Since unleashing his powerhouse debut "Illmatic" back in '94, Nas's career has veered between the two extremes of true hip-hop visionary and vacuous MTV sell-out. The appearance of his seventh LP, "Street's Disciple", as a double album is a cause of mild concern: has Mr. Jones finally given in to complete MC megalomania? Or could this be a powerful and focused return to form?
Fans - breath easy. Though the collection of twenty-two tracks is not without blemishes (some of them, like 80s smulch-fest "No One Else In The Room", are quite embarrassing), it is undoubtedly Nas's best work since '96's "It Was Written".
Nas himself has described "Street's Disciple" as a "rebirth". So he should after the decidedly average "God's Son" in 2002. But much of the new LP really does recall the potency and story-telling genius that made his inaugural outing so irresistible.
Peppered with a fine array of guests - Maxwell, Ludacris, Busta Rhymes, Kelis, Lyfe and AZ on vocals; Q-Tip, Scott Storch, Salaam Remi, L.E.S. and Nas himself on the boards - the album reaches out to a golden past to bring in a significant new career phase.
Much of the Queensborough roughneck's early fire is gone: not extinguished exactly but tempered by age, experience and possibly the missus (Kelis). It still appears - most notably on the autobiographical single "Thief's Theme" and the vicious, fool-serving "Nazareth Savage" - but mostly Nas is content to preach and proselytise, rather than punch.
Flowing through an impressive multitude of flavours - the p-funk of "American Way" (a collaboration with Kelis); the biparous bop of "Sekou Story", the Jay-Dilla style soul of "Reason" - a number of musical pit stops lend the album added poignancy.
The upfront "Coon Picnic (These Are Our Heroes)" disses "fakers" like Cuba Gooding Jr. "Bridging The Gap" (featuring avant-garde jazz trumpeter father Olu Dara) takes us on a musical journey from Africa to Queens via the Mississippi Delta, Motown and New Orleans. Cuts like "Virgo" and "Unauthorized Biography Of Rakim" pay dues to old school influences.
If it's educational in one sense, it's also personal in another. Towards the end we are given the comedic "The Makings Of A Perfect Bitch", followed by the more sincere "Getting Married" and the downright sappy finale, "Me & You (Dedicated To Destiny)".
Older rap fans will probably feel the album's subtler pulsings more, but anyone will be able to appreciate the raw talent required to keeps such an epic and sprawling project buoyant, without resorting to boring braggadocio and bawdy bling.
