It's time for another Nas album. We always hold out hope for Nas who - we should remind our children - once made 'Illmatic' one of the greatest hip-hop albums of all-time. This begins with real promise, kicking into an Afrocentric spoken-word intro. Things begin to go downhill when our star takes the mic, introduced in typically portentous style with the words: "Nastradamus tell us how the story gets told…" Nas then proceeds to witter on throughout an entire album about how he's doing this for his 'niggaz'. Presumably he thinks that by filling headz with his own materialist fantasies ("gold bath tubs, makin' love to my queen, get my back rubbed….statues, marble floors, rare paintings on my wall, my lifestyle's like the Forbes magazine") he's acting as a perfect role model.
It is, of course, top class commercial hip-hop and Nas has attracted an impressive raft of contributors, Ron Isley, Ginuwine and Mobb Deep, amongst others. And, yes the kid can rhyme, albeit about the most ridiculous subject matter.…..Nastradamus! The problem here is pretty much the same as that which has blighted every Nas album that's followed in the wake of 'Illmatic', it lacks the passion and creative energy of that particular masterpiece. Back then, Large Professor, DJ Premier and Q-Tip produced the tracks. Now it's those careful commercial craftsmen Trackmasters that steer Nas' sound, with a little help from the likes of L.E.S. So, if it's commercial hip-hop you're after, you're a lot better off with this than anything from the Bad Boy stable. Tracks like 'Life We Chose', 'The Prediction' and 'Come Get Up' are solidly funky and the album as a whole lacks the daft melodrama of its predecessor. But, if it's real hip-hop you're looking for don't waste your dollars.
