"NAS & RAKIM HAD THAT BALANCE!!!" COMMON & PETE ROCK TALK CONSCIOUS RAP vs GANGSTA RAP

[@Don.M.]

Man, Nas and his music gave me guidelines to stay on the right track as a project kid. Never joined gangs, never sold drugs, never robbed, because he gave you such a vivid picture of the reality of those situations and an example of overcoming them. 🐐

[@solarheat2414]

Nas did sell drugs after he dropped out of school. He didn't do it for too long because he started focusing on the music.

[@brianplato3932]

@@solarheat2414this

[@jman1562001]

@@solarheat2414 he talked about that on triple beam dreams feature wit ross

[@neldadon]

Exactly me as well bro . I'm born raised Brooklyn Dominican veteran 80s 90s

[@Goatchild90]

Nas and Rakim are 2 of the best emcees to ever live

[@ThePremierGroupLLC]

My top 5... Which only has 2 MCs in it. Ra Esco

[@CEEBrown]

EVER!

[@jaywill4ever]

Big Daddy Kane

[@ducatarina]

Lyrically the best Nas and Rakim Musically and Impact wise: 2Pac and 50 Cent are the two greatest.

[@rashaanlemell7974]

My 2 Favorite MCs Rakim and Nas.

[@TheBulletzgottishow20]

Nas gave you the perspective of a street poet who was conscious and street him and pac gave the streets that in the 90s

[@ALo-yv2pj]

Prodigy was in that same line of mixing street life with that conscious rap. He got deep into religion, government, and science.

[@TheBulletzgottishow20]

@@ALo-yv2pj prodigy in that conversation definitely

[@EffortlessEffervescence]

Tragedy Khadafi did it first

[@DAVIDTORRESANI]

@@ALo-yv2pjProd began his shift into that lane when he mentioned he was starting to peep pac. It’s in his book.

[@TheBulletzgottishow20]

@@EffortlessEffervescence jail and drugs destroyed tragedy career nas came in took it to the finish line

[@brazmunk9]

1st "Conscious" Hip Hop song was "The Message". Mel & Flash created a Genre noone mentions.

[@juanogando1901]

Dude it was literal DVDs about that being the first conscious song. Relax

[@easyrider3066]

Duke Bootie wrote and performed The Message. Mel only added the last verse. And it was recycled for an earlier song

[@charlescosby6065]

Facts Boogie Down Created it

[@TG-nh9jx]

Common is a 4 corner hustler from the chi. He was a street dude. For him to transition to a conscious mc is so cold. He a top 10 rapper to me. Classic albums. Resurrection is right up there with illmatic to me.

[@SandraPhillips-cb5og]

Thanks for keeping it real, your authenticity is refreshing

[@b.s0vere1gn]

Consciousness is self respect on all levels and respecting all as self.. Which is being in wholeness and balanced vibrations.

[@user-jd3wj2vl7o]

NAS!! 🐐 - your fav rapper’s fav rapper. Whether they admit it or not

[@MannysNYC]

say it again

[@Shysta30]

Super facts

[@lutalomoore]

He’s my Goat

[@jman1562001]

I AM THE TRUEST....Name a rapper that I ain't influence!!!

[@hughfuller8416]

I avoided many things in my life because of Nas lyrics.

[@mackl8305]

“Life is what you make it” “what goes around” “black girl lost” i was 11 years old really thinking about societal issues and life seriously

[@hughfuller8416]

@@mackl8305 yeah, it puts you in a different headspace. Mine was “It Ain’t Hard To Tell” when he talked about wisdom be leaking from his grapefruit.

[@abracadabra3033]

Indeed

[@kg6987]

Straight up 💯

[@heavenizmyhome718]

Word

[@leronewestern7540]

This a dope conversation that needed to be had

[@kg6987]

Nas and Rakim are the two greatest

[@chrisventura1881]

Tribe Called Quest some of the pioneers of back pack rap.

[@jman1562001]

As was De La Soul. I mean the Me Myself and I video basically painted the picture IMO.

[@beautifullifemedia2733]

Nas and Rakim...i agree. Two of the best ever.

