N.O.R.E. claims to be the hottest rapper in 1998.
1998 was one of the great years for rap music, as it featured several classic Hip-Hop albums. In the same year, Queen’s rapper N.O.R.E. also dropped his self-titled debut album, which earned one of the biggest first-week debuts.
He recently appeared on the “I Am Athlete” Podcast with Brandon Marshall, Chad Johnson, Channing Crowder, and Jared Odrick. On the show, N.O.R.E. claimed that he was the hottest rapper in 1998, but he went after dollars. “I was the hottest rapper in the world. I could’ve held out, but I wanted a million dollars,” he said. N.O.R.E. then explained his bold claim after being questioned by Brandon Marshall.
“I was,” he responded. “In 1998? Who was it? Me, DMX, Big Pun, Cam’ron. I was the hottest at the time I signed. And, other than DMX, I sold the most in my first week. DMX did 220 [thousand], I did 163 [thousand]. Plus, the other 18,000 that they pre-sold from me. Because they bootlegged it and they still counted it.”
N.O.R.E. is referring to his self-titled first album, which was released on Penalty/Tommy Boy Records on July 14, 1998. On August 1, 1998, the album sold 163,000 copies in its first week and debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Album list. In addition, the album songs “Superthug,” “N.O.R.E.,” and the excellent posse tune “Banned From T.V.” starring Nature, Big Pun, Cam’ron, Jadakiss, and Styles P were smash singles and regarded classics in N.O.R.E.’s catalog.
1998 saw releases such as The Lox’s debut album “Money, Power & Respect”, Scarface’s “My Homies”, Big Pun’s “Capital Punishment”, Public Enemy’s “He Got Game”, DMX’s “It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot” & “Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood”, Cam’ron’s “Confessions of Fire”, Lauryn Hills’ “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill”, Fat Joe’s “Don Cartagena”, Jay-Z‘s “Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life”, Busta Rhymes’ “Extinction Level Event” and more.
Watch the full podcast below.
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