Lupe Fiasco Says Nas ‘Wouldnt Rank High’ On List Of Hip-Hop’s Elite Lyricists

During an appearance on Culture United with host Justin Hunte, Lupe was asked whether Nas should be considered one of hip-hop’s elite lyricists even though he’s not typically known as a punchline-heavy rapper. The question suggested that lyricism should be measured by more than clever one-liners and include storytelling, imagery, and other literary devices. While acknowledging that broader view of lyricism, Lupe explained that his criteria changes when lyrics are judged on their own. “For me, remove the beat, remove everything else and you just go with the words and you throw Nas and you created a list of people who just rap, which is a big list, it’s hundreds and thousands of rappers, he wouldn’t rank high. I wouldn’t rank him high,” Lupe said. “That doesn’t mean we’re not lyricists in our space, but when you isolate it to that, a lot of people don’t rank high. Lupe clarified that his comments weren’t meant to diminish Nas’ legacy, but rather to emphasize how much larger the pool becomes when comparing lyricists across the entire history of rap, including lesser-known MCs alongside mainstream stars.

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