Battle of the Classic Albums: Jay-Z Versus Nas, Part Two

Shawn Carter started out as a finesse, mafioso rapper whose aim was to put his new business venture in Roc-A-Fella Records on the map by releasing his own album, seemingly as the only record that he would intend to record. Nasir Jones was a young 20-year-old from the projects in New York City who was seen as a prodigious upstart in the rap/hip-hop community; his street authenticity and amazing wisdom in his rhyming made others tout him as hip-hop's next messiah.

Now Jay-Z and Nas have become legends, living legends who have personified what it means to be the best, having given their fans many sides of themselves and many sounds of their evolutionary music for the past 13 years. There's no question that these artists are in the top five of the best all-time rappers in history (with many touting Jay as the best ever), and their album catalog speak wonders about their having been received by fans worldwide, but when it comes to classic albums, both share top honors. The question is: who has more classic albums? Here's a look at each of the artists and their top albums, in order from the earliest to latest year, picking up from Part One and now covering both artists' classic albums catalog in the 2000s.

2001: Jay-Z, The Blueprint

Released on America's most tragic day in the country's history on September 11, 2001, Hov made a point to make an album that was a bonafide classic. Having the expert minds of Just Blaze and Kanye West as in-house Roc-A-Fella producers, the two crafted a soul-inspired sound made especially for Jay, as Young Hov came onto the scene with the party anthem "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)". Having traded insults with Nas, "The Takeover" became Jay's battleground, persecuting God's Son himself and Prodigy from Mobb Deep and making rap battles in-vogue again after the 2Pac and Biggie rap-murder tragedies in 1996 and 1997. Along with the nostalgic "Girls, Girls, Girls" (assisted by the likes of Biz Markie, Q-Tip, and Slick Rick), "Ain't No Love", the anthemic heartbreaker in "Song Cry" and the album's underdog winner in "Renegade" with Eminem, The Blueprint was immediately received with fanfare and given perfect score rating by nearly all major music magazines who chronicled Jay's career.

2001: Nas, StILLmatic

After having to defend himself against Jay-Z amidst rumors of sharing the same girlfriend and fighting for the title as New York and rap's title of king, Nas sought to revisit his lyrical roots in Illmatic by titling his return to serious rap relevance Stillmatic, spitting in S. Carter's eye with the battle rap song "Ether". A brilliant piece of work from top to bottom, Nas returned to Illmatic's architects in Premier and L.E.S., while also using Nineties mainstays the Trackmasterz. With "One Mic", "You're The Man", "Got Yourself A Gun" and the brilliant narrative in "Rewind", Nas inspired a true discussion about whether he or Jay-Z were really better than each other.

2002: Nas, The Lost Tapes

Actually a compilation of reject tracks from I Am..., Nastradamus, and God's Son, much notice of The Lost Tapes is unfound, and is seen by many as a major-release of an underground album. If properly marketed and given its due attention, it wouldn't be particularly shocking if this was recognized as Nas' best album-even better than Illmatic. The album flows wonderfully and while "Poppa Was A Playa" is probably the most recognizable song from The Lost Tapes, all of the songs are so great, they seem to shine unrecognizable as a collective. Simply put, The Lost Tapes is quite possibly the most underrated major rap album release in recent history.

2003: Jay-Z, The Black Album

Thought to be Jay's official exit from recording solo albums, The Black Album served as a career wrap-up of virtual royal ascension and eventual music domination in the rap/hip-hop community. Originally a concept album based on using the 12 most influential producers that served Jay-Z throughout his then-seven-year career, The Black Album evolved into a concept album that closed the gap on between his original underground music roots and his later pop music success. Beyond the poppy, Neptunes-styled "Change Clothes", the album maintains its narrative integrity in showing listeners Jay's life through candid anecdotes and story tales of his lifetime and career. With the powerful "Encore" with Kanye West and John Legend, "Moment Of Clarity" (which was produced by Eminem), "What More Can I Say", and "Allure", The Black Album was easily cemented as possibly Jay's best work, with some saying that it topped genre classics in his own Reasonable Doubt and The Blueprint. Hov had the perfect mix of staunch lyricism, honesty and the right mix of boardmasters in The Neptunes, Timbaland, Kanye West and Just Blaze; Jay also discovered some of hip-hop's great young producing talents in the now-comparable 9^th Wonder, The Buchanons and Aqua. Further solidifying The Black Album's legend is the ubiquitous re-mixing of the album's a cappella version with music legends and stars' previous works by various producers and DJs through the Internet, with the most famous versions being the DJ Danger Mouse mash-up album with The Beatles' self-titled album (known as "The White Album") having become The Grey Album, 9^th Wonder's own Black Is Back (The Black Album Remixes), DJ Kno's The White Album and Prince's "Purple Rain" mix that became The Purple Album.

2007: Jay-Z, American Gangster

Created on a whim and put forth as a personal re-telling of Shawn Carter's hustler lifestyle against the Frank Lucas backdrop, Jay-Z spoke into existence an even-more honest track-by-track music compilation that depicted his life, circa 1980-1995. Surprisingly made into a masterpiece largely with the help of Diddy and his infamous crew of Hitmen, S. Dot chose to keep the album focused largely on the ethos, logos and pathos that were swelling inside of his dome as a young drug dealer, which seen in just about all of the tracks, especially songs like "Pray", "American Dreamin'" (which featured Marvin Gaye), "Sweet", "Party Life", "Success" (a collaboration with former foe-turned-label mate Nas) and the Rakim and Big Daddy Kane-inspired "Blue Magic". In short, what American Gangster did was define itself as a more personal version of Reasonable Doubt with its incredibly "Frank" details, and it parallels The Black Album in his disclosure of the death of his own real-life gangster persona, just as The Black Album marked the then-death of Jay-Z the music artist; Gangster is then essentially both a hybrid of the two aforementioned albums and their all-encompassing prequel. Though the album is helped with the likes of The Neptunes, Just Blaze and old friend and Doubt collaborator DJ Ski, Gangster is masterful.

Final result for the 2000s (as of December 2007): Jay-Z's 3 (The Blueprint, The Black Album, American Gangster) to Nas' 2 (Stillmatic, The Lost Tapes)

Final result for career, thus far: Jay-Z's 5 albums over Nas' 4 albums