NAS Names His Five Best New-School Rappers

Nas infamously declared that Hip Hop Is Dead 10 years ago this month, but it’s clearly still alive and well. So to celebrate the controversial album’s anniversary, Esco shared his take on the genre’s hottest rappers today. During an episode of “Music Talks” with Revolt TV’s chairman Andre Harrell, which aired Dec. 25, Nasty revealed a list of his “favorite MCs out of the new generation.” Although Mr. Jones didn’t provide a full explanation for his list, he named J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar, Drake, Lil Wayne, and Rick Ross on the series.

Nas has ties with each of the artists he mentioned. In 2013, he collaborated with J. Cole on “Let Nas Down (Remix),” a Cole World ode to the Queensbridge legend. Kendrick Lamar has, in the past, rapped about Nas, including a reference to his character in Belly on 2010’s “Barbed Wire.”

Esco also joined Drake in the “Obey Your Thirst” campaign, collaborated with Lil Wayne on tracks like “Outro” and “My Generation,” and teamed up with Rick Ross several times, including collabs like “One of Us,” “Usual Suspects,” and “Accident Murderers.”

Released Dec. 19, 2006, Nas’ Hip Hop Is Dead caused an uproar with its title alone. It earned mostly positive reviews, including a 7.8 from Pitchfork, 4/5 stars in The Guardian, and a 4/5 in Rolling Stone.

Now, Esco is planning to drop the follow-up to 2012’s Life Is Good. According to his “Nas Album Done” track on DJ Khaled’s Major Key, his new LP is done. Now, fans are just awaiting a release date.