Jay Z vs Nas

Jay Z

VS

Nas

Battle between two of the greatest to ever touch a mic, and undeniable top-5 MC's.

• Who is the superior lyricist?
• Who's has the better flow?
• Who has the better ear for beats?
• Who is the more versatile artist?
• Who's magnum opus album is superior to the other?
• Who would win in a freestyle rap battle?
• Who would win a a beef over wax?
• Who's the superior artist overall?

Bonus Round: Which diss track was better; Ether or Takeover?

Does Hovi baby take the win over Esco? Or does the Street Disciple take out Hova?

Nas is better. Jay thinks too much like a CEO to be a good rapper 80% of the time.

^^ Here we go...

Lyrics - Nas over Jay Z : this one is razor sharp close.

Flow - Nas over Jay Z : close again... I just think Nas flow is a little more consistent.

Beats - Jay Z over Nas : Jay always had a great ear for beats... Nas on the other hand...

Versatility - Nas over Jay Z : this one is razor close again... I always thought Nas could rap about anything...

Album - Stalemate : They both got multiple great albums IMO.

Freestyle - Jay Z over Nas : I would hate to see this as I think Jay would torch Nas in the Freestyle department.

Wax Beef - Mum is the Word.

Superior Artist - Nas : Jay has always been second to Nas IMO.

Discuss if you wish

Jay would destroy Nas in a freestyle rap battle, come on people.

I could never get into Jay Z but I recognize his talent

Nas for me all day

didn't either settle this ?

a closer battle would be Eminem vs Nas

Indeed. Jay Z was actually a legit respected rap battler that, allegedly, battled the late great Big L to a stalemate.

Nas gets torched, lal.

Lyrics - Nas

Better flow - Jay-Z

Ear for beats - Jay-Z

Versatile - Tie

Album - Nas

Freestyle Battle - Nas

Beef over wax - Not really sure, leaning towards Jay-Z

Superior Artist - Close, but Nas

I say the one that's not a sellout.

Jay-z wins everything except beef over wax. Nas has not doing anything relevant in the last ten years. #facts

Fight!

Nas

Always been Jay for me, both top 5 though

@deronn_solo: Y u do dis? Y?! You know what you're starting right? Some people just want to watch the world burn lol. Anyway, my opinion:

• Who is the superior lyricist? - Nas
• Who's has the better flow? - Nas; possibly my favorite flow of all time.
• Who has the better ear for beats? - Jay-Z; This is one of the areas where Nas is often criticized. You can say Esco doesn't feel the need to go after the big name producers, but honestly, sometimes he just picks terrible beats.
• Who is the more versatile artist? - I'm actually surprising myself a bit here, but after careful deliberation, I think Nas is slightly more versatile. I think Jay might be more versatile as far as who his flow can pair with, whereas Nas is more versatile as far as imagery and subject matter.
• Who's magnum opus album is superior to the other? - Nas
• Who would win in a freestyle rap battle? - Jay'Z; I'm assuming we're talking about classic "off-the-dome" freestyles, and that's actually never been Nas's strong suit, whereas Jay is known to be pretty good in this department.
• Who would win a beef over wax? - Nas; as far as I'm concerned (and the majority agrees), Nas already has won on wax...
• Who's the superior artist overall? - Nas; Jay will always be more commercially successful, whereas Nas will always edge him out in critical acclaim.

Bonus Round: Which diss track was better; Ether or Takeover? - Ether. Think about what the word has come to mean since he dropped that track. When an artist gets destroyed by a diss song, we say "they got Ether'd" (or that so-and-so Ether'd them).

• Who is the superior lyricist? - Nas
• Who's has the better flow? - It might be Nas objectively, but I just prefer Jay-Z
• Who has the better ear for beats? - Jay-Z
• Who is the more versatile artist? - Jay-Z, but only slightly
• Who's magnum opus album is superior to the other? - Nas, but only slightly
• Who would win in a freestyle rap battle? - Jay-Z would dominate him here
• Who would win a a beef over wax? - Jay-Z
• Who's the superior artist overall? - Jay-Z is to me

Bonus Round: Ether was probably superior, as much as it pains me to say.

Hip Hop is Dead went Platinum and N****r went Gold, both albums were critically acclaimed and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart. The hell are you talking about?

And Life is Good debuted at number 1 and received multiple Grammy nominations.

Hip hop is dead came out ten years ago fam.

@enemybird: And?

What do you mean "And?" that was my original point.

@enemybird: I know it came out ten years ago..so it's still included in the past 10 years since this year isn't over yet.

Overall I prefer Nas.

I'm not big on hip-hop though.

