21 Savage claims Nas is no longer relevant

“21… can you [hear Illmatic] for me?”

21 Savage set social media ablaze by suggesting that legendary rapper Nas is no longer a relevant topic in music. Over the weekend, Savage joined a panel on Clubhouse, an audio-only discussion platform, to contribute to a conversation on whether or not rappers from the 90s can still be deemed relevant today.

Numerous voices in the audio prefaced the topic by speaking about the importance of Hip Hop as a discussion platform. “In reality, we have to stop treating music like it has to be dissected,” Savage chimed in. “Even when we listen to music, we only listen to it because we like it and it puts us in a good mood. That’s all it’s for.”

The host of the conversation then asked whether certain rappers from the 90s were still “hot or not.” This seemed to trigger the “D4L” rapper, who responded, “N**gas saying all that longevity talk, name somebody from back then who can drop an album right now?” The panel then proceeded to suggest names, including legendary rappers JAY-Z, Too Short, E-40, and Scarface among others.

Upon hearing the mention of Nas, the UK-born artist responded, “He’s not relevant. He just has a loyal fan base. He still makes good music. What’s y’all definition of relevance?” The panel then exploded with shocked reactions. “Is relevance only determined by youth?” someone asked. Savage then defined relevancy as someone who “controls popular opinion, is closely connected, or is appropriate to what’s being done in order to be considered.”

Here is audio of the conversation.

“I don’t know what y’all consider relevant, so maybe I used the wrong word,” backtracked the “Bank Account” rapper.

Riding high off the commercial success of Her Loss alongside Drake, 21 Savage is arguably at the highest point in his career. The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart with 404,000 album-equivalent units. It was the fourth-largest streaming week ever for any album and earned Savage the third No. 1 album of his career.

The longevity of Nas’ career is an extremely rare occurrence in music. The 49-year-old has dropped five albums since 2018, including Nasir, executive produced by Ye (fka Kanye West). Last year, he surprised fans on Christmas Eve with the release of his 15th studio album, Magic.

Nas has also consistently released new installments of his Kings Disease trilogy, the first of which earned him his first Grammy after 14 previous nominations. Kings Disease III was released last Friday (Nov. 11). All three projects were produced by Hit-Boy.