Do all Nas songs really have terrible beats?
Nas is one of the most celebrated lyricists in hip-hop, and, at one point, he was the most dominant emcee in New York. Known for his iconic battle with Jay-Z and his Roc-A-Fella label, Nas is a rapper that will go down in history.
However, unlike the big man Hov, Nas’s career never took off as it was supposed to in the early noughties. With so many notable MCs coming onto the scene at the turn of the millennium, Nas seemed to stall and is still predominantly considered a 1990s rapper. However, he still released some quality records after the ’90s.
Born and raised in Queensbridge, Nas was one of the biggest names in underground hip-hop during the early ’90s, with his debut album, Illmatic, to this day still classed as a classic and a must-listen for any hip-hop fan. He was a rapper, songwriter and, most importantly, a storyteller that other artists envied.
The rapper’s ability to immerse listeners in a story was second to none, and his way with words was awe-inspiring. His music remains one of hip-hop’s most memorable creations, and his cultural contribution can never be negated.
His legendary status aside, one thing that has hindered Nas over the years is his choice of beats. As such, after he stopped working with DJ Premier, the instrumentals featured on his projects began to sound somewhat questionable.
The lyricist’s 2001 album, Stillmatic, had some debatable backtracks, with songs such as ‘Destroy & Build’ showing a lack of creativity and courage. Many of the project’s instrumentals, such as ‘You’re Da Man’, quickly got repetitive and lacked the sense of progression that was present on other albums out at the time.
Until he began collaborating with Hit-Boy, Nas had some relatively uninspiring albums. His most revered projects were alongside DJ Premier and Pete Rock in the early ’90s. As such, the Illmatic creator appeared in a rut regarding his instrumentals. That said, during an episode of Vlad TV, DJ Vlad asked Salaam Remi, one of Nas’ producers, about the rapper’s choice of beats, considering he had done much of the production on Nas’ albums.
While discussing the creator of Nastrudamus, Vlad asserted that Nas was one of the worst beat pickers of all time and specifically compared the lacklustre approach to acts such as Jay Z, Kanye, Drake, etc. He further insisted that the songs weren’t as catchy.
During their discussion, Salaam disclosed that Nas never cared what anyone thought about his “beat picking” skills, and that wasn’t really his skillset. Furthermore, Salaam unveiled that when he worked with Nas, he always focused more on what complemented his lyrics and didn’t just pick what everyone thought was the hottest beat.
Furthermore, Salaam stated that Nas’ album was always made using instinct, and he only wrote to beats that inspired him. “Nas writes and picks his albums based on the content of lyrics.” Many even considered the beat for ‘Ether’ as poor when compared to Jay-Z’s ‘Takeover’. However, it was his lyricism that made it so special.