Who is the superior lyricist? Nas

Who's has the better flow? Jay

Who has the better ear for beats? Jay, easily

Who is the more versatile artist? Jay

Who's magnum opus album is superior to the other? Nas

Who would win in a freestyle rap battle? Jay

Who would win a a beef over wax? Nas

Who's the superior artist overall? Jay

Bonus Round: Which diss track was better; Ether or Takeover? Takeover was a better track, but Jay lost the beef bc he responded poorly to Ether haha

overall, Nas ranks higher in the greatest MCs list, and i like him more. if ur talking overall music artist, jay-z is higher bc of his crazy success, longevity, popularity

• Who is the superior lyricist? Nas.
• Who's has the better flow? Nas.
• Who has the better ear for beats? Jay.
• Who is the more versatile artist? Jay.
• Who's magnum opus album is superior to the other? Nas.
• Who would win in a freestyle rap battle? Jay, maybe.
• Who would win a a beef over wax? Nas.
• Who's the superior artist overall? Nas.

Takeover vs Ether- Takeover wasn't even a dedicated diss track to Nas, and was fairly forgettable overall. Ether was pretty immature and was mostly Nas throwing insults, but its more iconic and has a lot of energy. Ether.

Tfw Nas hasn't surpassed his first album, which he released as a 21 year old lmao

BB

@juiceboks: If this was 90's Nas vs 90's Jay-z it would be fair. But comparing their whole careers side by side makes this a curb stomp for Hova. Every single Jay-z has been on has had quotable bars. The last Nas song that went hard was "they shootin"

"Y'all know it's one of one Soon as you hear that uh, uh, uh"

This. I've never really liked Jay-Z tbh. Mainly cause most of his lyrics came off as materialistic. Nas's material feels more conscious, which I prefer in the long term anyway.

really depends on what you're judging on.

if you're just talking about popularity and the ability to make hits, of course it's Jay-Z.

But Nas' career has consistently showed way more skill, and has been consistent with albums. I like Jay but he sold out to make popular songs. His flow and his lyrics haven't been good in about a decade and has made plenty of bad albums, his last good album being American Gangster in 2007. Nas' most recent album Life is Good (2012) shows that he still has the rap skills, even maturing a little more too, in his lyrical content. Life is Good is miles better than Jay-Z's last one, Magna Carter

for the most part, Nas' album have gotten better reviews from critics and fans alike

I'm not saying one's career is better than the other, but I just wanted to say that it's not a curb stomp at all. There are many ways of looking at it.

• Who is the superior lyricist?
• Who's has the better flow?
• Who has the better ear for beats?
• Who is the more versatile artist?
• Who's magnum opus album is superior to the other?
• Who would win in a freestyle rap battle?
• Who would win a a beef over wax?
• Who's the superior artist overall?

What about in a fight?

Nas just isnt on Jay-z's level anymore. You know it.

Nah, lmao.

Hov's word-play/one-liners is on another plane from Nas. Nasir isn't really touching Jay's flows either.

Who is the superior lyricist? Nas

Who's has the better flow? Jay

Who has the better ear for beats?Jay

Who is the more versatile artist? Jay

Who's magnum opus album is superior to the other? Jay had more great albums

Who would win in a freestyle rap battle? Probably Jay

Who would win a a beef over wax? Probably Nas

Who's the superior artist overall? Jay

Bonus: Ether hands down

Between Jay Z vs Nas, Nas of course. Jay-Z got definitively Ethered and Illmatic alone >>> all Jay-Z albums.

Now, "Jay Z battled to an stalemate with Big L". Man, shut your FINGERS up.

Big L made Jay-Z looks like children, and Nas was already said he couldn't compete with Big L.

Summary? If Big L was alive during the beef, he would step in and murderstomps both.

@phoenixblue: You must be a serious Nas fanboy if you think Illmatic solos Jay's entire discography. The Blueprint, The Black Album, and Reasonable Doubt are all superior albums IMO.

And I don't see what Big L has to do with Nas or Jay-Z, but you're wrong anyway.

@x-rey: And you must be a serious Jay-Z fangirl, I don't think you heard the song "Ether" right, are you deaf, blind or dumb? K. Rappers still study Illmatic to this day like it was The Bible. All of these albums next to Illmatic is basically child's play. Nas made his first album alone and without the participation of anyone. With others it is much easier right? 'Cause GAY-Z did it (oh and he got smacked by Big Pun too). You are not a hip hop head of my level, so you don't have the SLIGHTEST moral scope to argue with me, Big L was about to be part of Roc-A-Fella Records, and Nas said he was afraid of him. Will I need to put links here? Because it looks like your hollow head only understands what you want.

Again I repeat: Big L was alive, he would step in and murderstomps BOTH.

The rank goes: 1. Big L 2. Nas 3. GAY-Z.

Problem?

I prefer Nas

@phoenixblue:

I don't think you heard the song "Ether

LMAO heard it like a trillion times, dude. You can't educate me on that song.

Nas made his first album alone and without the participation of anyone.

What??? Not sure what you're trying to say here.

Big L was about to be part of Roc-A-Fella Records

If he was about to join Jay's label then why would he jump in the beef and diss his label mate? Do you realize how stupid you sound?

and Nas said he was afraid of him

Who cares?

The rank goes: 1. Big L 2. Nas 3. GAY-Z.

As if I give a flying fork about your rankings.

Problem?

With what? You're the one that's throwing around insults like a little child.

Neither

Jay-Z takes the majority of the categories.