Nasir by Nas
- curated by autumn
- Jun 27, 2018
- 5 min read
Artist: Nas
Album: Nasir
Released: 2018
Genre: Hip-Hop
Escobar Season begins! Shout out to all the Nas fans! I know you all have been waiting on this project since DJ Khaled last album had "Nas Album Done" as the opening track which created the anticipation for a new Nas project. Well, it's finally here, and the Rap God had a lot to say.
It starts with "Not For Radio", a track with strong drums and dark opera singing. Nas starts off this song with saying, "BLACK KEMET GODS"! His voice just hits you in the face with his lyrics and truth. It's like damn, Nas is back with that afro-centric truth that gets pushed to the back like the origin of Christianity having evidence in Egypt. He gives us a history lesson mentioning the Moors, Abraham Lincoln, Edgar Hoover, Willie Lynch, and Ronald Reagan. He put out a lot of information that makes me want to fact check and open a black encyclopedia.
He made some interesting claims in 2 minutes and 40 seconds. I also really appreciate how the first track reminds me of "Hate Me Now" (one of my fav Nas songs) with Diddy adlibing and putting his profound voice in the background. "You lucky God made us compassionate and forgiving". Diddy is whole heartedly right in his sentiment because African Americans been through too much shit in this country to not allow rebellion and genocide occur on a mass scale towards the people who enslaved them. Compassion is truly a gift.
The next track, "Cop Shot the Kid", beat is crazy! It took me a minute to dive into the lyrics cause the production makes me want to dance at a 90's themed house party. I get my life from any Slick Rick sound clip cause that man is a legend and his voice provides so much nostalgia and purity when it comes to Hip-Hop. The Richard Pryor clip in the beginning was funny, but also an unfortunate reminder that police brutality has not changed or decreased given that Pryor's stand-up occurred in the 80's.
When I play "White Label" I am taken back by how dope the beat is! Kanye is still that production genius he always has been. Once I stop bopping my head and look at the title of this track, I immediately thought about the significance of its title which made me think of White Label Scotch whisky which is one of the best selling alcohol brands in the U.S. He touched the surface of his rumored alcoholism while reminiscing on his past behaviors with the women of his past. What I found interesting is his idea of women as an accessory which is not an unusual concept no matter how unnerving it is. I really liked how he expressed this belief "you are an extension of what I've worked hard to build". The woman is one who he had worked hard to conquer, an item, an object instead of a person. Luckily, this song is in the context of 1993 when his first album, Illmatic, came out. I can only hope that he has matured since then because a mindset like this is common but very detrimental.
Ironically, Nas starts his next song with the lyrics, "I should be more mature." "Bonjour" has one of the best beats on here due to its laid-back and luxurious feel. The ookIt sounds like a song Diddy would take a snippet of to use in a Ciroc commercial, and I would not blame him. Themes of The second verse is where the lyrics really shine cause Nas is dropping gems like, "watch who you impregnate cause that's long term stressing".
"Everything" is a stand out track on this project because it is the longest song at 7 minutes. It is calm with profound lyrics. I will say that I would like The-Dream on the hook by himself because Kanye's singing is not impressive. I know he is not trained, but I can usually tolerate his singing voice, but not on this track. I do wish that Nas' verses were longer since he paints clear imagery on remaining conscious and humble. For instance, I like that he said that his first house was a mansion haunted by dead rich white people that were mad hung up pictures of black Christ. He also decided to take taxis instead of driving Maybach cars to remind himself that life isn't as easy for other people.
My favorite lyric from "everything" is one that smacked me if the face as soon as I heard it! He said," the future is us yet every citizen is in prison". He is saying that we have so much power and influence as black people with our time and money that we could create dramatic changes for our future, but a lot of our population is incarcerated and powerless! Bruuuh!
"Adam and Eve" has many food references that I like! Nas mentions eating foie gras, caviar, and drinking a red Bordeaux wine. Very fancy cuisine which I can appreciate except for the foie gras since the ducks are force fed to make their liver taste delicious. Other than these food references, Nas' pen game is still crazy. While giving props to his own voice an cadence, he said that dead gangsters dance to his music moving their chinchilla coats. Now why is Nas seeing ghosts dance? Well, his music is too damn good to leave the spirits out.
He also mentions sex addiction which I find very interesting. He illustrates that his sexual experiences got to a point where women wanted to have sex with him just to scratch him off their list. He concludes that this behavior slightly offended him, BUT how sway? In my opinion, he is contradicting himself because he would treat an expensive woman the exact same, so why is he mad? Anyway, those were just a few moments that stood out to me on this song other than this dope ass production.
The outro, "Simple Things", has to be my favorite song on Nasir. As soon as I heard it, I fell in love with the music and feeling it gave me. Nas' flow on here is my favorite, and the beat is my favorite. I just really wish it was longer than 2 minutes, but it was a perfect outro to an amazing project! Overall, Nasir gave me what I needed and surprised me in a very gratifying way. Kanye's production was dope as usual, but I really did not expect for the tracks feel like 90's beats, but Ye said that create these tracks made him feel like a teenager again which is so dope! He did not chop up soul samples, instead he used some Iranian artists to sample and it worked out very well. Nas' lyrics, flow, and cadence was great as usual and the beats matched him perfectly. I am glad that we got to hear another project from him and he is showing us that he still has his essence and skill. I love that he is not trying to emulate any of these younger artists. He's making pure rap for the purists. Thank you Nas. Now, go listen to this project and get your mind right!
Support the artist: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/nasir/1399800981
Quotables: "The Earth is cursed, but I survive many climates"
"You're wealthy when your kid's upbringing better than yours"
"What you love can kill you like a heart physician who dies from a heart attack"
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