https://www.instagram.com/p/CDt2S9LgerY/?igshid=164pr6ufufon3

Always ready for some new Nas.

Hasn’t released an album since 2012!

You heard right...I don’t count that Kanye bullshit...didn’t even listen.

New AZ should be dropping soon as well.

Forgot ALL about that album he did with Kanye.

I liked that album but didn’t really go back to it

Maybe the Kanye album that he did too. If I recall that’s like 20 something minutes long, so it’s a quick listen.

he couldn't show up on the last Gangstarr album because he wasn't up to par with Guru. LOLOLOL

I know these dudes have investments and other business at this point but damn...

It doesn’t take that long to cut an album when the shit is your job.

He went out to Wyoming and cut a 7 track album with Kanye in a fucking weekend but he can’t cut 14 tracks with Preemo in the past 20 years?!!?

He and AZ can’t cut 14 tracks in the past 20 years?!!?

Shit is just strange as fuck to me.

And the way the market is now, you can drop as much work as you want.

You can drop an album with Hit Boy and Preemo in the same week and give everyone what they want.

both because of Nas' skill as an emcee and the fact that it's only a 16 bar verse at most for the last GangStarr album EVER?

I mean, I'm gonna listen to it. But Hit Boy does nothing for me.

And like everyone touched on below it's pretty remarkable that this clown can clearly pull together producer/MC albums at will, sometimes in a matter of fucking days but has somehow been unable to get with Preem for even a stray song for damn near 2 decades.

So goddamn frustrating.

Nas over some Pete Rock soulful jazz samples = hip-hop at its absolute finest.

It’s like these cats just wont make the shit that makes sense

Lol

Better than fucking Hit Boy at least.

And Pete has been on fire. That Skyzoo album was great, and the Smoke DZA/Benny The Butcher EP was great. Would love to hear more Pete and Nas.

in even the past 20 years that were perfect for Nas, it's not like they're not still providing great music year in and year out

I get an MC like Nas and Jay feeling the need to use new producers and stay relevant. That’s how you have a 30 year career.

But on the other hand...it’s really just a win-win. You can do the hit boy album and also do the Preem album to satisfy your base.

Unless they just really are not inspired to write to those beats at this point but I find that hard to believe.

Maybe Nas isn't moved to make art with Pete- no matter how it would sell.

Don't get me wrong, I *wish* he would make a Pete album.


But if we respect these rappers as artists, why do we want them to think like they have to sell units?

I'm not big on Nas these days. But I assume you agree that he is a dope artist to say the least.

I don't know many dope artists who think about what people want when they make their art.

Thats more of the Puffy lane. "How can I get my shit to sell/stream"?

neither of them have to worry about selling anything at this point, plus the costs of recording are a fraction of what they were even ten years ago so there's no real reason to not do it

That's dope, can't wait for new Nas.

always ready when the goat drops something

Yes sir...Thought about to drop something soon...

to the people saying they'll pass on hitboy,
do you only know him for Paris?

Because Benny coming out with a hitboy album too this year.

The man is a versatile producer.

... none of it.

I'm not one to really go at people over what they like unless I can get a good laugh LOL

I had no idea who he was and I thought you meant he produced for Paris the rapper which that didn't sound right at all to me. lmao

Okay, the Kanye/Jay song, got it now. That song was kinda dope to me. Nas my fav rapper so I'll check it out regardless.

is gone are the days where they'd drop a single (maybe two) announce an album and have it get delayed for weeks and even months.

With the exception of Kanye and his bullshit, we seem to hear about an album when a rapper drops a release date, which is as soon as a week away but usually 3-4 weeks away, and when the date comes the album actually drops.

I used to get so disappointed after waiting a few months for an album to drop only for it to be delayed, and usually it would result in my expectations getting higher and higher so much that it would be hard to not be at least a little bit disappointed when the album finally came out.

Now I don't have a long period of time to get excited for an album and can even ignore hearing any singles until the entire thing is released.

I know Nas has been rumored to be dropping something for like the last 5 years. I remember there was a "Nas Album Done" track that DJ Khaled or someone dropped, but the only times we actually got an official album announcement and release date were NASIR and now this.

Lets just hope this is better than NASIR. Although I'm thankful that NASIR came out because otherwise it'd be 8 years of waiting since Life Is Good, an album I LOVED (prob my 3rd favorite Nas album) and that brought me back down to earth a bit on what to expect from a 40+ year old Nas.

is it that hard to get a few beats from the OGs? dude worth like 70 mills it cant be about money in any way

An album by the two of them would have to be a certified classic, otherwise they would lose face. They're probably aware of this on some level and even could have gone as far as experimenting in a studio.

But they also know that the expectations for an album by the two of them are going to be unmanageable. If the album is simply 'good' it's going to be looked at as a miststep at best or a sign that they've fallen off. They both likely don't want that even though the appetite for the album is large by their fans.

Also, they connected 27 years ago on illmatic and had some great moments around that time. That is a generation ago. They clearly had chemistry then but they're both artists with different demands, different needs, different egos.

As disappointing as it is to accept, the moment has simply passed and the Nas / Premier album is now on the same level of missed opportunity as the Heltah Skelter and Detox albums.

