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Nas was once labeled a
prodigy, but soon afterwards his quality went down and
we have yet to see the caliber of sound that he once
produced on the classic CD of
"Illmatic". Since then, his CDs have drastically
degraded in substance.
Having said the necessary, let's get down to business on his
latest CD "Stillmatic". The very
name of the CD echoes his original "Illmatic", but
even the artwork screams that there have been some
changes at Ill Will Records, Nas'
very own record label. A short list of guests include
recently released AZ and beautiful songstress Amerie.
The intro, aptly titled "Stillmatic" is one of the better
openers that have been out in a
while. Provides a very smooth yet energetic beat which
poetically flows with Nas' voice and
gives off a great vibe. Track 2 "Ether" moves a little
less poetic, instead giving you the compulsion to bob
your head. God's Son (Nas) decided
to dedicate an entire track to dissing Jay-z, his
multi-platinum selling New York
rival, and effectively terrorizes Jayhova. A pretty brilliant
track.
"Got Ur Self a..." is another worthwhile track that mixes an
up-tempo beat, full of cymbals,
piano rifts and guitar plucks, with a lyrical Nas kicking
knowledge about his street skills. While this is an
overdone topic, he does it in great
style. Speaking of abused rap material, next up is "Smokin".
The Queensbridge native decides to flow about subjects ranging
from his origins, blazing blunts, street war and thug
friendship, but it is way too
difficult to not like this track when it has such a nice beat
and verbal
disposition.
Track 5, titled "You're Da Man" has a polished instrumental
with a nice vinyl sound to it. Truly
a nice piece of work here, plenty of subtleties between the
beat and Nas' remarkable use of
metaphors and a very catchy hook. Followed up by
"Rewind" brings an old school feel in a revised and
updated way while Nas tells a story
about a day in his life. A decent track, hardly noteworthy
or inspiring unlike the ridiculously tight, soon to be
legend "One Mic". This track is
perfect in every way, Nas did the production
on this track which says a
lot about his production skills. The lyrics emit
a sense of reality and call to action. This track is
simply incredible and will be the
measuring stick of every other deep soul searching type of rap
joint from here on out.
"2nd Childhood" like most of the other tracks gives a thick
bass line, very nice & relaxed feel.
A creative reflection on his neighborhood where he
speaks on people from around his way and never growing
up. "Destroy & Rebuild" is yet
another track to attack and correct anyone out of line from
Nas' blueprint of how it should be.
Although it is not quite clearly expressed.
Arguably the best track outside of "One Mic" is next when Nas
teams up with AZ on "The Flyest". AZ
brings fire with his verse and outshines Nas' 2nd verse,
but the real treat is in the 3rd verse where Nas & AZ
trade lines throughout
the verse, outstanding. Not to forget the chorus, a very
determined R'n'B hook fits the song
to a "T". This an amazing song that is a must-hear.
"Rule" features the other guest star Amerie who samples Tears
for Fears' "Everybody wants to rule
the world". Nas addresses the state of the world
as he sees it, naturally he focuses on all the negative
aspects while attacking
the President and Colin Powell. A decent track, very similar
feel to other tracks, but this time
easily forgettable. While focusing on everything wrong
in the world Nas opens the next track telling us
"whatever you feel is rightfully
yours, go out and take it even if that means blood and death."
Despite his inability to stay on
track with his own views, "My Country" sits perfectly
into "Stillmatic" schematics beatwise and lyrically,
another quality addition.
Ending the official track list is "What Goes Around". There is
a lot of poison in this song, at
least according Nasir, where views are expressed in a fashion
that echoes "Rule", different beat and different words.
"Every Ghetto" is listed
as a bonus track, and thankfully it was added. As the name
would indicate, this track is
strictly street-level, the laid back rhythmic percussion
overlapped by some nice lighter
piano-like sounds create a great ending to a near perfect CD.
The inevitable conclusion here is that Nas has finally
redeemed himself from his latest
misfires such as "Nastradamus", this CD is quality on nearly
every level.
Production is outstandingly perfect, Nas brings the fire
lyrically never wasting a single
line and this is a must have in the CD collection. The only
flaw is an overall lack of creative
content, which is a minor flaw but effects the
replay value of certain songs, while other songs such as "One
Mic", "Ether", "Smokin", and "The
Flyest", to name a few, will have you consistently making sure
there is a backup copy just in case you lose the
original. Nas deserves his 4.5
Planets.
Track Listing:
01 Stillmatic (The Intro)
02 Ether
03 Got Ur Self A...
04 Smokin
05 You're Da Man
06 Rewind
07 One Mic
08 2nd Childhood
09 Destroy & Rebuild
10 The Flyest (feat. AZ)
11 Rule (feat. Amerie)
12 My Country
13 What Goes Around
Bonus Track: Every Ghetto
Skrabble Rating: 4.5 out of 5
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