Official Nas Thread

Alexander Wiggin

Alexander Wiggin

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Piff Perkins said:
My issue with Hero is that, just like the CB single, it doesn't sound like it was for Nas. Hero sounds like a single you shop to struggling or young artists hoping to get them some radio spins. Like it could have been a Lupe or BoB single when their label was giving them shyt. But whereas I can imagine those artists making a borderline successful single with that beat, it virtually got zero radio play for Nas.

Those Def Jam albums were really weird to me. I'd love to hear Nas talk about them today, just to get a sense of what his headspace was back then. Because to me they both feel kind of lazy. Like there's a concept but both are the product of him either ignoring advice/support (HHID) or wanting to get off the label (Untitled). Like....you're on DEF JAM and we didn't get a noteworthy single, no bangers added to the tour catalog, and only a handful of dope beats.
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You gloss over lig which was focused and got great singles and songs still performed today

I won't say hhid and untitled were lazy. It's just that it was a weird time when Nas was an elder Mc from NY trying to figure out how to sound on a south dominated market with a clash of generation. It's not a coincidence that the jay albums released during that time were going in all places too.
Nas had to resort to shock value titles and concepts and Jay had to cheat by attaching himself to a movie he wasn't even involved with to go back to his drug dealer raps
 
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Piff Perkins

Piff Perkins

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Alexander Wiggin said:
You gloss over lig which was focused and got great singles and songs still performed today

I won't say hhid and untitled were lazy. It's just that it was a weird time when Nas was an elder Mc from NY trying to figure out how to sound on a south dominated market with a clash of generation. It's not a coincidence that the jay albums released during that time were going in all places too.
Nas had to ressort to shock value titles and concepts and Jay had to cheat by attaching himself to a movie he wasn't even involved with to go back to his drug dealer raps
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I edited my post, forgot LIG was on Def Jam. That's what a Nas Def Jam album should sound like sonically.
 
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spliz

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Pop123 said:
Real question…is there any non-hip hoppy/boom bap/classic hip hop feel type shhit that nigs praised from Nas? Lol, think about it. Any producer Nas tries to link with…any song he tries to make…if it ain’t got some sort of semblance of “the essence” and that real hip hop in it, most will pan it or ignore it. I could be wrong, didn’t think too deep, just speaking generally tho.

None of his contemporaries get this treatment, they can do anything they want and it’s accepted (if it’s good)…even when Nas makes good records that ain’t that traditional/‘real’ feel nigs auto-hate (or maybe just genuinely don’t like it)….because it’s Nas. That’s fukked up, bro got unreal standards placed on him

That “Hotboys” shh might be the only time it really really worked…and that’s not even his.
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Thank God I Found You got love and so did Did You Ever Think as well. shyt You Won’t See Me Tonight got love literally everywhere it was weird af that it wasn’t an official single.
 
Mike the Executioner

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Ziggiy said:
Like Me is a bonus on the iTunes version of the album and it doesn’t fit in my opinion. The album ends perfectly with Black President.
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I was thinking you could put it somewhere in the middle, right around where "Fried Chicken" and "Project Roach" are. Definitely doesn't work as the closing track. The second verse relates to the themes of the album IMO. Just that one line about how the Lakers owner makes more money than the players and how Sidney Poitier looked out for aspiring black actors.

Piff Perkins said:
My issue with Hero is that, just like the CB single, it doesn't sound like it was for Nas. Hero sounds like a single you shop to struggling or young artists hoping to get them some radio spins. Like it could have been a Lupe or BoB single when their label was giving them shyt. But whereas I can imagine those artists making a borderline successful single with that beat, it virtually got zero radio play for Nas.

Those Def Jam albums were really weird to me. I'd love to hear Nas talk about them today, just to get a sense of what his headspace was back then. Because to me they both feel kind of lazy. Like there's a concept but both are the product of him either ignoring advice/support (HHID) or wanting to get off the label (Untitled). Like....you're on DEF JAM and we didn't get a noteworthy single, no bangers added to the tour catalog, and only a handful of dope beats.

EDIT: I forgot Life Is Good was on Def Jam. Great album with dope beats and added to the tour catalog (The Don especially).
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A song like "Hero" demonstrates Nas' versatility with how he doesn't change his approach. It's a radio-friendly beat, but he doesn't treat it like "You Owe Me." The third verse sounds like the mission statement for the album, and it at least has a purpose because he's standing up for the album title and striking back at his critics. "Make the World Go Round" is just about how much money Nas has. :russ:

I think that period of Nas' career is interesting because he was testing the limits of what he could do conceptually. He wasn't interested in making radio records and just went with what he felt in his heart. If you look at hip hop at that time, a lot of older artists were struggling with trying to fit into the new landscape, but you rarely saw Nas rap over something like "Pop Champagne," for example. Untitled was a bold album to put out in 2008, when ringtone rap was at its height and everyone was coming out with the next new dance. The execution varied from album to album (of the three Nas albums that people gloss over, Untitled was the best), but I can respect him for trying things and not giving into the pressure of staying relevant. He still went gold even without the major radio play and accolades.
 
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Figaro said:
I hate the beat on Hero, Pollow Da Don was just a generic commercial producer to me at the time.

But the way Nas was spitting on it made the joint listenable, it does get a skip occasionally when I play the album because it just sounds out of place sonically on the album, same with the Game/CB record.

I’m pretty confident a lot of songs from the ****** mixtape were originally for the album but Def Jam intervened imo.
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Mannnnn I remember me and my boy driving down to the beach Hero the mixtape version dropped and that s*** rang off at the beach all the way down to the beach. Song was dope too me and Nas went crazy.
 
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kes929

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Prolific_1011 said:
Hero is dope to me. Lol
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Super dope. Some nas fans hear and 808/trap type beat and reject it right away haha. Honestly, I think if as a whole Nas fans were more receptive and open to different sounds like that from Nas, some of those records would go further. But I’ve always felt in the minority as a Nas fan when it comes to Nas hopping on non typical sounding beats.
 
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