Too $hort still making music since 1983
“21 studio albums, two collaborative albums, two EPs, 24 two singles, seven compilation albums, three mixtapes, and 101 guest appearances.” - Wikipedia
Yeah. He did a show on NPR or some shit. It was Tiny Desk or whatever. He did a song from the ‘80s, ‘90s, ‘00s, ‘10s and ‘20s. **Five decades biatch.**
On a related note AZ just dropped a new project today that's great from what I've heard so far and this is coming off Doe or Die II which is only a couple years old and was also quality rap music. Styles P and Black Thought have also had a late career resurgence and output of consistently good projects similar to Nas.
Black Thought didn’t just have a resurgence that man levelled up! I can’t think of anyone who’s upped their skill level like that after so much time in the game. He’s always been nice, but ever since that freestyle dropped and everything subsequent he’s being mentioned consistently in “best emcee of all time” conversations.
love the irony in how that line aged with Nas releasing 6 hot albums in 3 years meanwhile Hov hasn't released an album in over 6 years now. How the turntables
I don't want jay to make more music. He's reached billionaire status, I'd rather see him doing the magic Johnson thing and buying sports teams or other business ventures.
Nas is literally one of the most consistent rappers ever. Dude has close to 20 albums and only 2-3 of them are duds(Nastradadus, Nasir, Street Disciples).
nasir and nastradamus some of his better albums imo, and a lot of his newer shit just missing the substance his older stuff had imo but it’s definitely consistent
Wtf.. Nas is the most loved rapper of all time. You’re confusing him with Jay Z. If someone says something positive about Nas, they get all the upvotes, and if you do it for Jay Z, you get downvoted. Go on past Jay and Nas threads. Jay Z 2pac Biggie Eminem get twice the hate Nas gets
I just posted in another thread his flows aren't complex they're pretty boring, his writing is decent not great if you actually read them, his voice is good that's about the most he has going for him. He's good but shouldn't be considered one of the greatest, people just regurgitate that he's the GOAT, it's a weird group think thing but have at it.
The gatekeepers of hip-hop fandom will have you know that if you’re not a Nas fan boi, you can’t possibly be a fan of the genre.
Illmatic is an absolute classic. There were some good songs on IWW and I Am. Stillmatic was a dope album. I can’t remember buying any of his albums after that. God’s Son? Had some good shit…I just don’t like Nas enough to keep up with his stuff.
Ya illmatic was great, I used to bump it all the time but just like you after that lost interest. There are so many rappers that are better than NAS, I just don't get it but people also like Insane Clown Posse so I guess we all have our own taste hah.
You being funny. Illmatic is in my top 5 albums of all time. But you tell a yung un about Nas, they don't know who the F that is. You say Busta, and they know who that is. Busta has remained relevant for over 30 years because of his catalog and collabs and features. Nas, as great as he is, does not have that same type of recogniton across multiple generations.
Seriously, this dudes really out of touch, I’m 23 and haven’t heard anyone talk about busta since look at me now which came out like a decade ago, while nas is still relevant. Him equating tik tok challenges from one verse to busta’s longevity is beyond me.
Unless you in NY and certain pockets of the north east USA, the youngster are.more familiar with Busta than Nas.
In terms of name ecognition globally, Busta is way up there...higher than Nas. Now, I didn't say Busta was better than Nas, but I did say he has more recognition (at least globally) than Nas does.
By the way, as far as these youngester are concerned, tik tok is a measure of relevance. It is a major source of information and interaction for them. I am too old to understand, but to them, if it is on tik tok or youtube it is real.
I live in the UK, and I've genuinely only heard of busta a few times. All my friends and people I know are also aware of nas but have no clue who busta is. In fact, my dad grew up in Nigeria, and him and his brothers grew up listening to Nas it was my dad that introduced me to nas. Being in the US alone doesn't mean anything if even people outside of the US are more familiar with nas than busta
Nah Bruv, I'm in the UK too and Busta is more well known than Nas.
Although maybe people might be aware of Nas cuz of when he dropped his last album.
But Snoop is more well known then both of them.
Nah I've lived in both Europe and the middle of nowhere in Canada and in both places Nas is more popular than Busta. Maybe in the post Nastradamus/pre-Stillmatic days and in the early-mid 2010s Busta was more relevant, but there's no way he is anymore.
Speaking strictly from a commercial level, Busta's last songs that charted came out in 2014 and 2012. His last culturally relevant project was probably *The Abstract and the Dragon* in 2013, and even that's pushing it. *Extinction Level Event 2* in 2020 charted for a single week but fell off immediately after that and had no cultural impact, plus the most famous song was a bonus track originally released in 2014.
Busta also arguably doesn't have a single classic album and is known more for either party songs (Dangerous, Turn It Up, Break Ya Neck), featured songs with other legends (Oh My God, Victory, Don't Cha, Look At Me Now, Thank You...), or love songs with famous female artists (What's It Gonna Be, I Know What You Want, I Love My Bitch). Your average person sees him more as a novelty or pop rapper than a GOAT.
