It's been six years and, thanks to a recent video shoot putting a spanner in the works, a couple of extra weeks in the waiting for the self-styled hip-hop messiah to reach British soil. Since his seminal debut 'Illmatic' Nas' career has been widely criticised thanks in no small part to the fact that said album set the stakes so high.
In recent years his name has more often than not been mentioned in relation to his nemesis Jay-Z and the pair's very public falling out, without so much as lip service to his music - something that has clearly troubled Queensbridge's most famous son.
This year's defiant comeback album 'God's Son' has helped set the record straight and, in critical terms at least, put Mr. Jones back on top. 'The Last Real N**** Alive' effectively put the feud to bed with a measured history lesson on the pair's rise to fame without Nas needing to descend into another round of petty dissing. The Jiggaman's recent arena shows were largely met with indifference as his ascent to hip-hop superbrand continues so tonight is yet another opportunity for Nas to prove his heavyweight credentials.
Arriving onstage at an unusually early hour Nas receives the kind of welcome befitting a resurrected deity. The congregation gathered here are ready to worship at his feet and he doesn't disappoint. Thankfully, and unlike many of his contemporaries, he keeps things stripped down, simple and at times show stopping. The focus here is predominantly on his art as poet and performer and not on the size of his ego or his wad. There are no costume changes, dance routines or pyrotechnics to speak of with Nas preferring instead to give the frenzied crowd plenty of what they came to hear.
He carries with him bags of presence, poise and his chocolate-dipped vocal chords, and aside from a mic, that's pretty much all he needs. He draws from his entire career boldly dipping into 'Nastradamus' and 'Stillmatic' without a thought for the critics and serving as a reminder of his longevity in a notoriously fickle game. His new material still gains the greatest response however. 'Made You Look' goes off like an atomic bongo bomb, while 'Get Down''s old school update causes a round of mass rump shaking.
As people leave the venue they whisper in awe of what they've witnessed with many proclaiming the end of Jay-Z's reign. As he has decided to retire and become a living breathing sneaker ad after his next release it seems there can only be one winner of this whole sorry spat. 'God's Son' has returned to walk amongst us and the message is clear my children, it's time to become one of his disciples.
