My Gut Reaction: Nas - King's Disease (August 21, 2020)

King’s Disease is the thirteenth solo project from Nasir Jones, not counting group efforts or compilations of so-called “lost” recordings, but, surprisingly, it doesn’t really feel like a product coming from an artist who has spent more than half his life in the rap game. There’s an strange feeling I have after having listened to it in its entirely (after multiple false starts, sue me) prior to writing this paragraph. It… feels kind of optimistic? I know, I can’t explain it either, and yet I’m about to do so thoroughly right after you click through to read this write-up.

We Need to Talk About Nas

 

This coming Friday marks the release of the twelfth solo full-length from Nasir “Nas” Jones, the ridiculously-titled King’s Disease. An album-length collaboration with the producer-slash-rapper Chauncey “Hit-Boy” Hollis, King’s Disease is Nasir’s latest attempt at trying to branch out both his sound and his audience while continuing to ignore the cries and pleas of his longtime fans. Indeed, while I am all for the concept of an artist growing and evolving, never becoming complacent or stagnant, I agree that Nas is quite skilled at hearing what his fans actually want from him and not just subverting those expectations, but blatantly dragging them along with the flimsiest thread of hope, as though he truly believes that his day ones would never abandon their rhyming hero, regardless of the distractions he throws in their path.

My Gut Reaction: Nas - The Lost Tapes II (July 19, 2019)

Seventeen years ago, Nas released The Lost Tapes, a compilation made up of songs that never appeared on any proper Nas album, but had leaked to various mixtapes over the previous years, developing such a reputation among hip hop heads that the man figured this would be an easy way to keep his name active while “opening up the vaults”, revealing tracks that were never intended to see the light of day, while also providing the various producers affected with publishing rights and proper compensation from the label. It’s considered a classic in many circles, a feat made even more amazing when you remember that it’s a compilation and not a cohesive album. Of course, people throw the word “classic” around so frequently these days that it means less than nothing, but The Lost Tapes was so well-liked within our chosen genre (and Nas had a collection of unreleased songs that rivaled that of the late 2Pac, apparently) that a follow-up, The Lost Tapes II, was promised as far back as December 2003.

That album just barely dropped last Friday, so at least Nas finished what he started, right? Perhaps that’s the lesson I should take away from all of this.

My Gut Reaction: Nas - Nasir (June 15, 2018)

Six years ago, Nasir Jones released his eleventh album, Life Is Good. Critics viewed it as a return to form of sorts: he wrote the songs featured within after his divorce from singer Kelis was finalized, and as such, a lot of the project hinges on feelings of nostalgia. Musically, it’s Nas’ finest album in fucking years, as it seemed that he finally found collaborators that understood what he was aiming for: No I.D., Salaam Remi, and the late Heavy D., among others, brought with them the ghosts of hip hop’s past, evoking eras that either ended long ago or possibly never existed in the first place in order for Nasir to effectively wax eloquently. It worked, is what I’m saying.

Remixed For Your Pleasure: Nas - "Made You Look"

I had originally intended to write something a bit more substantial today, but as I sit here with a self-imposed deadline closing in, I'm saying, "Fuck it".  I'll have to adjust the rest of my publication schedule for the remainder of the year, but don't you two worry your pretty little heads, The Game will ultimately get his day in the sun.  Just not today, because I'm very busy.

"Made You Look" was the first single from Nas's sixth album, God's Son.  It was important for a couple of reasons: (a) it helped establish a clearer direction for Esco's career path, which had previously been disrupted by a bitter rivalry with fellow New Yorker Jay-Z and a series of increasingly shitty albums, a trend he had just begun reversing with Stillmatic prior to this, and (b) because it's actually really goddamn good.  Over a fine Salaam Remi beat that utilizes The Incredible Bongo Band's "Apache" to great effect, the Nasir Jones of 2002 reintroduces himself as a shit-talking mastermind who might have had his ear for beats swapped out for one that fucking works.  Obviously, that didn't pan out entirely for him, but I still believe that Salaam Remi is the best thing that has happened to Nas since Illmatic.

Apparently "Made You Look" is Nas's third-highest charting single to date (thanks, Wikipedia!), behind probably "I Can" (also from God's Son) and "If I Ruled The World (Imagine That)", I assume (from It Was Written).  This is notable because, unlike those other two tracks, "Made You Look" makes no attempt to appease a mainstream audience.  The first sound you hear is that of a gun firing, one that is repeated multiple times throughout the hook, as though Nas ran out of fucks to give.  And yet the song itself isn't very violent, content-wise: sure, Esco's braggadocio occasionally approaches inappropriate levels of onomatopoeia ("You know I 'click-clack' where you and your mens at" is an actual sentence uttered on this track), but "Made You Look" could easily be considered one of the man's breeziest to date.  Also, have I mentioned yet that it's actually really goddamn good?

A few weeks after "Made You Look" hit the Interweb and radio airwaves, an official remix was commissioned, so obviously Nas and his label also grew quite fond of the track.  Over the same Salaam Remi instrumental, because why fuck with a good thing, right?, Nas delivers a new verse alongside two guests who were seemingly chosen through a Hunger Games-style lottery system: Jadakiss (from The Lox) and Furious 7's Chris "Ludacris" Bridges.  That audible "Huh?" sound you heard back in 2002 came from me when I first read about the remix.

On one hand, it was awfully nice for Nasir to relinquish two-thirds of his song to rappers that he personally liked, even if the mainstream was less kind.  At least, I assume he really liked Ludacris: Luda could also have been a late-game choice made by the label in an effort to move units of God's Son, because he was pretty fucking popular back then.  (Jadakiss, of course, has never been popular.)  Over Remi's banging beat, it would have been difficult for anyone to sound terrible, so Kiss and Luda do well with their contributions, Jada especially (he was still claiming he was "Top five dead or alive, and that's just off one LP", which is horseshit, because Jadakiss will always be better as a supporting player than as the star attraction, but his "Out of shape but I make sure that my guns healthy" line is kind of funny).  But Nas walks away with his own remix, thanks to his switching gears and bringing a more aggressive flow to his closing verse, listing different euphemisms for guns as though that's the kind of shit he had been waiting to do his entire life.

Curiously, the "Made You Look" remix didn't even make the final cut of God's Son, left to reside in the purgatory of eternal B-side.  But at least it's not difficult to find or anything.

GO WITH THE O.G. OR THE REMIX?  I prefer the original, as Nas's bars sound more focused, even though he's really not saying much of anything, but at least he kind of sounds like he's enjoying himself more on the remix.  Anyone who wants to hear Ludacris entirely out of his element should seek out the remake, though: the guy is actually pretty good with adaptation.  Also, Jadakiss is there.

As this was released as a single, I've included the official video below.  It's for the censored version of the song, though, so prepare for drops in the audio where words and gunshots should be.

-Max

RELATED POST:

Nas  - God's Son (review)

For The Max-Approved Mixtape: Nas - "Talk Of New York"

Artist: Nas

Title: "Talk Of New York"

Producer: Salaam Remi

Album: Car Show Tour (a compilation released by Funkmaster Flex) (2005)

Call me a contrarian asshole (that's not an open invitation, by the way), but after many years of exposure to this hip hop shit, I've figured out a thing or two, and one of those things is that the almighty DJ Premier is not the best producer for QB wunderkind Nasir "Nas" Jones.  While I, of course, loved Primo's musical talents on Nas's debut album Illmatic, and feel that anyone that doesn't love "N.Y. State Of Mind" needs to get the fuck off the blog immediately, the shit he sold to God's Son afterward suffered from the law of diminishing returns.  Sure, It Was Written's "I Gave You Power" is an expertly-written track, but from a musical standpoint, does it really hold the, um, power of "N.Y. State Of Mind"?  I personally love I Am...'s "Nas Is Like", but can anyone really list it in their list of favorite beats?  That's why all of this talk between the two men about a joint album sounds like sheer nonsense to me: I certainly wouldn't shy away from it, and if it actually happened I would be appropriately shocked, but I'm not holding my breath.  (I still want a Nas verse on a remix to PRhyme's "Wishin'", though.  That I must insist upon.)

Nah, the best producer Nas ever found to fit his needs was Salaam Remi.  Having come a long way from handling the boards for Ini Kamoze's unlikely hit single "Here Comes The Hotstepper", Remi found his way to Esco after helping resuscitate the career of the Fugees, who were dead in the water before he remixed their single "Nappy Heads" into something people might actually want to fucking listen to.  Their working relationship began with Stillmatic's "What Goes Around", but most people picked up on their natural chemistry around the time "Made You Look", an old-school-flavored showcase of dominance from God's Son, hit radio airwaves.  They have since recorded a bunch of other work, most of which tends to be hailed by music critics as among the best tracks on their respective albums.  Go ahead, list some of your favorite latter-day Nas songs: odds are at least two Salaam Remi productions will pop up.

