who was the better storyteller NaS, Biggie or Jay-Z? This is not about who was the best storyteller ever....this beef is between Biggie, Jay-Z & NaS....for now.
J A Y (why) I flow sick? Jigga is known for his double meaning metaphors but he could also put a story together that reminds me of something out of Scorsese flick. "But my mind's like a flower in bloom//peep how my eyes just scour the room//I'm alert plus I paid the clerk//I got it laid out//you think you the first nigga I played out//in a two hotel town, come on now//I peeped ya Lexus as you//left the exit got some niggas on that side of the town money well invested" (Friend or Foe *98-In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 (1997). That right there is so visual that they had to put that to screen on "Streets is Watching". This is how it plays out in your head before you're actually in the situation, you know like "yo son when we get over we gon do this we gon do that" but it never really happens that way, only in the movies, but great movies.
"Coming of Age (Da Sequel)" off the historical "Hard Knock Life, Vol. 2" was more like the Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo film "The Godfather II" because of it's sequel but prequel like song equipped with flashbacks. "Jumped out like a star with the flav'est car//matching the gator shirt//softer than my next door neighbors//these young niggas think I fell out the loop//cause the last time they seen me hoppin' out the coupe I hoped out in suit". Softer than my next door neighbors are you serious? This story is great for so many reasons and one being that all the actions that take place are just thoughts circulating in the mind of Jay-Z and his vocal co-star M.E.M.P.H.I.S Bleek in between their hello's to each other. Real and realistic.
Hov then tells his most descriptive story in "Meet the Parents" from "The Blueprint 2" in where he talks about a father abandoning his son and then later.....go listen if you never heard. "Mike was the hard head from around the way that she wanted all her life//shit she wanted all the hype//used to hold on tight when he willied on the bike//he was a willie all her life//he wasn't really the one to like//it was a dude named Shy who would really treat her right//he wanted to run to the country to escape the city life//but Isis, like this , Broadway life//she loved the Gucci sneakers, the red, green and white". We know this girl, she's the classic Black Girl Lost and we can relate to this story. I for one can relate because by my father abandoning me he did "kill" a part of me. When fiction becomes non-fiction.
Mr. Carter can also view a situation and empathize then deliver their sorrows to the world through songs like "Minority Report" off the album "Kingdom Come". He puts vision in your head that we wish everyday would happen "And the Commander-In-Chief just flew by//did he stop? No, he had a couple seats just proved//Jet Blue he is not//jet blew by the spot//what if he ran out of jet fuel and just dropped?". Even though S. Dot himself wasn't harmed physically by Hurricane Katrina he made us all feel their pain through his compelling lyrics. This is one of those movies like "Malcolm X" where when it's over you want to do something or do something about it.
2 comments:
i want to show love SO bad on this topic but it wouldnt be too fair because i'm not really into rap as much as some others. i know my favorite person to listen to is Jay Z. Perhaps that can be my reason for thinking he's the best story teller...he keeps me the most interested, keeps me the most entertained...thats what i look for when i want a story told.
Jay's way of telling story was always relatable to either or someone you knew. When he raps you really have to play it back like that man just said that. Cause you wouldn't get the first time around. And those are just2 reason that makes he the best thus far.
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