The Four Best Quotes From Nas’ “Greatest Lyricist Of All Time” Interview With CNN Posted by Danielle Harling on 01/07/13 | Filed under Top Stories, Nas

Since the second sentence in CNN's story on Nas refers to the Queensbridge spitter as being "the greatest lyricist of all time," you probably ditched the rest of their story for a G.O.A.T. debate on Twitter or an analysis of your personal, 10 greatest emcee's list. So you likely missed out on Nas dropping quite a few gems (in the form of compelling quotes, not bars) during the in-depth story. And in case you did miss out on reading CNN's write-up, here are just a few of Nas' most intriguing quotes.

On Hip-Hop In 20 Years: "It's always going to be youthful expression. It's always going to be a good time. It's always going to be poetry, in the vein of Langston Hughes. At the same time, it's entertaining and party and fun like Luther Campbell, but it's always going to just be the youth expressing themselves over the sounds that move people in the best way."

On Best Emcee's Lists: "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."

On Tupac & 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. 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."

On Longevity & Spin Labeling His Music "For The 40-And-Over-Crowd": "To answer your earlier question, why I'm still around, it's because honesty is the best policy. 'The truth shall set you free,' in the words of the great Aunt Esther from 'Sanford and Son.' ... And I think that's where Spin is wrong. It's not for 40-year-olds. It's just for people who know what's up."

To read the full story, head over to CNN.com.

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