That's what makes today's entry to this cumbersome mixtape so odd.  "Talk Of New York", which is an unequivocal I-won't-be-accepting-any-argument-here banger, doesn't appear on any Nas album, so odds are pretty good that a lot of you two may not be as familiar with it.  No, instead, Nasir charitably gave it to radio deejay Funkmaster Flex for a compilation project called Car Show Tour, an album I had completely forgotten even existed before I began my research for today's post.  (Unlike my entry in this series for "Loud Hangover", Flex absolutely had fuck-all to do with this song.)  Some of you might remember when it hit the Interweb ten years ago and might have wondered if it was some sort of lucid dream.  Well, here you go: it's real, and it's spectacular.

Salaam Remi's hard-hitting production (which, I cannot stress enough, knocks) sounds like a combination of riding in a dirty subway car late at night (more so than No I.D.'s beat on Nas's "Loco-Motive", from Life Is Good) and rushing through alleyways trying to make it to your home turf, The Warriors-style.  Even if you happened to be in a coma, the music on "Talk Of New York" would cause your pulse to quicken.  For his part, Nasir tackles one of his favorite subjects: an average day or two in the life while living in the greatest city on Earth.  As you can tell by my previous sentence, this is nowhere near the first time Nas Escobar has approached this topic: there are at least three different versions of "N.Y. State Of Mind" out there (the original, its sequel, and a third that goes by the title "Streets Of New York", which is technically an Alicia Keys song featuring Nas and Rakim Allah) alone.  But there's something about the subject that gets him into a zone, as he uses clipped descriptions to set the tone, trusting that the listener will be able to find his or her way around the prose.  

"Talk Of New York" is obviously a later Nas gem, at least when compared to his early work: his bars on the song I keep bringing up, "N.Y. State Of Mind", are paragraphs when compared to the economy of words he displays on here.  The end result is the same, though: you're dropped into the mindstate of a dude who loves every little thing about his city, even the not-so-great aspects (the numerous accounts of random violent attacks and arrests that he keeps dropping throughout his discography).  Even with the ominous threat of violence hanging in the air, Esco still operates as the self-appointed king of his city, "doing rounds of tequila soon as I touch down".  

"Talk Of New York" has been referred to as the flip side to "Empire State Of Mind", the huge single from Jay-Z and Alicia Keys (hey, there's her name again), but it really isn't.  For one, it came out four fucking years prior to Hova's entry, so immediately the comparison doesn't even make sense.  Also, "Empire State Of Mind" isn't all puppy dogs and rainbows: just because your mother loves it doesn't mean it's not dark.  But Nasir Jones had already cornered the market with poetic flourishes of the, if not especially seedy, the not-so-wholesome side of living in the City That Never Sleeps.  And also, this has a much better beat than "Empire State Of Mind".  In short, what you two need to be wishing for is a full-length Nas / Salaam Remi project.  I think most hip hop heads will agree with me there.

Do you agree or disagree with this selection?  Discuss below.

-Max

My Gut Reaction / Something (Sort Of) Different: Nas & Damian Marley - Distant Relatives (May 18, 2010)

You hear that?  It's like some sort of knocking sound, a consistent knocking that goes and stops?  That's the sound of a nail being hammered into the coffin that contains the back catalog of one Nasir Jones.  Today's post finishes up his discography for all of his existing officially-released solo projects.  Which, of course, means that this sense of accomplishment will be quickly dashed later today when Nas announces his next album, but shut the hell up and let me enjoy this, okay?

My Gut Reaction: Nas - Untitled (July 11, 2008)

Since we're fairly close to the five-year anniversary of this particular project, I figured it was about time to give Nasir Jones's controversial Untitled a spin.  Okay, so it's not because of the release date: that's just a huge fucking coincidence.  But with only two real projects left in Nasir's catalog to write about (as of this writing), now's as good a time as any to start finishing shit up.

My Gut Reaction: Nas - Life Is Good (July 17, 2012)

The use of the green wedding dress his ex-wife Kelis once wore on the album cover is supposed to clue listeners in on what Nas was thinking about when he recorded Life Is Good, his tenth (tenth!) album and the final one on his Def Jam Records contract.  Where the man will end up once the dust settles is a mystery I don't feel like solving; maybe I'll hire some goofy teenagers and their dog to sniff things out.  I just hope he doesn't end up on the Maybach Music Group label.  I don't know why I just wrote that; the idea just popped into my head, and now I fear for Nas's career.

Nas - Hip Hop Is Dead (December 19, 2006)

Legend has it that Nasir Jones went to sleep one night after mixing several bottles of vodka with Yoo Hoo chocolate drink and several bong hits (for good measure).  As could be expected, he had a restless night: his dreams all seemed to revolve around clowns at a nearby circus fucking his mother, cashing out his 401k and spending it willy-nilly on privatized health care, and doing battle against vampire elves whose diet consisted exclusively of vacuum cleaner filters.  When he eventually awoke the next afternoon (Nas needs his beauty rest), he immediately had the title for what would end up being his eighth solo album, Hip Hop Is Dead.

That legend may or may not be bullshit, but the album title is real.  Sort of.  After the audio abortion that was his previous project, the double album Street's Disciple, Nas took a step back and observed our chosen genre from the perspective of an aging rapper who isn't taken as seriously as he once was, thanks to a severe lack of quality control and a tendency to coast on laurels that no longer exist, and he wasn't happy with what he saw.  The music industry had decided that commerce was more important than artistic expression, resulting in hip hop music that focused on materialism versus substance dominating the airwaves.  Unfortunately, this was a direction that hip hop had taken at least a full decade prior, during Puff Daddy's Shiny Suit era: one could say that Nas was late to this party.

One could also say that Nas was on the winning side of the argument, placing his early, post-Illmatic career in the hands of production team The Trackmasters, who were, admittedly, a part of the problem that Hip Hop Is Dead's title was attempting to address.  However, Nas himself admitted that he chose the album's title (which was originally entitled the more confusing Hip Hop Is Dead...The N, in reference to...I don't know, something he thought was important at the time, I'm sure) as purely a publicity move, and nothing more, and it worked: Hip Hop Is Dead received more press than any other Nasir Jones project in history (hell, I inadvertently draw attention to it every single time I add a post to my blog, which wasn't really named after this album but kind of was anyway), at least until his follow-up, which he wanted to call N----r but his label forced him to leave Untitled, which was more controversial for obvious reasons.

Not that Nas needed any help generating interest.  Dissatisfied with the way he was being promoted at Columbia Records (a conglomerate that also distrubuted his vanity label, Ill Will Records), he accepted an offer by his arch-nemesis, Shawn Carter, to sign with Def Jam Records (again, part of the problem), in an effort to put his music ahead of any petty beef he once had with Jay-Z (see: Hova's "Takeover"; Nasir's "Ether"; Jay's "Supa Ugly").  Jay himself announced this new alliance onstage at a concert, which was hinted at by Nasir's mere presence on Roc-A-Fella employee Kanye West's sophomore project Late Registration on "We Major", one of the better-received tracks on that album (and 'Ye's personal favorite); having Nas appear on a Def Jam album in the midst of a war of words with their biggest star, Jay-Z, would have been unheard of as little as six months prior.

Hip Hop Is Dead serves as Nasir's Def Jam debut, and the attention he received during the recording process led to a slightly larger budget, which our host spent on higher-priced production from names such as Kanye, Dr. Dre, and will.i.am from the Black Eyed Sellouts.  However, Nas is astoundingly loyal to some of his previous collaborators, securing beats from the likes of L.E.S. (who was given the opportunity to helm the we-all-saw-it-coming Nas/Jay-Z collaboration, "Black Republican") and Salaam Remi, the guy who had gifted Nas with some of his best songs over this current, lesser phase of his career.

Nasir's plan was a success: Hip Hop Is Dead became a critical darling, if not the blockbuster seller that Def Jam was hoping for.  It represented a huge step forward in our host's career, even though he had to abandon his Ill Will imprint in order to make the move.  (As part of his agreement to Columbia Records, in order to be released to swim around in Def Jam's money vault, he had to shed the vanity label and release one final project, a greatest hits album called, amazingly enough, Greatest Hits, which dropped less than a year after this project.)

None of this shit matters, though, if the music isn't any good.  So I put it to you, Nasir Jones, God's Son: do you have what it takes to finally win back the audience that loves Illmatic, or does Hip Hop Is Dead represent a man diving further up his own ass, living in denial instead of simply hanging it up and taking the day shift at the old folks home down the way?