[@Quandryification]

I'm from Portland, Oregon and moved to LA when I was 19 (1986 you do the math) and I never categorized hiphop until it was basically pushed on me. To me it was all HipHop from different perspectives.

[@ZYaKnoe249]

Pac, Nas, Rakim, Cube generally found that balance

[@gaylordfocker7990]

OutKast? Scarface?

[@stephenjackson2912]

Pac was not HipHop, he actually was one of the reasons it got ruined.

[@Dipset415]

@@stephenjackson2912cap🫵🏿😭

[@stephenjackson2912]

@@Dipset415 Like most people outside of N.Y, he was just in it for the money, not the culture. He was a really good rapper/record maker, just not the best tho.

[@kg6987]

I call them the streets poets

[@timothyhux5090]

Rakim and Nas are my top 2. Masters of Flow.

[@ahayahyashayah9093]

R.I.P Prodigy...MOBB DEEP forever the greatest group ever

[@supersaiyanslice]

Math be having the best Inteviews and Subjects

[@omardavis1622]

I wish I could brought up a point , being that Pete Rock was there. Like Heavy D , whole career was built on club, and radio. And we never saw Dwight any different, then Ice Cube who made hardcore jams as well. Snoop did gangsta street radio club music as well. Dre too.

[@lisasimpson8003]

Common is the king of double entendre. Ever other line is a double entendre in "One Day Itll All Make Sense"-- (album name is actually a double entendre too lol); and "Resurrection" and "Like Water For Chocolate". I dont think people truly understand the depth of Common's MCing ability

[@patrickdurham7984]

You left out his best album "Be".

[@lisasimpson8003]

I didnt leave out anything, i just chose to cite the albums i cited. Relax. Im aware that every Common album is filled with crazy metaphors etc. Chicago mcs got the best wordplay--- common/lupe/chance/vic mensa. I kno ppl will disagree about chance and vic lol but thats bcz their wordplay went over your head. Chance is actually better than kdot and cole.. And is the best millenial mc. Vic mensa albums arent great but look up vic freestyles on sway in the morning

[@ADyani6]

Nas & Rakim are my goats❤

[@BlkQueentarot333]

Common, they on my ass out here😂😂😂❤❤❤❤❤❤❤ I love you Common 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉 I love you Math 🎉🎉🎉🎉 Happy Father's Day guys

[@ATACXGYMCAPOEIRA]

We still love you, sis! We'll help to get em off you, lol.

[@-.-_-.]

Aww man Pete Rock and Common (Sense) in the same room. My guy Pete Rock gained that old man weight.

[@ShemarChilds]

Excited for my name to be next to such coming of inspirational beings.

[@adamquenano8563]

Nas calling himself gods son out of respect for Rakim is the ultimate form of respect for a peer I’ve seen in rap

[@wizedalahkid1470]

🤦🏽‍♂️ that has absolutely nothing to do with why he calls himself that.

[@LastBref]

The "god" in God's Son refers to the imaginary man in the sky, not the God emcee Rakim. That would be a dope tribute, though.

[@wizedalahkid1470]

It’s also like when Rakim calls himself the god or when we refer to him as “the god mc” it’s actually NOT just because he’s amazing lyrically. It’s deeper than rap. *Peace to the gods and the earths* 7#

[@adamquenano8563]

My bad yall I always thought God Son was not only a reference to his skills as a rapper, but also to his favorite rapper Rakim.

[@wizedalahkid1470]

@@adamquenano8563 all good. Just passing on the knowledge like somebody did for me. 🙏🏾

[@dynamic9016]

Thanks much for this interview.

[@100timessquare]

Nas is the greatest to ever do it!! Everybody knows it, but Everybody wont say it!

