Dec 2, 2015

Don't drop trash. Keep evolving. Jump on trends before they're big. Don't be afraid to use other people to help your body of work.

 

Dec 2, 2015

By the time Kingdom Come came out, Jay already made his mark on hip hop.

Jay earned the right to drop an average album or two after what he accomplished from 96-03.

Kingdom Come, although not a classic, was still a solid release with some gems on it.

And let's not forget American Gangster, which was one of his best albums, then BP3, which was good, and Watch the Throne. Magna Carta was ehhhh, but as I said, Jay is one of the only artists that I can accept that from at this point of his career.

I just think it's weird that other artists were mentioned before Jay, or even Nas.

Even though I love Kanye, and I agree that he's one of the most consistent, Jay has been doing it since 1996, and Nas since 1994. That's insane. Do you realize how many different trends and styles these two have not only survived, but thrived?

 

Dec 2, 2015

Then you can hype the f--- outta your 'comeback' album

 

Dec 2, 2015

+ be incredibly talented ?

 

Dec 2, 2015

Yeah that too. But that's something out of your control...

 

Dec 2, 2015

I think that the problem with Nas is that he set the bar so high for himself by releasing Illmatic. Matching or surpassing that album would be hard for anybody, but yet people still hold him to that standard and expect that exact same quality from him, which is very understandable.

In order to maintain a consistent discography you either need to outdo or at least match your previous albums, which in some cases Nas has done, but in other cases Nas has failed to do that. This is why I can't argue with someone if they claim that Nas has been inconsistent throughout his career, despite how much I love his music.

 

Dec 2, 2015

Yeah I respect the longevity of their careers and I can accept people saying Jay-Z is consistent.

However, Nas I'm not sure about. Because I'm not familiar with 1 or 2 albums, so I guess I'm a bit ignorant by going with the voices of others than forming my own opinion.

IMO Illmatic, It Was Written, God's Son, The Lost Tapes and Stillmatic are great. Do you reckon his other albums are on the same level? I'm not saying the others are trash, some of them are actually quite good like Life Is Good which would be next in line for me. But they aren't on a consistent level with his best.

 

Dec 2, 2015

Jayz IS the most consistent rapper along with Nas. All the projects these guys have and collectively, only 2 albums are bad

 

Dec 2, 2015

Nas has only had one bad album, one average album, and the rest are either good to amazing.

 

Dec 2, 2015

It also explains why he hasn't dropped SWISH yet.

 

Dec 2, 2015

Retire after your 3rd commercial album.

 

Dec 2, 2015

What's the key to keeping a consistent Discography? ​

Throughout the years we have seen different artists take different rides on the roller coaster. You get those who have many highs and lows, those who've fallen off completely and those who've been able to sustain a consistent discography.

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We have seen the likes of Kanye West and OutKast who've never failed to deliver a bad album for us during their careers. Although OutKast's last album is arguable (if that Idlewild counts?) and Kanye is still not done yet, they have managed to put together a great, large catalog for their listeners for a long period. I'd also have A Tribe Called Quest in this category as well.

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Then we have people like Nas who kick off brilliantly with Illmatic and It Was Written, but somehow manage to make albums that just aren't up to expectations with Nastradamus. He eventually manages to pick himself up again with a couple of good albums, however, the cycle of highs and lows keeps flowing. I'm trying to think of other artist that go through this cycle on a different level to Nas, are there any artists where this may effect their legacy?

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We also have artists that completely fall off and never been able to get back what their fans and critics would consider as a pass. I think Lil Wayne relates to this because when he was in the peak of his powers during The Carter 3 era, he preceded to fall off. He's in decent company though. 50 Cent and Snoop Dogg have never been able to create music as good as they used to. It's common for artists to finally fall off, but these guys should have lasted a lot longer in their prime.

What do you guys think? Are there any others worth mentioning in those who have;

• Consistent Discographies
• Cycle of highs and lows
• Fallen of hard

What is the key to a consistent discography?