CNN Names Nas ‘The Greatest Lyricist Of All Time,’ Nas Says It Is ‘Way Too Early’ To Say That

The Queensbridge rapper Nas has been named as the "the greatest lyricist of all time" by Eliott C. McLaughlin of CNN in an op-ed piece, Jan. 5.

Nas, whose real name is Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones is one of the most influential rappers in the hip hop world. He began his music journey as a teenager and releasing his first debut album "Illmatic" in 1994. He released is eleventh studio album July 13, 2012. The Queensbridge rapper has eight consecutive platinum and multi-platinum albums since his debut on the hip hop scene and selling over 13 million records in U.S.

The 39-year-old rapper is part of the hip hop supergroup The Firm that includes rappers - Nas, Foxy Brown, AZ and Nature. He has also collaborated with reggae artist and son of Bob Marley, Damien Marley.

Son of jazz musician Olu Dara, Nas is ranked higher than Jay-Z, 2Pac, Biggie, Eminem and others by McLaughlin mainly because of his "longevity and ability."

The rapper does not consider himself as "the greatest lyricist of all time." Nas opines that it is too early to come to conclusion. Even with a good list people's views change after some years.

"It's wayyyyyy, way, way too early in our lives. It's great to put a list together, but don't take it too seriously because your list won't matter 10 years from now or 15 years from now. It'll be a different list," he said, Complex reported.

Sharing his thoughts on late legendary rappers, Tupac and Biggie, "I'd probably be better if they were still around. I think I'd be a lot better. To leave us with that kind of music at that young age is exceptional. There's no other word to say," the celebrated rapper said.

"They were bigger than all of us, even today -- their music, their sound, their topics. The way the world listened to them was a lot bigger than I would even say myself and the rest of us ... I don't think today we've made an official impact that those guys were just starting to make," Examiner reported.

The star emcee said "Don't blame me; blame our wonderful country, America. And you can't even blame America. It's life. Blame life. I talk about life, and I make universal music with an American style -- and that's what I do."

 "I know one thing: People put too many labels on music," added the rapper sharing his views on the subject matter of music, HipHopDX reported.