New York's Finest

It's time I publicly address the issue of who holds down New York in the modern rap game. Nowadays so many phonies and stans come straight into the game at full speed, disrespecting the greats and making claims they cant back. So allow me to tell you the story of two rap giants who I would argue are the heads of church and state for NY in the rap world.

Let me first state New York is a jungle, since Biggie no single artist has been the best in New York. The city has been a battleground for the rap elite since the beginning of hip-hop. I would argue that currently the two strongest figureheads of the big apple are Nas and Jay-Z. Jigga has been in the spotlight for years, and only gotten brighter in the last 2. Nas has been a street legend since before his album debuted and has gone platinum on every subsequent release. Each holds power over NY, but in a different manner. Jay being the peoples champ is akin to a political leader, whereas Nas has been a rap zealot seeking to enrich the soul and mind of his listeners akin to lets say a clergymen in this rap metaphor.

Nas born Nasir Jones in September of 1973 has been an acclaimed lyricist since his first album Illmatic, released 1994. The freshmen record from the Queens Bridge MC set the streets of New York alight, there was buzz of Nas being the second coming of Rakim. Whether it was a self-fulfilling prophecy or true foresight, Nasty Nas seemed to be carrying the torch of lyrical master. Refusing to get caught up on his first album's acclaim Nas dropped It Was Written in 96, spinning a 180 on the underground poetic structure of Illmatic, the sophomore album featured literal Trackmasters Tone and Poke for the majority of production work, as well as other guest appearances. This mainstream approach shook up the underground scene, while simultaneously extending Nas's fan base.

Meanwhile Jay-Z released his first solo album Reasonable Doubt the same year It Was Written dropped. Reasonable Doubt possibly the strongest album Jigga has ever released was a comparable masterpiece to that of Nas's genesis. The album pushed the rap game forward with Jay-Z's poetic flow and intimate description of street life. Jay also featured Notorious B.I.G. who many would argue is one of the top 2 MC's to ever live on his multiplatinum first drop. Personally I feel as though Jay's true talent didn't shine until late in his career with The Blueprint. But staying on course, interestingly enough Jay samples Nas's lyrics on the album's deep hitting track, Dead Presidents II. This sample would later serve as kindling to the raging inferno that was Jay-Z and Nas's rap battle.

That being said, lets fast forward to 2001, the first public feud between these composition giants. Spawning from a lyrical mishap between Memphis Bleek and Nas, Jay-Z threw the first punch with Takeover from The Blueprint, Nas followed up with a radio freestyle over Eric B & Rakim's "Paid in Full." I don't really want to go through the whole battle so i will break it down to the two major tracks dropped, Jay-Z's Takeover with an added last verse and Nas's Ether. Following Takeover's release onto Hot 97 airplay the hip-hop community thought that Nas would be running for the hills, or into the welfare line, but that was when divine intervention entered the mix. Ether boxed back like Muhammad Ali in the thrilla in manilla, this track broke down every claim jay had ever made in the game. Even though after a vote cast through Hot 97 radio Ether edged Jigga by only 4%, I feel as though it was apparent who the victor of this titanic clash was. This rap battle showcased the intellect, lyricism and composure of each artist.

In the aftermath of their conflict Nas came out with the chart topping God's Son, the single I can pushing the album with early record sales, as well as his first double album Street's Disciple. Both albums only furthered the messianic mindset of the New York MC, Nas had always sought to take care of the hip-hop community's soul preaching peace and trust in past models for behavior, while stressing the "overstanding" of religion as the cause of intolerance for others. Jay-Z made in my opinion a large push in his own career following their feud. First with The Blueprint 2, and then with the heavy hitting Black album, supposedly his exeunt from the rap game. The Black Album was like Nas's Stillmatic, a refresher of what brought Hov into the game. Each track was pristinely produced and Jay slowed his lyrical style down to the limpid twist of metaphor he became famous from(even though one could credit Nas with creating that style).

Finally we are reaching the point of this drawn out history of rap kings, in 2006 Nas released Hip Hop is Dead which features Jay-Z on its second single Black Republican. This track united the two legends in a unified front against all biters, stans and phonies. Hip Hop is Dead was not just a catchy album title Nas began to preach the ailing status of hip-hop in which he claimed southern rappers and fake gangster rappers were discrediting the art form as a whole by making music for money instead of art. Jay-Z then followed later that year with Kingdom Come his return to the rap game after 3 years of heading Def Jam's business endeavors. The album like Nas's 06 release was a powerhouse, throwing Jay-Z once more into the limelight for his rap game. From here we can only hope that two such well documented MC's can save rap from jealous bitches like 50 cent and G-unit who couldnt rhyme their way out of a kindergarten book.

sorry for the length, but I needed to document my understanding of NY rap comprehensively if I was really going to do it.