Nas - Nastradamus
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Music CD Cover
Artist: NasEdition: Music CD
Format: Explicit Lyrics
CD Release Date: 1999-11-23
Music Label: Sony
Soundtracks:
- The Prediction
- Life We Chose
- Nastradamus
- Some Of Us Have Angels
- Project Windows (featuring Ron Isley)
- Come Get Me
- Shoot 'em Up
- Last Words
- Family (featuring Mobb Deep)
- God Love Us
- Quiet Niggas (featuring Bravehearts)
- Big Girl
- New World
- You Owe Me (featuring Ginuwine)
- The Outcome
Free Music Notes for Nastradamus
Free Music Review: Reduce your expectations and you will be surprised
Hit: 3 Stars
Fresh off listening to Nas's great new Untitled album, I felt compelled to go back and re-listen to all his old efforts from start to finish. Beginning with Illmatic and ending chronologically with Untitled, it's fair to say that Nas changed considerably as a rapper throughout his career. This needs to be kept in mind when listening to this album
In late 1999, he was in the midst of this strange Nastradamus image, which saw him torn between his street grit of Illmatic and the commercial-driven efforts of It Was Written and I Am..., which were both good albums in their own right, yet found Nas juggling his subject matter between realistic and interesting street poetry to the money, bitches and success that seeped into the entire rap game.
The best part of Nastradamus is the fact that there is VERY little of the flashy, bling-oriented raps that we found on I Am... These songs are much harder, and find Nas revisiting the street life. I tend to take his raps with a grain of salt, because I just don't think that he was ever "on the block" in 1999 as much as he preaches, but it's at least consistent with his Illmatic roots.
Now to the songs. Yeah, there are a few bad ones on here. The last third of the album (five songs) drags along and leaves a bitter taste in my mouth, considering that the first two-thirds of the album is strong. Contrary to what many would have you believe, there are a few gems here:
-Project Windows: one of Nas's most beautiful songs, with Ronald Isley's beautiful voice flowing over the chorus. The rhymes are vintage Illmatic, and it's the album's best song.
-Come Get Me: a monstrous beat from DJ Premier, this song is similar to "Nas Is Like" off the I Am...record. The beat cruises along, and Nas's rhymes, although not as original or clever as I'd like, flow perfectly.
-Some of Us Have Angels: a fresh, original concept song that works well.
Those three songs are great, and like I said earlier, the first two-thirds of the album is very good. Beginning with the song "God Love Us," though, the album begins to fall flat. "New World" is a strong social commentary song that is horribly misplaced at track 13. It's sandwiched between two awful songs before and after it, and it would have functioned perfectly as the final track after "Family" to close out the album. Besides this song, however, the last third of the album is pretty poor - trite lyrics, uninspiring beats, etc.
But isn't this what plagues most Nas albums? I Am... had "KISSING" and "Money is My Bitch", poor songs. Stillmatic, good as it was, had a couple crappy songs in "Braveheart Party" and "Poison". God's Son had the lame "I Can" and "Warrior Song", and "Street's Disciple" was too drawn-out over two discs. So Nas has a history of this. Granted, Nastradamus has more missteps and useless songs than you'd expect from him - about five on this album - but the first two-thirds of it and "New World" make for a solid collection of songs. It's a decent Nas album, and it should be purchased by fans of his, especially those that enjoyed the It Was Written and I Am... albums.
Nastradamus Poster
Some artists take years between CDs, and some just keep spitting them out. Put Nasir Jones in the latter category, as his fourth album is his second of 1999. Judging by the title and the semi-apocalyptic tone of many of the tracks, Nas has millennium tension and then some, but his fears and prophecies are all stuck in the same old--and by now played out--ghetto melodramas that have become the leitmotif of hip-hop. Nearly every track concerns the life on the streets, the Game, the 'hood, the mayhem and murder, and Nas's muse and old stomping grounds, the QB Projects. Not that Nas doesn't have something to offer on any of the above topics. You can, through the often clumsy production, hear fiery glimpses of the young child-poet who burst on the scene in 1994 and was instantly heralded as the successor to Rakim. But as one might expect from a disc that arrives seven months after its predecessor, Nastradamus seems half thought out, with Nas conflicted between glorifying the thug life and trying desperately to issue a cautionary tale. As always, the best cut is when Nas joins forces with DJ Premier, who may be incapable of a bad beat. "Come Get Me" is the nearly perfect marriage of voice and rhythms, and like the equally solid "Some of Us Have Angels" (produced by Dame Grease), shows why Nas--even with his shortcomings and missteps--can never be slept on. Now if he would just take a break and find new inspiration. --Amy LindenRap & Hip-Hop Music CDs
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