[@mzlb1493]

🎯🎯🎯

[@katlegosathekhe2599]

Cause they're jealous of him

[@jamaaldavis7907]

​@@katlegosathekhe2599masses always blackballed esco

[@willierobinson9501]

peace and respect legends

[@thefalseprophet3025]

Glad to see Math doing his thing

[@nazeemfonemgaddafi]

Very insightful

[@ebenmaiopue4253]

And where here now. Mecca with the timing

[@ChrisFreeMusic]

Divide & Conquer

[@InMyOwnWorld7]

Sooo Many layers to peel back

[@damonvinson4324]

We Need a Pete Rock and Nas album Please

[@user-jd3wj2vl7o]

ASAP. Right after the Premo album

[@thestainNY]

"This is a conversation our community must have. Common gives a lot of insight into this topic SMH in agreement"

[@therealkatz5709]

Common my favourite rapper, backpack or not

[@albertpullhoes]

Enlightened Artists

[@AndreCHatchett]

Kanye made it cool for non-thugs to rap again.

[@thebeitumeleng282]

Nas music gave a lot of us hope, desire and drive to achieve and be something.

[@Mic-100]

Which songs outside of "I can"?

[@ronniewest838]

Religiously Dope‼️

[@micangelo]

I always thought conscious was conscious of what's going on in the community past the surface level. Being conscious of what's REALLY going on around you. 🤷🏿‍♂️

[@Lettuce34]

Conscious rap is being conscious of what’s going on in the world through your raps

[@SoulOfTheSouth]

Conscious actually means speaking your mind no matter what type of rapper you are.

[@1127sincere]

The devil’s great trick of divide and conquer, separate and destroy.

[@freebornblack9202]

I like where Nas get it Flowers. Bro is to smart fot it all. Not an industry puppet you can see it in his ways. One of the reasons why he doesn't get his flowers on the controlled media.

[@Mic-100]

The media outlets will not support him because he can't be controlled. Plus he has a message. That's a no no

[@janpteyag2287]

He's named common sense for a reason.

[@priestlauderdale20]

Middle of the map...we listened to it all

[@spenser6353]

"I used to wanna rhyme like common sense. I sold 5 million and havent rhymed like common since" - Jay Z 🤣

[@Mic-100]

So u tell us, is that a sellout moment?

[@ezekwu]

lol...

[@Bankrollblanco]

Knocking anyone’s level of lyricism is opinion based and that’s what causes the separation in hip hop.

[@acpjr]

Interesting discussion on "conscious rap". It's now a general label to identify non "gansta rap". So technically Common is conscious rap, but only retroactively.

[@tariqs4357]

HIP HOP ALWAYS HAD BALANCE AND WHEN IT LOST IT'S WAY TO PURE IGNORANCE & GLUTTONY, THE CONCIOUS ERA CAME INTO THE GAME LIKE A GOOD HEALTHY DRINK & THATS WHAT WE NEED AGAIN BECAUSE HIP HOP IS ON LIFE SUPPORT AS FAR AS QUALITY.

[@Dipset415]

When them downsouth dudes got a hold of it in the mid 2000’s it’s been going downhill ever since

[@tariqs4357]

@@Dipset415 Nope, it was the UP North dudes that blew it. The down south dudes unified while the up North dudes were every man for himself and so which movement will be stronger, the individuals or the GANG? I'm from Brooklyn, I saw it happen. While we were beefing (pause) they were doing collabos.

[@Dipset415]

@@tariqs4357 yeah but up north cats were doing numbers Kendrick drake and Cole all rap like up north cats💯them down south cats can crank out the club records but the quality has been trash from DJ unk to future to lil baby👎🏿

[@stephenheath8465]

@@Dipset415 Dungeon Family Collective from ATL and Scarface/Gheto Boys were conscious rappers in what I consider the golden age of Southern Hip Hop

[@tonybandanna4895]

It's Different in the states...in the Toronto area everything was good in the late 80s mid 90s

[@tebogomaphephe3470]

People like Jay Z messed hip hop up He told E money Baggs he makes music for niggas that get money. Nas told him nah homie I make music for everybody.

[@truthshallrise.8558]

He has love for the Wild West! Wow he mentioned CMW and ALKAHOLIKS!!!! 😮😂👊🏻🔥🔥🔥👊🏻🔥👊🏻🔥👊🏻🔥👊🏻🔥

[@jaye5926]

Nas 🐐👑

[@nazeemfonemgaddafi]

Mob deep makes “street” music but prodigy is one of the deepest thinkers/smartest in hip hop history so I can’t say they’re not conscious

[@YKTHETRUTHBOXINGTV]

Bro how the hell did you get Common on here? This officially the best podcast alive bro.

