Again, Ro's topics can get tiresome after rapping for nearly 30 years. He can get away with it more often than not due to his delivery and the fact that he does, and always has placed importance on writing engaging choruses, unlike so many other rappers these days - that I have bemoaned about in many recent reviews. 'KKK' starts it off well, where, like always, Ro sees race issues from different perspectives and it has a fresh chorus making it feel like nothing Ro has done before. ' Me Against All Yall' is another highlight and an example of the album having perhaps slightly more bite to the beats than the last couple of albums have had. I don't like the feature on 'Don’t Judge Me'. That's the worst song, but othersise it' another fairly consistent album from front to back. Given the recycled topics I don't think Ro needs these 15-16 track album and he'd be better off around 12.
Beats: ★★★
Rapping/Bars: ★★★★
Hooks: ★★★☆
Best Tracks: KKK, Ro Come Bacc, Me Against All Yall
1. KKK 82
2. Famous Again 74
3. I’m Tryin 64
4. So So 60
5. Do Less 72
6. Would Have Known 70
7. Ro Come Bacc 76
8. Me Against All Yall 80
9. Gotta Maintain 70
10. Heart of a Hustler 70
11. I Sware 60
12. Don’t Judge Me 50
13. On My Side 64
14. Do You 70
15. Too Much Patron
Depending on the day, Nas is either in my top three or my number one, but I was never anticipating this too highly. Maybe if it was released when it was hinted at many moons ago I would've been, but Premo hasn't been a consistently dope producer for a long, long time. Many people say since 'PRhyme' or 'PRhyme 2' which was already 10 years ago, but I would say it goes further back than that.
Nas has saved beats in the past, and he does his thing here, but I honestly think he was rapping better on many of his recent featuring verses and on albums like ‘KD3’ than he is across this whole project. Although a verse will always sound better over the beat to the instantly loveable 'u aint gotta chance' than most of what's on offer here. The rapping is still of high quality though, but the bars aren't that interesting at times. The hooks are again lacking, which is something I say a lot about modern hip hop and I also said on quite a few of Nas' albums with Hit-Boy.
There are some original concepts, as you’d expect from Nas, but nothing here rises above good. There isn't one top tier Nas track and most of all that's down to the beats and lack of memorable hooks. A lot of blame has been put on Premo but there's no i in team. It's a collaborative effort and Nas should have a higher standard of what he raps over and should remember that choruses matter. Every song doesn't need one, but it would be advantageous to have a few. I criticise artists not changing up for the chorus a lot these days. I've seen people say you're just after pop records if you start talking about this topic in rap, but it's complete BS. Look at Jeru's 'Ain't The Devil Happy' produced by Premier. The melodic loop of the verses is stripped back for the chorus leaving the drums, adding scratching, and without that change it wouldn't be the great song it is and it's not difficult to add that variety to a song at all. It's missing so often here and in lots of rap. Apologists argue lots of things, like this is the sound they were going for. Or it has that '90s feel. Or what did you expect? Or it will be a grower. Most things are a grower if you listen to them on repeat... If you are saying it's meant to sound '90s, fine. But does this compare to the best '90s hip hop? No. So that argument is moot.
There’s missed potential on several songs due to the lack of variety between verses and choruses. The long lists of shoutouts on ‘Writers’ and ‘Bouquet (To the Ladies)’ do nothing to improve their replayability. ‘Writers’, in particular, could have been the one clear standout worthy of a best of Nas playlist if it didn’t devolve into name-dropping. Overall, it’s a decent-to-solid project from two legends that shows they still love the art form, but song for song, the level just isn’t high enough to put this anywhere near the artists' best work. I’m probably not going out of my way to revisit it in the future.
Beats: ★★★
Rapping/Bars: ★★★★
Hooks: ★★☆
Best Tracks: My Life Is Real, GiT Ready, NY State of Mind Pt. 3, Writers, Sons (Young Kings)
1. My Life Is Real
I say this a lot with hip hop these days but the music under the chorus doesn't change enough from the verses and while the "Invisible fingers playin' chords on my haunted piano" part of the chorus is a nice hook, the rest of the chorus isn't catchy enough. Still, it’s a decent opener where Nas bigs up his contribution to hip hop.
2. GiT Ready
A different kind of production that’s enjoyable, if not amazing. It feels like a modern take on ’80s hip hop. I wasn’t feeling the chorus at first, but it’s grown on me.
3. NY State of Mind Pt. 3
I don't understand the hate for this production. It feels dark like the originals and the change up (something producers forget to do these days) between the verses and hook is something a lot of songs on this album, and from hip hop as a whole, these days is missing. There are way too many lazy producers and artists who basically loop a few seconds worth of music for 3-4 minutes. At least there is variety. It has a lot to live up to after the first two parts of NY State of Mind but I like this one too.
4. Welcome to the Underground
This one drags on. The beat doesn't change up enough, and as often from Premier, all the break we get is some vocal sample scratches, this time of Ice Cube saying "Comin' straight from the underground."
