Jim Jones Reflects On Nas’ Impact On Hip Hop: ‘He Changed Everything’

Jim Jones of Dipset fame has shared his thoughts on Nas‘ role in the greater Hip Hop landscape, noting that the rapper “changed everything.”

The rapper stopped by The GAUDS Show with Ray Daniels in late October, and talked about Nasty Nas’ influence on modern rap music.

He began: “In the ’90s, the arrows was starting to switch. And the person that made the switch for the arrows was Nas. Nobody ever understands how this shit works. Nas came in with a different aesthetic, a different rhyme pattern, a different cadence that could not be touched. The topics that he was talking about were topics that were very dear to the younger generation that was actually living and coming in at the time.

“This was my high school years, and he was talking about shit that we was just loving to do. But the way that he was rhyming put a whole different speed on it. He was futuristic with that shit. When he did that, a lot of the older rappers couldn’t switch they flows and that axed ’em out, and then became a whole new generation of rap music that we hear today.”

He added that Nas changed rap thanks to his verse on Main Source‘s “Live at the Barbeque.”

Check out Jones’ thoughts below, which begins at about the 41:20 mark.

Jones is far from the first rapper to share his love for Nas and his impact on music.

Large Professor Admits He Didn’t Like Some Of Nas’ Music After ‘Illmatic’

He said: “He’s from the projects. I’m from Compton. I’m sure he’s seen a lot and done a lot. You hear in my music what’s surrounded me and just to be able to elevate your mind a little bit further passed that through writing is bigger than one song. In order to do that and craft that, it’s on another plane and I wouldn’t have been able to do that if it wasn’t for that album, truthfully.

“Just to know some type of comparison is there, I’m not saying I’m like Nas or like JAY[-Z], I want to be Kendrick Lamar, but to just know that I’m on the right plane as far as my subject matter and what he’s talking about and what he’s done with his career, it makes me a little more confident in what I’m doing.”

Back in 2017, DJ Scratch explained how Illmatic changed Hip Hop. According to the Brooklyn native, it was the all-star team of producers.

“That album was the only Hip Hop album ever made that formed a Voltron of super producers and they weren’t super producers at that time but the best dudes. They were just awesome producers and when they combined for one album. You know like how people put together super teams?”