Nas - NASIR (Discussion Thread)

[10:31]

After listening to this for the thousandth time, two things:

1. Playing this album LOUD AS FUKK adds another half a mic to the rating (normal 4, loud 4.5).

2. I finally hear what Push/y'all were talking about, this is Ye moderning his favorite Nas eras.

1. I Am/Hate Me Now 2018
2. Untitled/Nicca Tape/Cops Keep Firing 2018
3. Distant Relatives 2018
4. Life Is Good 2018
5. God's Son 2018
6. Illmatic 2018
7. IWW 2018

It’s a great album

I’m all for balanced criticism and I get the younger generation only knows:

“Dis classic”

Or

“Dis Trash”

But this album knocks more than Life is Good, Untitled, and Hip Hop is dead

It’s head and shoulders better than Streets Disciple lol

I don’t see Nas dropping a ton of music at this stage of his career. He’s bigger than hip hop. His brand is now legacy.

You all need to appreciate Nas

I could see if this was 2009 Rakim, on some Seventh Seal shyt but it’s not that bad

 

[Illmagic]

Still bumpin the album. Its dope but clearly not top 5 in his catalouge. I like every song but there are flaws in alot of the tracks. "Not for radio" is dope but that 2nd verse had me like ."Cops shot the kid"and "white label" are dope but I hate the sample all through the verses. "Everything" is flames but Kanye sings too long to start that track. No flaw with "Bonjour". "Adam and Eve" is incredible. "Simple things" is just too short. Its a dope album no doubt. Just not amongst his best work

 

[krackdagawd]

I’m comfortable placing it above God Son and after Stillmatic.

Illmatic
It was written
Stillmatic
Nasir
I’Am
God’s Son
Life is Good
Untitled
Nastradmous
Streets Disciple
Hip hop is dead

I don’t rank The Lost Tapes and Distant Relatives tapes because of the type of albums they are respectively but they’re both really great projects.

Seems like there is an agenda here..

For years, critics campaigned for Nas to drop an album where was just rapping.. no concept or theme just rapping over the hottest production..

We got that.. no singles.. no silly gimmick for promotions just bars over great beats

I loved the album as well I think a certain part of the population heard that 1st song and took some offense to it

 

[wild100sboy]

This album is flames brehs the best one in this GOOD music series

 

[Ziggiy]

It’s a great album

I’m all for balanced criticism and I get the younger generation only knows:

“Dis classic”

Or

“Dis Trash”

But this album knocks more than Life is Good, Untitled, and Hip Hop is dead

It’s head and shoulders better than Streets Disciple lol

I don’t see Nas dropping a ton of music at this stage of his career. He’s bigger than hip hop. His brand is now legacy.

You all need to appreciate Nas

I could see if this was 2009 Rakim, on some Seventh Seal shyt but it’s not that bad

Lets not get ahead of ourselves breh.

I consider Life Is Good and Untitled modern day classics. Nasir is a STRONG 4/5 but not on classic level. Life Is Good especially set the blueprint for aging gracefully in hip hop while making “grown man” music

 

[CHAIN]

Hot take:
Havoc co produced (ghost produced) Adam & Eve.

But i dunno this for sure of course.
Whoever did the beat bit the More Trife Life snare.
The way the bass comes in at the start of the 2nd verse is very mobb like. ( *think Illustrious)

 

[Pop123]

Is anyone else liking this album way more now than you did when you heard it the first day?

 

[10:31]

Lets not get ahead of ourselves breh.

I consider Life Is Good and Untitled modern day classics. Nasir is a STRONG 4/5 but not on classic level. Life Is Good especially set the blueprint for aging gracefully in hip hop while making “grown man” music

Nah I definitely disagree. They’re both really good/great albums.

Nasir is the same from a quality standpoint but it’s more upbeat and the production is better.

That’s just my .2

 

[JustCKing]

I still don't hear how Kanye modernized the best moments of Nas's career. I hear attempts at it, but none of them sound like modern iterations of Nas's best moments. Life Is Good was a better modernization of Nas's best moments. It was Nas uncompromising delivering some of the best performances of his career over dope production.

Nasir is Nas and Kanye trying to capture those moments without really doing so. It's a middle of the road Nas album and the best songs on the album weren't necessarily incredible.

 

[10:31]

I still don't hear how Kanye modernized the best moments of Nas's career. I hear attempts at it, but none of them sound like modern iterations of Nas's best moments. Life Is Good was a better modernization of Nas's best moments. It was Nas uncompromising delivering some of the best performances of his career over dope production.

Nasir is Nas and Kanye trying to capture those moments without really doing so. It's a middle of the road Nas album and the best songs on the album weren't necessarily incredible.