It should have happened but for realistic (and disappointing) reasons it likely won't.

getting an eminem dre album

will he go 0/3?

I don’t care whose producing, I’m listening and not ready to be mad as shit because it’s not 14 “Nas Is Like’s”.

But I'd be lying if I didn't think it'd be nice to get a Stillmatic/Life is Good level, once a decade showcase from the god-MC.

Dude makes absolutely dreadful records.

He is just bad at making collections of coherent and
good records.

Nas has been on victory lap stage. I’m just glad he still makes music and can still rap.

"Another Black Girl Lost" (Alleged 'Life is Good' outtake)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtA5f9a9A0Q


"Royalty" (Released on 'The Lost Tapes 2')
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBKeGPMp6m8



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"Royalty" is OK.

This dude is bad at hooks huh ? Both hooks are ear-grating.

I like "Royalty," but I wish the hook (written by Frank Ocean, I think, based on the song's writing credits) was completely different. The drums are more breakbeat-ish than I would've expected from Hit-Boy.

Hopefully the majority of whatever they're delivering is better than both of these.


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>I like "Royalty," but I wish the hook (written by Frank
>Ocean, I think, based on the song's writing credits)

Just to confirm, Frank Ocean definitely wrote it. There's an extremely brief 2014 snippet of him singing the original hook.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbVthZb4RFg

>"Another Black Girl Lost" (Alleged 'Life is Good' outtake)
>"Royalty" (Released on 'The Lost Tapes 2')

Those two songs are decent but the singing hooks are annoying, I hope this isn't one of things Hitboy likes to do is get chicks to sing on all his music, I usually skip tracks where Nas someone singing on the hooks.

"City on Lock" (Dom Kennedy & Hit-Boy feat. Nas)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNeViglmKZ4

A muddy snippet of a Hit-Boy-produced Nas track, recorded during Hit-Boy's IG Live battle with Boi-1da back in late March:
https://twitter.com/Harry8__/status/1243761605378105344


Both of these are more promising, IMO.


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Album art: https://is3-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Music124/v4/17/33/1f/17331fa5-c683-e491-02d4-37eff0a203bf/20UMGIM70040.rgb.jpg/1000x1000bb-60.jpg

https://music.apple.com/nz/album/kings-disease/1527323474

def had some beats i hear Nas over (matter of fact Nas is on City on Lock), so the sessions probably overlapped

Hit Boy & Dom Kennedy - City on Lock (feat. Nas)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNeViglmKZ4

Hit Boy & Dom Kennedy - We Blessed
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XL2AIitVxf8

https://youtu.be/C1nPGBi6fOE

Not much to hate here......sounds like something that would've fit great on Untitled/Nigger.

...I'm not worried about this project sounding bad as a whole because Hit-Boy doesn't have a single style. I don't think Nas would get the same beats that Drake, or Casey Veggies or Jay Park would get.

Does anyone else notice with Nas -- more than any other major rapper -- the lines where he punches in and is re-recording?

You can tell his inflection changes several times for a line or two in this one, and I remember in the past I've noticed this with Nas. Most notable was the album version of "Hip Hop Is Dead" where he re-recorded a bunch of lines, and I was so used to the OG version that the new lines stick out like a sore thumb, but I just chalked that up to him literally recorded part of the song months after the original. There's def other instances where I've noticed it and I rarely notice when rappers are punching in on their verses, unless I'm really paying attention.

Quick example from this song of what I'm talking about:
In the first verse, "Oh yes, oh yes, God bless success", the second part of that line "God bless success" is def a different recording than the start of the line and the follow up.

And he also leaves a lot of mistakes in the recording.

Part of the bad punching is an engineering issue though.

Unless he just is giving them absolute terrible takes and telling them he isn’t doing it again.

Lol

"Hip Hop is Dead". That was so blatant.

Nas is probably my favorite emcee ever. This isn't bad, but it also isn't good. Very middle of the road stuff really. I am a bit confused by his decision to make an album with Hit Boy considering the producers Nas definitely has access to, but I hope the rest of the album is a step above this. Hopefully Nas raps much better than he did on the forgetful Kanye albumn

>Nas is probably my favorite emcee ever. This isn't bad, but
>it also isn't good. Very middle of the road stuff really.

"Ultra Black" is cool; not bad, not great. Both the beat and rhymes feel like repetitive sketches of an incomplete idea.


>Hopefully Nas
>raps much better than he did on the forgetful Kanye album

Agreed.

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his best album since life is good

https://genius.com/albums/Nas/Kings-disease

>https://genius.com/albums/Nas/Kings-disease
>
>

The song with Paak
Brucie B (because I'm assuming Brucie B unless the song is good)
The Firm reunion (I wonder why no Nature?)

....should be a strong run of songs.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CECzjszhncL/

https://www.instagram.com/p/CECk6_jhN0h/

big moment

lol not sure if an elaborate troll, seems he always drops something on Nas release day. Its just a song vs an album this time tho.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/20/entertainment/jay-z-pharrell-entrepreneur-trnd/index.html

"'Entrepreneur' is produced by Williams and Chad Hugo."

Matter fact, can we get a renewed battle going in 2020?

Wasn’t expecting that.

Diggin it

Edit: one listen through. Liked about 1/3rd of it. Most of the beats just didn’t do anything for me.