5. Madman
Nas tells the story of his come-up over another dark, gritty beat. He’s rapping his ass off, but the production doesn’t do enough to make it truly memorable, with short vocal scratches standing in for a hook again.
6. Pause Tapes
We get a history lesson about an early way of making hip hop beats. The opening interview excerpt should've been a separate interlude played prior to this. The beat is fairly uninspiring.
7. Writers
Premier and Nas both mentioned this as one of their favourites. There’s a lot of name-dropping, similar to ‘Bouquet (To the Ladies)’, much of which won’t mean anything to most listeners. While I don’t agree with what Nas is promoting here (quite the opposite) it’s still a good song with one of the stronger choruses, until it unravels into shout-outs that limits its appeal which is a shame.
8. Sons (Young Kings)
I predicted this one. I wrote in my review of 'Life Is Good' that, "He'll have to create a song about his son on his next album though. He can't show favouritism." Well, maybe not the "next album" part. I like the low-fi type of production here which makes for one of the more likeable beats.
9. It's Time
Topically I think this is one of the least interesting here. I've spun this album lots to write this review and this song just feels like it's there. It doesn’t give me much of anything.
10. Nasty Esco Nasir
Nas brings his alter-egos. A fun song and concept.
11. My Story Your Story
This is the worst Nas/AZ collaboration that I've heard. From the forced-sounding intro and loooong outro, to the topics and the beat, I just don’t get this one. Again, there’s little to no change in the production during the hook.
12. Bouquet (To the Ladies)
Nas spends the last 90 seconds shouting out almost every female rapper imaginable, regardless of quality or listener engagement. If you’re going to do that, rap it in bars - something like what Eminem did on ‘Yah Yah’ - and give it replay value. Before that, it’s a decent ode to the ladies.
13. Junkie
Nas raps about his addiction to rap. Again the production during the chorus does pretty much nothing different to the verses. Some variety there would've improved this one. The, "I'm still sick, hello everybody," sounds awkward to me and would've worked better as the start of a verse.
14. Shine Together
More just scratching vocals for the hook again... I like the production a little more than a number of other songs.
15. 3rd Childhood
A sequel to a classic, but I’m not feeling this one. It’s one of the more lackluster tracks and doesn’t excite me.
This kicks off with the usual high tempo No Limit song with Mia playing a bit part as four other No Limit soldiers take over and the same can be said on a few other tracks too. The next samples 'Yearning for Your Love' by The Gap Band that you'd have to do a lot wrong with to make a bad song from it. I don't know if it's poor mixing but Mia's vocals sound drowned out though. It's a decent pop rap song. Again, Mia plays a small role on 'Don't Start No Shit' with Master P taking over for the most part. 'I Think Somebody' has unique production. 'Ghetto Livin'' is one of the best with its well crooned hook. 'Daddy' is a heartfelt song dedicated to Mia's father. For a No Limit album there is a decent amount of topics away from the g-rap. There's nothing to write home about but it's worth a listen if you like The Tank's sound.
Beats: ★★☆
Rapping/Bars: ★★★
Hooks: ★★★
Best Tracks: Bring It On, What's Ya Point, Ghetto Livin', Daddy
1 Bring It On 74
2 Whatcha Wanna Do 64
3 Don't Start No Shit 60
4 Mama Drama 54
5 Imma Shine 67
6 I Think Somebody 60
7 Mama's Tribute 50
8 What's Ya Point 72
9 Thugs Like Me 60
10 Ride or Run 66
11 TRU Bitches 67
12 Puttin' It Down 63
13 Ghetto Livin' 70
14 Play Wit Pussy 60
15 Don't Blame Me 64
16 Daddy 70
17 Like Dat 64
18 Sex Ed. 54
19 Flip 2 Rip 50
20 Fallen Angels (Dear Jill) 64
There is nothing I'm popping into a best of hip hop playlist here, but it's a consistently solid project (minus 'Trill Man Dem'). Bun is such a smooth rapper and it's a shame we don't hear more from him on this feature filled album. Statik Selektah, must you place your tag on every song when you're on the album art?
You're Mine (feat. Busta Rhymes) 74
Crooklyn 25 (feat. NEMS & Talib Kweli) 70
Junkyard Dogs (feat. Bone Crusher) 70
Trill Man Dem (feat. Yaadcore & Friyie) 30
Before the Storm (feat. Neek Da Skittz) 64
Still At It (feat. Talib Kweli) 70
Let Me Know (feat. Termanology & Tony Sunshine) 80
To the Ceiling (feat. Billie Essco, Premo Rice & Robb Bank$) 80
Evening Prayer (feat. Recoechi & Billie Essco) 74
Bringing Polo Back (feat. Propain, Oti$ & Gp 4/5) 74
1 Time 4 Da 5th (Outro) (feat. JFK) 60
