Nas - King’s Disease (Discussion Thread)

[NormanConnors]

I guess I agree with that. Maybe off this forum. On here, I think a lot of cats at this point are damn near happy when Em doesn't end up using dope beats from dope producers that could've gone to other people. I used to want Em to keep using Havoc, Sid Roams, Alchemist, Mr. Porter, and Just Blaze. At this point I'd rather their dope shyt just go to other people.

Em used to pick dope beats from Porter if you look at the infinite album and the d12 records. He may have lost his ear, i think that came with the increase in fame. Struggling Em had a different ear. Cats need to be stern with him.

 

[Ball]

I hope they do some marketing/hype around the album instead of a quiet release

 

[NormanConnors]

People go overboard with criticizing Eminem sometimes, but the second half of his career has been very inconsistent. He went too far with Revival and snapped back to reality () with Kamikaze and Music to Be Murdered By, because people stopped accepting what he was putting out and held his feet to the fire.

I know the criticism bothers him a lot, but as long the whip keeps getting cracked on him, he's never going to release another Revival.

Thats exactly what he needs, no sugar coating.

 

[Goat poster]

People have somehow forgotten that DMX, Em, Nelly, 50, and arguably Ja Rule were bigger than Jay at varying points.

True

Luda at one point was putting up comparable or better numbers as well.

 

[waynep]

Supposedly the first single is being released on Friday is called
Ultra Black.. The source is from a website I've never heard of
before... Life is Good can u confirm this?

 

[Dylmatic]

Supposedly the first single is being released on Friday is called
Ultra Black.. The source is from a website I've never heard of
before... Life is Good can u confirm this?

Weird

UB has learned the single “Ultra Black” will be released this Friday August 14th via Mass Appeal.

Hit-Boy says “August 21st will be a day to remember.” Nas released his last album “Nasir” in 2018. No official word on if this will be the leadsingle from Nas project, as Hit-Boy has top billing on the single.

Hit-Boy and Nas to Drop ‘Ultra Black’ Friday

 

[TheDarceKnight]

Em used to pick dope beats from Porter if you look at the infinite album and the d12 records. He may have lost his ear, i think that came with the increase in fame. Struggling Em had a different ear. Cats need to be stern with him.

Yep. Too many yes men.

Also I like the beat he chose from Porter on Revival. It used the same sample that Kanye flipped for Two Words with Mos Def and Freeway. That was a pretty decent one. Nothing mind blowing but simple and hard.

 

[FunkDoc1112]

Yep. Too many yes men.

I remember Royce said as much on Twitter back in 2011 in as diplomatic a way as possible. People were complaining about I Need a Doctor and Royce said people in Em's circle keep telling him songs like that are hot.

 

[Izanami]

I don't like the beats on Nas last two albums all that much but I never subscribed to the "Nas can't pick dope beats" narrative that gets laid out. Nas has rapped over some of the best beats ever in his career.

what were wrong with beats on Lost Tapes2?

 

[waynep]

Weird

Hit-Boy and Nas to Drop ‘Ultra Black’ Friday

They legit?

 

[TheDarceKnight]

what were wrong with beats on Lost Tapes2?

I'm curious too. I liked most of 'em. Some of the most recent ones he picked as late as 2017 and 2018 like QB Politics and It Never Ends were dope, so I have a little more faith in Nas' ear. A lot of the other beats were scrapped from Life is Good, and I liked a lot of the beats on there.

I really think the album with Hit-Boy will be dope, because that guy is on a run as well. Pretty sure he has an album with Benny dropping on September 5th, and his short project from 6-7 months ago called Chauncey Hollis was dope.

And like I said yesterday. I think there's a 2nd Nas album too, because when Nas did It Never Ends, he did a couple other joints with Alc and intends for them to be released on something upcoming.

Edit: I know the QB Politics beat was made by Pete Rock in the early 90's, but Nas picked it in 2017/2018, so that's what I was counting.