You tell me.

1. MONEY OVER BULLSHIT

Nasir forgoes a rap album intro for his Def Jam debut, admonishing those who oppose his ideals and reiterating that our chosen genre is, indeed, dead. He also calls people “bitches”. A lot. The three verses on here aren't bad, as they serve as the rebirth of an unquestionable hip hop icon, but the L.E.S. beat (also credited to producer Wyldfyre) isn't nearly as dramatic as it should be for such an occasion: it does the job, but in a half-assed manner that would cause many an employer to question why it is still on the payroll when they could hire six less-qualified beats to fill in the space at a cheaper rate. Also, the hook was fucking garbage. But by Nas standards, though, this was alright enough.

2. YOU CAN'T KILL ME

Personally, I could give a fuck what Nas does in his private life in NYC, so the fact that he starts “You Can't Kill Me” with a random list of destinations, like the hip hop equivalent of a Zagat's guide, is a turn-off. He quickly ditches that concept to tell a tall tale about a night on the town and how one of his friends turned against him, and then quickly abandons that concept to spout random shit about how indestructible he is. L.E.S.'s instrumental is fucking weak, and Nas, who is normally a good storyteller, isn't able to pull it out in the clutch. Nothing about this track will ever save hip hop from its imminent death.

3. CARRY ON TRADITION

There's a rather large chunk of this song that is censored: if anyone can help fill in the blanks, I would appreciate it. Nobody's questioning Nasir's love for hip hop: in fact, he comes across as an embittered patriarch, watching his loved ones continue to make mistakes, sullying the family crest in the process. While he has a valid point (most rappers never evolve beyond working as an employee for a record label: Nas feels that the genre would remain viable if more artists took control of their own destiny, running those very same labels), I don't personally believe that hip hop would necessarily benefit from the implementation of his ideas: the lure of the almighty dollar would probably still fuck up the quality of our chosen genre, thanks to the resounding horrific taste of the general public (hey, Soulja Boy Tell 'Em came up on his own with his self-produced shitty version of rap), and besides, not every rapper has a handle on the day-to-day operations of running a label. I appreciated Nasir's attempt to inject some humor into what is ultimately a somber discussion, as he threatens to record a double LP using only samples from different parts of “Nautilus” by Bob James. See, even Nas believes that sample appears in every rap song ever made!

4. WHERE ARE THEY NOW

Taking his love of old-school hip hop to its obvious next step, Nasir Jones ponders the whereabouts of the rappers who were popular around the time he was growing up and establishing himself. He drops so many names that he's bound to hit one artist that you yourself were also wondering about. Salaam Remi's instrumental sounds like the type of beat Big Daddy Kane might have used back in the day. This concept runs out of steam after two verses, but Nas goes even further: as a pretty fucking cool marketing tool, he actually tracked down a lot of the hip hop ghosts represented on this track and convinced them to spit a few bars on one of three “Where Are They Now” remixes, which were divided up into a 1980s version, one for 1990s-era rappers, and a West Coast remix. All in all, this was actually a pretty cool idea, and it led to something pretty amazing, so that was nice, but when you see it as it was originally intended, within the context of an album entitled Hip Hop Is Dead and nothing more, it's merely alright.

5. HIP HOP IS DEAD (FEAT. WILL.I.AM)

I'm still confused as to why Nas felt the need to re-use the Iron Butterfly “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” sample so soon after “Thief's Theme”, but he acknowledges this fact at the very beginning of this title track, so at least he's aware. “Thief's Theme” uses the source material in a far better manner, in my opinion, but obviously (given the name of this very blog) the subject matter on here hits a bit closer to home. The “Apache” breakdowns made me wish that Nas would have simply spit over that particular breakbeat, and as an opponent of censorship, I hate the fact that the fucking song is essentially a radio edit, removing any and all violent references from the version that originally leaked online (for instance, the entire chorus is altered to remove a mention of an AK and to change the “murder the deejay” line into “wreck the deejay”, which actually sounds more painful than an outright homicide). Nas sounded just fine, but will.i.am's schizophrenic production work was a bit iffy.

6. WHO KILLED IT?

A lot of listeners apparently didn't understand what this song was supposed to be back in 2006, so for those of you in the cheap seats, Nasir Jones is playing a Sam Spade gumshoe detective-type who trying to solve the murder of hip hop (and he does so GZA/Genius-style, dropping so many names and ideas that I hope The Game was following closely behind with a dustpan). The execution is actually quite ambitious (I'd rather hear Nas rhyme with this particular inflection than listen to his altered Scarlett persona again): not surprisingly, most of the complaints about “Who Killed It?” were derived from Nasir's performance. It's just a fucking song, folks: who cares that he kind of sounds like Bugs Bunny? I actually liked this much more than the title track, so finally, one of his experiments actually paid off.

7. BLACK REPUBLICAN (FEAT. JAY-Z)

This collaboration was a long time coming; the very moment Hova announced that he signed Nas to Def Jam, hip hop fanatics had been foaming at the mouth. So of course, the resulting track has to sound fucking majestic, and in that respect, L.E.S. did not disappoint, jacking from “Marcia Religiosa” (best known for its use in The Godfather Part II) while Shawn and Nasir celebrate their new business dealings and, I can only assume, the fact that they both used to fuck the same girl. I can understand why Jay can look past the attacks on “Ether”, but I never got why God's Son let Jay get away with “Supa Ugly”, which took their beef into a new and disgusting personal level (remember the used condoms in the baby seat in the back of the car?), but fuck it, money talks, I guess. This song was well worth the wait, even if these two have never been able to recapture lightning in a bottle with their later collaborations.

8. NOT GOING BACK (FEAT. KELIS)

Signing with Def Jam has its obvious benefits (see: “Black Republican”, which probably would have never happened otherwise), but Nas still being Nas, Hip Hop Is Dead still has to include crappy songs that feature our host throwing a lot of words at you without truly saying anything. Just like it was during my write-up for Street's Disciple, hearing Nas and Kelis appear on the same track is still fucking awkward, but one must keep looking forward. The only interesting aspect of this song was when Nas declared that he would never go back to Sony (read: Columbia). Unless they show him the money, of course. Don't want to burn too many bridges.

9. STILL DREAMING (FEAT. KANYE WEST & CHRISETTE MICHELE)

Another benefit of signing up for the Def Jam hip hop health care plan: easier access to Kanye West's Late Registration leftovers. Okay, that's (probably) not what this song is: it sounds too much like “Late” for a perfectionist such as 'Ye to have ever considered it for his own album. This sounds really fucking good, though: 'Ye's brash attitude contrasts Nasir's elder status nicely, while Chrisette Michele's vocals are woven throughout the beat as though she was the living embodiment of a soulful sample that the producer would have used otherwise. The result is a pleasant, enjoyable track, one of Kanye's finest (outside of those on his own albums, of course).

10. HOLD DOWN THE BLOCK

Nasir's occasional excursions into thugged-out territory tend to ring hollow these days, mainly because we are keenly aware that he fucking knows better than to resort to that life, especially given his high public profile. (When stories about you appear on TMZ, you should assume that people are watching your every move.) Even when he's just telling stories on behalf of other folks who are actually living that lifestyle, you're left wondering what he's doing out in such a bad neighborhood so late at night, and you'll probably offer to give him a ride back to his well-kept home. This was all a very roundabout way to say that this song sucked.

11. BLUNT ASHES

The idea of Nas smoking himself retarded and then spouting half-informed stories and conspiracy theories isn't the worst that hip hop has come up with: we've all had that experience with that one stoner that just won't shut the fuck up. Nas also nails the paranoia that is inherent with this behavior, as well. The song itself is only alright, but the most interesting aspect is the production, provided by NBA star Chris Webber, formerly of the Golden State Warriors. Yes, people are allowed to do more than one thing in their lifetime, thanks. His beat isn't bad, either.

12. LET THERE BE LIGHT (FEAT. TRE WILLIAMS)

I didn't care for this song. That's all I got.

13. PLAY ON PLAYA (FEAT. SNOOP DOGG)

I don't think anybody was eagerly anticipating a collaboration between Nas and Snoop Dogg, especially one over a Scott Storch beat that coerces Nas to start bragging about his prowess with the ladies instead of, I don't know, saying anything worthwhile. So it's to their credit that this song isn't entirely awful, although I must stress that I enjoyed Snoop far more than God's Son on here, as he is much better suited to this fuckery. Still would have preferred hearing Snoop make a cameo on the Dr. Dre beat that appears later on Hip Hop Is Dead, though. (Oops! SPOILER ALERT!)