King’s Disease was sick and I usually dislike drumless tracks. The soul helped.
Car#85
Blue Benz didn’t grab me first time but second listen now and it’s knockin.
Not sure why but I enjoyed 27 Summers
Til The War Is Won conceptually is cool but is pretty corny overall. Beat works.
10 Points pulses along nicely. His flow is steady on this one.
The Cure bumps.

The rest is either ok or pretty weak. Handful of keepers though, I’m not mad at it. This seems like a successful collaboration.

His beat selection has always been criticized, these beats are pretty good, modern, slick...and...something seems off.

Guess we really do just want that Premo album.

...i mean, at least let Preem, Large or Salaam remix this shit

Salaam Remi? really? the guy that did 'I can','Zone Out', and 'Hey Nas'. He's kinda the definition of hit or miss to me.

this aint ever happening

...i just cant get with these petal soft beats

not sure how the repeat value will be but I played thru taking kids to school this morning and I was feeling most of it. I don't think its Life is Good good but its solid, nothing as bad as Summer on Smash but doesn't quite hit the highs of that album at least on first listen. Some of the songs are mad short and wish were a bit longer. The features didn't bother me like I thought they might.

?

This is definitely one of his better albums. Beyond that one of his better put together albums. Even some if my favorite NAS albums still have the feel of a collection of good songs but not really what I want from an album in terms of cohesion and thematic consistency etc.

This one is hitting right. I knew the on the first listen that I wasn't really feeling the new lost tapes this joint is a keeper.

Haven't made it through the record yet so I'll withhold judgment (first impressions are eh)... but I *really* like the cover -- want to find out who did the artwork.

-thebigfunk

~ i could still snort you under the table ~

* https://www.harmoniarosales.com/
* https://www.instagram.com/honeiee/

>but I *really* like the
>cover -- want to find out who did the artwork.



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Glad she landed the gig.

...this project only solidifies Thought as the GOAT, shits super average two listens through. The difference between an MC continuing to be hungry, and one that is comfortable, which is fine. Like someone said above, Nas is pushing 50 and has nothing to prove.

Wrong side of history bro.

That said, seems like many people are loving it. I'm glad Nas found a sound for 2020 that people are feeling.

i listened to this the first time in the background while working, and i thought we might have something here
but i played it in the car and really listened to it and...eeehhh

This is not good or bad to me, just very middle of the road. It's ok. It's definitely better than Nasir though. I am a bit mystified at the reception overall positive reception this is getting, but it's nice to see people give Nas props.

I don't think Hit-Boy was the right choice and sometimes I feel like the drums and bass in his tracks feel a little flat - or maybe the word is stale or plain. That said, I can't say that he didn't do a solid job here and there are some really good moments - especially the opening track and the beat switch in "The Cure", the drums in the latter track are perfect for Nas.

Some of the choices on the features make sense from a contemporary point of view, but I'd be lying if I said that I enjoyed "Replace Me" at all, and I would enjoy "Til The War Is Won" in full if Lil Durk was not on it.

There is nothing as bad as "Summer On Smash" here, but Life Is Good is a much better record in my opinion. Nas sounded much more passionate on that album. Even though his rapping here is mostly solid (though there are some cringe moments, e.g. the "weird flex but ok" line on the opening track), nothing on this record reaches how good Nas sounded on recent stuff like "Echoes" or even "Nas Album Done".

Maybe I'll change my mind after I spend a little more time with the record because that can happen, but none of these songs are great.

that's crazy, he has so many songs like this on obscure albums or just albums I would never check for, its crazy. That Triple Beam Dreams verse comes to mind, was fire!

>I am a bit
>mystified at the reception overall positive reception this is
>getting, but it's nice to see people give Nas props.

Nas albums usually receive plenty of praise upon release, which fades a bit after a week or so.


>I don't think Hit-Boy was the right choice and sometimes I
>feel like the drums and bass in his tracks feel a little flat
>- or maybe the word is stale or plain. That said, I can't say
>that he didn't do a solid job here and there are some really
>good moments - especially the opening track and the beat
>switch in "The Cure", the drums in the latter track are
>perfect for Nas.

I feel you on this. The beats are mostly pleasant, but kinda lack in the knock department. The second half of "The Cure" makes me wonder how great this album could've been if they spent more time in that lane. You can tell Nas was feeling that track on a different level by his delivery.

>Some of the choices on the features make sense from a
>contemporary point of view, but I'd be lying if I said that I
>enjoyed "Replace Me" at all, and I would enjoy "Til The War Is
>Won" in full if Lil Durk was not on it.

The middle section of the album ("27 Summers" to "All Bad") is the weakest to me. None of those records are bad per se, but I'm not dying to hear any of them again.




_______________________________
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>I feel you on this. The beats are mostly pleasant, but kinda
>lack in the knock department. The second half of "The Cure"
>makes me wonder how great this album could've been if they
>spent more time in that lane. You can tell Nas was feeling
>that track on a different level by his delivery.

Exactly - the knock department. And when beats for someone like Nas lack that, in my opinion, they have to have something more to make up for it. I guess that something more can be the lush atmosphere that you could find in Alchemist's less drum-focused or "beatless" work. A good example of this working well on King's Disease is the first track. The song doesn't knock, but it still fits with Nas very well. It doesn't have to knock because of how well the sample is used - it's a gorgeous beat.