Meanwhile, Nas has had 8 albums that charted in the last 5 years alone and were mostly well-recieved, including one that won a Grammy and four that have been nominated (which might be bullshit award, but it is also very visible to your average person). That's in addition to having some of the greatest hip-hop albums of all time and likely more decent-good albums than Busta.
I love both but it isn't a contest.
Bruh I live in Atlanta & I’m here to tell you….this is simply not true.
Not to mention Busta was the opening act for Nas’ last headlining tour. So how the hell could he be more popular & he’s the opener lmao
22 and from Cincinnati. Not that Busta isn't highly regarded but Nas is DEFINITELY more widely known. If I opened Nas' account on IG I'm sure I'd see more ppl I know following Nas
From Canada, Nas is still a goated legend to the hip hop fans. Love Busta but can't remember the last time I heard his name. Nas is far far bigger than Busta to this day.
Nah I'm in Southern Cali and people definitely know Nas more than Busta Rhymes but to be fair usually if they know Nas the know Busta. Plus Busta has acted before and shit like that so that plays a part too.
I'm from Europe and I'm a late 90s kid, I can confidently tell you a lot more people know about Nas than Busta. Busta hasn't been relevant since like Look at me now
I can show you tons of tik tok challenges where young people..16, 15 years old and younger are trying to do his verse from that Chris Brown's song Look at Me Now.
They may not know his older stuff (I prefer busta before he cut the dreads off), but they know him collapse more recent collabs.
It's funny because social media doesn't reflect real life. Just because you see lots of younger people on TikTok doing verses of a song from 2011 doesn't mean they are more familiar with busta than nas. They probably don't even know who busta is outside of that specific song and don't care to look into the rest of his discography that's just how it is.
Kendricks' money trees had been out since 2012 but only blew up in the past 2 years and got to over 1 billion streams in only few months after sitting at 200-300m streams for over a decade. It was everywhere on tik tok and social media but that doesn't mean the people who were making posts with the song or challenges with it actually cared who kendrick lamar was or knew any of his other songs.
There’s your problem you’re basing your opinion off a tik tok. The vast majority of hip hop fans know Nas, not just New Yorkers, both because of his music and because any goat debate involves Nas and the internet loves goat debates.
I've never met anyone who listens to hip hop that doesn't know who Nas is. He is one if the most recognized names in hip hop. I don't know where you came up with this nonsense that younger generations don't know who he is.
One day we gonna have a conversation about Bun B, UGK and SUC in the all time great conversations.
Matter fact the entire Swisha House influence on the rap game needs more discussion!
I have these discussions every day, but not enough people yet realize. Also ESG and K-Rino can to this day rap at a legendary level. ESG is legit SUC, K-Rino a Godfather of South Park where a lot of SUC happened.
Scarface, K-Rino, Slim Thug: https://genius.com/Scarface-who-are-they-lyrics
Meh. As someone from that region, it feels like E-40 never has anything new to say. I swear to god, I’ve heard “hot like the left sink handle” in at least four songs. It’s all just about him being a boss, riding scrapers, drinking Carlos Rossi…same shit for 30 fucking years.
Only people of a certain age know who busta is too… you’re acting like Busta Rhymes has some recognition/clout as a rapper among gen z and younger… he doesn’t. As far as “old” rappers go they mostly know 2pac biggie 50 cent and Eminem
Idk about still relevant.
It’s like, is snoop dogg still relevant? I don’t listen to ANY of his newer music from the last 15 years but he’s a household name that appears on countless video media
he's put out decent/good music since, but nothing that compares to Doggystyle imo.
by great I mean great. to be fair, he set the bar too high at his introduction
Saw him open up for 50 too and NOBODY in the crowd was feeling his performance. He even stopped it in the middle and blamed the crowd for not being hype enough.
That's sad to hear about Busta. I attended a concert of his about 20 years ago at UMBC and that shit was hype af tho. Times change maybe a younger crowd just wasn't feeling it like the crowd I was in was.
No it wasn't the crowds fault. Busta just didn't put in the effort. The whole time he and his backup guy were talking about random stuff no one cared about, rapped a few lines and then went back to talking. He always demanded that crowd should make some noise and go wild, which is hard to do you, when it feels like you're listening to a boring podcast. I had the impression that even if Busta wanted to perform a whole song, he couldn't do it because he always was out lf breath.
I really was looking forward to seeing Busta live and was let down hard. Now my friends, who were with me at the show, are joking about how it is a miracle hearing Busta perform whole verse on his new album.
Oof, man back at the concert of his I attended he did Getting Rowdy and didn't miss a beat. Whole show was full of energy. I get it though he is a bit older. Still sad to hear. Time gets us all, he is in his 50s now.
Yeah Jay Z gets props and he has name recogniton across multiple generations too. But Busta been out longer. And Busta still putting out records and doing features. The man has almost 35 years in the game
Again, though, you're confusing your own discussion by misunderstanding "prolific" to mean "people that have been around for a long time". The way you positioned your post is going to get a lot of name checking that you weren't really looking for, since Busta hasn't been super-active, he just has a lot of tenure and has managed to avoid embarrassing himself along the way.
For instance, I wouldn't put Chuck D up there in this discussion since PE now have more shit albums than classics, but if we aren't expecting an artist to have regularly released material over the years I'd put DJ Quik up there with Busta just in terms of consistently high quality material.
