Nas - Magic (Discussion Thread)

[Piff Perkins]

Of course they did. No ID damn near Exec produced LIG. They acted like that didn’t happen after 4:44 dropped.

Who did this? The album was well received by virtually everyone, with the quibbles being over a couple songs (Summer On Smash mainly). Production wise the album was praised and I remember multiple Coli discussions on who should exec produce Nas next, since it worked out so well for No ID. The sentiment here was largely that Nas should stick with No ID.

I'm not even sure what people are mad about here. Both LIG and 444 were dope albums, both successful (to different levels), and stand out in the artists' catalogs. If you want to complain that No ID got more attention with Jay at the time...well yea, he's the bigger artist by far. But who cares, I'm not sure why there's a grievance to be had when both took Ws working with No ID.

 

[JustCKing]

Who did this? The album was well received by virtually everyone, with the quibbles being over a couple songs (Summer On Smash mainly). Production wise the album was praised and I remember multiple Coli discussions on who should exec produce Nas next, since it worked out so well for No ID. The sentiment here was largely that Nas should stick with No ID.

I'm not even sure what people are mad about here. Both LIG and 444 were dope albums, both successful (to different levels), and stand out in the artists' catalogs. If you want to complain that No ID got more attention with Jay at the time...well yea, he's the bigger artist by far. But who cares, I'm not sure why there's a grievance to be had when both took Ws working with No ID.

There wasn't a grievance. It was obvious that No I.D.'s work on Life Is Good and The Dreamer went largely unnoticed. He produced 4:44 and Rollingstone does an entire article on No I.D., Complex crowns No I.D. the best producer of 2017, and even here, the sentiment toward him changed. There were people who wanted No I.D. far away from whatever Nas was working on after Life Is Good. When they heard Common's Nobody's Smiling, people started to say No I.D. had fallen off and Nas needed to stay away from him. 4:44 dropped and it was a complete turn around.

 

[spliz]

Who did this? The album was well received by virtually everyone, with the quibbles being over a couple songs (Summer On Smash mainly). Production wise the album was praised and I remember multiple Coli discussions on who should exec produce Nas next, since it worked out so well for No ID. The sentiment here was largely that Nas should stick with No ID.

I'm not even sure what people are mad about here. Both LIG and 444 were dope albums, both successful (to different levels), and stand out in the artists' catalogs. If you want to complain that No ID got more attention with Jay at the time...well yea, he's the bigger artist by far. But who cares, I'm not sure why there's a grievance to be had when both took Ws working with No ID.

Bruh. People largely was acting like Jay was the first one to do that subject matter and like No ID didn’t just produce a whole ass dope Nas album. That album got ALOT of love in real time. But not No ID. But that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about the fact that it got retroactive lukewarm response. Some people in the media act like it never happened once 4:44 dropped. They skip right over it. Even when KD1 dropped. They acted like LIG wasn’t fire as fukk and still the better overall album.

 

[Piff Perkins]

Bruh. People largely was acting like Jay was the first one to do that subject matter and like No ID didn’t just produce a whole ass dope Nas album. That album got ALOT of love in real time. But not No ID. But that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about the fact that it got retroactive lukewarm response. Some people in the media act like it never happened once 4:44 dropped. They skip right over it. Even when KD1 dropped. They acted like LIG wasn’t fire as fukk and still the better overall album.

Ah I see your point now. But I felt that was moreso in the way people acted like no one had released a "mature" rap album before 444. That wasn't just an erasure of LIG but an erasure of a lot of hip hop, and something that often happens when white critics are involved. I don't think the albums are similar in terms of their tones though, and I actually think a major difference is that Jay takes responsibility for his actions on 444 and Nas doesn't on LIG. That's another topic entirely but I think the vulnerability Jay showed on the album is partially why the album stood out. We're used to the infinitely slick hustler talking shyt, and you don't get that at all on 444.

Ironically this led to some feminists criticizing 444 in a way that came to my mind while listening to the album. Why does it take having daughters for a man in his 40s to realize he treated his wife like shyt. Kanye has expressed similar sentiments in recent albums, and it just comes off weird as if he didn't view women as people until he had daughters. I'm veering into another subject obviously, but I just thought that was an interesting critique of 444 at the time. But like I said, I don't view 444 and LIG as albums that must be discussed together.