Now that I think about it, Nas' selection of Hit-Boy's beats, which are serviceable but mostly tame, could be a reflection of that at his age he isn't about to take risks - not that I or any other Nas fan should expect that from him. It's just a bit funny to me that we have popular people like Griselda releasing albums with beats by people like Daringer or Alchemist that Nas would sound incredible over and while this is happening, Nas releases an album with Hit-Boy.

And I'm not saying Daringer or Alchemist would be a "risky" or "experimental" move either, they would probably hand Nas a bunch of dope boom bap adjacent stuff. I'm just saying it would've probably sounded better and with Griselda blowing up and Alchemist probably at his peak right now, it would've definitely had just as much if not more hype. Of course, maybe this would not have solved the occasional problems I have with Nas' rapping on this thing, but you never know how he would've adjusted.

>The middle section of the album ("27 Summers" to "All Bad") is
>the weakest to me. None of those records are bad per se, but
>I'm not dying to hear any of them again.

Definitely agree with you there. "All Bad" is a really weird song to me, because Paak sounds great on drums, but the song as a whole doesn't make me feel much.

There aren't really any songs I'd add to an endless "Best of Nas" playlist here, but I do have to say it was nice to hear AZ on that firm track, they all sound good, but he really sounds great. He is someone who could definitely put out a great album now with the right producer probably.

I mean, a Nas/Alchemist project would almost surely shit on this both quality and hype wise.

I don’t always understand Nas’ direction, but at this point I really don’t care : he’s already the GOAT in my eyes and I’m just glad he still makes music and still raps pretty well.

I’m not mad at the production here as a whole either. It’s fine. A few really good songs. Nothing that I hate.

>I mean, a Nas/Alchemist project would almost surely shit on
>this both quality and hype wise.

Definitely, and the thing is with people like Alch, Daringer, and other producers who have worked with Griselda recently, we are talking about dudes who would probably love to do an entire album for Nas. And Nas would be able to expand their audience (with the exception of Alchemist who is well established obviously). It would be a win-win.

Easily.

Pretty sure I saw Nas and Benny in a photo together on IG not too long ago. Damn, would love to see Nas collab with them.

Y'all saying its wack have absolutely dreadful taste

haha, yeah, thought your 1% prediction above was a little low but Im a Nas Stan that likes majority of his albums and even enjoy about half of Nastradamus.

Positives...

Nas is in his zone

Production is consistent and cohesive

Topics are interesting but not overcooked like Nas tends to do at times

Short and sweet at 39 mins just like... Illmatic

Replay value is high at this point and I say that because many times I play a new album once and don’t go back for a while...this I’ve run back 5 times already

My complaints...

I don’t ever need to hear Lil Durk again in my life

How did Big Sean get on here?

Foxy sounds rough...

A lot of the songs feel like they end abruptly. Like they just said “fuck it” and did a 1 second fade out. I wish they took a bit more time to flesh these joints out

Final thoughts...

Can we get this fucking Nas and AZ album already? These dudes are legit the best duo to ever rap and they seemingly refuse to cut this album. Nothing they do has been subpar. Even on The Firm...the songs they were on together (Firm Fiasco, Phone Tap, Executive Decisions, Firm Biz, Desperados) were all dope. I am hoping this other project Nas is alluding to is that. Yeah, want the Preemo one like everyone else but I will take this AZ one before that.

>Yeah, want the Preemo one like everyone else but I will take
>this AZ one before that.

Yeah, listening to the AZ verse on Full Circle I got to thinking that he is probably in the top 5 best technical rappers ever. Like his flow and the way he puts words together and his word choice is so unique and he gets way too overlooked. I can never take Steve Stoute seriously again after seeing him on Drink Champs calling AZ a trash rapper, Nas needs to get Stoute out of his life.

That shit was incredible

----------------------------



O_E: "Acts like an asshole and posts with imperial disdain"




"I ORBITs the solar system, listenin..."

(C)Keith Murray, "

First of all, I was talking about her voice and delivery...shit sounds rough.

But since you said verse of the year...

*copied from genius*
“No cap though, facts though, nigga, that's really rap, though
Like really though, my nigga, she really back though
Like really though, my nigga, she really rap though“

Nah...that shit needed a rewrite right there.

Fox always had that elite flow.

Cmon guys, don't be nerds

I see you still can’t defend those elementary level bars I posted above of the verse you just said was verse of the year.

>I see you still can’t defend those elementary level bars I
>posted above of the verse you just said was verse of the year.


You're a nerd


----------------------------



O_E: "Acts like an asshole and posts with imperial disdain"




"I ORBITs the solar system, listenin..."

(C)Keith Murray, "

because I’m used to what she always sounded like. Can’t remember the last time I heard her rap. So that voice was a huge change from what I was ready for.

Anyone know whatever came of her hearing issues? She must’ve gotten her hearing back to an extent?

Always liked/rooted for Fox. She seemed like such a wreck for so many years - hope she’s in a good place now.

Just listen to it for what it was

A fire verse




----------------------------



O_E: "Acts like an asshole and posts with imperial disdain"




"I ORBITs the solar system, listenin..."