14. CAN'T FORGET ABOUT YOU (FEAT. CHRISETTE MICHELE)

I like Chrisette Michele's voice, which makes its second of three appearances on Hip Hop Is Dead: it's lifted straight out of a different musical era that is far more interesting than the one she is forced to perform within. This second single is as much her song as it is Nasir's, and it isn't bad, thanks to its overall jazzy feel and actual effort from our host. The Nat King Cole “Unforgettable” sample is already too prevalent, though, so letting the song end by actually playing the original song was a bit much.

15. HUSTLERS (FEAT. THE GAME & MARSHA AMBROSIUS)

Nas does have a point: he was the first East Coast rapper to embrace Dr. Dre's beats (on his “Nas Is Coming” off of It Was Written, which wasn't all that great), so Dre's appearance behind the boards isn't all that surprising (actually, I take that back: it is a shock, considering our host's tendency to purchase bargain-bin beats). When Hip Hop Is Dead dropped, it was considered a big deal that The Game was to be featured on a Dre song, since his working relationship with the head of Aftermath had already been severed, but it's fairly obvious that Jayceon was added after the fact: Nasir's two verses don't even provide a hint that there was supposed to be a second artist, as the references to Compton during the hook could easily apply to Dre himself, and Game turns in a performance that sounds as though he believed this was going to end up on one of his You Know What It Is mixtapes instead of an actual album. There isn't anything revolutionary about this track, especially Dre's rather plain generic replacement fir a name-brand prescription, but given the rest of Hip Hop Is Dead, this could have been worse.

16. HOPE (FEAT. CHRISETTE MICHELE)

A curious way to end the evening. This wasn't originally supposed to be a Nas spoken word outro: the underlying beat, taken from Friends Of Distinction's cover of one of my favorite Beatles songs, “And I Love Her”, passed away during the sample wars, and yet Nasir decided to honor its memory by leaving the song on the album anyway. As a result, Michele's contribution sounds ridiculously out of place, but hey, at least she made some money off of this shit. The surprise is that our host's lyrics are actually compelling enough to hold your attention without the aid of any music. So that was unexpected.

FINAL THOUGHTS: Hip Hop Is Dead appears to declare Nas as a part of the solution and not a part of the problem, but I pose that the reverse is actually true: a lot of Nas albums suck rhino cock (save for Illmatic, of course), as they feature our host coasting on the credibility his first album bought him and nothing more, lyrics and (especially) production work be damned. There is usually one or two really fucking great songs on each Nasir Jones project, but if he were being graded on consistency, it would be proven that he is actually more detrimental to the hip hop cause than many of the “artists” that we feel actually did fuck everything up. Nas will forever receive an immense amount of goodwill because Illmatic is probably as close to a perfect rap album that one can get, and I imagine that is an awful lot of pressure for one man to shoulder, so I'm not all that shocked at the lack of quality control on his later output. That all being said, Hip Hop Is Dead truly is more of the same, albeit with a different record label's logo on the back: Nas has yet to learn from his past mistakes (“You Can't Kill Me” and “Not Going Back” may as well have been recorded during his Nastradamus years), and he cements his reputation as being the rapper least likely to pay any attention to what the fans actually want to hear from him (*cough* DJ Premier collaboration album *cough*). Hip Hop Is Dead isn't all bad news, though: even though, by his own admission, he chose the title for shock value and free publicity, he actually sticks with the theme for several tracks, with varying degrees of believability: if Nas really felt that our chosen genre was dead, then why would he continue to rhyme? Doesn't he have any other life skills? (Oh wait, he probably doesn't – he states on “Hope” that he's never held a summer job.) This critique has already become far too long, so I'll end by saying that Hip Hop Is Dead is just your typical post-Illmatic Nas album, with a handful of really good songs thrown in with the wash. At least it's much better than Nastradamus, but if hip hop is truly dead, Nasir Jones is an accomplice to murder, albeit one of many.

BUY OR BURN? I can see the hate mail coming, but I don't give a damn: this is worth a burn only. This album is filled with a lot of good ideas, but its poor execution causes it to trip over its own shoelaces at the starting line, and most of these songs don't really hold up four years later.

BEST TRACKS: “Black Republican”; “Still Dreaming”; “Hustlers”

-Max

RELATED POSTS:

If you aren't too riled up by this review, you should catch up on the rest of the Nas catalog. That'll probably do it.

Reader Review / Not Available In Stores! Nas - Demo Tape (1991?)

(For today's Reader Review, we're trying something different. Kid Chaos presents his views on the demo tape Nas recorded in order to secure his record deal. I have no idea how official this tape actually is (since this was the tape that connected Nas with MC Serch, I don't know why an MC Serch song recorded after the fact would have been tacked on to here, but it's not as if Kid Chaos put this album together), but I do know that you can't buy it anywhere, hence the 'Not Available In Stores' tag. Anyway, be sure to leave your comments below for Kid Chaos and check out his blog whenever you get the chance.)


I can’t remember at all how I heard about this or how I found this, but for some reason I found myself scouring the Internet today searching for the pre-Illmatic Demo Tape (not an official title, but we'll italicize it just the same) from Nas. For those of you who have no idea how hip hop works (I don't even want to know how you found this site), this would be the reel of rhymes that Nasir Jones put together in an attempt to convince a record label to sign him. Clearly, it worked, as Nas is still recording music to this day.


I found that some of the lyrics on here were later utilized on Illmatic, his eventual debut album. Some of the songs present even lay a recognizable foundation for tracks on Illmatic. But how does it stack up to the hip hop Bible itself?


1. JUST ANOTHER DAY IN THE PROJECTS
With an absolutely sick drum loop (seriously, the mix between boom bap and random drum hits that smack you in the face from every direction at random with their awesomeness is incredible), and a crazy ass piano loop in place of the hook, Nasty Nas kicks some ill stories in both of his verses over a faster paced instrumental. This has me ridiculously pumped for the rest of this mixtape. However, as much I love this instrumental, the fact simply remains that the much grimier instrumental provided by DJ Premier for Illmatic's “New York State Of Mind” (which reuses some of the lyrics used on here) fits the storytelling lyrics Nas kicks better. Oddly enough, though, I like the lyrics on this song better than parts of “New York State Of Mind” and feel like that track could actually be…dare I say it…a little better with more of the lyrics taken from here. How that would even be possible I have no clue, as that track is already great.


2. LIVE AT THE BARBECUE (MAIN SOURCE FEAT AKINYELE, NAS, & JOE FATAL)
Nasir’s infamous first verse to be heard by a widespread audience, famous for his line, “When I was twelve, I went to hell for snuffin' Jesus”, which everyone still goes crazy for. The beat is simplistic, with a heavy focus on the lyrics, but after a while (and you will be listening to it for a while, as it’s over four and a half minutes long), it does have a tendency to get boring. I realize people may call this blasphemy, but the fact is that the beat is a little too simplistic and repetitive to maintain interest for that long. Besides, this isn't even a Nas song: this is a Main Source track (from their album Breaking Atoms) featuring Nas, and was included on this demo solely to showcase the man's prowess behind the mic.


3. BACK TO THE GRILL (MC SERCH FEAT NAS, CHUBB ROCK, & RED HOT LOVER TONE)
An MC Serch song, on which Nas is surrounded by his host (who was later responsible for getting him a deal, thank you very much), Red Hot Lover Tone, and Chubb Rock. Nas sounds good on here as well, but whether you believe me or not, its actually Red Hot Lover Tone who steals the show with a verse that’s completely out of left field; Nas sounds slightly out of place compared to the others on the track because his claims of being a serial killer who works by the phone book don’t exactly mesh with Chubb Rock screaming that you’re a blabbermouth.


4. EVERYTHING IS REAL
I guess I’m just being greedy, but this is the most bothered I’ve ever been after listening to a song this good. Why? Because this would have sounded perfect on Reasonable Doubt; why the HELL did Nas turn Jay-Z down for that? And why the hell haven't these two ever made an album together? (My theory? Egos.) I’ll even plot it out for them: Jay-Z and Nas together on every song, with the entire album produced by DJ Premier and Pete Rock. I even have a tentative title: The Greatest Hip Hop Album Of All Time. What do you think? Anyway, “Everything Is Real”, which does not feature Jay-Z (I have to make that clear), has a similar feel to “Memory Lane” from Illmatic, as both delve into the development of the city as a stand-in for Nasir’s life. The rhymes aren’t as complex as “Memory Lane”, though, and while the instrumental is a little more modern than the previous songs, this is a slightly darker take on the same subject matter, and it just doesn’t click as well. That just shows you how nasty Illmatic is.


