First off, I want to thank you for this post instead of the crackhead takes that I've been seeing in this thread (guys are now saying Nas has declined vocally and lyrically............what?!).
But my theory is that what we're seeing now is what Nas always wanted. He's never been a Sade or D'Angelo type of artist. He always took a year off between albums at the most. And even when he didn't have a solo project out, he was still doing features, freestyles, and other things like Distant Relatives. Stillmatic, The Lost Tapes, and God's Son all came out within a year of each other. I Am... and Nastradamus came out the same year. Street's Disciple was originally a triple album, Untitled was pushed back seven months. You see where I'm going?
Nas is on his own label now and he has the ability to drop what he wants when he wants, without label interference or needing to overthink a track list. If anything hurt his albums in the mid 2000s, it was those two things, not bad beats. There were plenty of great songs that never got a proper release and would have elevated the albums they were made for. Nas doesn't have that problem anymore because Hit-Boy is a great collaborator and has pushed him into changing his process. If Nas had his way, songs like "Car #85" and "Beef" would have stayed in the vault.
At the end of the day, people shouldn't get bent out of shape with who Nas chooses to work with. Hit-Boy is bringing him into a space where he feels comfortable and motivated and energetic. We keep getting new albums because these songs aren't just sitting around anymore. If Hit-Boy is helping make this era happen, Nas should keep working with him. I don't care who makes beats. Premier, Alchemist, Madlib, Salaam, Swizz, RZA, Rick Rubin........whoever. As long as the final product is dope, it doesn't matter to me.
If the Hit-Boy albums aren't your thing anymore or they never were your thing, that's okay. You don't have to like them. But Nas inspires these weird reactions out of everyone so you end up getting insane opinions that should probably stay close to the chest. "They make too much music," "I don't know why Nas keeps working with him," "Pete has the right to judge the way he wants," "Nas has declined vocally and lyrically," "Nas doesn't sound like he did twenty years ago." Pretty soon, Nas discussions are going to become as unbearable as Eminem discussions, and I might not even want to jump into them anymore.
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