Hold up hold up

It’s 2018.. define incredible for Nas?

Is that what you were anticipating a few weeks ago?

How much time do you think Nas is spending in the studio writing, recording, and listening to beats a week in 2018?

This can be applied to Rakim, KRS, Jay, Face, Cube, Ball & G, Dr.Dre... I could go on

The format and layout for the projects were 7 songs.. no singles.. no promo...

This wasn’t even a conventional release. There is nothing for radio or TV.. given the context and circumstances of where Nas is personally and professionally this is a great album.

And it leaves you wanting more.. I would love to know what a lot of you wanted or expected from the project initially

 

[10:31]

And Nas has always been on the Moorish/5% tip with his content

All of you Johnny come lately Nas fans look very funny in the light

It’s clear you didn’t listen to any of his albums before Nasir

 

[Ziggiy]

He got an XL rating from XXL

Whereas the title of Nas’ previous album, 2012’s Life Is Good, is an optimistic tongue-in-cheek nod to the turmoil in Nas’ life, Nasir takes the phrase at face value. He raps about foreign delicacies. Touts his booming businesses. Boasts about making songs that students study at Harvard University. On the frenzied “White Label,” he fancies himself a fashion icon (“You impressed with what they wearing, I started that,” he scoffs). Yet the best moments, however, arrive when Nas offers introspection. On “Bonjour,” Nas reflects on his privilege while Tony Williams lays immaculate vocals over a chopped loop of R.D. Burman’s “Dance Music.” “Vacations I didn’t like, put myself through a guilt trip/All these beautiful places, but the cities be poor/You wealthy when your kid’s upbringing better than yours,” Nas raps.

The Queensbridge legend can still bend bars with the best, but where the writing of his past work is more holistic and focused in subject matter, here he offers bite-sized maxims that come across like pieced-together scrawls from his book of rhymes. Sure, they often show ingenuity—on “Everything,” he nails the succinct, “People do anything to be involved in everything/Inclusion is a hell of a drug.” But a vivid narrative like 2002’s “Get Down” or conceptual spill like 2012’s “Cherry Wine” would help to fill out a project that lacks Nas’ signature storytelling or world building.



Read More: Nas' 'Nasir' Album Is (Good) Rapping for Rap's Sake - XXL | http://www.xxlmag.com/rap-music/reviews/2018/06/nas-nasir-album-review/?trackback=tsmclip

 

[10:31]

He got an XL rating from XXL

Whereas the title of Nas’ previous album, 2012’s Life Is Good, is an optimistic tongue-in-cheek nod to the turmoil in Nas’ life, Nasir takes the phrase at face value. He raps about foreign delicacies. Touts his booming businesses. Boasts about making songs that students study at Harvard University. On the frenzied “White Label,” he fancies himself a fashion icon (“You impressed with what they wearing, I started that,” he scoffs). Yet the best moments, however, arrive when Nas offers introspection. On “Bonjour,” Nas reflects on his privilege while Tony Williams lays immaculate vocals over a chopped loop of R.D. Burman’s “Dance Music.” “Vacations I didn’t like, put myself through a guilt trip/All these beautiful places, but the cities be poor/You wealthy when your kid’s upbringing better than yours,” Nas raps.

The Queensbridge legend can still bend bars with the best, but where the writing of his past work is more holistic and focused in subject matter, here he offers bite-sized maxims that come across like pieced-together scrawls from his book of rhymes. Sure, they often show ingenuity—on “Everything,” he nails the succinct, “People do anything to be involved in everything/Inclusion is a hell of a drug.” But a vivid narrative like 2002’s “Get Down” or conceptual spill like 2012’s “Cherry Wine” would help to fill out a project that lacks Nas’ signature storytelling or world building.



Read More: Nas' 'Nasir' Album Is (Good) Rapping for Rap's Sake - XXL | http://www.xxlmag.com/rap-music/reviews/2018/06/nas-nasir-album-review/?trackback=tsmclip

Which is the equivalent of 4 mics

Like i said a few pages back...

 

[Ziggiy]

Which is the equivalent of 4 mics

Like i said a few pages back...

I agree its a strong 4 Mic album.

Better than HHID, And I Am which I also rate 4 mics.

Not quite as good as Untitled and Gods Son which i rank as 4.5 (Untitled is a personal classic to me)

 

[Budda]

Was disappointed on first listen, but its definitely a grower, Adam and Eve for example is a classic song, i think it falls short of Nas excellent standards lyrically, and his poetic storytelling style isn't in full narrative, but sonically there isn't much better albums in the last few years.