5. I’M A VILLAIN
This is the first track I’ve been disappointed in. The beat is boring, and it doesn’t match the topic at all; Once Nas gets through the good lines that actually made the cut on Illmatic's “Represent”, the rest of the rhymes on here don’t match up. Also, the hook is ass.


6. LIFE’S LIKE A DICE GAME
This track, to put it simply, is nasty. What separates this from the top tier songs that made it onto Illmatic, then? The answer is disappointing: we’re shocked back into the cold hard reality that this is a demo track, and as such, some of these songs are incomplete. This track only lasts for one verse. Now don’t get me wrong, that lone verse is pretty sick, the rhymes on here are complex enough that they would sound perfectly in place on Illmatic, and the instrumental is great, but if there were more than one verse here this could have made the album. Easily.


7. UNDERSTANDING (FEAT AZ)
AZ makes an appearance here, immediately begging for comparisons to “Life’s A Bitch”, but this song tackles completely different subject matter, and it contains completely different verses. AZ doesn’t shine nearly as much: if you’re gonna have AZ on your album, I’d much rather use his verse from “Life’s A Bitch”, which is easily the better song.


8. NUMBER ONE WITH A BULLET (FEAT KOOL G RAP & WHITEBOY)
Kool G Rap appears along with Whiteboy (a really original name: little wonder you don't hear from this guy anymore) to spit some lines alongside Nas about shooting up entire city blocks. Although both G Rap and Nas comes across as technically proficient, for a song this gangsta this track is pretty boring. This may or may not have something to do with the uselessly old school instrumental, or the fact that this track is slow as shit and still manages to last over 4 minutes, but I don’t see myself listening to this often, which is sad considering Nas and Kool G Rap is a combo a lot of people would go crazy over.


9. NAS WILL PREVAIL
The Michael Jackson “Human Nature” sample, which made the final cut on Illmatic on a different track altogether, is even more pronounced on this track, and although a few people I’ve showed this to find the horn in the background annoying, it doesn’t bother me. Also, the MJ vocal sample (its just him yelling “Whoo!”) is pretty kick ass, mainly because it’s from when he was still black and still made great music. This is the most complete song out of any on this Demo Tape (it has three full verses and a hook), and probably made a strong case for him to be signed. For Illmatic, they upped the ante and improved upon this instrumental for what would become “It Ain't Hard To Tell”, and Nas boosted his lyrical complexity, although the rhymes on here are still pretty sick.


10. DEJA VU
A completely spaced out and abstract instrumental to go with some serious kicking of knowledge, a cool hook, and three full verses. What more can you ask for? With a little updating of sound quality, this could have slid right into Illmatic: imagine if it had replaced “One Time 4 Your Mind”, the one weak spot on the album? Then Illmatic would be sickeningly perfect. Nasir's first verse on here is the one he spit on Raekwon's “Verbal Intercourse”, winning a Hip Hop Quotable in The Source, which is pretty damn impressive, considering that he wrote it before he had any experience crafting an album.


SHOULD YOU TRACK IT DOWN? With very few exceptions, Nas’ Demo Tape is better than your favorite rapper’s best album. The beats on here are slightly older than the ones on the album (1991 instead of 1994), but in a good way. Since this was clearly recorded on lower quality equipment they’re a little grainier, but all of the instrumentals are still more developed than “Halftime”. The lyrics are a little simpler as far as rhyme scheme goes, but are still as nasty as ever. Unfortunately, you can’t buy this – I would have were it possible – since it was his demo tape, after all. Fortunately, you can just search the far reaches of the Internet and download it for free (legally, I assume, since nobody is actually selling it).


-Kid Chaos


(Be sure to leave some comments below. I haven't listened to this myself yet, so I'm not sure about the tracklisting, but if you have any notes, let us know.  And if you have something that you wish to review yourself, hit me up at the e-mail address in the top right, and we'll talk.)

Nas - Street's Disciple (November 30, 2004)

In honor of Labor Day, I chose to write about an album that a lot of critics and fans felt was a fucking chore to listen to.

I realize I'm going to get a lot of shit for that statement, but so be it.

The seventh album by Nasir Jones, Street's Disciple, was a double album that started off with cover art that I'm sure most religious followers would find blasphemous, and simply became more audacious from there. This twenty-five track opus follows Nasir's stream of consciousness: he veers from political messages and his self-perceived hip hop dominance to love of his family and his upcoming marriage to the eccentric (to say the least) R&B singer-slash-Neptunes protege Kelis Rogers with reckless abandon: several songs on the second disc follow his thoughts on the union, as he worries about the fact that he won't be able to sleep with anyone else (which, if one is to believe the tweets of Kelis following their divorce, is one of the many reasons for their breakup), but ultimately commits to the relationship and even sounds genuinely excited about it at points. Nasir even dedicates a song to his daughter and collaborates with his father, Olu Dara.

However, for the most part, Street's Disciple follows the same path that Stillmatic and God's Son paved: Nasir Jones, still hurting from the poor reception that his shittiest album, Nastradamus, garnered, was trying to reclaim his throne at the top of the hip hop mountain. Stillmatic was filled with potshots at his rival Jay-Z, but Street's Disciple, like God's Son before it, chooses instead to take on society's ills, looking at both the street level and from much higher up, as he takes on the feds and those who are supposed to be role models for America's youth with equal amounts of eloquent hatred.

With the exception of maybe his debut, Illmatic, all of Nasir's albums have been conceptually random in nature, so Street's Disciple isn't unique in this respect. What makes this project different is that Nas went the double-album route, ostensibly giving listeners twice the music (at twice the price, of course). Just like most of the man's work, Street's Disciple was critically acclaimed, and even managed to go platinum (although as a double-disc set, he only had to move five hundred thousand units (one million discs total) to reach that accolade, so it's really not that impressive when you see it like that), but for the most part, I've noticed that bloggers tend to trash this effort today, referring to it as one of the worst in the man's catalog. I personally don't understand why the songs are spread out over two tracks, but I have my own theory, which I'll get into later.

I'll end by saying that I've never received any requests to review Street's Disciple. Nasir's follow-up albums, yes, but never this one. I don't expect the man to ever make another Illmatic unless he manages to find a way to travel back in time and brings his younger self into the year 2010 with him, but I do expect there to be some entertainment value in my hip hop, both lyrically and musically, which is really the reason why it seems that I'm not a fan of the man's work: his beats almost always suck.

Is Street's Disciple the album that bucks that trend? Even though Nas seemed to go out of his way to secure beats from those who had provided him heaters in the past (Salaam Remi, L.E.S., and Q-Tip among them), the answer is still "nope".

Fuck, did I give the ending away?

DISC ONE

1. INTRO
Nasir seems to speak directly to the listener, in a manner that weirded me out personally, as some of his sentiments were too intimate for my tastes, but then again, I'm a married man. I like how you can interpret one of his statements as yet another barb towards Memphis Bleek, if you're the type who is prone to reading into shit much more than necessary.

2. A MESSAGE TO THE FEDS, SINCERELY, WE THE PEOPLE
I liked how the intro seamlessly led into this song, which has a ridiculous title but boasts some potent wordplay from Nas. This actually isn't a bad start to the album.

3. NAZARETH SAVAGE
When Street's Disciple first dropped, I remember somebody in a forum describing this song as “Made You Look Pt. 2”. Maybe they only believed that because producer Salaam Remi also handled that awesome track, as I couldn't find any sort of correlation between the two, except that they are both good songs. Nasir's first line “I had bad chicks that blow cum bubbles like bubble gum” is almost hilariously graphic, and may possibly turn off a good portion of his audience, but the song still works regardless.

4. AMERICAN WAY (FEAT KELIS)
Any song that features both Nas and Kelis will now automatically sound awkward, but the fact that “American Way” also samples George Clinton's “Atomic Dog” doesn't help matters. Even though Nas exercises his right to free speech (especially by criticizing Condoleeza Rice, which will tell you how dated this album is), the hook itself sounds so bad that I feel you should exercise your right to listen to better music. And this was produced by Q-Tip? Wow. “One Love” this ain't.

5. THESE ARE OUR HEROES
Buckwild's beat is as fucking bland as cafeteria food, undercutting the hatred that Nas expresses toward African American sellouts (and minstrel show buffoonery in general) to such a degree that the song suffers as a result. Nas apparently doesn't like Kobe Bryant very much, which works for me, because I don't like him very much, either, but I'm just not a fan of the guy: Nasir seems to take some of the man's actions (*cough* rape *cough*) personally.

