatic, and like you said 36 Chambers wouldn’t exist, well maybe they would but they probably woudn't be given as much attention. He's the first to really go against jazzy native tounges rap
Before it's release, the West Coast was dominating the hip-hop world. Then Wu-Tang re-introduced East Coast hip-hop, presenting it with dark, eerie, stripped down yet hard-hitting beats to go with lyricism depicting gritty street imagery and the realities of the many ghettos of New York at the time.... something Nas would later then re-capture with Illmatic. Everything from the slang (Cream, word is bond, etc.) to the production and themes of 36 Chambers re-shaped and influenced every artist on the East Coast hip-hop scene, including Nas
Like I said see Live and Let Die which predates Enter the Wu by a year, but either way you’re entire argument is standing on MT. Correlation imples causation, Nas was well on his way to releasing illmatic even if enter the Wu never dropped, and I think you’re underestimating just how influential illmatic is. It put Queensbridge on the map and gave shine to artists like Mobb Deep, Capon and Noreaga, etc, and also raised the standard ridiculously. His skill at the time was unprecedented, before this Jay was completely biting that big daddy kane flow and not to mention the amount of samples that illmatic has. Probably the most sampled album of all time next to The Infamous.
Nas probably owes more to Biggie with IWW the way everyone tried hopping on Big’s gravy train with the release of R2D, his style was pretty much appealing to the masses with poppy beats when his previous album was a hardcore east coast renaissance album.
I love Nas as well, I just feel like at some point in his career, his subject matter and sound stopped progressing, he became predictable. Still one of the greatest writers in hip-hop history, but I personally don't enjoy many of his albums with the exception of Illmatic and It Was Written. I hand pick tracks from everything else, but I've never been able to sit through an entire Nas album post 96. Even Life Is Good had it's skips.
I personally don’t think It was written is all that, it has some of his best and most lyrical tracks but it’s too long, has some filler and I just am not a fan of the Mafioso content, unless it was the Wu. I don’t prefer the hedonistic side of Mafioso, I think Stillmatic also has some of his best songs, The Lost tapes if you count that is pretty consistant and has no filler, and the production in Hip Hop is dead is his strongest. What’s great about Nas’ disco is how polarizing it is and there’s no general consensus about what his second best album is.
Eminem is the greatest imo because of SSLP, MMLP, and TES. No one can touch that, I don't care about what he's put out since (although I do love Relapse).
Bob Dylan had about a decade's worth of lack luster material after his prime, do people write him off? Hell no. He's still considered one of the grearest American musicians of all time for the work he did in his prime. The same should be applied to Eminem. 1997-2003. He gave us 7 years of some of the best hip-hop music of all time....
That's how long the Beatles were around for.... 7 years and they are considered to be the greatest band of all time.
The Em hate is getting ridiculous and needs to stop tbh. SSLP, MMLP, TES.... the holy fucking trinity son.
If you mean me, I’ve never hated on Eminem and consider his first three albums as seminal classics, it’s just when half you’re discography is mediocore-garbage than well. Also being able to consistently drop above solid material post 20 years after your debut is no easy feat and should not be taken for granted.