[@DummieGambino]

Conscience rappers were talking about how we should better ourselves and get out of the struggle and they were conscious of what we needed to do to be better. That’s what put them in that category. A lot of the other rappers aren’t doing that.

[@Mic-100]

Radio wouldn't play it if they had a message

[@ikembaojore3877]

There is a state of consciousness, and there are states of consciousness.

[@LeeHunt-mu9nb]

Consciousness for me is being aware of White Supremacy and not sleeping on the fact it exists. Metaphorically Speaking!

[@Mic-100]

That's being ŵoke. Consciousness is thought provoking awareness.

[@LeeHunt-mu9nb]

@@Mic-100 Nah, that's being aware, you can be woke and not be aware of things.

[@sulaymansillahsillah3646]

Kanye west is the bridge between the mainstream and the underground he put mos & free on same songs Jay & kweli on same songs shit was unheard of at the time

[@briane596able]

People have said hiphop is just entertainment but like jazz, it’s got an underlying message and philosophy. Without the realism, it’s an action scene with card board cut outs and no practical effects… it feels off

[@FreshhCutz]

i used to make the mic smoke…

[@Mic-100]

I melt mics

[@erwinrin5078]

Now I slam it when I'm done and make sure it's broke

[@Mic-100]

@@erwinrin5078 I leave em froze like Herron in their nose

[@FreshhCutz]

@@erwinrin5078 when i’m gone no one gets on cause i won’t let

[@antfrancis9941]

Killa priest, sunz of man, wu-tang.

[@stephenheath8465]

I consider godbody rappers to be conscious for sure

[@williamgriffen1024]

Nas micked rakim. He brought hip-hop back!

[@jamaaldavis7907]

Nas surpass him decades ago

[@ahugg1961]

The industry and media caused the separation. All you have to do is look at how songs were promoted and pushed. Conscious music stopped getting the same airplay as Gangster rap. They weren't marketed the same.

[@justinrussell851]

1000% The corporate owned media took over the artistry of hip-hop. It dumbed down the message to reduce the meaning. So.. artists like Common.. Mos Def.. Talib.. Dead Prez were viewed as threats to the establishment

[@jman1562001]

It lacks balance but in a commerical space where the whole objective is to sell and entertain not inform and enlighten then this is what you get. It's why KRS said there is a difference between rap and hip-hop and rappers and MCs. They both can coexist but finding balance is a music industry dominated by monetary gain is tough. The whole objective of the music industry is to sell you commodities and product/lifestyle not to enlighten you or make informed choices.

[@ezekwu]

facts...

[@ThePremierGroupLLC]

8:50 Birdman bought us Lil' Wayne...so I ain t mad at him. His contribution to our culture was as owner of CASH MONEY RECORD S..not a reknown MC. Birdman havin' "The Cheat Code" is all good!

[@ThePremierGroupLLC]

You can t sh*t on what Birdman has contributed to this thing of ours. He may not be a great rapper but Cash Money was legendary n He had a Good run with them. And then...he had a GREAT RUN... wit' Young Money that bought us Lil' Wayne, Tyga, Nicky Minaj & Drake. BirdMan is responsible for ALOT in our culture 💯

[@jiggaman000]

@@ThePremierGroupLLC i thought Drake was a colonizer? That means Birdman brought a colonizer to hiphop. And he was kissing Lil Wayne.

[@stephenjackson2912]

I think Jeezy and Nas are the best example of this topic, Jeezy felt because of his BMF affiliation and his drug dealing pass, that he has more to talk about, or is viewed more hard, street, and authentic than Nas is. It's funny when people who ARE NOT HipHop get into HipHop and start thinking they are more HipHop than ANY HipHopper out of N.Y, the birthplace of it. I understand when it's said, that the West or the South killed HipHop. Reason being whatever the dominant culture in those places are is the cause. The west coast is dominated by gang culture, and the south is dominated by whatever it's either famous or infamous for, cause i don't know. Because N.Y. is no longer the face of the music, it gets disrespected because the other places got rich and hot for NOT being HipHop, meaning also including the other eight elements of it. Money was the motivation and not the culture/art form, and overall the shake up of the " establishment".....................I'll never forget this statement being made by the most unhihop bafoon, ever!......"If HipHop is dead, then why we making bread?". Saddest shit i ever seen.