(C)Keith Murray, "

.

----------------------------



O_E: "Acts like an asshole and posts with imperial disdain"




"I ORBITs the solar system, listenin..."

(C)Keith Murray, "

you said she had verse of the year. you're the nerd dude.

>you said she had verse of the year. you're the nerd dude.

maybe that might be the reason nas sounds different on some of these joints

most of these verses sound pretty timely. I can't imagine a lot of 10 year old verses on here.

46 year old Nas found the damn fountain of youth.

----------------------------



O_E: "Acts like an asshole and posts with imperial disdain"




"I ORBITs the solar system, listenin..."

(C)Keith Murray, "

I agree with others, it lags in the middle a little bit but overall this is a strong album. Glad we got this album. Nas is spitting as well as anybody out there, on this one. Really like the content too.

starts strong.
middle is poor.
ends strong.

about 7 or 8 quality songs out of 13.
for a good Nas album, that's about accurate.

Stillmatic for instance has about 7 out of however many that are good.
I believe the same for God's Son.

Nas throwing (nerf) darts at Jay?

It's okay, it's decent, but to me every Nas album has decent songs, and then it has songs that aren't good but would sound dope over the right production or if he redone the verse with more energy, but this album seems lacking replay value to me; and I listened to it twice to make sure it wasn't just me being let down cause of the hype.

The "Lost Tapes 2" had no replay value to me, just two songs, and that EP with Conyay had some good verses here & there but the beats were terrible, and this album has some good production but I rather hear newer emcees spit over these type of beats not a emcee with the caliber lyrical skill and an emcee who could've had easily gotten production any number of the beats producers in the game.

Right now the ONLY song I've listen to more is the posse cut "Full Circle" which feels like it's he's a guest feature on his own song, "All Bad" feels the same way too (Anderson Paak feat. Nas, lol).

Some of the singing features I could've done without, but I guess that's part of Hit-boy's aesthetic, of pairing singers with rappers over his beats to get that commercial appeal for today's listeners.

Stop it, nerds

I can only assume some OkaySports agenda isn't going well so he's in here soothing himself by yelling at anyone who doesn't agree. LOL


Whats funny is you running around calling everyone who doesn't agree with you a "nerd" is probably the nerdiest shit I've seen in a while. You come off like a fucking insecure weirdo.

You're how old and haven't figured out that people just like different shit? You act like you just discovered the internet.

State your peace and keep it moving. Like a grown man, not a 19 year old girl who can't understand why everyone doesn't have the same crush as her.


The Nas album is pretty good...but dude is right. I listened twice and have had no desire to listen again. Hence, no reply value. Maybe that will change. Maybe it won't.

But I've had no desire to hit play on it. There's better shit out here.

And no, I'm not referring to Royce's corny, fake-deep, eminem fan chasing ass over cheap sounding beats.

Cry.

but then

>And no, I'm not referring to Royce's corny, fake-deep, eminem
>fan chasing ass over cheap sounding beats.
>

lol the royce was dope, even if he is fake-deep.

but yeah cosign on this

>The Nas album is pretty good...but dude is right. I listened
>twice and have had no desire to listen again. Hence, no reply
>value. Maybe that will change. Maybe it won't.
>
>But I've had no desire to hit play on it.

i only listened once, i enjoyed it, thought it was pretty great. no complaints. just no urgency to go back to it. that could change on more listens which i will get to eventually.

Wooohoooo

All that nerd anger

Just feel how you feel about the album bro

If you sound like a nerd, its all goo


>And no, I'm not referring to Royce's corny, fake-deep, eminem
>fan chasing ass over cheap sounding beats.

Now THIS is nerdy.

"Fake deep" is the nerdiest thing one can possibly say about
rap

I'm serious, well known fact



----------------------------



O_E: "Acts like an asshole and posts with imperial disdain"




"I ORBITs the solar system, listenin..."

(C)Keith Murray, "

On the first few listens to only song that really grabbed me was "King's Disease" and the .Paak record, but given it's brevity (and nothing else of interest being dropped on Friday) it kept getting spins and it grabbed me more and more with each listen.

The tracks I like:
King's Disease
Blue Benz
Ultra Black (enjoy this more as part of the album than as a single)
27 Summers
All Bad
Full Circle (AZ, man...)
10 Points
The Cure (the second beat!!!!)

Some of the beats don't really work for Nas, but overall I was pleasantly surprised with the production given Nas' track record. I feel like him working with one producer helped a lot.

I never heard of Lil Durk until hearing him on that Drake track a few weeks ago and now on this Nas album. I hope I never hear him again.

Keep hearing people saying it's his "best since Life Is Good". I'm in the "it's his first album since Life Is Good" camp. The Lost Tapes 2 was a compilation of scraps, and that Kanye mess was barely an album.

I don't need anymore Nas album it's over. Nas would be the one that would have a bad song with Anderson Paak. He had two albums and a hand full of great songs. WASTE.

Fuck boy!

Talk about a WASTE...your entire okayplayer existence is a waste.

You actin like I talked about your mom. He made three shitty albums that's all, it ain't that important. Unless you swinging from his dick, them go right ahead and defend your man.

You’re just wack as fuck and always have been

*shrug*

Salty cuz I don't listen to Lupe grow up fam.

