50 Cent Calls Nas One Of The Greatest Storytellers [Video]

Written By S. Samuel

G-Unit head 50 Cent recently dished out his admiration for rap veteran Nas and why God's Son should be considered nothing less than a hip-hop storytelling great.

50 Cent
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In Fif’s perspective, Nasty Nas’ longstanding ability to pen creative and unique raps has had an impact on the rap game dating back to 1996.

“I think It Was Written, Nas’ second album, he had a song where he was the gun and it was one of those things that had a strong impression on hip-hop culture at that point,” 50 explained in an interview. “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 and that within R&B music, would be something that happens so common that it wouldn’t have any significance. You’re used to that metaphor at that point.” (Hard Knock TV)

A couple years ago, New York rapper Donny Goines told SOHH Nas’ It Was Written was one of his all-time favorite sophomore efforts by any artist.

“Nas’ It Was Written was like one of the best sophomore albums I had ever heard. To me, it was better than Illmatic. Before you guys crucify me, you have to understand I’m looking at things from a different perspective and I have my own opinion. Overall, I just thought it was really an amazing album from start to finish. Illmatic, to me, was more of a niche album. It was something where I liked it, enjoyed it but It Was Written was an album. I would have to almost make it a tie because Notorious B.I.G.‘s Life After Death falls into that same equation. I feel like those two albums showcased the growth, the artistic abilities and full capabilities of these artists. They were just amazing records. I could listen to both of them from start to finish. That’s rare. I can’t do that with many records. So I have to tie them.” (SOHH)

Fellow Empire State rapper The Kid Daytona shared the same sentiment with SOHH back in 2011.

“My favorite sophomore album is It Was Written by Nas. That’s actually my favorite Nas album. To me, and you have to understand, when Illmatic came out, I was nine or ten years old. So I didn’t really digest a lot of those lyrics [the way an older listener would]. I was really coming up and paying attention to what was going on. And when It Was Written came out, I was listening to Wu-Tang, Biggie and everybody. I just remember when “The Message” came on and he snapped his fingers. And then the “If I Ruled The World” video came out and it was just epic. Plus you had Lauryn Hill [as a guest feature], who was incredible at the time. That was actually the first album that I bought with my own allowance. I just remember listening to it and me and all of my homies were sitting around the boom box listening to it all day, everyday.” (SOHH)

A few weeks ago, 50 Cent named Nas one of his all-time favorite emcees.

“Top five favorite rappers, for me, would be artists like KRS-One, Rakim, Biggie, Tupac, one of my favorites too, Nas was one of my favorites early on,” Fif revealed in an interview. “[Favorite childhood artist?] KRS-One because the aggression that he came with, with ‘The Bridge Is Over.’ Like, hip-hop’s always been competitive so it’s always been battling, it’s been a part of the artform and he came in with the kind of energy that was necessary for you to make a statement.” (Larry King Now)

Check out 50 Cent’s interview:

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Written by S. Samuel

Steven Samuel is the co-founder of SOHH.com.

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