Nas
Untitled
Def Jam

As a fan of hip-hop music, I can appreciate the club bangers, the weed songs, the stripper songs, the trunk rattlers and the ring tone anthems, but I love when I see an artist step outside of that box. Since Nas practically lives outside of the box, I always look forward to listening to his albums. Aside from his classic albums, (Illmatic, It was Written, Stillmatic) Nas has always been an acquired taste. His passionate delivery and "what I say goes" attitude has been the driving factor of what keeps him in the limelight despite his subject matter being too harsh for lighter audiences.

What I'm trying to say is that Nas isn't for everybody, but that is the allure of being a Nas fan. In fact, that is the allure of being a fan of any artist. You belong to a group of people you can identify with, and the artist is providing the voice and a platform. Just as Bob Dylan became music’s representative of Beat generation writers, Nas has become hip-hop’s literary ambassador to the values of scholars like Dr. Cornel West and Michael Eric Dyson. Now I don’t like to compare past and present works, but with Hip Hop is Dead, I feel Nas didn't quite get to the level of significance he was reaching for. This latest album does a nearly perfect job of providing a platform with substance.

"Qweens Get the Money" (outside of the intro's to Jay-Z's The Dynasty and DMX's It's Dark and Hell is Hot) is probably the best New York rap intro I have ever heard in my entire life. Up and coming producer Jay Electronica doesn't need any percussion to give it a more intimate feel. It serves as a much needed rest from the over produced songs that are so popular today.

On the Mark Ronson produced "Fried Chicken" Nas invites fellow 90's hip-hop surviver Busta Rhymes to share his love/hate relationship with soul food. This song has one of the more lighter subject matters on the entire album, but is also sonically one of the best songs on the album. This is easily Busta's best verse in a long time. He might have even eclipsed Nas lyrically on this track.

Nas' perspective on the troubles of the black community, the general public's ignorance on race relations and the media's role in them both is made very clear throughout the album. specifically on "Sly Fox" Nas examines the corporate influence in racial identity and answers Bill O’Reilly’s condemnation of Nas’s invitation to perform at a venue on the post-massacre Virginia Tech's campus. It's amazing how O'Reilly's faithful can't see that Bill's rants only serve as ammunition for protagonist like inspiration. A super-hero needs a super-villain.

But anyway...

“You Can’t Stop Us Now” brings up the history of African and African American contributions to American society. I'd probably dig this song more if it hadn't been sampled and produced better by RZA on the previously released last month Digi Snacks.

This may have something to do with marketing, but my favorite track is “N.I.G.G.E.R. (The Slave and the Master)” The title track, contemplates what it really means to be a revolutionary over the continuous looped chant “They did not have the power to stop Louis Farrakhan”. This song is as reflective of the artists as much as it is a statement. Simply put, Nas is at his lyrical best.

The only song I'm not to fond of is “We Make the World Go Round”, with The Game and Chris Brown. It is about the importance of black artists in popular culture, and It is probably going to be the next single. If I had a song with Chris Brown, you can bet you ass it is going to be on the radio. Nas also has a history of consciously creating a song for the purpose of being a single rather than picking it from already made songs. I'm sure it would be a successful single, but I doubt the success is going to lead to much more record sales.

To wrap it up. BUY IT

Oh, and if you don't have the version that includes "Like Me" you better ask someone to burn it for you real quick. Your missing out.

4.75 out of 5