Nas only has a few projects that aren’t strong. He’s just judged by a different set of standards than almost everyone else.

This album is solid, and I enjoy “All Bad” quite a bit. I don’t know that there’s a “great” song here that would rank highly on an all time best of Nas list, but I really don’t hear anything that’s objectionably bad or unlistenable either. IMO, everything ranges from decent to good.

In terms of album quality, he's on Snoop's level IMO. Came out the gate with an all-time classic, one of the best albums ever created.

In the years since, they have both vacillated - a few solid albums, a couple duds, and a bunch of 50/50 joints.

And ultimately that's what so disappointing about Nas. He's one of the better lyricists hip hop has ever seen. But his overall output is on the level of Snoop's, an emcee/artist who is obviously talented but is nowhere near Nas' lyrical level.

Which is such a shame. His A+ talent was worthy of an A+ career. But his ear for beats is like a D+, as cliche as that is to say.

IWW was just ridiculous. It still is.

I don’t know....his second tier of Life Is Good, Stillmatic, God’s Son....shit I liked Untitled and Street’s Disciple quite a bit too. Plus Lost Tapes.

It’s too bad that I Am....got messed up. The original version would’ve given him 3 all timers IMO. Instead of one incredible album, it became a “decent” album that was a big step down, and then his worst album. Really killed his momentum and altered the perception of how many view his career.

I love Life is Good, Stillmatic, and God's Son, too and I agree that those are the next 3 best in his catalogue after Illmatic and IWW. But even those three albums are far from perfect. There's at least a few duds on every one of them. A little bloated.


IWW was just ridiculous. It still is.
>
>I don’t know....his second tier of Life Is Good, Stillmatic,
>God’s Son....shit I liked Untitled and Street’s Disciple
>quite a bit too. Plus Lost Tapes.
>
>It’s too bad that I Am....got messed up. The original
>version would’ve given him 3 all timers IMO. Instead of one
>incredible album, it became a “decent” album that was a
>big step down, and then his worst album. Really killed his
>momentum and altered the perception of how many view his
>career.

The problem is the executive producing...PERIOD

And I agree that he should’ve had A+ output to match his talent.

But with Nas we know the actual albums output and we know a lot of the cutting room floor output which makes me say that the beat picking is not really his problem.

Yes, he does pick some terrible beats at times but he has more than enough material to fill classic album after classic album.

Illmatic
It Was Written
^^Those two are solidified

Then look at the Lost Tapes. If they had released the original double I Am album then he would’ve had 3 straight classics. And if Stillmatic was released inclusive of Doo Rags, My Way, Nothing Lasts Forever, No Idea’s Original, Purple, Black Zombies instead of Smokin’, Destroy & Rebuild, Braveheart Party, Rule, My Country then we would be having debates if that’s his best album.

Think about that shit...they put on Braveheart Party and cut Doo Rags. Who the fuck is making these decisions? Shit, I would’ve left off Ether.

God’s Son seems to get pretty mixed reviews. Some people love it. I could do without Hey Nas and I Can but the rest is all dope to me.

Street’s Disciple should’ve been one disc and we would have a high quality album.

Hip-Hop is Dead and Untitled are both average to me and I do not go back to these. I did like Untitled when it dropped but never liked HHID.

Distant Relatives continues to be one of the most overlooked/underrated albums of all-time. Absolute classic.

Life Is Good is another album that would be an undeniable classic had they cut some of the songs and included the bonus cuts. Again...terrible executive producing.

Nasir...I refuse to listen.

Lost Tapes 2...I believe these songs came from HHID/Untitled/LIG sessions so I would have to look to see if I could use any of these to improve HHID or Untitled into something on God’s Son’s level.

With that said, even if I just let those two albums be...had I been executive producing these albums, we would be looking at the following albums being all-time classics;

Illmatic
It Was Written
I Am
Stillmatic
Distant Relatives
Life Is Good

The following would be great albums;
God’s Son
Street’s Disciple
King’s Disease

And the following being the bottom of the barrel for Nas but still average albums;
Hip-Hop Is Dead
Untitled

So again, yes, Nas picks some bad beats but the true issue lies in the executive producing and which songs actually make the albums because Nas has had more than enough material which we have heard to turn these albums into great/classic albums had they made the proper decisions.

Serious and Good Morning.

After looking more I may be able to boost Street’s Disciple to classic status and I don’t even really like the album as is.

Remember someone on here posted a link to like 15 albums worth of lost material and features?

Untitled did have some bangers that were cut as well. Cops Keep Firin’...

Man, I may have to sit down and reorganize these albums to how they should’ve been released.

>Serious and Good Morning.

Yes!!


>After looking more I may be able to boost Street’s Disciple
>to classic status and I don’t even really like the album as
>is.
>
>Remember someone on here posted a link to like 15 albums worth
>of lost material and features?
>
>Untitled did have some bangers that were cut as well. Cops
>Keep Firin’...

Yeah, that one was on the mixtape he did with Green Lantern. There was some strong material on there.


>Man, I may have to sit down and reorganize these albums to how
>they should’ve been released.

Yup. Song for song, Nas has more great ones than anybody.