[@user-jd3wj2vl7o]

No. Jeezy is trash. Part of the problem in hip hop

[@stephenjackson2912]

@@user-jd3wj2vl7o That was my point!

[@lovememoremeticulous4378]

well first you got it wrong if you know New York or any neighborhoods in those 90s or people close to the industry of said time you knew NAS and QB was the ones not to play with. So your frame of reference is not entirely correct.

[@user-jd3wj2vl7o]

@@stephenjackson2912 my bad bro, I ain’t read all’at 😂 but we on the same page

[@stephenjackson2912]

@@user-jd3wj2vl7o It's all love, be easy.

[@mackl8305]

Being a nas fan had me indenial about some of the party records that were out that i actually loved once i gave it a chance. As ove gotten older “the real hiphop crowd” annoys me. Like why cant i like both

[@ThePremierGroupLLC]

🤔 Who says you can't???

[@Dipset415]

Drake bridges the gap💯🤷🏿‍♂️

[@mackl8305]

@@ThePremierGroupLLC lets not act like nggas are judgmental of others people taste in rap styles. The term thats not real hip hop been out around for years

[@1st-qt9ce]

With all things find a balance. The reference to Willie Lynch is accurate. The divide and conquer method is still being used across all avenues of Black culture.

[@chrisvigo4880]

Ask him why did he let Canibus cook him like that? Jkjk 😂😂😂

[@jamaaldavis7907]

Canibus in '97 was problematic 4 alot of folks but common superior 2 canibus ..bcuz he couldn't make a album close 2 common caliber 😂😂

[@rontaylor6781]

Kool G Rap is a notch above Rakim & Nas when is come to lyrical skills I always been a Rakim fan from day one but Kool G Rap was able to make words rhyme that didn't rhyme Kool G Rap music was like listening to a movie on audio

[@jman1562001]

G Rap is still one of my favorites. But he was RAW.....some of his content esp. the explicit stuff was never going to be palatable to the mainstream.

[@jamaaldavis7907]

​@@jman1562001correct n he was 2 much dimensional....Nas perspective is more digestible n nas is cut from g rap cloth imo mo den rakim honestly..but nas writing is deeper ..he's betta..but g rap iz a monster n vastly underappreciated

[@frank-xp6pj]

Social media helped destroy rap in this generation because before internet/ social media our hiphop legends took there craft seriously, plus they had to be original & dope to get a record deal….there was no way of getting a deal without talent. Today in this generation guys blow up on social media from little kids liking their content on social media and most of the time it has nothing to do with talent as far as rapping.

[@frank-xp6pj]

Rakim is the GOAT & Nas is right behind Rakim….

[@jamaaldavis7907]

Ra isn't no goat

[@djairalert422]

Be careful, Sam Birdman name. He might come up in there with posse telling you to put some respect on his name.

[@Tigerbrown44]

Rakim equals Jordan. Nas equals Kobe

[@Godric_9000]

Nas better than Ra tho, more rings

[@localandonlinepreciousmeta3575]

Rakim = Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Nas = Kobe. Wayne = LeBron. Lupe Fiasco = Michael Jordan.

[@dominicthelordkabinga]

Is that Jaz-O?

[@cactusjack2264]

Fun fact: Pete Rock is cousins with Heavy D

[@WHG369]

The industry did that. And we followed. Kane had young gifted and black and pimpin ain't easy on one album. Art is art. It's expression of that. When it became lifestyle to music(2) and sub genres as marketability(1) it became divided. Hustlers entering the game and displaying that lifestyle. The industry labeled gangster rap. Not a rapper. I don't know who came up with back packer. But the whole back pack look comes from the street. The back pack was made popular by the boosting culture. And this is what happens when you let someone else sets your standards

[@WilliamGone]

That’s what Cole and Kendrick are

[@supremesun4580]

Nas #1 Rakim #2…… since “IT WAS WRITTEN” But Illmatic had Nas side by side to The God Emcee too Me!!

