And, not that we need to revisit this everytime either artist is mentioned but...this is part of the reason I've always preferred Nas to JayZ. Nas, whether he succeeds or fails, always seems to have a certain direction with his albums with a few exceptions. The tone, themes, lyrics all seem to tie together somehow. Jay has always been the artist who tries to please everyone with a song a piece each album, which is why I prefer Nas albums to Jay albums by and large. The few times he hasn't tried too hard to do that, is when he has made his best artistic statements. Reasonable Doubt, Blueprint for example.