6. DISCIPLE
The L.E.S. beat at least attempts to sound more upbeat than the rest of Street's Disciple thus far, but since the instrumental itself seems to start up and stop often, its potential is never realized. Nas sounded okay, but he isn't saying anything on here that he hasn't said over the past six albums, so I could give a flying 747 fuck.

7. SEKOU STORY (FEAT SCARLETT)
The Salaam Remi beat and Nasir's first verse start off the song strongly at first, but then Scarlett (really just Nas with his voice only slightly modified, and I also imagine that he was wearing a wig in the studio just to get into character) starts rapping. The track falls the fuck apart at this point, since Scarlett's vocal inflections are so distracting (read: you're going to keep thinking about Nas in a wig...you're welcome, folks!) that you won't be able to pay attention to what he/she is saying. Positive K Nas ain't.

8. LIVE NOW (FEAT SCARLETT)
If any rapper was in dire need of a person within their entourage whose sole job was to call them on their bullshit and tell them that not every one of their ideas is a good one, it's Nas. In this, the second part of the “Scarlett” suite, Nasir's first verse is touching, but once again the “female” vocals are incredibly distracting, and the song fails to connect. I get the feeling that Scarlett's voice is based on what Nas thinks Lil' Kim sounds like. Huh.

9. REST OF MY LIFE (FEAT AMERIE)
Thankfully Amerie is not Nas in a dress (because if she was, that would just make me cry). However, this track is awkward as shit, and her contribution is unnecessary. It's not as if “Rule” (the other Nas and Amerie collaboration, which sampled Tears For Fears) was a great song, but that piffle was light years ahead of this. How does that shit happen? You're not supposed to move backward with each subsequent album!

10. JUST A MOMENT (FEAT QUAN)
I'm fairly certain that this was originally a Quan song featuring Nas, as the guest gets both the first and the third verse, while Nasir is stuck with the creamy filling only, but even if that's true, I still liked this song. Nas and Quan wax eloquently about lost loved ones, and the L.E.S. beat is a perfect companion.

11. REASON (FEAT EMILY)
I thought this was boring as shit. Nas still has a tin ear for beats. Please refer back to my comment above about Nas needing someone to call him on his bullshit.

12. YOU KNOW MY STYLE
The old-school sound is appreciated, but this effort was ultimately futile. Luckily (or unfortunately, depending upon whichever side of the fence you reside on), there's an entire second disc of material to explore. Yay?

DISC TWO

1. SUICIDE BOUNCE (FEAT BUSTA RHYMES)
So Nas produced this song himself, and I have to admit, it isn't as bad as you would expect, considering that the man (allegedly) chooses to spit to wack beats on purpose. (So Nas and Ras Kass have that in common? Maybe they should work together.) This song isn't bouncy enough to warrant its title, and Busta Rhymes was entirely unnecessary, but this could have been a lot worse.

2. STREET'S DISCIPLE (FEAT OLU DARA)
Not to be confused with “Disciple” from the first disc, this is the true title track. Salaam Remi's beat is simple but catchy, made up of nothing but breakbeats and a lingering string section, but I can't remember Nas saying anything even remotely street and/or disciple-esque to save my life. Oh well, at least it sounded alright. My understanding is that the original Billy Joel-lifted version of this track died an honorable death in the sample wars, but as I tend to hate Billy Joel, I can't personally imagine that take being better than this one. You can search the Interweb and compare them for yourself, though.

3. U.B.R. (UNAUTHORIZED BIOGRAPHY OF RAKIM)
I thought this was an interesting idea when I first heard about it. Everybody compared young Nasir Jones to Rakim Allah anyway when Illmatic dropped, so if anybody should get the opportunity to pay tribute, it's this guy. What we ended up with isn't bad, but it isn't anything that you'll find yourself rewinding over and over again. Nas was rumored to have written a sequel about KRS-One, the other guy whose name comes up whenever hip hop heads debate as to who is the greatest rapper alive, but that song as never materialized, to my knowledge.

4. VIRGO (FEAT LUDACRIS & DOUG E. FRESH)
Doug E. Fresh provides the beat (box) and Nasir tries to play the Slick Rick role, but Nas himself is far from fun-loving, so he actually comes off as the weakest link on here. It shouldn't surprise anybody that Ludacris has this type of party rap shit down, though. Sigh.

5. REMEMBER THE TIMES (INTRO) (FEAT KELIS)
Kelis sounds as if she was trying waaaay too hard to sound like the perfect significant other. She may as well have bought Nasir a PS3, a six pack, a dime bag, and brought home four of her coworkers who also happen to moonlight as strippers and/or escorts.

6. REMEMBER THE TIMES
Not a cover of the Michael Jackson song that featured The Pharcyde dancing in the background of its video. The prodding of Kelis on the previous interlude results in this ridiculous Nasir Jones Penthouse Forum letter: all this is missing is the introductory line “I never thought it would happen to me”. This sex rap is pretty godawful, and you leave with the feeling that even Nas was ashamed of this song, but decided to release it anyway. (And yet, the man has a lot of unreleased tracks that are of a much higher quality than this shit.)

7. THE MAKINGS OF A PERFECT BITCH
Clearly, I should go back two tracks ago and replace the phrase “perfect significant other” with “perfect bitch”, as that is most definitely what Kelis was supposed to be portraying on that interlude. Nasir's perfect bitch is a genius, a slut, and a chef. Seriously. I have no idea how hip hop continues to gain a female following. I also believe that Nas just revealed why Kelis just dropped his ass: he describes his need for a woman who will disappear and reappear only when needed. Any potential new wifey for Nasir Jones should consider themselves warned, and you may want to sign up for those magic classes at Hogwarts night school ASAP.

8. GETTING MARRIED
Obviously, this song should be considered, along with the three preceding tracks, as some sort of love letter to Kelis Rogers, which, once again, makes this awkward to listen to today, considering how their marriage fell the fuck apart while she was pregnant with his child and all. Chucky Thompson's instrumental isn't bad in an I Am... kind of way, and I found it hilarious how Nas ends his first verse with a sort-of exasperated “I'm getting married!”, as if he's even trying to convince himself, albeit in the most threatening way possible, but I found this shit lacking overall. Nas does manage a pretty good fake-out at the end, though: perhaps the man truly does have a sense of humor?

9. NO ONE ELSE IN THE ROOM (FEAT MAXWELL)
Meh.

10. BRIDGING THE GAP (FEAT OLU DARA)
This collaboration between Nas and his father, Olu Dara, was a big deal on the blogs upon its leak release. In listening to this again, I'm not sure why. It was a sweet notion for Nas to rhyme alongside his father, don't get me wrong, and I like "Mannish Boy" by Muddy Waters as much as the next guy, but when it comes to collaborations between these two, I believe I'll stick with “Life's A Bitch” (also featuring AZ), on which Olu Dara played the trumpet. That's probably just me, though: I'm kind of an asshole.

11. WAR (FEAT KEON BRYCE)
Salaam Remi's production and Keon Bryce's vocals led me to believe that this was a Lupe Fiasco song featuring Matthew Santos. (“Streets On Fire” is still my shit.) But I still found this very enjoyable.

12. ME & YOU (DEDICTAED TO DESTINY)
Nas wrote a song about his daughter. The sentiment was sweet, but this is corny. Which was the point, I'll admit.

The final track off of Street's Disciple isn't listed on the back cover, but is credited within the CD booklet itself.

13. THIEF'S THEME
This was the first single released from Street's Disciple, and it almost didn't make the final cut of the album, since it was leaked so far in advance. Salaam Remi's overt sampling of the Incredible Bongo Band's version of “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vidda” works amazingly well on here, and Nas gets grimier on here than at any other point on either disc of Street's Disciple. If there were more songs of this caliber on this album, there would be more fans referring to it as a classic work. But as it stands...

FINAL THOUGHTS: ...Street's Disciple is an unfocused, bloated mess. Nas seems to have released a two-disc set simply because he fucking could. (In reality, this was probably more of a ploy to complete the terms of his record contract in a much quicker manner, but still.) Instead of continuing the positive trends that were prevalent on Stillmatic and God's Son, Nas chooses to switch up his mood so frequently that most of these songs only have the loosest connection to one another. The production is also mostly lacking (not a big shock), although a few of the tracks on here are actually really goddamn good. Nas crafted lyrics for Street's Disciple that are somehow both concise and really fucking obtuse: you're left wishing that he would get to the point and move on to his next stream-of-consciousness thought. Street's Disciple is a prime example of why rappers should never release double albums.