[@THECTHHMUSICCAST]

CONSCIOUS IS GANGSTA RAP.....ARGUE OR DEBATE IF YOU WANT😂 SALUTE #HIPHOP #"SHARINGOURSTORY VERIFIED GUARANTEED QUALIFIED TO SAY WHAT I or we #FBA SAY🎧🎤!!!!!!

[@doncardi8699]

Gansta Rap has nothing to do with Gaster at all. Crazy

[@Shysta30]

Esco the undisputed 🐐

[@mathematicalfacts1439]

I wish they would have stuck to the script of thumbnail about Rakim and Nas. That was the click bait for me. And they only mentioned it one time and kept it moving. Rakim was more of conscious MC than Nas. Nas had some consciousness about him as well but he was more of a sophisticated street poet and rhymed a lot about the street elements. Rakim was braggadocios, Spiritual, like a scholar and he had that street appeal as well but he didn't talk it as much but at the end of the day, Rakim was very very conscious at the same time. He was ALWAYS dropping some food for thought in his rhymes. No matter what he rapped about, he ALWAYS made sure that he left you something to chew on. And Nas did as well but not to the degree Rakim was doing it. And he (Rakim) did nothing but conscious rapping on The 7th Seal album. Which I think is a very underrated album.

[@lovememoremeticulous4378]

That’s a Lie well not a total lie but half telling the story. Nas was and is the greatest conscious rapper this genre has ever seen. PAID IN FULL was not conscious, it was braggadocio’s. Later Rakim got more conscious. Slick Rick was more conscious on The Great Adventures than Rakim was on Paid In Full.

[@lovememoremeticulous4378]

From the Start of Nas career 1994 that Illmatic album is quintessential NYC Street consciousness. From its 5% God Body talk to its references of Jesus Christ to all things philosophical. That’s what made Nas so intriguing when he first stepped through, no rapper was this intelligent at that age at that time. Especially on It Was Written that album is completely street consciousness.

[@mathematicalfacts1439]

The Paid In Full album was more conscious in the sense of show and proving that MC's/rappers could get deeper lyrically and metaphorically. To me, Rakim sparked that level of consciousness of writing like that amongst MC's/rappers. That's why Rakim was always a conscious MC from the beginning to me. I know Kool Moe Dee sparked that as well but Rakim took it to another level. Early on in Nas career, OC said Russell Simmons said that: "Him and Nas sounded too much like Rakim." There'd be no Nas without the influence of Rakim. I agree Nas had his own lane but listening to Illmatic you can hear the Rakim influence right away, that's WHY everybody compared the two when Nas first dropped Illmatic. Nas was like the heir apparent to Rakim.@@lovememoremeticulous4378

[@jman1562001]

@@mathematicalfacts1439 To an extent yes.....Rakim sadly did not have the same impact in the 90s as he did in the 80s. Remember he took a hiatus after the deal with MCA was up in 92 and a didn't drop again until like 96-97....so much had changed and folks had leveled up lyrically. Ra even said doing the feature with Jay-Z kind of reintroduced him to a whole wave of fans who ain't even know of him. Even now, he stepped away from the game for so long that generations weren't even exposed to his stuff. But I think after It Was Written Nas basically became his own MC. Nas has always paid homage, but when Stilmatic dropped, MAN he was doing stuff that was crazy. MASTERMIND, REWIND, etc. Nas was leveling up lyrically!!!!

[@mathematicalfacts1439]

@@jman1562001 Yeah a lot of new fans of rap music didn't know Rakim as well but his peers, his faithful fan base and the writers always kept Rakim name alive and kept that buzz about Rakim going. My youngest daughter is 20 years old and about to be a senior in college next year and she was amazed that some of her dorm mates didn't know who Rakim was. But on the other hand, some teenagers/young adults know a lot about Rakim. The thing that's most interesting about Rakim is that he can still hang with the best of any MC/rapper, I'm talking about the hot MC's of today. Rakim hasn't lost a step lyrically, flow wise, subject matter, his vocabulary and metaphors is still second to none. Look what he did on the Busta Rhymes track and the song (Be ILL) he just released yesterday. He reinvented his rhyme patterns on that song. I don't know how he did it but then again that's just Rakim being Rakim.

