Boosie Badazz has thoughts on Jay-Z and Nas’ status in the game.
The Baton Rouge artist caused a stir this week when he addressed 21 Savage’s controversial comments about Nas. The drama began when 21 participated in a Clubhouse chat that questioned whether Nasir was the greatest rapper of all time. Though he acknowledged the Queens native as a legendary MC, the Savage Mode rapper wasn’t convinced he’s relevant among the younger generation.
“What y’all saying relevant, though? I don’t feel like he’s relevant. I just feel like he got fans. … He’s not relevant. He just has a loyal-ass fan base and he still make good-ass music,” said 21 in mid-November. Just yesterday he and Nas united on the track “One Mic One Gun,” where Savage raps, “When you turn a legend, no such thing as relevance/They must’ve forgot that I’m a new rapper that got integrity.” Nas wrote that they’re moving forward “with love, respect, and unity.”
Boosie weighed in on the comments during a sit-down with VladTV, saying he understood where 21 was coming from.
“[Nas] just won a Grammy at that age, last year. His records are still doing great,” Boosie explained, saying he believed 21 was measuring relevance by social media presence. “He’s definitely relevant to his fanbase. He’s still making music, he’s still doing that, then he’s still relevant. I think [21] was looking at it on a young n***a’s perspective.”
DJ Vlad agreed Nas was legendary, but pointed out doesn’t dominate the charts and has failed to compete with bigger artists like 21, Drake, and Taylor Swift.
“I just can’t say he’s relevant as far as today’s [music]. … He doesn’t have a Taylor Swift machine behind him,” Boosie said. “I’m telling you. Nas is great, but he doesn’t have the machine, or he’s not listening to the machine that can make him do more numbers.”
Vlad went on to say that it’s difficult for a rapper to stay on top after the age of 50, but he believes 52-year-old Jay-Z is one of the few exceptions.
Boosie disagreed. “Jay-Z’s not relevant these days for music,” he said. “I don’t. If you’re gonna say Jay-Z is relevant and Nas ain’t relevant? No.”
He continued by saying Jay’s current impact has more to do with his business success than his records.
“When I go to these clubs in Atlanta—these 25-to-35 clubs—I’m not hearing Nas, I’m not hearing Jay-Z. Every club I go in, it’s not one or the other…Jay-Z is respected by these people for being that boss that he is. It ain’t his songs flashing across no fuckin’ social media, it’s his hustle.”
Hov’s last solo album was 2017’s celebrated 4:44. He put out the Beyoncé collab record Everything Is Love the year after, and appeared on the majority of Jay Electronica’s 2020 full-length debut Written Testimony.