I agree with you here. I just threw on Untitled this weekend and enjoy a lot of it, his verses are great. It has highs and lows tho like a lot of his album. King's Disease is one of the better produced "albums" he has but I can only really rank it above Nastradamus and Nasir. I think I still prefer every one of his other albums for the bars above anything else and that's the main thing I want from Nas.

Some of the beat selection naysayers are funny to me. Up in this post, someone wanted Salaam Remi but that's kinda when it all started when he was producing God's Son and Street's Disciple which I like both but that's when a lot of the bad ear for beats stuff started it seemed. As for a Premo album while it would be cool, it would get compared with Royce and not sure he'd want that now.


I'd also say Nas' discography is way better than Snoop's. He has 2 bad albums to me and a lot that are a mixed bag but still lots of good and great songs on them, just not albums most would play front to back a lot except hardcore fans like myself. I play Nas albums more than Scarface tho as well and his discography is regarded as one of the best.

After that he just abandoned that sound during his solo career. It Was Written is a classic, it did get mixed reviews when it came out but I consider it an all time great. Lost tapes was a great album but it's a compilation. The man made an album called Hip Hop is dead and that has some some dull ass music on that outing. He has some bright spots but imo it's more cringe than good. At least with Snoop he's very creative and left field with his shit, and you receive EPIC moments from him. TBH I haven't even checked for all of Nas shit cuz I already know skipped Untitled and distant Relatives. I just happened to see new Nas album on my YouTube feed and gave it a listen... regrets.

I disagree obviously but I'd say the same for Snoop with Doggystyle myself, but I haven't listened to a full Snoop album since Dogfather.

I agree with the standards being different for Nas. New Snoop albums don't see 50 posts, let alone 150. Eminem's last album got very few posts about it. Think of someone like GZA who dropped Liquid Swords, nothing after came close to that but not many talk about him either. Most the rappers who came out in early to mid 90s get very little discussion anymore so he must be doing something right to generate this much obsession this late in his career.

Better songs on both Nasir and TLP2.

This one has the most replay value of the last three and it ain't even close

ive been determined to go back and listen to my 2020 playlist which is over 600 songs so haven't had a chance to come back to this album until today.

its really good, definitely deserves more spins. i do still think the replay value is not great. i think its mostly due to the beats. although being really good they have nothing unique to them.

only 3 songs i think i would rate 4 out of 5 after a second listen.
Til the War is Won
The Definition
Full Circle

good songs but wont stay in rotation

the rest i have at 5 out of 5 but i do think some of those will come down with more listens.

favorites are Car #85 and The Cure. i think those two will stay in rotation. some others will too but not sure yet which ones.

i didnt like All Bad when it first came on but it won me over before it was done. on second listen i really enjoyed it.

one of the best releases of 2020. not sure yet if its top 10 top 20 or wherever it will end up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=798vylI5tTY

I like this. Also noticed NBA has King's Disease playing going to commercial breaks.


Just noticed AZ and Mega with him towards the end

https://www.okayplayer.com/music/nas-kings-disease-ii-release-date.html

Nas probably gassed off finally getting that Grammy.

Hit Boy isn’t “bad”, I just find there’s not a lot of staying power to his beats. They got old kindve quick. I felt the same way with Benny’s album....loved it initially, but I don’t go back to it. I go back to Tana Talk 3 though, which was Alchemist and Daringer.

*And weirdly enough, today I’m wearing my “No Bad Energy” t shirt that I bought when Lost Tapes 2 came out, and we get a Nas album announcement today.

>Nas probably gassed off finally getting that Grammy.

^ that was my first, immediate thought as well.


>Hit Boy isn’t “bad”, I just find there’s not a lot of
>staying power to his beats.

^ absolutely.

...thats how I read Nas news now.
Jay been that peety

this mofo Sean made a Nas playlist on HIS streaming app and titled it

"Curated By The God Hov: NaS"

Was Ether worth 20 years of pettiness?!
...yes....it was Ether

>RE: New Jay-Z album prod. by Hit-Boy dropping 8/7/21
>...thats how I read Nas news now.
>Jay been that peety
>
>this mofo Sean made a Nas playlist on HIS streaming app and
>titled it
>
>"Curated By The God Hov: NaS"
>
>Was Ether worth 20 years of pettiness?!
>...yes....it was Ether

He didn’t come up with any kind of “gems” for that playlist, lol. Some kid who discovered Nas in 2019 could’ve made the same playlist.

but Im a Nas stan and still get joy out of all his releases. I even bumped Nasir a lot for first couple weeks it came out before realizing its hella mediocre. lol This year hasn't had anything I've enjoyed I can think of and Im an oldhead that doesn't really care for the new guys aside Kendrick who takes forever to release anything.

>but Im a Nas stan and still get joy out of all his releases.
>I even bumped Nasir a lot for first couple weeks it came out
>before realizing its hella mediocre. lol This year hasn't had
>anything I've enjoyed I can think of and Im an oldhead that
>doesn't really care for the new guys aside Kendrick who takes
>forever to release anything.

Nas is forever in my top 5 and so I will undoubtedly listen to any and everything he puts out til the end of time. So I'm with you there.

Just wish he'd move on from HitBoy cuz the first one was sleepytime.

--------> TRASH CAN

if he took the songs from these two albums and made it one good album.