BUY OR BURN? Oh Lord, burn this one if you absolutely have to. A handful of entertaining songs spread out over two discs (there are only twenty-five tracks on the album in total; what Nasir needed was a good editor, just like how Judd Apatow could have trimmed all of the Jonah Hill/Jason Schwartzman material from Funny People and made it more potent) is not enough to warrant the separation of your cash from your wallet. This isn't Nastradamus bad, but still, proceed at your own risk.

BEST TRACKS: “Nazareth Savage”; “War”; “Thief's Theme”; “Just A Moment”; “A Message To The Feds, Sincerely, We The People”

-Max

RELATED POSTS:
Really? You want to read some more about Nas? Well, if you insist.

Reader Review: Nas - Untitled (July 11, 2008)

(I sure seem to be taking my sweet time with the Nas catalog, so today Ace decided to skip the line and jump straight to his most recent album, the one which is currently Untitled but everyone knows by its earlier, much more controversial name, a topic which I will discuss in much more detail whenever I finally get to it. Let's see his take on the project.)

The catalog of Nas has always been a head-scratcher to the average hip hop fan. Many complain about his willingness to cross over, his bad ear for beats, his shock value titles as of late (such as Hip Hop Is Dead and...well, the album I'm writing about), and how most of his best songs remain officially unreleased. But that's neither here nor there. Before its release, the Untitled album had been one of the most awaited and controversial albums of his career. His DJ Green Lantern-assisted The N----r Tape left his fans salivating for the main course.

So was Nasir Jones able to deliver? Let's find out.

1. QUEENS GET THE MONEY
Untitled starts off with a simple and menacing beat by New Orleans rapper/producer(and artist bubbling under the radar) Jay Electronica. Nas seems to be as hungry as ever, with lines like "Queens get the money, n----s still screamin', paper chasin/while presidential candidates are planning wars with other nations". He even touches on his evolution as a rapper and how he won't ever be the same guy who recorded Illmatic: "Talkin' that 'Nas fell off with rhyming/ he rather floss with diamonds'/ they pray, 'please God, let him spit that Uzi in the army jacket lining'.”

2. YOU CAN'T STOP US NOW (FEAT EBAN THOMAS & THE LAST POETS)
This second track sounded familiar to many, as it samples a Whatnauts song (“Message From A Blackman”) that had already been used by the likes of MF Doom, Ill Bill, and, most recently, The RZA (on the similarly titled “You Can't Stop Me Now” from Digi Snacks). Nas uses the instrumental to discuss the power of his people, their history, and how they have been repressed. This is a pretty powerful track, featuring some spoken word poetry between the verses coming from The Last Poets.

3. BREATHE
This was a very laid back track. It's not as focused as the other tracks on Untitled, yet it still works.

4. MAKE THE WORLD GO ROUND (FEAT THE GAME & CHRIS BROWN)
This track gets way too much criticism for what it is. Sure, it's about material possessions, but its lyrics are top notch, and, dare I say it, (convicted domestic abuser) Chris Brown doesn't do a half bad job. The beat seems very commercial, but it fits the theme nicely. The Game doesn't disappoint either; he seems to really step up his game for Nas.

5. HERO (FEAT KERI HILSON)
Polow Da Don's beat creates a sound within the proportions of a street anthem, and Nas manages to fit it perfectly. The third verse is what makes this song, with bars that discuss his current situation and his view on it: "It's universal apartheid/ I'm hog tied/ the corporate side/ blockin' y'all from going to stores and buying it".

6. AMERICA
Nas vividly describes his come ups and the facade that is...America. The track sounds very R&B-ish and might lead more people to believe Nas can't choose a beat for shit, but for rappers such as Nas, the beat is only a backdrop for his story. Very controversial and a great listen. (I call bullshit on that statement, but longtime readers already knew I would: quit dismissing the beat as less important than the lyrics, folks! The two elements are equally important: nobody buys music to listen to just the words; if they did, spoken word albums would be multi-platinum best sellers.)

7. SLY FOX
Did I say that last track was controversial? Oh my, was I wrong. Of all targets (this one pretty deserving, if I say so myself), Nas goes after the Fox News Channel and all of their bullshittery. (That last word was my addition; I thought it both looked funny and described the channel's shenanigans perfectly.) If you're not a fan of Faux News, you'll already agree with all of the man's views, but that doesn't mean they're not true.

8. TESTIFY
A track where Nas asks if the fans who buy his music will actually stand for his point of views. (My guess is: no.) I wouldn't skip this one, but some will think the beat is too mellow . The lyrics are a stinger, though.

9. N.*.*.*.*.R. (THE SLAVE AND THE MASTER)
The theme of this album, conveniently rolled up into one song, with a great backdrop by DJ Toomp. Nas talks about life in the ghetto with vivid detail and how his people have been cheated and are no longer on top, as they were back in ancient times. "In the land of the blind, the man with one eye is the king". Indeed.

10. UNTITLED (A/K/A LOUIS FARRAKHAN)
Nas depicts himself as a revolutionary (big shock) and points out that many revolutionaries have been prosecuted and/or killed. A very powerful track.

11. FRIED CHICKEN (FEAT BUSTA RHYMES)
Nas and Busta Rhymes use fried chicken as a metaphor for women and how they love them, and yet, they are so bad for them. A very creative track, unless you tend to take things in a literal sense; in that case, you may get pissed that they seem to validating a stereotype. Features a banging instrumental by Mark Ronson.

12. PROJECT ROACH (FEAT THE LAST POETS)
Nas lives life as a roach and explains the similarities between the bugs and his people, with more spoken word poetry by the Last Poets. Good, but very short.

13. Y'ALL MY N----S
I was wrong about "N.*.*.*.*.R.": that was a powerful track, but this song pretty much epitomizes the album. The track discusses the stereotypes of a black person and what would "authenticate his n----rness". It also displays other uses of the word and how people view his race.

14. WE'RE NOT ALONE (FEAT MYKEL)
Features a very soulful hook sung by Mykel. The track continues the theme set by the rest of Untitled,and yet also finds time to talk about topics such as UFO's and global warming. (I made it sound stranger than it truly is: Nas just happens to touch on whatever's on his mind.) The spoken word outro by Nas is also pretty touching.

15. BLACK PRESIDENT
Not an ode to Barack Obama, but a song that analyzes his campaign,what can change with his presidency and what Obama himself must be feeling during the campaign. This is probably the most sincere song about Obama I've heard. This track actually means something, while other rappers started bragging about their “Black President” because it became a goddamn trend. "But on a positive side/ I think Obama provides/ hope/ and challenges minds of all races and colors to erase the hate/ so many political snakes/ we in need of a break." So true.

FINAL THOUGHTS: Untitled isn't in my top five or anything, but I'm gonna turn off every reader right here but saying that it is a classic disc in its own right. The album might not have as many classic beats as Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... (an album clearly not by Nas, although he appeared on it) or the intricate lyrics of Illmatic, but it is a very mature and thoughtful album that strays far from being ignorant or being controversial for the sake of album sales. This album is sincere all the way and is one of the best (released) works in the career of Nas.

BUY OR BURN?: You should really buy this album. This was the only CD I actually bought in 2008, and that says a lot.

BEST TRACKS: “Queens Get The Money”; “Hero”; “Sly Fox”; “N.*.*.*.*.R.”; “Untitled”; “Black President”

- Ace

(Be sure to leave your comments below, and if you have something to say about your favorite album, or you just want to have as many people as possible give it a listen, be sure to hit me up at the e-mail address in the top right.)

Nas - God's Son (December 13, 2002)

God's Son, the sixth album from Nas, is generally considered to be the man's most personal work. It was inspired by his late mother, Ann Jones, who passed away from complications due to breast cancer earlier in 2002. The album finds Nas at his more introspective, as if he is questioning his place in the world. But, even though a few tracks directly reference his mother, don't get it twisted: Nas is actually questioning his place in hip hop, and the catalyst is some guy named Shawn Carter.

After Jay-Z dissed the shit out of Nasir Jones with his "Takeover", people who actually pay attention to hip hop beefs (read: almost nobody) eagerly anticipated the response. "Ether", a song which consisted of Nasir deconstructing Jay-Z's career over one of the shittiest beats ever used for a dis track, brought out the hunger in Nas that listeners hadn't seen in many years, as it was feared dead, or at least replaced by aliens with a more commercial-leaning Nas, not unlike how Michael Jackson completely changed color mid-career.

Stillmatic was mildly successful, but did little to dissuade the masses from the fact that Nas still seemed to be a shadow of his former, Illmatic self. The reason for that is far more substantial, though: Nas was caring for his sick mother, and didn't put his full energy into recording music, as is to be expected. Shawn was essentially bullying some guy on the playground at recess, and not bothering to acknowledge that his opponent wasn't really responding.

Even I have to admit that Nas channeled this energy into God's Son.

