
Though not a concept album, Nas does stick to the theme for the most part and is unafraid to confront some harsh realities about the African-American experience – the way they’re depicted on Fox News (“Sly Fox”) soul food (“Fried Chicken”) the way they’re treated by the government (“Project Roach”) how those striving for change often find themselves assassinated (“Untitled” – originally titled “Louis Farrakhan”) and the root of America’s institutional racism (“N.I.*.*.E.R. The second LP in a row in which the album’s title and theme caused controversy, Untitled – which had a much more controversial title originally – is an ambitious, politically-themed project that had become a rarity in commercial Hip Hop. We won’t even talk about “Blunt Ashes.” The title of the album resonated much more than the music. Robison voice was ambitious, it was terribly misguided. While his decision to record the entire song in an Edward G. Yet there is a lot of weakness to be found too, like “Who Killed It?,” a murder mystery of Hip Hop’s demise set in the roaring ’20s with Nas acting as a noir detective. Dre-produced “Hustlers” over which Nas and Game reminisce about the old days, and while it’s possible that no Jay-Z and Nas collaboration could live up to the hype, “Black Republican” comes damn close. There are high points, like the raw opener “Money Over Bullshit,” the Dr. Immediately, the majority of the Hip Hop community had a meltdown. Unfortunately, try as he might, he didn’t completely showcase why or how he could resuscitate it. In 2006, when the sound of Hip Hop was shifting away from classic New York City boom-bap (remember ringtone rap?), Nas announced that his upcoming album would be titled Hip Hop Is Dead.
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The man sure knows how to generate media attention for his albums. He sounds the most energized and focused on “Come Get Me,” the lone DJ Premier cut that sees Nas addressing his competition, specifically ratcheting up the subliminals against Jay-Z, foreshadowing the future when battling for the throne forced Nas to sharpen his pen. His rhymes are still good, though not great, but the beats are lacking – a Nas staple – and he sounds listless through much of the affair. The middle of the disc is the strongest, from the sick “Carol of the Bells” flow on “Shoot ‘Em Up” to the collaborations with Mobb Deep (“Family”) and Nashawn (“Last Words”). Perhaps his most schizophrenic disc (and that’s saying something!), his message is all over the place, from inspirational and preaching cohesiveness – “Life We Chose” “Some of Us Have Angels” “God Love Us” – to vapid – “You Owe Me” – to corny – “Big Girl” – and everywhere in between. Lambasted as a major flop upon its release, time has been a bit kinder to Nastradamus, but only a bit. After his planned double-disc I Am…The Autobiography leaked in the spring of 1999, Nas switched gears and decided to release two separate albums that year. The suits at Columbia wanted the latter album to be a collection of tracks that hadn’t made it onto the former, but Nas decided instead to record mostly new material, which was a mistake, not only because he is an artist that doesn’t do his best work when under time constraints, but also because he was going through some personal issues at the time.
