This is one of those albums that from the start, it'd be really hard to like it. First, Nas wanted to name it after a slur. After causing a stir and using that whole thing as a media tool, he decided to simply call the album Nas, figuring the imagery of the album cover would do the trick. (The reality is, the label wanted to avoid the fights that would've broken out at music stores when the 5 kids who still buy CDs went to look for the CD...and asked for it by name.)
I can't tell if I disliked this album so much because of all of the rancor that opposed it, because I've spent the past two days listening to Jean Grae and 9th Wonder's masterpiece "Jeanius" or if I'm just tired of Nas' act that he's some sort of conscious rapper who masquerades in the mainstream as the savior of rap.
Don't get me wrong. Esco is once, forever and always one of the best of all-time. But after a while, you have to start to wonder what the guy is trying to do. Or maybe you just stop thinking people like him ought to take themselves so darn seriously.
The album uses beats that wouldn't be good enough for a mixtape. It's just retread stuff that's not fit for the kind of stuff we'd expected from Nas at this point in his career. I don't know if anyone really expects him to produce a great album, on par with his debut Illmatic or with Stillmatic, arguably his other "great" album. But it's starting to get a little -- dare I say, boring -- listening to what amounts to minimal amounts of artistic depth in his rhymes, spewing out bombast and divisive silliness that doesn't really uplift those he's trying to reach and alienates those who otherwise appreciate the art form.
On track 10, "Untitled", it amounts to a ode to Louis Farrakhan. Now there's a way to make your album spirited. On "Make The World Go Round," he pairs Chris Brown and The Game, in what amounts to the most bizarre dual cameo in history. At least, in recent hip-hop memory anyway...
The real thing about this album is that it's full of bluster and none of the tracks are particularly memorable. You can't even listen and point to some resounding standout track that makes you go "Ok, that's signature Nasir there..." Nope. Nothing. The guy has a track called "Fried Chicken" for goodness sakes. (It's as bad as the name implies.) "Sly Fox" is a track about Fox News.
In terms of currency, the album is very much focused in the "now and here" versus anything else. I suppose that's laudable to some degree. It's a tome of reflective relevance, that tries to define itself in the cloak of the identity of an entire people. I think that in some ways, Nas bites off way more than he can chew here. When I first heard about the project, I thought it might be interesting. Nas is one of the most prolific writers in mainstream hip-hop and has a patience and plodding sense about his craft, that I thought few could pull this off.
In the end, Nas falls short of what are probably his own lofty expectations about using an album to create a much larger dialogue about a troubling history, a past that we can't shake and a future that we are all trying to envision. One where words might still hurt, but don’t carry the vestiges of a legacy not just of a few mean people in a far off place; but those who were entrusted and empowered at the highest halls of power.
Even if I'm not surprised, it doesn't mean that it's not unfortunate.
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07/13/2008
Since my article about Nas is getting a little bit of play on the internets as the release date approaches, I just wanted to say that I really respect him as an artist and that he’s all-time one of my five favorite MCs. Hands down.
But the whole point of my review was simply to say that, Esco can do better. He’s got more talent in his sweat than some of the other rappers in their entire DNA. The guy is smart enough, witty enough and yet, he puts these half-assed albums out and you keep thinking “is he bored? is it some sort of joke? is he testing people?
Can he manufacture a beef so he can spit fire again? Something?! Anything? Please?
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07/14/2008
I haven’t heard the album yet, but it sounds a little like you disagree with Nas politically more than anything. I’m not a big Louis Farrakhan fan, but that doesn’t mean Nas isn’t allowed to make a song about him. Hell, Common made a song dedicated to Assata Shakur and she’s still on the FBI’s Top 10!
I dug Hip Hop is Dead a lot – though I wish it had been a little lighter on guest spots – and I’m sure I’ll like this one. It can’t be worse than Street’s Disciple (which, actually, has a couple good tracks, like “These Are Our Heroes”). I think Nas does some of his best stuff when he’s challenging us by throwing slurs and stereotypes back in our face.
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07/14/2008
His politics don’t really matter to me. If you’ve listened to his stuff, he does what a lot of artists in hip-hop do. They gloss over history and spew half-truths in the interest of making black folks feel better about themselves. That’s frustrating, because it doesn’t help anything.
The problem with this album, as with many so-called revolutionaries in hip-hop is their militant cantatas are the only people listening to them are die hard fans and white kids from the suburbs.
But maybe I’m wrong and the reason everyone in the tweener/Gen Y set are so in lust with Obama is because of all of the Dead Prez they’ve been hopped up on the past decade.
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07/15/2008
All you buffoons should be ashamed of yourself. This album is straight CLASSIC! The style of this album is like no other, different, challenging you to listen to the lyrics and all you talk about is beats and productions. It’s spoken word, poetical, daring, educational, metaphorical, filled with alliterations, conceptual, funny, inspirational, make you dance, provocative….and all you talk about is beats…please grab a gun somewhere and shoot yourself
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07/16/2008
Why do they get asswipes who has no scope or feel for what real HipHop music is to do reviews, This guy’s review is so biased and false I’m wondering if he reviewed the same album I just bought, I think the problem is this album is just chocked full of too much TRUTH, and for a lot of people the TRUTH hurts, C’mon he didn’t get the meaning behind Fried Chicken, I couldn’t even read the rest of the review from there on, Sominty this guy is bad for business ya’ll need to get someone who really understands HipHop music and the struggles of blacks in America today.
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07/16/2008
David Banner’s I Pledge Allegiance To The Grind II is way better than Nas’ new album.
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07/16/2008
Muiclee, I don’t think Ron needs to go kill himself just because he didn’t like Nas’s new album.
And Ron, Nas is popular enough that his reach is probably wider than Dead Prez’s, which yeah, includes largely young white folk like me. As for “glossing over history,” I appreciate political-historical rap mostly because it offers a different perspective on history than the one we’re given through public education and pop culture. Sure, it’s not written by someone with a doctorate in history, so you have to take it all with a grain of salt – despite what Dead Prez says, I DO believe Bob Marley died from cancer – but there’s something to be said for injecting a black political consciousness into popular music, whether its history is sometimes faulty or not.
I’m in lust with Obama because I’m really liberal and would like to think that Tupac was wrong about us being ready for a black President (though I guess he said that over ten years ago now). And, yes, I listen to lots of hip-hop (did you read that AP article about Obama having Jay-Z on his iPod? Awesome!). I went to a Common concert a couple months ago where he incorporated “So vote for Obama and fuck Bush!” into a freestyle.
Coincidentally, I’m seeing Nas and Dead Prez at Rock the Bells this weekend. As well as a re-united Pharcyde and Tribe. I’m more than a little fucking giddy.