**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

if he trimmed like half the songs.

But even then not a ton of replay value.


I think Nas's problem isn't beats so much as editing/picking songs.


Honestly, I can only think of like 1-3 Nas albums that couldn't have used some editing.


I'm not a typical Nas fan, though. I think some of his shit is under-rated and some of it is over-rated.


I don't think many will want to talk about it/admit it, but a big problem on the first KD was...Nas. He's getting repetitive.

Didn't help that Hit Boy is fairly generic so the problem was magnified but...Nas just aint saying nuthin new *shrugs*

>I don't think many will want to talk about it/admit it, but a
>big problem on the first KD was...Nas. He's getting
>repetitive.
>
>Didn't help that Hit Boy is fairly generic so the problem was
>magnified but...Nas just aint saying nuthin new *shrugs*

Common is another example. He's still sharp, I *like* a lot of the recent songs he's been releasing ... he's just been around so long that, like Nas, he's long since run out of interesting things to say or interesting ways to say them so the songs don't have the staying power that they used to.

I think that happens to everybody who regularly puts out rap music, eventually.

I didn't mean this was a Nas only problem.

Honestly, my point was moreso that this the first album of his that seemed repetitive to me.

So I was talking in context of Nas.


Right/Wrong/Terrible results he usually mixes it up with regards to concept, sound, subject matter, etc....this just felt generic.


Generic Nas + generic beats.


I should have said it felt safe rather than repetitive.

Whats funny about the Jay-Z jokes up above? KD kind of came across like Nas trying to do Jay in a way. Don't ask me, I can't explain it its just the impression I got.

Not a ton of substance...at least not by Nas standards.

>
>I didn't mean this was a Nas only problem.
>
>Honestly, my point was moreso that this the first album of his
>that seemed repetitive to me.
>
>So I was talking in context of Nas.
>
>
>Right/Wrong/Terrible results he usually mixes it up with
>regards to concept, sound, subject matter, etc....this just
>felt generic.
>
>
>Generic Nas + generic beats.
>
>
>I should have said it felt safe rather than repetitive.
>
>Whats funny about the Jay-Z jokes up above? KD kind of came
>across like Nas trying to do Jay in a way. Don't ask me, I
>can't explain it its just the impression I got.
>
>Not a ton of substance...at least not by Nas standards.

yeah....in terms of Nas, I hear you. Though he wasn’t saying much on that Kanye album either IMO. And before that you gotta go back to 2012 to get a Nas album. And THAT was a great album.

There was a time(maybe 2015-16?) where Nas was absolutely ripping guest appearances. Wish we got an album back then....not produced by Kanye or Hit-Boy.

Yeah I’ve never heard Nasir cuz it’s fuck Ye
all day in this house.

So....*shrugs*

he isnt wack.

but his production is just generic and not particularly distinct.

and i think that trickles down to the artist. his beats dont really inspire any type of standalone creativity. niggas just feel like rapping over them.

Part of that is he hasn’t put out quite as many rap albums....and the other part is just that he’s the fucking GOAT!!

the 1st one wasnt anything mindblowing but beggars cant be choosers and it was better than the rest of this garbage out here.

it stayed in my gym rotation for a few weeks...which is pretty much all i can ask for nowadays.

Followed by 27 Summers, then All Bad.

I just bought the album a week ago because I liked it so much when I first heard it.

I also supported Survival Kit by Goodie Mob and Damn by Kendrick along with a few songs from J. Coles new album.

Nas
Goodie Mob
Busta
J.Cole

Those were the vest albums of 20/21 imo.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CSHdlaYn4Vb/

epmd and em?

another lauryn hill teamup? i hope its an actual collab and not just crediting her for the vocal sample. hitboy is in the comments acting like its something new. so we will see.

I'm not that interested in left-over stuff from the previous sessions.

I guess he's not regulated to a record label or a&r to tell him what to do but seriously just cause he finally wins a grammy for the first one doesn't mean they gave it to him cause of what was actually on it, they did it cause he should've gotten one for his first three albums; Grammys is good for being "super late to the party" when it comes to albums/artists that should've won an award.

Anyway, I know most people are tired of kats like me bringing up the "Nas & Premier" collabo album that's been talked about to death but never seems to get worked on by them two, but so many people want it; when he decided to give his listeners a sequel to "Lost Tapes" and it was a flop cause he didn't use any of the early material but the DefJam vaulted material, many felt it was a dud (well I thought it was anyway).

I would've even liked an album where he got with Large Professor and just took it back to the beginning, shit I would even go for another Bravehearts album as long as it's with producers he has worked with in the past not these new kats who have been giving him bland/souless production.

Will I check out this new album aka "songs him & Hitboy left off the first album" thingie, yeah but I'm not even hyped about it, kind of dreading it cause I don't want to see one of my top favorite lyricist just keep putting out weak material after another.

I was surprised to see Nas following with a sequel since he hasn't done that previously. This album is probably the least deserving of a sequel, but it sounded like he had fun making it, which counts for something this late in his career.

Hopefully the sequel gives more room for creativity. The features/collabs are promising.

>https://www.instagram.com/p/CDt2S9LgerY/?igshid=164pr6ufufon3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDSCNs77l28

On first listen loved it, gotta go back to really digest what everyone was saying