''It's Kind of Early To Tell''
3:00PM ET October 21st, 2010
Contributor : Stephen Willis
A Rocky Williform Company

Nas waffled recently over the subject of Greatest Rapper of All Time. The Queensbridge legend seems to feel that hip hop is still too 'premature' to give any credence to the 'Greatest Ever' title.

"Somebody asked me who's the greatest emcee of all-time," Nas said in an interview. "It's too premature. It doesn't make any sense. Like, when you ask most singers who do they like, who they are inspired by, they might not say Usher, they might not say Trey Songz, they might not say Justin Timberlake. They might say Marvin Gaye, Steve Wonder because they had an opportunity to look at these guys' whole body of work and greatest of all-time. And even if I may say LL Cool J as the greatest of all-time, no doubt he's the greatest, at his moment, but when you put that title on yourself it's almost like burying yourself."

"No diss to Cool J, he's the king, I'm just saying when you put that title on yourself, you're saying it's over. So, it's kind of early to tell. Our kids will have to say who was the greatest. Right now, you can say who's hot this year. Definitely. There are some greatest of this year but who's the greatest? Hip-Hop has never lived this long. This is the longest its ever lived. It's too early for me to even think of legacy. It's probably at its premature stages, still...."

Ummmmm...isn't hip hop thirty years old? Seems like enough time to make a determination.