The rapper RZA calls “one of the greatest” to do it

The Wu-Tang Clan had been a formidable drive within the Nineteen Nineties. With their lo-fi manufacturing and dirty, abrasive edge, the Clan made music that resonated with town of New York. Based by RZA (actual title Robert Diggs) within the depths of Staten Island, the Clan quickly ascended to the highest of the hip-hop charts and made historical past with their tasks

RZA was the collective’s beatmaker and founder. The musician and actor was recognized for his lof-fi and gritty manufacturing type that grew to become the signature sound of the Staten Island group, and he has since grown to change into a flexible icon.

Diggs not too long ago sat down for an in-depth dialog on the Lex Fridman podcast to debate East Coast hip-hop, the 1990s and his transition into Hollywood. Throughout this, he mirrored on hip-hop’s golden period.

Whereas discussing the state of rap music within the mid-90s, the New York emcee addressed the finest lyricists of the period and mirrored on who he believed had the most important impression on the tradition. When requested who the most effective wordsmith in hip-hop is, Diggs responded, “Let’s name a few. You’re gonna have to start with Rakim. You’re gonna have to put Kool G Rap in there. If you wanna get technical, you might have to start out with Grandmaster Caz!”

He proceeded, “I’ll name a couple more; you gotta put Nas in that category. To me, I met Nas when he was 15, and he was already a master lyricist! It takes about ten years to become a master lyricist, so by the time the world heard Wu-Tang, most of us had ten years of rapping in us already.”

RZA continued to sing the praises of Nas (actual title Nasir Jones), declaring, “I’m four or five years older than Nas, so I was always feeling my confidence, but I was like ‘This kid is only 15!’ Then, when he was 19, we got Illmatic. One of the greatest to do it.”

Nas’ debut album Illmatic and his sophomore challenge It Was Written are thought of hip-hop classics, and regarding the biggest lyricist of all time, Nas is among the prime contenders.