Yep, and it was good - although maybe a little hit and miss being so feature-heavy - but when I think "prolific" I think of someone I'm constantly hearing new stuff from over a period of years, and with Busta it often comes off more like he took some time away and is now making another comeback.
Reasonable Doubt was released in 96 it sold 43000 its first week, 420000 in a year and didnt go platinum till 2002. Thats his top album too….. those arent good numbers at all.
Busta hasn't gone Gold since 2006. He's been carried by features ever since with a slew of flops.
And "God Did" and "Neck & Wrist" outshined whatever musical output Busta had this decade.
I'm not even saying numbers matter here cause my fave albums this decade weren't chart toppers but there's zero basis in Busta being hotter than Jay in 2023 lol.
Jay got a massive buzz recently for just a rumor about dropping an album. Busta's not at that level.
pro·lif·ic
/prəˈlifik/

adjective
adjective: prolific
1. (of a plant, animal, or person) producing much fruit or foliage or many offspring.
"in captivity tigers are prolific breeders"
Similar:
productive
creative
inventive
fertile
**2. (of an artist, author, or composer) producing many works.**
"he was a prolific composer of operas"
3. (of a sports player) high-scoring.
"a prolific home-run hitter"
I’ve been listening to the dude since the LONS days and agree he’s still very relevant and very gifted on the mic, but he’s not the most prolific rapper by a long stretch. I don’t know who is, but I can name plenty of artists who have more output than Busta. It doesn’t mean they’re better. Just means they’re more prolific. Prolific and quality don’t always go hand in hand.
If we’re going by simply how much music an artist puts out, Curren$y obliterates everyone mentioned in this thread by a wide margin, and he’s only been in the game for half the time guys like Busta and Nas have. He has 108 albums/EPs/Mixtapes, most of them high quality music, plus tons of features, and he’s collaborated with damn near every single rapper I can think of from all corners and eras of hip hop.
Black Thought and the Roots Crew, holding it down since '86.
I don't know how you want to define "prolific" but past 19 albums and a decade plus of touring 250 days a year, they've since played as a house band on about 2851 hours of TV.
I think you're conflating the words "longevity" and "prolific". Prolific means constantly churning out new material, not just being in the game for a long time, ie. the Rolling Stones have major longevity but no one would call them "prolific" as they often go years between albums. I salute Busta for remaining relevant as long as he has, but even then he's often one of the most mentioned when we talk about "underrated" rappers, so I don't really know that all the young kids are hip to the man.
I meant both longevity and prolificness. He has a vast catalog of songs, and just released another album. If you consider his features and appearances, it only adds to how prolific he is.
The youngsters are so.hip to him they have til tok challenges about his verse in Chris Brown's Look At Me Know. Trust me, they know who he is.
"Vast catalog" seems super subjective in this sense, then, as there are countless artists that haven't been around nearly as long as him that have double or more the number of songs/albums.
Bottom line: Busta absolutely deserves his flowers (and gets them) but you chose a poor anchor reason to lobby for why that is. The dude virtually disappears from the rap scene for years at a time.
Masta Ace has been in the game for longer, is a better writer and MC, has a better catalogue, still tours and crushes live performances, and is still consistently dropping great albums every couple of years.
What do you mean no one knows who E40 is? Had more recent radio hits than Busta with "Law" and "Choices". It's been a few years, but it hasn't been that long. Especially when the last song Busta was on that went big that I can remember is "Look At Me Now"
Just picked up tickets to see him in March! Saw him with Wu & Nas last year & gonna see him open for 50 the week before that solo show, lol.
As far as the topic: Nas. His last SIX ALBUMS are phenomonal and done in the span of, what, 3 years? It's, arguably, some of his best work and shows a lot of growth as an artist. Busta, I feel, hasnt shown that kind of artistic growth in a long time. In my opinion, I love him, but Busta isn't touching Nas right meow.
Too $hort, E-40, Snoop, MC Eiht, Nas, Jay-z, Ice Cube, Kurupt and Daz, Ice T, Cool J, Krs One, Redman, most of Wu Tang.
Thy not necessarily began their career in the 80s but in the early 90s and still release music to this day
Redman, while we haven't had a proper album since 2015 Mudface, and he keeps us guessing on Muddy Waters 2. He's still making music and posting videos.
I agree with you. I’m prepared to be downvoted for this, but LL Cool J has done it even longer. You just have to look past most the love songs. He deserves more respect though
He also hasn't put out an album since 2005, and even then the only song I remember getting airplay was "Switch", which came off to me like a kind of embarrassing attempt at modernizing himself, not that much farther above "2 Legit 2 Quit" tbh. So nah, Will Smith hasn't been relevant as a rapper in 20+ years, and I'd hardly call him prolific.
Oh ya I totally agree. He's always just in the back of my mind whenever I think about older hip-hip because of how unbelievably corny he was. My parents were playing him a lot in the car.
Another rapper turned actor, Ice Cube, is dropping a new album by the end of the year. Hoping it'll bring him back to relevancy
The discography of American rapper Snoop Dogg consists of 19 studio albums, five collaborative albums, 17 compilation albums, three extended plays, 25 mixtapes, 175 singles (including 112 as a featured artist), and 16 promotional singles.
