Hey, he said it, not me.
During an exclusive sit down with BET.com, Nas broke down his beat selection process, which he’s been heavily criticized for throughout his career.
“Well I have a wish list sometimes or I have a dream list of who I would love to work with and wish they would want to get in the studio and do records or whatever,” Nas told BET.com. “Then I have my own ideas of being a producer. And what happens is a lot of time goes by with me being indecisive so it winds up with me kind of like doing what I have to do really fast because I played around for so long. Then, the deadlines come.” – BET
“Deadlines come?” Really, Nas. At this stage in your career you can have your pick of any producer out there, but you end up picking pickled fruit of soudscapes because you run out of time? I call malarkey.
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I call bullshit! I think he is just cheap so he picks beats that won’t hurt his pockets. He will be extra cheap now since he has to pay Kelis like $30k a month. lol
it was written was his best round of work u still can play that straight thru one song still is my best nas song take it in blood
REALLY NAS REALLY WHAT’S UP WITH THAT BULLSHIT ASS EXCUSE… WTF??? COME ON SON ~EDLOVER VOICE~
One album every two years, and he runs out of time.
“C’mon Nas” – 9th Wonder
meanwhile, as the peanut gallery & a weed-carrier blogger pile on another *yawn* topic, Nas wins with intellect & lyricism.
Distant Relatives > any album you’re anticipating
AND YET HES STILL THE GOAT
still the GOAT.
nas gives another dog chasing it’s own tail interview.
Nas will always be my favorite MC but his beat selection kills me sometimes. His whole not trying to get Beats that sound to soulful or to illmatice have hurt his career. And that’s what pisses me off cause Nas still has the ability to make a great album. Can you imagine Nas spitting over Black Milk Exile 9th wonder Madlib or Flying Lotus Beats??? Or even old Dilla Beats!!?? SIGH….. but only in a perfect world, at this point ide be happy to just here nas rap over a Prem or Pete Rock Beat.
^^ Right. And I’m sure Pete Rock or Premo would be more than happy to work with Nas again. It would be easy as fuck for it to happen but for some reason it just doesn’t. Still my favorite of all time regardless though.
meka and nas…i dont care.
illmatic/itwaswritten/gods son/lost tapes does me just fine for beats and lyrics.
So far all the Distant Relatives leaks have had dope beats. Maybe it signals a change, I hope.
he really need a coffee..
Nas didn’t really pick the beats for Distant Relatives though
^^^Yes he did Damian even said the in an interview this weekend!
If people really paid attention nas really did not give a fuck about this answer and as far as being cheap…I don’t think that is the reason! nas just does him and does not bother with what the fickle fans of today want from him because if he had the dopest beats they would still find someting to hate on him about!!!! even his so called die hard fans are turncoats!
HE NEEDS BINK ON PRODUCTION …AND maybe the justice league
im sure they could craft some incredible epic sounding music with him
Why does everybody give Nas a hard time about his beat selection, i dont see a big problem, i mean yeah sometimes his beats are weak but i dont see the difference with other rappers like Jay-Z (kingdom come and bb3 had wack beats for the most part and dont forget that “hello brooklyn” joint off of american gangster) or Wayne (uh rebirth and half the joints of c3)
i thought hip-hop is dead and untitled were dope albums
wayne’s rebirth was a rock album … those shits dont count lol … and i agree BP3 has some weak beat selections ..
But u failed to mention Blueprint 1 … please tell me those scores by Bink, blaze,and kanye were garbage lol … the world has seen what great production on an album sounds like and yet nas’ refuses to learn the lesson.
Exactly my point!!!
Jay-Z hasn’t learned his lesson either, he made dope albums like bp1 and black album, then went half ass on kingdom come and bp3
i think Nas has had a better last few years then Hov as far has quality music
untitled > hip-hop is dead > american gangster > kingdom come > bp3
LMAO .. u know what i think it was the .. HOv your riding too much on the production … tone it down and see if ur lyrics can carry it (they didn’t lol) …bp3=fail tho like worse than kingdom come .. the inkredables on jay-z bp3 was nice but … other than then and 3 more songs …shit was trash *facepalm*
but nas act like he can’t get to bp1 … he has the album budget i dunno why he continues to do the same shit every album.
Boomerang Slang wat u said! the only ppl who feel a way about nas is meka…and shake probably told him off for posting his lil blurb under the video. all im gonna say is this Illmatic, it was written, lost tapes, haters eat a bowl of dicks.
Just because Nas doesn’t go for big-name producers doesn’t mean he doesn’t “pick good beats.” I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been excited about who [insert rapper's name here] got to produce a song, only to be massively disappointed once I actually heard it.