1. GET DOWN
Thank fucking God. No intro, no spoken word bullshit, and no pretention (which is uncharacteristic for Nasir), just straight-up hip hop (with a James Brown sample to boot). The man simply starts rapping to an enjoyable beat by Salaam Remi, one of two people responsible for the resurgence of Nas (the other guy, of course, is Shawn Carter). It also helps that this song (which was apparently the third single, although I don't recall a video ever being shot) is a pretty entertaining way to start shit off, especially with the music tweaking itself to match the events in the stories presented.

2. THE CROSS
This song was a big deal back in 2002 because it was produced by Eminem, who had an established working relationship with Nasir's archnemesis, Jay-Z (Marshall produced Shawn's "Renagades" and "Moment of Clarity"). Although I'm more of a Hova fan (which should come as no shock to any of my two readers), Nas is certainly more of a lyricist, and his rhymes over one of Em's more tightly-constructed instrumentals is a winning combination. Or, at least it was, until you get to the next song, which will obliterate my memory of the first two tracks on God's Son, much like a late night in anywhere but the United States involving absinthe and a half-ounce.

3. MADE YOU LOOK
More so than any first single in his career, "Made You Look" announced a return to, for lack of a better word, relevancy, for Nas. This track is why most bloggers (like myself, admittedly) credit Salaam Remi with bringing back the Nasir Jones of old. His appropriation of The Incredible Bongo Band's "Apache", punctuated with random gunshots, sets the stage for the man to entertain (without becoming too preachy) the masses with a hot crossover track. This shit still rocks today: even the acapella at the very end is a nice touch. The goodwill extended with this song was squandered by the tendency of rappers to not leave well enough alone: Nas later recorded a remix of this track alongside Ludacris and Jadakiss from The Lox, a song that I pretend doesn't exist.

4. LAST REAL N---A ALIVE
This shit was produced by Ron Browz? The same guy who made that shitty "Pop Champagne" song that they won't ever stop playing on the radio? Him?! That's weird, because this song is pretty fucking awesome, although the beat could have been much more effective. However, it does not detract from Nasir relating his point of view of the battle for King of New York from his unique vantage point: as one of the contenders. Apparently, The Notorious B.I.G. and Raekwon couldn't fucking stand each other (which is why it makes absolute sense that Rae appears on Biggie's Duets: The Final Chapter, but whatever). The roots of the Jay-Z/Nas beef are also explored. This insider's perspective is why Nas is generally considered one of the best that ever did it, and it's hard not to see why after hearing this. But seriously: Ron Browz? The "Jumping Out The WIndow" and "Arab Money" guy? (Before you say anything, I am fully aware that he also produced "Ether", but I stand by my comments.)

5. ZONE OUT (FEAT JUNGLE & WIZ)
Has it ever occurred to Nas that naming your crew of seat fillers and substitute longshoremen after a Mel Gibson movie wasn't the best idea? Unless they called themselves the Lethal Weapons or the Birds On A Wire. That would be pretty cool. Anyway, this is the weakest Salaam Remi beat I've ever heard, but if it weren't for Nasir's insistence on "putting his friends on", it wouldn't be that bad, as Nas manages to still sound pretty good. However, as it stands, the Braveheart party has sucked the life out of this room and brought its property values down.

6. HEY NAS (FEAT CLAUDETTE ORTIZ & KELIS)
This is the audio equivalent of actually watching Nas backslide into his old commercial habits. The line referencing "Live At The Barbecue" was clever, though: I have to give him that. But did the track really require both Claudette Ortiz (the cutie from City High that disappeared after, what, their lone hit single?) and Kelis (Nasir's wifey)?

7. I CAN
SIngle number two is easily the most thuggish ruggish song Nas has ever recorded. Over Salaam's Beethoven and Honeydrippers-jacking accompaniment, Nas speaks directly to the youth, and (rather convincingly) encourages children to strive to excel in life. This shit is fucking hardcore, bitches! It's murderous material like this that earns, nay, demands the existence of the Parental Advisory sticker, motherfuckers.

8. BOOK OF RHYMES
The concept of this Alchemist-produced track is pretty funny: Nasir cleaned out his attic last Sunday and found a notebook filled with the rhymes of a younger, less experienced man, and decides to use all of them, context be damned. At one point he even gets embarassed with his own ideas, but proceeds to use them anyway. I'm pretty sure Nas is bullshitting the audience here, but like I said, the concept is pretty funny, even if the execution would fall the fuck apart, had this been presented as an actual "song".

9. THUGZ MANSION (N.Y.) (FEAT 2PAC & J. PHOENIX)
This forced Nas/2Pac collaboration (which would have never happened had 2Pac not faked his death and moved to Jupiter...um, I mean, had he not passed away) sounds boring as shit, as if it were performed by The Tony Rich Project. There also seems to be no cohesion to the lyrics: Nas and Pac are clearly rhyming about completely different things. This is the East Coast version of a track that appeared in an altered form on 2Pac's posthumous Better Dayz. Not that you'll give a damn about that random factoid: I imagine that even the most hardcore Pac fans that frequent HHID will have moved on to the next song by now.

10. MASTERMIND
A Nas song with this kind of lyrical content deserves a dark beat (not unlike something Havoc could have made in the mid-1990s) and a better hook, not what The Alchemist has managed to conjure up. Al has, strangely, provided a poppy instrumental, and Nas spits a chorus that made me so angry, I had to seriously decide between continuing this write-up and using the disc as a default cheese slicer.

11. WARRIOR SONG (FEAT ALICIA KEYS)
Much to the dismay of the many Nas fans out there, I find that I have to dismiss this Alicia Keys-produced (the hell?) track with the use of a single word. Longtime readers will already be familiar with the term in question.

12. REVOLUTIONARY WARFARE (FEAT LAKE)
For such a serious title, am I the only guy that found Alchemist's beat to be much more positive than it had any right to be? Anyway, if we drained the Lake from this track, what we're left with is a Nasir Jones whose energy and talent cannot be denied, even by Max.

13. DANCE
I found this ode to Nasir's late mother very sweet and touching. However, since I am a bit of an asshole, I have to point out that I had to stifle my laughter at the utter ridiculousness that is Nas singing on the hook. Yeah, I'm probably going to hell.

14. HEAVEN (FEAT JULLY BLACK)
I couldn't connect with Nasir's attempt at a double-time flow. I was more impressed with the fact that Canadian rapper-slash-member of Reggie Noble's crew Saukrates co-produced the beat. Still, this was a wholly unsatisfying way to end God's Son.

Or is it? Early pressings of God's Son came with a bonus disc featuring three additional tracks.

1. THUGZ MIRROR (FREESTYLE)
This isn't as much a freestyle as it is an incomplete two-verse song that's missing a hook and, possibly, a guest rapper. It's not bad, but there isn't anything memorable here.

2. PUSSY KILLZ
The beat (provided by one of Puff Daddy's Hitmen) samples the oft-used in hip hop "My Hero Is A Gun" (by Diana Ross). After an awkward false start, Nasir runs through the various reasons that guys should be careful around a vagina. Let's just say this song was left off of the sequencing for God's Son for a reason.

3. THE G.O.D.
I suppose if man is five, and the devil is six, then God must be seven. The hook reminds me of learning how to spell by watching fucking Sesame Street, and hearing Nas sing (again) makes me want to rip my ears off and mail them to you as proof of my pain. Also, Swizz Beats should never be allowed to create music ever fucking again. That is all.

FINAL THOUGHTS: God's Son is another chapter in the second half of the Nas life story, the section in which Nasir Jones tries with all of his might to make people forget about the looming giant that was Illmatic. Once again, he fails in doing that, but at this point, even the most diehard Nas stan accepts that Nas will never top his debut, so in looking at God's Son as its own creature, it's not the most consistent album, but it does contain some of his most concise lyrics to date. In fact, two of the tracks, "Made You Look" and "I Can", also rank amongst his biggest hits (deservedly, I might add). My concern lies with the problematic production: even with the big names behind the boards, Nas still can't select a beat if his life depended on it. As a result, about half of God's Son approaches greatness, and the other half rolls around in mediocrity. In addition, the bonus disc is entirely useless: it would probably be defective even when utilized as a drink coaster, it's that bad.

BUY OR BURN? I would highly recommend a burn, since the misfires on here greatly outweigh the sparks of brilliance. The tracks listed below should be considered as must-hears, though. Nas is getting close to putting all of the winning ingredients togetner, but on this CD, his homemade yellow cake still has some eggshells laying within.

BEST TRACKS: "Made You Look"; "I Can"; "Last Real N---a Alive"

-Max

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