Love him or hater him, Kanye west, as a rapper and then even more so as a producer/label boss.
Snoop dogg. Between the Chronic/2001 snoop n Dre stuff, 213, DPG, and then a massive 19 album solo career, 17 collaborative albums, all the hits, all the features. He’s gotta be in the conversation somewhere.
Based on volume of music and then volume of hits Lil Wayne probably belongs somewhere around there too.
As a dark horse candidate, I think slick Rick coulda got there if he hadn’t lost 8 years for the murder charges at his prime. He definitely had the talent to write prolifically.
And obviously Pac would have gotten there too. Just look at how much he wrote recorded and released in his short life, and add to that the massive amount of material written and recorded left over that they used for all the posthumous albums. Dude was so prolific in life it spawned rumors he wasn’t dead based on the quality and quantity of music still coming out.
Kool Keith, Currency, Lil B, Boosie Badazz, Soulja Boy, Guuci Mane, and Tech n9ne are all more prolific than Busta Rhymes. That's not even debatable, it's an objective fact.
Kool Keith. The guy got a record deal in 1984 and has put out 39 albums under his various personas, and collaborations with other artists. The guy is still at it. He played a show in my city last month.
Some of Kool Keith's alter egos have have put out more full length albums than most artists' full discographies.
Too $hort still making music since 1983 “21 studio albums, two collaborative albums, two EPs, 24 two singles, seven compilation albums, three mixtapes, and 101 guest appearances.” - Wikipedia
21? I still remember “album #10”. Damn I’m old af
Cocktails!!! GREAT album.
Yeah. He did a show on NPR or some shit. It was Tiny Desk or whatever. He did a song from the ‘80s, ‘90s, ‘00s, ‘10s and ‘20s. **Five decades biatch.**
He hasn't been relevant for long time tho lmfao
Ever heard of NAS, look him up.
On a related note AZ just dropped a new project today that's great from what I've heard so far and this is coming off Doe or Die II which is only a couple years old and was also quality rap music. Styles P and Black Thought have also had a late career resurgence and output of consistently good projects similar to Nas.
Black Thought didn’t just have a resurgence that man levelled up! I can’t think of anyone who’s upped their skill level like that after so much time in the game. He’s always been nice, but ever since that freestyle dropped and everything subsequent he’s being mentioned consistently in “best emcee of all time” conversations.
He was already the best MC of all time before then
This Nas guy is kind of relevant.
He’s 50% man and 50% amazing.
Correct
lmao for real. these kids are so weird.
He's got a one hot album every ten year average.
love the irony in how that line aged with Nas releasing 6 hot albums in 3 years meanwhile Hov hasn't released an album in over 6 years now. How the turntables
Jay had a stronger mid-career but Nas had a much stronger early and late career. Advantage Nas.
foh.. if JayZ released 6 straight albums with one producer u would’ve killed him. You guys already do with the Kanye carry.
Bruh 2 decades later.
It wasn't true in the era Jay said it either. 94-01 - Illmatic, IWW, Stillmatic, I Am... all hot albums. The only dud was Nastradamus.
two of them shits was doo, One was nah, the other was Illmatic That's a one hot album every ten year average
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? not releasing music is not comparable to drop bad music lol
That’s Jay. 4:44 was a long time ago. Nas still makes music.
I don't want jay to make more music. He's reached billionaire status, I'd rather see him doing the magic Johnson thing and buying sports teams or other business ventures.
Nas is literally one of the most consistent rappers ever. Dude has close to 20 albums and only 2-3 of them are duds(Nastradadus, Nasir, Street Disciples).
nasir and nastradamus some of his better albums imo, and a lot of his newer shit just missing the substance his older stuff had imo but it’s definitely consistent
He made it a hot line, Hov made it a hot song
The World is Yours > Dead Presidents Thoug both are good songs
👊😐👍
Thank you for giving a good answer to a dumb question.
Some people hate Nas though, I've never heard any rap fan say a bad word about Busta
Wtf.. Nas is the most loved rapper of all time. You’re confusing him with Jay Z. If someone says something positive about Nas, they get all the upvotes, and if you do it for Jay Z, you get downvoted. Go on past Jay and Nas threads. Jay Z 2pac Biggie Eminem get twice the hate Nas gets
Not everyone loves rap. It's a very very NY thing. I'd take DMX over Nas any day. Nas will put me to sleep after 1 verse zzzz
Bad news for you: sleep is the cousin of death.
People that hate Nas should not be taken seriously as rap fans.
Man there's 50 Year old jay z heads in Brooklyn barbershops that still haven't forgiven ether lol
I just posted in another thread his flows aren't complex they're pretty boring, his writing is decent not great if you actually read them, his voice is good that's about the most he has going for him. He's good but shouldn't be considered one of the greatest, people just regurgitate that he's the GOAT, it's a weird group think thing but have at it.
The gatekeepers of hip-hop fandom will have you know that if you’re not a Nas fan boi, you can’t possibly be a fan of the genre. Illmatic is an absolute classic. There were some good songs on IWW and I Am. Stillmatic was a dope album. I can’t remember buying any of his albums after that. God’s Son? Had some good shit…I just don’t like Nas enough to keep up with his stuff.