The bottom line is this, the beats on Untitled and Hip Hop Is Dead were fine. So what are people complaining about exactly? Are y’all still mad for I Am and Nastradamus? That was 10 YEARS AGO! Streets Disciple aside, his beat selection in the past decade has (for the most part) been fine.
What he chooses to DO over top those beats, is a different story.
mainstream rappers keep using the same producers: cool n dre, neptunes, justice league, jim jonsin, swizz beats, timbaland etc…
it would be dope hearin Nas over Madlib, or Hov over Black Milk, or TI over Exile
Just Blaze, DJ Kalil, and Alchemist are like the only mainstream producers I like and mainly cuz some of them started out underground
@Dan V
well said
did he shout out to little brother?
I don’t get what all the fuss is about.. Outside of “Untitled”, “Streets Disciple” and some of “God’s Son” all his albums have dope shit on it. “Stillmatic” was dope as fuck and so was “It Was Written” and “Illmatic” and “I Am”.. Even “Nastradamus” had some dope shit on it.
It’s ridiculous the amount of hate people have now-a-days..
Just because Nas doesn’t go for big-name producers doesn’t mean he doesn’t “pick good beats Dan V said this on May 3rd, 2010 at 2:36 pm. I agree but the problem is Nas has the ability to make an album that over shadows everything he has previously recorded in the past 7 years. And all he has to do is get the rite producers. And not big-name producers like just Blaze or The Neptune’s Underground cats like Exile or Madlib guys who are still dope creative and pushing musical boundaries. Peace!!
@Boomerangslang
Well Said
nigga got lyrics for days. his beats are ass though. i usually just bump illmatic, it was writtin, and some of stillmatic. other than that, his beats have been ehhh
Did he refer to Little Brother as producers? I think he meant to say 9th lol….
“The bottom line is this, the beats on Untitled and Hip Hop Is Dead were fine”
NO THEY WEREN’T. THERE WERE PLENTY OF BORING AND WACK BEATS ON BOTH OF THOSE ALBUMS WHICH IS EXACTLY WHY BOTH OF THOSE ALBUMS AREN’T CLASSIC. COME ON MAN, HE EVEN GOT ‘CHRIS WEBBER’ TO DO A BEAT ON ONE OF THOSE ALBUMS LOL…WHO HAS CHRIS WEBBER PRODUCED FOR SINCE THEN LOL
“Stillmatic” was dope as fuck and so was “It Was Written” and “Illmatic” and “I Am”.. Even “Nastradamus” had some dope shit on it”
AND WHAT ARE YOU SMOKING??? NASTRADAMUS WAS THE WORST ALBUM OF HIS CAREER. THERE WAS 1 PLAYABLE SONG ON NASTRADAMUS AND THAT WAS PRODUCED BY PRIMO. REST OF THE ALBUM WAS GARBAGE. I AM – WAS A SUBPAR ALBUM WITH PLENTY OF WEAK BEATS.
NAS GETS CRITICIZED FOR HIS BEATS IS TOTALLY JUSTIFIED. A MAN WITH HIS VOCAB, VOICE AND DELIVERY SHOULD HAVE WAY MORE CLASSICS THAN HE ACTUALLY HAS. ILLMATIC WAS CLASSIC OK, THE LOST TAPES WAS CLASSIC..AND THE LOST TAPES WERE SONGS THAT DIDN’T MAKE HIS ALBUMS LOL..THAT SHOWS RIGHT THERE NAS DONT KNOW HOW TO PICK DOPE BEATS FOR THE FINAL CUT OF HIS ALBUMS. STILLMATIC??? MAYBE A CLASSIC BUT SOME WOULD ARGUE ITS NOT.
SO THATS 2 CLASSICS OUT OF WHAT, 9 ALBUMS??? 2 FOR 9??? THATS NOT A GOOD AVERAGE. A MAN LIKE NAS WITH HIS VOICE AND VOCAB COULD OF EASLIY MAKE THE FIRST 6 OUT OF HIS 9 ALBUMS HIP HOP CLASSICS WITH THE RIGHT PRODUCTION IF HE WANTED TOO.
CRITICIZISM OF NAS BEAT SELECTION STANDS FIRM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HIS BEATS ARE….TERRIBLE AND IM A HUGE NAS FAN. I THINK IT WAS KINDA COOL THAT HE HAD A TEAM OF PRODUCERS ON STREETS DISCIPLE BUT THEY COULDNT REALLY COME UP WITH A SOUND THAT WAS GUTTA AND AT THE SAME TIME CLASSY. HE NEEDS THAT THO, A TEAM OF PRODCERS LIKE HE DID ON ILLMATIC AND IT WAS WRITTEN THOSE GUYS WAS COMPETING WITH ON ANOTHER TO SEE WHO WAS GOING 2 COME OFF THE NICEST. HE NEEDS A TEAM.
