NASIR is the thirteenth studio album from New York rapper Nas. This is the first time in six years we have had a solo release from Nas. Many fans of him had been waiting since his announcement in 2013 and were teased with a feature on a song from DJ Khaled's 2016 album Major Key called "Nas Album Done." But as it turns out, it wasn't truly done until Kanye swooped in and produced this album for him. NASIR is the fifth seven-song album from G.O.O.D. Music and after listening to Illmatic for the first time last week, I was excited to hear what Nas had to offer in 2018.
Positives
Like the other G.O.O.D. Music albums, this is a concise 7 songs and 26 minutes. Kanye once again provides some amazing production, including some samples like the use of "Children's Story" by Slick Rick on "Cops Shot the Kid." These were some of the best beats Nas has ever rapped over and he clearly still has it in terms of bars, flow, and storytelling. This album also had some of the best hooks on this series of projects on songs such as "Bonjour," "everything," and "Adam and Eve." The lyrical content from Nas touches on subjects such as the racial bias in the police system, taking things for granted, and just enjoying the simple things in life.
Negatives
Like my review of Kids See Ghosts, this section will mostly touch on the messy release and not too much on the content of the album. The reason why it took me until today to listen to this was because this was released incredibly late. I didn't think Kanye could outdo himself in terms of his terrible punctuality this month, but he actually did. It was released on Friday night as opposed to right after the listening party live stream, which made Kids See Ghosts seem on time and ye seem super early. I didn't listen to any music on Friday because waiting for this album took away any energy and desire I had to discover new music. As for the album's content, I didn't really care too much for the intro track.
Features
1) Diddy, Puff Daddy, or whatever name he chooses to go by at this point (Not For Radio) - How many features in the past few years has Diddy actually rapped? It seems like he's just there to provide ad-libs and some spoken word stuff more often, and that's what he does on this track.
2) 070 Shake (Not For Radio) - Her hook was the worst part of the album. It didn't sound like her other vocals on "Ghost Town" and "Violent Crimes," and they sound very grating. It doesn't help that her hook is nothing special, lyrically.
3) Kanye West (Cops Shot the Kid/everything) - He was the best feature on the album. He delivered a solid verse on "Cops Shot the Kid" and his singing on "everything" is the best singing he's ever done.
4) Tony Williams (Bonjour) - His vocals were absolutely beautiful. I loved the chorus and the little verse he did towards the end too.
5) The-Dream (everything/Adam and Eve) - Thier post-chorus on the song "everything" was amazing and almost had me in tears. Although their hook on Adam and Eve was the weaker feature it was still one of the best hooks on the album. Overall, they provided some great vocals.
Best Tracks
1) Cops Shot the Kid (feat. Kanye West) - This song addresses police brutality and racial injustice. Kanye's sample of "Children's Story" by Slick Rick was great, as well as the verse he provides. It's one of the more important tracks on this album.
2) White Label - Once again, we get another amazing sample from Kanye. There's no hook as it's just two verses of Nas spitting some heat. I also thought the outro of this song sounded amazing.
3) Bonjour (feat. Tony Williams) - I'm a sucker for piano-based beats, and this song delivered in that department. The World Famous Tony Williams absolutely stole the show with his chorus and verse.
4) everything (feat. The-Dream x Kanye West) - Kanye's singing sounds amazing on the chorus, as well as The-Dream's pre and post-chorus. On this song, Nas raps about not taking things for granted and how to make use of everything you have.
5) Simple Things - This was such an amazing way to end the album. Sonically, this is my favorite song as Kanye provides some modern-style production for Nas. This song is about being grateful for the simple things in life and my only problem with this track is that it's just too short.
Worst Track
Not For Radio (feat. Diddy x 070 Shake) - This was the easiest section of the review since most of this album is great. The guest contributions to this song were just awful and it was the most forgettable track overall.
Conclusion
This album is incredible. Nas rapping over Kanye production was something I didn't know I wanted. This is definitely an album of the year contender.
Score: 9/10
Like I said in my write-up for Illmatic, I have never really listened to a Nas album in full before last week, but of the two albums I have listened to, Illmatic is only better by a small margin.
Tomorrow, I will review the new album from Beyonce and Jay-Z, which has gotten some praise from major publications.
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