[@each1teach1academy43]

It’s all conscious the question of what kind and who’s implanted it to push messages

[@thegivinofficial5796]

NWA FUxed Up the hole conciouse rap game..definitly plants !!! oh and comon killed ice cube on the diss tip !!! with pete rock on the beats !!!

[@isaiah1080]

How the hell do people think Eminem is the best rapper? He can rap, but he doesn't speak to the soul and doesn't have content. Nas is arguably the greatest ever just drop 6 classics going into his 50's

[@justinrussell851]

It's sad that black culture is always packaged and sold to the highest bidder. Hip-hop was no different. As soon as corporations realized there was meaning behind the lyrics the entire industry shifted to focus on black stereotypes, materialism, and wealth accumulation.

[@jman1562001]

Well those stereotypes were products to sell, just like materialism. The purpose of the music industry is to sell you that in general. Artist had to pick their battle because you could be blackballed for trying to speak truth to power. See Ice-T or Lupe Fiasco when they tried to go against the status quo. This is SERIOUS. It's why artist play to the status quo because go against the grain can affect their livelihood.

[@justinrussell851]

@jman1562001 I agree that some artists do choose to go down that route of stereotypical "blackisms" for pure profit reasons. But, I do think in those times (i.e. early to mid 2000s) the industry started to dictate which artists to push or completely drop. So.. any little bit of creativity was taken away from the artists in favor of manipulating the product. Fast-forward to today.. artists have managed to regain crearive control through the ability to be independent of the industry.

[@JA-mj9re]

Nas is the greatest.

[@jlovetjat]

Blame jay z for bragging all the damn time!

[@EffortlessEffervescence]

Wrong answer

[@mohmhk]

But he was "conscious" of his braggadocios lifestyle. He was conscious.

[@JaamiLowe]

I agree him and Diddy destroyed the game nobody checked Diddy for taking Big to Cali I mean nobody.Nas is my favorite rapper but I look at him different due to this because he associated with that dude. And Jay which was the LeBron James of rap got all the hype and nobody paid attention to this guy stealing rhymes and having so much help with collaborations and good beats to hide is average skills mean reasonable doubt was dope but look at all the help ever single on that album had a ft from dead presidents to can't knock the hustle to ain't no ninja to feeling it plus he wanted Nas on there also but esco ghosted him. That's why I don't listen to clowns who put him in the same category as PAC RAKIM KRS ONE big kane or any of the All time greats. Jay don't have one album in his discography that he carried where we witnessed his skills not one and the album that he blew up with which was his third album vol 2 he has 14 songs on there and only has 1 song without a feature. While both Nas and Big 1st album they had 1 ft a piece and Nas on illmatic brought az to the game he wasn't even famous Big had meth which was already part of a platinum group with WU. So I never understood how ny rappers didn't see this when they promoted him over Nas and maybe 10 other rappers from the city or tri-state it's hilarious

[@nanaasanteasante7306]

Common sense

[@JMji23]

The dudes asking questions don't seem smart. 😐

[@sirleroyale4412]

If you know what you saying you conscious? Wat kinda dumb statement is that being conscious is knowing the effect of your lyrics on other people 4:33

[@joncan1942]

Common Sense first two CDs were mostly about gangbanging in Chicago.

[@Rumblerocket88]

Not even close

[@AlanDuff-fp2kn]

Bruh man do NOT know what consciousness is. Knowing what you’re saying is not being Conscious. Knowing and accepting the consequences TO what one says IZ..

[@CharlieJSolomon1974]

The Roots made a whole video dissin the street dudes!!!

[@KeithTabor-wp3uu]

Oc

[@JA-pe9ot]

Nas is the greatest to ever touch the mic, the goat. And rakim is in my top 3 should be in everyones top 5. 🐐🐐

[@WhiteSauceher]

That intro trash

[@AldoApachi-]

This intro and outro need to go. It's lame and stupid and makes me want to not listen to this stupid music.