P.S. NO MORE BEATS FROM CHRIS WEBBER THE BASKETBALL PLAYER. I MAKE BETTER BEATS IN MY SLEEP FOR REAL.
Little Brother? Does he mean 9th Wonder? I know Nas knows who 9th is though…
I don’t know why he got all those dope beats from guys like Preem and Alchemist but sticks with Salaam Remi, etc. He is so bad at picking beats it’s unbelievable. I just read the 2006 Scratch issue where him and Preem are on the cover. You can tell Preem is down whenever, but for some reason Nas can’t/won’t make it happen. People LOVED God’s Stepson but yet Nas never worked with 9th. People loved his work with ALC but all that stopped around 2005. C’mon Nas… Deadlines come? No shit. Considering Nas is probably top 5 all time, he definately has the worst beat selection of the list. The ironic thing is that when he does pick a banger, he picks a BANGER! When he misses, he misses bigtime.
I WISH NAS WOULD GET OFF HIS POLITICAL/SOCIAL/ETHICAL CRUSADE AND MAKE A DOPE CD THAT ATLEAST ATTEMPTS TO BE COMMERCIALLY VIABLE
ALL THAT SHIT IS COOL BUT WHAT HAPPENED TO THAT IT WAS WRITTEN SWAGGER. NO RAPPER COULD FUCK WITH NAS WHEN HE WAS ON THAT IWW SHIT
illmatic great beats
it was written classic beats
stillmatic great beats
lost tapes great beats
Really, Nas? Drummer Boy & Toomp? Not even knowing much about either of those cats, I can name about 20 dudes in 5 seconds that are better than them. Herein lies the problem…
Khalil, Preemo, Just Blaze, Jake One, Illmind, 9th Wonder, Pete Rock, Waajeed, Black Milk, Young RJ, Battlecat, Dre, Exile, Large Pro…still, Diamond D…still, Nottz, Kanye, Flying Lotus, Bink, Vitamin D, 14kt, Tony Ozier, Neptunes, Questlove & them, & on & on…
Ahhhh, and the conversation continues… Everything comes full circle, at some point Nas will return to his roots via dope production. Qtip is the main producer organizing his next solo album, and I know Qtip isn’t gonna loaf with that! Everything is about energy… especially time, and right now that energy is changing with cats Jay Elect, the last Raekwon album, Ortiz, etc… I expect Nas to go full fledge and drop a bomb this Xmas!
Yeah…Q-Tip, too. Where did u get this info on him producing Nas’ next shit?
Q-tip said he is doing Nas album that is why I find this funny as well! Nas just be saying anyting to the media lately…like he said in an interview to Hawaii Daily “Lately I just be fucking with the media!” Anyone who follows Nas would know that this interview was all jokes to him! Q-tip and Nas production coming soon! I think 9th wonder as well…he sent Nas some beats and made a video about it!
Meka you is one hating as nigga! He’s talking about the course of his career. He’s not talking about now you dumb ass fruit cake!
Your parents probably had you living in a barn in the back of the house and give you lashes on command to do a chore for them.
Nas should try to get the same line up of producers for Illmatic or even It Was Written album but not making it a Illmattic 2 album.
Untill he gets Bink, or the justice league … i’ll never be satisfied .. i know if he goes to them .. the song a be epic .. and not just another nas song with hot lyrics… i believe the whole presentation would change :) and deliver what he is saying with alot more UMPPHhh
“SPLIT MENTALITY” FEAT. WISE http://usershare.net/frbhd3qm9i5b SONG IS VERY SICK! THEY CRAZY RAPPERS. NO BULLSHSS
Well everyone’s opinion is their opinion. I’m sure it all evens out between those who think the production is perfect and those who don’t. However, if you think the production on Nigger was bad then the whole feel of the album that you were supposed to get just didn’t reach you. Based on the lyrics for each song, I’d say the beats gave the exact feel that they should have.
I WISH NAS WOULD GET OFF HIS POLITICAL/SOCIAL/ETHICAL CRUSADE AND MAKE A DOPE CD THAT ATLEAST ATTEMPTS TO BE COMMERCIALLY VIABLE
That would mean selling out – going against everything to date since album 1.
@fredwright
you crazy son. That Chris Webber beat was sick.
Nas had dope beats on all his albums except “Unititled”