Rap legend Nas recently spoke to The Financial Times about his businesses and also gave his opinion on the latest generation of rappers. While expressing his appreciation for them, he said,
“There’s no one keeping me up at night. I hear a new rap record, and I think it’s great, but I don’t listen to it the next week.”
Let’s be clear; this comment shouldn’t spark a conversation about an old head “hating” on today’s rappers because Nas has embraced new rappers.
“We were happy to see that young king come up. He was a breath of fresh air.” Nas exclaimed.
Unfortunately, Pop Smoke was tragically taken from us last year at the age of 20, but his legacy still lives on with the release of unheard music and the new movie “Boogie” in select theaters now.
I believe Nas’s opinion comes from a combination of the quality of music being released versus the influx in music released weekly.
It’s clear that the impact and longevity of a song are based on what the majority of consumers want to hear.
In Nas’s prime, music was allowed to circulate and breathe before it disappeared entirely. In today’s industry, music lives for about 2-3 weeks before it’s considered “done.”
Music is also extremely accessible with its digital release almost every Friday. Several decades ago you would have to trek to a brick-and-mortar to get a physical copy of an album.
Do you guys think Nas’s statements would be various if consumers could sit with music longer than a few weeks?
For more about Nas’ business ventures and thoughts on today’s rappers, catch the entire interview over on The Financial Times