How could Jay-Z ever make a song as cold as Nas "Last Real Nigga"?!

[Jimmy H.]

Jay sold out big time after Reasonable Doubt and has admitted it. "Dumbed down my raps and doubled my dollars" or whatever. Good for him, he's got a stack of great singles over the years, but his albums as a whole don't touch Nas' catalog with a 10 foot pole.

I don't interpret that line as admitting that he sold out but recognizing the way the game is played and owning up to that. Basically saying you can talk over your listeners' head and collect dust on the shelf or make music they can understand and sell. I actually admire lines like that from Jay because instead of pointing the finger at some figure and passing the buck, he holds himself accountable. Most artists want to downplay the reality of what they do. When you are talking about major labels, whether it's Eminem, Tupac Shakur, Marvin Gaye, Kurt Cobain, Busta Rhymes, Dr. Dre, Nas, or whoever, their job was to create something that entertains and reasonates with people. You have plenty of people who were way more intellectual than Pac but his fans aren't giving them props. Pac gets the due because he took the message and broke it down so that your average dude on the street could understand and relate. And that's where art and entertainment meet. You need the entertainment on the surface and the message in the center of it. But you can't tell the "keeping it real" crowd that. You have to create this facade so they believe the message is selling and not the music. Any artist that is making music with millions of someone else's dollars backing it has to compromise. No way around that. They can dress it up whatever they want but that's how it goes. The true great artists are the ones who find a way to give their employer what they want and still deliver the message.

[BiggSadot]

Jiggas an industry puppet and overrated highly by casual fans. Hes had a good career but he not the end all be all people make him out to be. Id put Mega Sosa & Nas all over him and a bunch more. Once I seen that Hawaiian Sophie video it killed alot of his cred with me. That nigga will do anything for the fame n money.

[OG Jaydc]

Dumbing down your lyrics to sell more is the definition of selling out.