Everybody rapping right now using multiple syllables and internal rhyme schemes, compressing their whole life into a rhyme learnt that from Nas, who picked up the early methodology from Rakim and Kool G Rap, but clearly carved the artform wide open after he put his spin on it. There is no further improvement necessary in MC'ing after Nas. It's not likely. Infact, when MC's try to zip their word output more in a rhyme it is borderline ludicrous, like wordplay for wordplay's sake. Nas had that perfect balance with the styles, the verbosity and the wordplay and the urgent need to be heard, i.e., the actual necessary and powerful message; that ability to say something profounding and shocking like Ice Cube. These days it's as if he is taking more breaks when he rhymes and tilting the balance more to conversational and measured lyrical flows than heavy alliterative, polyiambic displays. He still manages to sound peerless regardless. I could stop here, but...

He made the greatest hip-hop album, Illmatic. Fuck explaining this. I don't have time to explain nor to care for those who feel otherwise.

He has been doing rap thing at the highest level since 16 years old, and he is still relevant tomorrow. He gets punished for peaking out too soon, but he really never fell off. Infact he may be the only 50 year old rapper I am going to care to listen to in 10 years or so. You know why ? He'll make a comfortable and unforced record with Damian Marley and produce seamless genius of a hip-hop/reggae or spoken word hybrid.

He is amongst the most succesful and top selling rappers in the history of the art.

He is one of the top 3 reasons anybody wants to go to Rock the Bells last year and the next 5 years or so. He is like that thing in hip-hop that true heads still feel they have and have not lost in hip-hop. If there ever needed to be a time capsule of hip-hop or a frozen moment to archive, Nas is it !

I can go on.