40 Compliments That Rappers Have Given Nas Over The Years
Take a peek into Nas’ laboratory and you’ll understand why he’s inspired a plethora of rappers. With 12 solo albums under his lab coat and a beaker size of unimaginable lyricism, the Queens rap god birthed a new generation of MCs.
Not only that, Nas mastered the formula to a classic debut. His lyrics still serve as a periodic table to rappers, old and new, even inspiring a Harvard University fellowship program. In celebration of The Don's 40th birthday tomorrow (Sept. 14), check out this list of compliments rappers have given to the 40-year-old over the years.
Photo Credit: zimbio
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“This nigga [Nas] paint a picture, and his shit so detail-oriented. And then he’ll come and give you the conversational piece of it. Like, he’ll put himself in the shoes from the perspective of himself then go back to describing shit. With some people it’s too much detail. He balances the detail with action and a real beginning, middle and end—and emotion.” —J. Cole, VIBE, August 2013
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On Nas’ good kid, m.a.a.d. city compliment: “You can hear the influence [of him] on my storytelling. For somebody who’s been a lead player in this game for so many years, a veteran as far as longevity and skill, that’s an accomplishment just on words alone.” —Kendrick Lamar, Fuse, January 2013
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“Nas is so poetic with it and I feel like his lyrics, you can write 'em down on paper and they will last for time. It would be like literature that we read.” —Common, MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” Show, September 2011
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A song on Nas’ It Was Written second album: “A song that was like, wow, good metaphors, strong, and it gave you a visual and he’s one of the great storytellers within hip-hop music culture…” —50 Cent, Knock TV, May 2013
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“When you talk about hip-hop, Nas is hip-hop to the core.” —Bow Wow, VIBE, December 2012
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On Nas’ Life Is Good album: “It’s so fresh. It’s so good to hear fresh music once in a while. You know, nothing wrong with the sound that’s in hip hop right now, except for that it’s over-saturated you know, but I think Nas gives a different approach. I think that’s dope.” —Fabolous, XXL, July 2012
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On understanding rap: “When I was 12, I got my first rap album from my uncle and it was Illmatic. [My uncle told me if I listen to it enough times, I’ll understand rap completely.” —Milo, MTV Hive, July 2013
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“Nas proved with his last album Life is Good that he still puts a level of quality and artistry into his music that most can’t touch.” —Fab Five Freddy, Complex, September 2013
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On studying Nas for his debut album Thank Me Later: "Nas was somebody that I used to listen to his raps and never understood how he did it. I always wanted to understand how he painted those pictures and his [rhyming] bar structure.” —Drake, Imflashy.com, February 2010
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On collaborating with Nas on Roman Reloaded: "He's always been so exclusive. He doesn't work with everybody and I respect people that are like that. They take pride in their craft." —Nicki Minaj, The Breakfast Club Morning Radio Show, April 2012
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On collaborating with Nas: “Nas is one of the best rappers ever. Just having him in the studio, that’s a big thing to me. I grew up listening to this guy.” —Meek Mill, Billboard, May 2012
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“When you’re talking about Nas, you’re talking about one of the greatest of all time.” —Da Internz, Rap-Up, March 2012
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“When Nas came out, he started solidifying it for lyricists. Never mind what [other] people are doing, do you. He did a lot for my career. He may not know that, but he did a lot for my career.” —Rakim, MTV News, June 2013
Photo Credit: hiphopwired
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“I respect @Nas and enjoy his music. Triple Salute.” —Gucci Mane, Twitter, September 2013
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“Escobar is one of the best MCs to ever bless the mic.” —RZA, MTV News, September 2010
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“Nas is awesome. He’s very intelligent, he’s a very cool person.” —Iggy Azalea, Hot 97, June 2013
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“I knew when I put the album out that it would be received well, but a Grammy Rap Album of the Year nomination far surpasses my dreams. To be in the same category with legends like Nas. Man, that’s a big honor. I’m extremely blessed.” —2 Chainz, MTV, December 2012
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“I had an advanced copy of Illmatic, so I listened to that record down at Howard University and I was a little bit shook. I just knew it was going to be a game changer.” —Black Thought, The Combat Jack Show, April 2013
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On Nas inspiring him to add concepts to his music: “I’m gonna always come with a dope concept. That’s word to my nigga Nas. I’m a huge fan of Nas, now he’s like my brother in this shit. I’ma always try to keep my albums consistently tied into some kind of concept.” —The Game, XXL, March 2012
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On Nas’ positive response to his Elmatic tribute: “That’s a blessing because when I set out to do an album… I wanted to pay homage and pay tribute to the classic album that Nas did.” —Elzhi, Hip-Hop DX, October 2011