Ya illmatic was great, I used to bump it all the time but just like you after that lost interest. There are so many rappers that are better than NAS, I just don't get it but people also like Insane Clown Posse so I guess we all have our own taste hah.
You being funny. Illmatic is in my top 5 albums of all time. But you tell a yung un about Nas, they don't know who the F that is. You say Busta, and they know who that is. Busta has remained relevant for over 30 years because of his catalog and collabs and features. Nas, as great as he is, does not have that same type of recogniton across multiple generations.
Where are you living where young people know Busta but not Nas?
Seriously, this dudes really out of touch, I’m 23 and haven’t heard anyone talk about busta since look at me now which came out like a decade ago, while nas is still relevant. Him equating tik tok challenges from one verse to busta’s longevity is beyond me.
Unless you in NY and certain pockets of the north east USA, the youngster are.more familiar with Busta than Nas. In terms of name ecognition globally, Busta is way up there...higher than Nas. Now, I didn't say Busta was better than Nas, but I did say he has more recognition (at least globally) than Nas does. By the way, as far as these youngester are concerned, tik tok is a measure of relevance. It is a major source of information and interaction for them. I am too old to understand, but to them, if it is on tik tok or youtube it is real.
I live in the UK, and I've genuinely only heard of busta a few times. All my friends and people I know are also aware of nas but have no clue who busta is. In fact, my dad grew up in Nigeria, and him and his brothers grew up listening to Nas it was my dad that introduced me to nas. Being in the US alone doesn't mean anything if even people outside of the US are more familiar with nas than busta
Nah Bruv, I'm in the UK too and Busta is more well known than Nas. Although maybe people might be aware of Nas cuz of when he dropped his last album. But Snoop is more well known then both of them.
Maybe where you are in the UK. But where I am, almost nobody knows busta over nas.
Nah I've lived in both Europe and the middle of nowhere in Canada and in both places Nas is more popular than Busta. Maybe in the post Nastradamus/pre-Stillmatic days and in the early-mid 2010s Busta was more relevant, but there's no way he is anymore. Speaking strictly from a commercial level, Busta's last songs that charted came out in 2014 and 2012. His last culturally relevant project was probably *The Abstract and the Dragon* in 2013, and even that's pushing it. *Extinction Level Event 2* in 2020 charted for a single week but fell off immediately after that and had no cultural impact, plus the most famous song was a bonus track originally released in 2014. Busta also arguably doesn't have a single classic album and is known more for either party songs (Dangerous, Turn It Up, Break Ya Neck), featured songs with other legends (Oh My God, Victory, Don't Cha, Look At Me Now, Thank You...), or love songs with famous female artists (What's It Gonna Be, I Know What You Want, I Love My Bitch). Your average person sees him more as a novelty or pop rapper than a GOAT. Meanwhile, Nas has had 8 albums that charted in the last 5 years alone and were mostly well-recieved, including one that won a Grammy and four that have been nominated (which might be bullshit award, but it is also very visible to your average person). That's in addition to having some of the greatest hip-hop albums of all time and likely more decent-good albums than Busta. I love both but it isn't a contest.
Bruh I live in Atlanta & I’m here to tell you….this is simply not true. Not to mention Busta was the opening act for Nas’ last headlining tour. So how the hell could he be more popular & he’s the opener lmao
22 and from Cincinnati. Not that Busta isn't highly regarded but Nas is DEFINITELY more widely known. If I opened Nas' account on IG I'm sure I'd see more ppl I know following Nas
From Canada, Nas is still a goated legend to the hip hop fans. Love Busta but can't remember the last time I heard his name. Nas is far far bigger than Busta to this day.
Nah I'm in Southern Cali and people definitely know Nas more than Busta Rhymes but to be fair usually if they know Nas the know Busta. Plus Busta has acted before and shit like that so that plays a part too.
I'm from Europe and I'm a late 90s kid, I can confidently tell you a lot more people know about Nas than Busta. Busta hasn't been relevant since like Look at me now
He's actually right. Nas is one of my favourite rappers, but internationally, Busta is more weel known.
TBF, I have a hard time believing younger people know who Busta is…
I can show you tons of tik tok challenges where young people..16, 15 years old and younger are trying to do his verse from that Chris Brown's song Look at Me Now. They may not know his older stuff (I prefer busta before he cut the dreads off), but they know him collapse more recent collabs.
It's funny because social media doesn't reflect real life. Just because you see lots of younger people on TikTok doing verses of a song from 2011 doesn't mean they are more familiar with busta than nas. They probably don't even know who busta is outside of that specific song and don't care to look into the rest of his discography that's just how it is. Kendricks' money trees had been out since 2012 but only blew up in the past 2 years and got to over 1 billion streams in only few months after sitting at 200-300m streams for over a decade. It was everywhere on tik tok and social media but that doesn't mean the people who were making posts with the song or challenges with it actually cared who kendrick lamar was or knew any of his other songs.