 

[spliz]

Ah I see your point now. But I felt that was moreso in the way people acted like no one had released a "mature" rap album before 444. That wasn't just an erasure of LIG but an erasure of a lot of hip hop, and something that often happens when white critics are involved. I don't think the albums are similar in terms of their tones though, and I actually think a major difference is that Jay takes responsibility for his actions on 444 and Nas doesn't on LIG. That's another topic entirely but I think the vulnerability Jay showed on the album is partially why the album stood out. We're used to the infinitely slick hustler talking shyt, and you don't get that at all on 444.

Ironically this led to some feminists criticizing 444 in a way that came to my mind while listening to the album. Why does it take having daughters for a man in his 40s to realize he treated his wife like shyt. Kanye has expressed similar sentiments in recent albums, and it just comes off weird as if he didn't view women as people until he had daughters. I'm veering into another subject obviously, but I just thought that was an interesting critique of 444 at the time. But like I said, I don't view 444 and LIG as albums that must be discussed together.

Well I think the big difference in approach was that Jay’s wife caught him in some bullshyt and forgave him and stayed. She also exposed him first on her album. He had no choice but to own it for his image. Nas on the other hand got done dirty in the courts n all that shyt. All while tryna prevent Kelis’ sex tape from droppin. She exposed his financial business too and she left him without a trace. It was a different situation. Both speaking on the trails of marriage. One from a bitter perspective. The other from a guilt perspective. But both grown subject matters. Jay had the song about his mom. Nas had the song about his daughter. 4:44 was imo. Untitled, Distant Relatives, and LIG rolled in one.

 

[King Ming]

At this point I wouldn’t be shocked if KD3 ends up being on the level of Illmatic and IWW because Nas and Hit-boy cooked up what feels like an instant classic to me in 3 months with Magic. I think with KD3, Nas may come with a few concept songs that remind listeners of the creativity he displayed on Fetus, I Gave You Power and Rewind.

I aint mad at Hitboy going it alone on the production again... But would be dope if he had 2/3 other producers on KD3?

 

[King Ming]

Speechless my jam right now brehs!

This the type of beat you would want Sean P featured on

 

[Ziggiy]

Ah I see your point now. But I felt that was moreso in the way people acted like no one had released a "mature" rap album before 444. That wasn't just an erasure of LIG but an erasure of a lot of hip hop, and something that often happens when white critics are involved. I don't think the albums are similar in terms of their tones though, and I actually think a major difference is that Jay takes responsibility for his actions on 444 and Nas doesn't on LIG. That's another topic entirely but I think the vulnerability Jay showed on the album is partially why the album stood out. We're used to the infinitely slick hustler talking shyt, and you don't get that at all on 444.

Ironically this led to some feminists criticizing 444 in a way that came to my mind while listening to the album. Why does it take having daughters for a man in his 40s to realize he treated his wife like shyt. Kanye has expressed similar sentiments in recent albums, and it just comes off weird as if he didn't view women as people until he had daughters. I'm veering into another subject obviously, but I just thought that was an interesting critique of 444 at the time. But like I said, I don't view 444 and LIG as albums that must be discussed together.

“The truth is on me/ who wasn’t the most faithful husband/ reveal my life you will forgive/ you will love me/ hate me/ judge me/ relate to me”




I don’t know how much more responsibility Nas could take

 

[Ziggiy]

I aint mad at Hitboy going it alone on the production again... But would be dope if he had 2/3 other producers on KD3?

If it isn’t broke don’t fix it. Hit-Boy should continue doing all the production on any Kings Disease albums

 

[Dylmatic]

Album Review: Nas – Magic | Beats Per Minute

 

[Budda]

I aint mad at Hitboy going it alone on the production again... But would be dope if he had 2/3 other producers on KD3?

Yeah it would be.

 

[waynep]

Album Review: Nas – Magic | Beats Per Minute

Can't lie bro as soon as I saw the word Illmatic in the first sentence I clicked off lol

 

[JustCKing]

Can't lie bro as soon as I saw the word Illmatic in the first sentence I clicked off lol

It's actually a positive review that speaks highly of the Nas/HitBoy collaborations. It actually praises KD2 is Nas's best album in years and one of the strongest Hip Hop albums of 2021 and says that Magic is even better.

 

[JustCKing]

What would bringing in more producers to work on KD3 actually add though? With HitBoy, Nas could literally go anywhere with his sound. Why bring in additional producers to provide something HitBoy already does?

 

[Ziggiy]

What would bringing in more producers to work on KD3 actually add though? With HitBoy, Nas could literally go anywhere with his sound. Why bring in additional producers to provide something HitBoy already does?

It wouldn’t add anything. Hit-Boy is literally PERFECT for Nas and no other producers are necessary