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"Illmatic was dope… The wordplay on that album, too.” —A$AP Ferg, Complex, August 2013
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“When I popped [Illmatic] in I listened to it front to back and it really changed my life and it really changed how I looked and listened to hip-hop.” — Stalley, Rhapsody, November 2012
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“I love Nas. I want to put Nas and Kool G Rap on the same song.” —Action Bronson, MTV Hive, September 2013
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“When Nas came out, there was no higher rapper in the world than Nas. The flow, Illmatic, changed the whole game. Nas is the only emcee from my generation, maybe Rakim but that was the generation before me, but Nas for my generation was the most respected emcee in any genre of rap. He could do a song with Puffy or Wu-Tang, the same thing.” —Kanye West
Glow In The Dark Concert at MSG, August 2008
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“Nas has been a big inspiration to me. If it wasn’t for albums like Illmatic I wouldn’t know what an artist’s first album should sound like.” —Fashawn, Hip-Hop Official, August 2010
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“Me, personally, I actually love Nas. All of us from Queens, we love Nas because he was the first rock off of that movement. It was LL [Cool J]… Run DMC, it was the Lost Boyz, and then came our era, and of our era, the first dude from that era was Nas. So I could do nothing but respect him.” —N.O.R.E., thisis50.com, July 2011
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“Nas is one of the gods, one of the greatest of all time, one of the godfathers of even my own style.” —Jay Electronica, MTV, September 2012
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“When I got It Was Written, my life changed.” —Lupe Fiasco, Cee Lo Green’s “Talking With Strangers” on Fuse, June 2011
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“…Nas’ “Ether” sits on the mantle when it comes to battle songs. From the production, to the way he formatted it, to what he was saying—he touched everything. It was an A-Plus grade.” —Jadakiss, VIBE, September 2011
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“When I used to listen to Nas back in the days, it was like, ‘Oh shit! He murdered that.’ That forced me to get my pen game up and like, ‘How can I try to catch it how this nigga’s catchin’ it?’ —Ghostface Killah, Hip-Hop DX, May 2013
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“That’s one of the very few artists I really admire for being who is he is, what he represents and the conversations he’s had with. I completely appreciate, I respect the homie, his longevity.” —Rick Ross, Power 99 FM, August 2012
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“He was like the next coming. At one time Nas was the best rapper on Earth. His swag and smooth flow and delivery made him better than everyone at the time.” — Fat Joe, Ricky Padilla Behind-the-scenes, May 2010
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On Nas’ age: “Music is the fountain of youth. Aging gracefully just comes with the territory of staying creative and being at the top of your craft.” —Tech N9ne, Complex, September 2013
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“That’s definitely a legend. That’s somebody who’s stood the test of time. Only a few players can do that.” —Big Sean, Parker Vision, April 2013
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“Nas’ Illmatic is a great album now because the beats was the illest, his lyrics were the lyrics. He told a story… Illmatic it’s not a Bible, you listen to it and he made his mistakes, he says the wrong stuff but it’s all true.” —Childish Gambino, Hard Knock TV, November 2011
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“On wanting to collab with Nas: I think just lyrically that would take me to another level. I just been listening to a lot of his old CD’s. Well they’re old now, but they’re not even that old. Street’s Disciple and shit like that, that was released in like 04. But that was some really good shit and it got slept on. Musically, I feel like he’s in the zone that a lot of people don’t even really, really understand.” —Wiz Khalifa, DefSounds, October 2012
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“The era I grew up in was Biggie, Nas, Tupac. It’s very difficult to compare to those guys, it just is.” —Jay Z, Power 105's The Breakfast Club, July 2013
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"I walked out of the Beverly Hills Hotel and Nas was right next to me. I totally fanned out on him. He was on the phone so I put my backpack in the car and Joey my manager was like, ‘Check your boy out,’ because he knows Nas is my favorite. So I turned around and just stared at him, he probably could tell that I was staring at him. I went up to him and I was like, ‘Sorry! I know you’re on the phone. But you’re the best of all time, my favorite ever." —Sammy Adams, The Boombox, September 2013
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“Nas’ lyrics will educate you. You’ll listen to Nas and be like, ‘Goddamn, that was some clever ass shit.’ It will make you think and question life. If you haven’t been educated, he will educate you on the theories. He is a positive person’ so I respect Nas.” —Waka Flocka, AllHipHop, February 2011
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“Hearing Nas and being around him, seeing his success, it pushed me to be great. I wanted to be great… he was one of the major ones because I was right there with him. I was right there in the neighborhood, I was right there when his “Illmatic” album went Gold.” —Prodigy, Complex, January 2013
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