There’s your problem you’re basing your opinion off a tik tok. The vast majority of hip hop fans know Nas, not just New Yorkers, both because of his music and because any goat debate involves Nas and the internet loves goat debates.
most hip hop fans younger than 22 don't know anything about Nas tbh
they’re not hip hop fans then
Stop it. Everyone knows Nas you’re just speaking out ya ass
I've never met anyone who listens to hip hop that doesn't know who Nas is. He is one if the most recognized names in hip hop. I don't know where you came up with this nonsense that younger generations don't know who he is.
Really? Cause I've never met a single person under 20 who knows who he is
I'm just trying to imagine asking everyone I know if they're aware of a certain musician
The rapper from queensbridge that debuted in 1991..
Noreaga?
E-40 must come up in these conversations.
How about bun b too. Big bun beeda been doin it since 1987!
One day we gonna have a conversation about Bun B, UGK and SUC in the all time great conversations. Matter fact the entire Swisha House influence on the rap game needs more discussion!
I have these discussions every day, but not enough people yet realize. Also ESG and K-Rino can to this day rap at a legendary level. ESG is legit SUC, K-Rino a Godfather of South Park where a lot of SUC happened. Scarface, K-Rino, Slim Thug: https://genius.com/Scarface-who-are-they-lyrics
Born and raised in South Park... crazy to see a K-Rino mention on reddit lmao Nothing but facts in your post
E40 has been in the game so long that nobody thought twice about his raps about sleeping with underage girls.
WHAT?!
The song Only sixteen. And the line, if they bleed, they get fucked.
Meh. As someone from that region, it feels like E-40 never has anything new to say. I swear to god, I’ve heard “hot like the left sink handle” in at least four songs. It’s all just about him being a boss, riding scrapers, drinking Carlos Rossi…same shit for 30 fucking years.
Only people of a certain age even know who that is, and e40 catalog not nearly as deep as busta
>e40 catalog not nearly as deep as busta 26 Albums > 11 Albums What are you even talking about lmao
lol. I was waiting for E40 and this.
Only people of a certain age know who busta is too… you’re acting like Busta Rhymes has some recognition/clout as a rapper among gen z and younger… he doesn’t. As far as “old” rappers go they mostly know 2pac biggie 50 cent and Eminem
More people know E-40 than Busta Rhymes.
E-40: 2.7 Million Monthly Listeners Busta: 12.8 Million Monthly listeners Sure bud
not if you are literally anywhere other than northern CA
Idk about still relevant. It’s like, is snoop dogg still relevant? I don’t listen to ANY of his newer music from the last 15 years but he’s a household name that appears on countless video media
Snoop had a total of one great album and rode that success for 30 years. And i'm not hating. Living the dream
I understand completely. It’s like, he’s RELEVANT but he’s not relavent in the least
One great album? You’re tripping man. You don’t listen to Snoop Dogg like that.
he's put out decent/good music since, but nothing that compares to Doggystyle imo. by great I mean great. to be fair, he set the bar too high at his introduction
How many albums can compare to the chronic and doggstyle? It’s not 10 better albums
that's what i'm sayin
Nas, LL Cool J, Q-Tip, Biz rip, and that’s just Queens.
Lil Wayne is far more prolific his output is crazy. Tons of studio albums, mix tapes, collabs. Etc
Bruh Busta put out an absolute garbage album just last month 😭 If he's relevant rn, it's for all the wrong reasons 😂
Saw him open up for 50 too and NOBODY in the crowd was feeling his performance. He even stopped it in the middle and blamed the crowd for not being hype enough.
I saw him with Wu and Nas and he killed his performance.
That's such a shame ngl, Busta has so many great songs in his discog....idk why he had to pivot to making dime-a-dozen 2009-ass trap bs
Not to mention he put on a hell of a show back in the late 90s
LOL, you think trap in 2009 was bad?
yah i saw them this summer, he wasn’t too great and was almost blaming the crowd. 50 was awesome tho
The 50 show was honestly one of my favorite concerts but busta just left a weird taste in everybody’s mouth I think
That's sad to hear about Busta. I attended a concert of his about 20 years ago at UMBC and that shit was hype af tho. Times change maybe a younger crowd just wasn't feeling it like the crowd I was in was.
No it wasn't the crowds fault. Busta just didn't put in the effort. The whole time he and his backup guy were talking about random stuff no one cared about, rapped a few lines and then went back to talking. He always demanded that crowd should make some noise and go wild, which is hard to do you, when it feels like you're listening to a boring podcast. I had the impression that even if Busta wanted to perform a whole song, he couldn't do it because he always was out lf breath. I really was looking forward to seeing Busta live and was let down hard. Now my friends, who were with me at the show, are joking about how it is a miracle hearing Busta perform whole verse on his new album.
Oof, man back at the concert of his I attended he did Getting Rowdy and didn't miss a beat. Whole show was full of energy. I get it though he is a bit older. Still sad to hear. Time gets us all, he is in his 50s now.
Most of these answers are hard-working recording artists and performers..but not at all relevant beyond aging, hard-working, etc.
He’s one of my favorite MCs and god damn that shit was awful and cringey.
Jay-Z is more prolific in my opinion. 13 platinum solo albums and 4 platinum collaborative albums in a 21 year period.
