When asked about K.Dot's 'king of New York' claim, the MC responds with a receptive 'I'm a listener.'
- Aug 19, 2013
AceShowbiz - It's already been a week since Kendrick Lamar shook up the hip-hop world with his verse on Big Sean's track "Control", but it continues to be a hot topic, especially among New York-based rap stars, due largely to K.Dot's claim that he is "the king of New York." While P. Diddy had turned to mocking Lamar on Instagram and the likes of Fabolous and Jim Jones were quite harsh and hostile, Nas seems to be more open-minded about the whole thing.
"Wow. My reaction is wow. I love hip-hop right now," Nas responded to Hot 97's Miss Info when asked about Lamar's lyrics during a short chat at the Hennessy launch party for their very special limited edition OS Gemeos-designed bottle. The 39-year-old rapper acknowledged that K.Dot did stir up the pot with his latest rap verse, recalling a time in the past when hip-hop was quite competitive.
"Certain fans like certain eras of rap, certain fans are not up on certain eras, so they don't really remember all of them. Yeah, yeah, yeah, KRS-One, MC Shan and all the way to Busy Bee. This is what hip-hop is all about," he added. When confronted if he was offended at all by Lamar's "King of New York" declarations, he simply answered, "You gotta ask [Kendrick what he meant]. I'm a listener."
Both Nas and Lamar made their debut in MTV's Hottest MCs in the Game list this year, with Nas at No. 4 and Lamar topping the list that also includes runner-up 2 Chainz, Maybach Music Group mogul Rick Ross at third place and Toronto rap superstar Drake at No. 5.