 

[TheDarceKnight]

Q Tip was on Street’s Disciple. And nobody cared. Like I said before. People just want something to say. Cause when he gives it to people. They bytch and moan. He literally said he didn’t release those tracks he did with Pete Rock because he knows people have an unrealistic expectation when it comes to his production and he didn’t want Pete to have to go through that.

Man, I didn't know that. I really don't think people would hate though. Pete's beats on Lost Tapes 2 were a lot of cats favorite beats on the whole project. I really can't see anyone complaining about Nas and Pete Rock under any circumstances.

Pete's getting a lot of well earned and deserved love right now. I just can't see anyone giving grief to Pete for anything he did with Nas that we haven't heard. I can't imagine any of it being trash.

 

[TheDarceKnight]

What does the bolded even mean? What makes you think that Nas goes out of his way not to work with Illmatic producers? Has it occurred to you that Nas doesn’t work with them bc he hasn’t wanted to at the time?

I should have used a better word.

First off, you don't have to take anything I say as truth. I used to be an A&R, and I never worked with Nas, or anyone way too close to him, but I have heard some stories from Young Guru and a couple other cats.

I shouldn't have said "he matured past that."

Of course it's occurred to me that Nas didn't work with them just because he didn't want to. I thin that's very likely.

I say that, and I also say that sometimes I've just had a hunch based on things that I've heard that he resents Illmatic a little bit. I think he even said something in an interview last year about how he loves/hates the album because of the precedent it set. Yea, here's the article: Nas Is Tired Of "Illmatic" Nostalgia: "I'm Done"

So between that article and some stories, I just took a guess that perhaps Nas is just on some fukk it, I don't wanna work with Illmatic producers my entire career.

Don't take what I'm saying as the truth. It's just a guess I've thought about from time to time.

 

[TheDarceKnight]

+when people say "Illmatic" producers they really just mean Pete Rock (mostly) and Preme.

Nas NEVER stopped working with LES, and even Large Pro to a smaller degree. Q-Tip was on Streets Disciple.

This is true, but I can't thin of too many recent Nas and Large Pro joints. and honestly I'd rather hear Nas with Large Pro than Primo at this point.

Everything you said about Dre can also be applied to Eminem, but especially this part. They both went against their usual process when they did Relapse. It was Eminem's first album in five years, his big comeback album, and he made a strange, horrorcore-style concept album. Not many artists would even think to do that, but it was a bold move. When Eminem made Relapse, he wasn't thinking about record sales, he wasn't thinking about how people would take it, and he wasn't thinking about playing it safe. He just locked in on a concept he liked and went with it.

But because it didn't go over, he switched it up and went for the pop sound on Recovery. I understand why he did, but at times, it didn't even sound like a true Eminem album. Just something he made because he felt like he had to deliver on sales. And this is when he started becoming more of a perfectionist than before.

It's just funny to me how most of what Eminem recorded for the first MMLP ended up making the album, and "The Real Slim Shady" was a last minute thing that was made right when the deadline was coming. Fast forward to the second MMLP, and he recorded multiple albums' worth of tracks for it.

Great post

 

[TheDarceKnight]

Nobody is judging nas any different than any other artist. Wtf are talking about? Nas has it probably easier than Jay in that regards over the last 20 years

You may be right, but at least Jay will always go #1 and can fall back on the "nobody but the Beatles has debuted with more #1 albums than me" thing. And he may have even surpassed The Beatles by now in that regard.

Also, ever since 4:44 and Written Testimony, I think Jay has earned a lot of wriggle room to be experimental or to drop the ball than Nas has. Life is Good was a long time ago, and Lost Tapes 2 was well received but I don't know if critics counted it as a true album.

I do sort of get the feeling that critics and even hip-hop heads are harsher with Nas than Jay.

Jay seems to get criticized less on musical choices than Nas does IMO.

Naw, Nas is the most overly critiqued rapper of all time.... every album, single, career move is examined ridiculously...

We dont ever bring up the 5-6 wack albums Jay Z has...

but someone bring up I AM being a 3.5 Mic album and it was the worst thing to ever happen to music.

I think I favor Jay over Nas (slightly) but this is the truth