One's an artist, the other is a salesman.

I remember a mate going to see Jay-Z in 2001 as part of his tour to promote The Blueprint. The crowd was 2/3rds full. Wouldn't happen now. It's only been since he said he was going to retire in 2005-ish and started gallivanting with Rihanna and Kanye West he's been talked about as the greatest ever by your mum, your aunt, your little cousin, your girlfriend etc... I can't respect him. He's a jack of all trades, master of nothing rapper who just adapts to contemporary trends to create music that sells at that particular moment in time. Good for business, bad for music quality. His albums are just disposable Hip-Pop albums which don't pass the test of time. Jay-Z has never cared about making classics, never cared about making music that can last the ages. He could live until he's 1,000,000 years old, release two albums a year and still not get close to Illmatic. People can point to Reasonable Doubt, but that was nothing when it was released, it didn't stand out at the time against the likes of OB4CL, It Was Written, Doe or Die... It's only because of Jay-Z banging on about it being a classic for years that people regard it as one.

He's a ruthless, slimy mother****er who has snaked his way to the top. I don't understand how fans of music can think this is even close.

Nas by a distance.

lol at all the Jay Z hate. God forbid we admit that Jay Z has got skills on the mic.

Based on what I listen to he is decent. Average. A good MC.

Ah, that old one. Ignore every salient point made and just accuse anyone who disagrees of being "haters."

hey man, I dont hate on Jay, I dont think anyone does

He's nice and got dope songs but I think lyrical wise, cadence, flow, rhythm, Nas has more diversity

but one thing Jay has on Nas is his business sense... the man sat down with Warren Buffet!

I like Nas and Jay-Z but there is no question. Nas wins too easily. In fact Jay-Z himself ruined his own brand by having a beef with Nas. This beef actually made Nas what he is today. A LEGEND. I mean Nas was always a better lyricist and a better MC overall than Jay-Z. Jay-Z is a effective businessman and he has been able to make large money. But musically, he is always been average. He did make one great record "BIG PIMPIN" which I was saw when I was 6 years old. I love this song and the video (of course because of the bootylicious girls). But Nas made tons of classic songs especially like ONE MIC. I mean that song was speaking the truth. Nas is more real and more respectable than Jay-Z.

Nas is better than Jay-Z.

"Ether"

By far the most important points in this post. That's all there is to it really.

I like both but Jay really needs to retire like ASAP

The first point is irrelevant, and the second point is probably not true. Jay Z usually has more interesting/good production compared to Nas, who usually lacks in that regard.