21 Savage is Wrong About Nas, But Maybe He Should Be Right

Since 2020, Nas has been on quite a roll, from the King’s Disease trilogy to Magic, and of course his most recent release being King’s Disease III. These projects have received the most critical acclaim for Nas since 2002’s God’s Son and The Lost Tapes. So it came as a surprise to some when 21 Savage recently questioned Nas’ relevancy, only later to retract that statement, via The Shade Room.

Nas is still relevant. It’s pretty obvious by the social media reaction and discussion that he is not clinging to relevancy but rather still going strong as he nears his 50s. There may be one thing that makes 21 Savage not so wrong in this instance however. Should Nas be as relevant as he is? Even if, let’s say Nas is the greatest rapper we have ever seen, which many claim, should he be this relevant at 49?

Wouldn’t you think that by now, we would have multiple artists equivalent to Nas in the mainstream? This is an indictment on the industry, who the industry signs, and who the industry prioritizes. We want Nas to remain highly relevant but to this day not many can rival his quality or consistent artist output, and that is another industry failure at large.