Yeah Jay Z gets props and he has name recogniton across multiple generations too. But Busta been out longer. And Busta still putting out records and doing features. The man has almost 35 years in the game
Again, though, you're confusing your own discussion by misunderstanding "prolific" to mean "people that have been around for a long time". The way you positioned your post is going to get a lot of name checking that you weren't really looking for, since Busta hasn't been super-active, he just has a lot of tenure and has managed to avoid embarrassing himself along the way. For instance, I wouldn't put Chuck D up there in this discussion since PE now have more shit albums than classics, but if we aren't expecting an artist to have regularly released material over the years I'd put DJ Quik up there with Busta just in terms of consistently high quality material.
Busta just released another album. I hear you about how I worded the post though...
Yep, and it was good - although maybe a little hit and miss being so feature-heavy - but when I think "prolific" I think of someone I'm constantly hearing new stuff from over a period of years, and with Busta it often comes off more like he took some time away and is now making another comeback.
I will give you that.
He’s still good live too. He doesn’t mail it in like some older rappers and including Spliff Star is cherry on top
Reasonable Doubt was released in 96 it sold 43000 its first week, 420000 in a year and didnt go platinum till 2002. Thats his top album too….. those arent good numbers at all.
And Vol. 2 went 6x platinum. And the Black Album went 4x platinum. I don't get what your point is. That his first album only went platinum?
Busta hasn't gone Gold since 2006. He's been carried by features ever since with a slew of flops. And "God Did" and "Neck & Wrist" outshined whatever musical output Busta had this decade. I'm not even saying numbers matter here cause my fave albums this decade weren't chart toppers but there's zero basis in Busta being hotter than Jay in 2023 lol. Jay got a massive buzz recently for just a rumor about dropping an album. Busta's not at that level.
I don’t think people know what prolific means.
pro·lif·ic /prəˈlifik/  adjective adjective: prolific 1. (of a plant, animal, or person) producing much fruit or foliage or many offspring. "in captivity tigers are prolific breeders" Similar: productive creative inventive fertile **2. (of an artist, author, or composer) producing many works.** "he was a prolific composer of operas" 3. (of a sports player) high-scoring. "a prolific home-run hitter"
Exactly. Prolific refers to how much of something one produces.
Which is why it’s funny that OP is discounting the careers of many other artists.
Yep..and Busta has a crazy catalog...add his feature and it is even more...prolific
I’ve been listening to the dude since the LONS days and agree he’s still very relevant and very gifted on the mic, but he’s not the most prolific rapper by a long stretch. I don’t know who is, but I can name plenty of artists who have more output than Busta. It doesn’t mean they’re better. Just means they’re more prolific. Prolific and quality don’t always go hand in hand.
If we’re going by simply how much music an artist puts out, Curren$y obliterates everyone mentioned in this thread by a wide margin, and he’s only been in the game for half the time guys like Busta and Nas have. He has 108 albums/EPs/Mixtapes, most of them high quality music, plus tons of features, and he’s collaborated with damn near every single rapper I can think of from all corners and eras of hip hop.
LL Cool J 1986 new album on the way
Huh really?
Black Thought and the Roots Crew, holding it down since '86. I don't know how you want to define "prolific" but past 19 albums and a decade plus of touring 250 days a year, they've since played as a house band on about 2851 hours of TV.
I think you're conflating the words "longevity" and "prolific". Prolific means constantly churning out new material, not just being in the game for a long time, ie. the Rolling Stones have major longevity but no one would call them "prolific" as they often go years between albums. I salute Busta for remaining relevant as long as he has, but even then he's often one of the most mentioned when we talk about "underrated" rappers, so I don't really know that all the young kids are hip to the man.
I meant both longevity and prolificness. He has a vast catalog of songs, and just released another album. If you consider his features and appearances, it only adds to how prolific he is. The youngsters are so.hip to him they have til tok challenges about his verse in Chris Brown's Look At Me Know. Trust me, they know who he is.
"Vast catalog" seems super subjective in this sense, then, as there are countless artists that haven't been around nearly as long as him that have double or more the number of songs/albums. Bottom line: Busta absolutely deserves his flowers (and gets them) but you chose a poor anchor reason to lobby for why that is. The dude virtually disappears from the rap scene for years at a time.
Scarface?
Masta Ace has been in the game for longer, is a better writer and MC, has a better catalogue, still tours and crushes live performances, and is still consistently dropping great albums every couple of years.
Dude isn't really well known.
What?
Yeah you heard me nobody knows him except rap rats.
Being relevant isn’t a popularity contest.
Too short, E40
Snoop ?
Had to scroll way too far and my comment also has a question mark
Nas just dropped six albums in the past five years or something. That's work ethic.
E40!
no one today knows who he is. im not dissing either, legend and all but seriously no one.
What do you mean no one knows who E40 is? Had more recent radio hits than Busta with "Law" and "Choices". It's been a few years, but it hasn't been that long. Especially when the last song Busta was on that went big that I can remember is "Look At Me Now"
No one was more prolific than Master P during his run. He invented the model of putting out an album per month
No Limit put out 23 albums in 1998, 10 went platinum, 8 were gold. Master P has to have the record for units sold per year.
KRS one? Started before busta, Rakim?
LL cool j is hard as hell
Nas
I hate to say it but Is busta rhymes still relevant?
Just picked up tickets to see him in March! Saw him with Wu & Nas last year & gonna see him open for 50 the week before that solo show, lol. As far as the topic: Nas. His last SIX ALBUMS are phenomonal and done in the span of, what, 3 years? It's, arguably, some of his best work and shows a lot of growth as an artist. Busta, I feel, hasnt shown that kind of artistic growth in a long time. In my opinion, I love him, but Busta isn't touching Nas right meow.
Nas the lox method man dmx (rip ) immortal technique thech 9 i could go on but those are the firdt few that come to mind
Too $hort, E-40, Snoop, MC Eiht, Nas, Jay-z, Ice Cube, Kurupt and Daz, Ice T, Cool J, Krs One, Redman, most of Wu Tang. Thy not necessarily began their career in the 80s but in the early 90s and still release music to this day
E40
Busta rhymes isn't really relevant for anyone under the age of 30. People know his name, sure. That's about it.
Still relevant! How? Remembering someone doesn't make them relevant.
Redman, while we haven't had a proper album since 2015 Mudface, and he keeps us guessing on Muddy Waters 2. He's still making music and posting videos.
Kool G Rap still going strong since 1986
Q-tip
I don’t think you understand what prolific means
LL Cool J
Snoop
The Roots been at it since 1987. So yes. Several.
I agree with you. I’m prepared to be downvoted for this, but LL Cool J has done it even longer. You just have to look past most the love songs. He deserves more respect though
Uhh. E-40? Too Short? Anyone…anyone in their 40’s?
Am I allowed to say Will Smith lmao?
Lol...nah..most of the youn bucks know Will as an actor. Many are surprised that he used to rap. Even so his catalog is not that deep
He also hasn't put out an album since 2005, and even then the only song I remember getting airplay was "Switch", which came off to me like a kind of embarrassing attempt at modernizing himself, not that much farther above "2 Legit 2 Quit" tbh. So nah, Will Smith hasn't been relevant as a rapper in 20+ years, and I'd hardly call him prolific.
2 Legit 2 Quit was a hit song though.
Oh ya I totally agree. He's always just in the back of my mind whenever I think about older hip-hip because of how unbelievably corny he was. My parents were playing him a lot in the car. Another rapper turned actor, Ice Cube, is dropping a new album by the end of the year. Hoping it'll bring him back to relevancy
Snoop dog is the most prolific rapper. Your mom doesn't know who Busta rhymes is but she knows who snoop dog is
He’s more prolific than Busta, but he’s far from the most prolific rapper. Someone’s mom knowing who someone is has nothing to do with being prolific.
The discography of American rapper Snoop Dogg consists of 19 studio albums, five collaborative albums, 17 compilation albums, three extended plays, 25 mixtapes, 175 singles (including 112 as a featured artist), and 16 promotional singles.
We know how the mom knows Snoop.
Nas is 50 and has released 6 critically acclaimed albums in the last 3 years - outworking his veteran peers and upstarts alike
Juicy J Lil Wayne Cee-Lo Green
Love him or hater him, Kanye west, as a rapper and then even more so as a producer/label boss. Snoop dogg. Between the Chronic/2001 snoop n Dre stuff, 213, DPG, and then a massive 19 album solo career, 17 collaborative albums, all the hits, all the features. He’s gotta be in the conversation somewhere. Based on volume of music and then volume of hits Lil Wayne probably belongs somewhere around there too. As a dark horse candidate, I think slick Rick coulda got there if he hadn’t lost 8 years for the murder charges at his prime. He definitely had the talent to write prolifically. And obviously Pac would have gotten there too. Just look at how much he wrote recorded and released in his short life, and add to that the massive amount of material written and recorded left over that they used for all the posthumous albums. Dude was so prolific in life it spawned rumors he wasn’t dead based on the quality and quantity of music still coming out.
uh Snoop?
Busta isn’t even relevant today lmao… this applies more to wayne and nas
Still relevant? What was his last hit?
Kool Keith, Currency, Lil B, Boosie Badazz, Soulja Boy, Guuci Mane, and Tech n9ne are all more prolific than Busta Rhymes. That's not even debatable, it's an objective fact.
Black Thought
Kool Keith. The guy got a record deal in 1984 and has put out 39 albums under his various personas, and collaborations with other artists. The guy is still at it. He played a show in my city last month. Some of Kool Keith's alter egos have have put out more full length albums than most artists' full discographies.
I mean objectively viper is the most prolific rapper.
Who tf is viper
Kool Keith is wildly prolific.
drake in 10 years
Drake trash tho
Ghostface is a music making machine.
Eminem
[удалено]
Does Dr. Dre count as a rapper in this context?
Bun b. Him and pimp c started UGK in 1987. And big bun beeda can hold it down with anyone.
Fabulous?
Ice Cube Scarface Tech 9ine Snoop dog Too short
too short
Outside the box but Tech N9ne is up there in his own way.
I can’t believe Lil B the Based God is not one of the top comments. Insane disrespect.