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It would appear Nas has
been busy since dropping his last LP "Stillmatic".
Since then he has managed to put out a lost tapes
collection, a remix collection as
well as his latest LP "God's Son". At this point Nas has
little to prove
to the industry or to the streets, he can without a doubt
produce, flow and look the part of a
street warrior without breaking stride. He managed to
pack in 7 guest appearances
throughout the span of these 14 tracks which is probably be a
record for him as he prides himself on being able to hold down
a track by his lonesome. He's arguably sitting as king
of the east coast rap game, will he
be dethroned?
"God's Son" opens up with "Get DOwn", laden with
trumpets, pianos and a bassline
that will invoke a 70's memory, even if you weren't
born yet. The hook is so
simplistic yet very effective that it will be ringing in your
ears, so far Nas is off to a good
start. We move on to "The Cross" with a very slow beat with
a scratch at the end of the bar. Mr. Jones decides to
let the streets know that he's
carrying 'the cross' of the rap game, and calls out various
people as well as methods of rap
such as the use of R&B hooks, but isn't he rumored to be
hooking
up with Irv Gotti? Anyway, just a self-hyped up track not
worth hearing more than twice.
Moving on to "Made You Look" we are once again transported to
the past via the beat, this time we
are transported into the late 80s with Nas' updated
verbal spit. I think we have our official first track
gone to absolute waste. Production
is all off, the voice/beat mixture doesn't work at all, the
beat is just plain wack, and it ends
with an acapella finish which is also horrid.
"Last Real Nigga Alive" is another detriment to this CDs name.
It's as if the kick drum and clap
was stolen from "Thriller" and mixed with a synth from
"Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind", the hook is wasted
oxygen that will only
stress trees and their liberal counterparts.
If out of place tracks is the objective, then "Zone Out" fits
right in. The beat consists of a
kick and snare played in reverse, and a background that makes
you wonder if Nas couldn't afford
Neptunes and took the next best thing, which
is still wasted money making me wish Nas had ponied up
the dough for the real thing. Oh
yea, the Bravehearts are on here too, and they are also out of
place. Sloppy hook, sloppy beat,
decent lyrics makes this song equivalent to pots and
pans noises pounded on by a singing 8 year old.
We are next accompanied by lovely singers Kelis and Claudette
Ortiz on "Hey Nas", but apparently
our host didn't feel it neccessary to get full usage out of
them
by supplying a good hook for them to shine on (wasn't he
ripping RnB hooks a few tracks
back?). Going for the majestic feel to build up an air of Nas
looking for love this track is
another failure outside of a few lyrical spouts. Feel
free to fast forward through this track.
Dear Lord, not another 80s kick and snare, yet "I Can"
ultimately can't. It would seem that
Nas wanted to make a track for his child to give a positive
message while
using a Beethoven sample and allowing children to follow his
lead on the chorus. This would have
been better suited on a "Sesame Street" soundtrack, where
there
would perhaps be less contradicting statements with other
songs on the CD. "Book of Rhymes"
starts with a laid back keyboard and bass rift, and smoothly
mixes with Nas' vocals. Our
self-proclaimed son of God spews old verses that were never
used and makes a song out it, a good idea that is
pulled off slyly, but only worth a
few listens.
"Thugz Mansion" features Tupac and J. Phoenix, both give
outstanding performances over an
acoustic guitar. Strangely, I greatly enjoyed this on Tupac's
"Better Dayz"
but find myself impatient for the track to end on Nas'
slightly different version, it comes
across unoriginal since Tupac's version was released a month
before Nas'.
Should've left this as a B side. The next song,
"Mastermind" starts off with a
refreshing bass-lead beat, but soon after quenches the
thirst. Quickly forgettable
chorus is only echoed with lazy flow, which is disturbing to
hear Nas miss opportunities to spit
flame.
Alicia Keys is featured next on "Warrior Song" and delivers a
commanding hook. The intro to the
song leaves you shaking your head but when the beat drops it's
a sigh
of relief, because it's a solid beat. Nas switches his flow to
a more militant style to fit in
seamlessly with the beat as if his voice is just another
instrument used by the producer. A
definite highlight to please your ears. "Revolutionary
Warfare" features Lake who holds his
own during the 2nd verse. The chorus is weak as Nas
spouts a few quick uncatchy lines. The 3rd verse is
shared between Nas and Lake, nothing
noteworthy here though.
The most heartfelt song Nas has offered thus far is without a
doubt "Dance" where Nas speaks to
his late mother Ann Jones. The beat does its duty providing a
reminiscent feel that allows Nas to express his heart
concerning his mother. The tracks
ends on a trumpet with a wah-wah mute which is awkward at
first but then
settles into place. Our last feature guest Jully Black is on
the last track "Heaven" (before the
bonus disc), a beautiful hook starts on a thought-invoking
beat and ultimately a nice track
which is probably inspired by Nas' late mom.
Now we start the bonus disc with "Thugz Mirror Freestyle"
which has a beat similar to the
other 80s felt beats, read: 13 years too late. Don't worry
about looking for this proclaimed
bonus. "Pu*** Killz" starts with bouncing
strings, and then sparks a
peacful piano rip, the track soon turns urgent once Nas starts
spittin about sex. Bearable flow
depicting the dangers of women, sex and love. Chalk this
up to the forgettable category if there's anymore room
left. We end on "The God" where Nas
declares "The God's Son King of NYC", which is par for the
course at this point (not a good
thing).
Well it looks to me that Nas went for a retro-80s retake that
is bound to give him heart pains
once he realizes what he released: a retro-80s mix that
should've only
had a handful of songs make the final cut. According to Jay-z's
math, we have to wait another 9
years before Nas drops another phenomenal classic, and so far
Jay is right. With only a few
exceptions Nas shoots enough blanks to white out his
book of rhymes, God may have to disown his son here,
assuming God will even associate
himself with Nas in the same sentence. It pains me to do it,
but Nas fully deserves his 2
Planets.
Track Listing:
1. GET DOWN
2. THE CROSS
3. MADE YOU LOOK
4. LAST REAL NIGGA ALIVE
5. ZONE OUT (W/BRAVEHEARTS)
6. HEY NAS (W/KELIS & CLAUDETTE ORTIZ OF CITY HIGH)
7. I CAN
8. BOOK OF RHYMES
9. THUGZ MANSION (W/TUPAC & J. PHOENIX)
10. MASTERMIND
11. WARRIOR SONG (W/ALICIA KEYS)
12. REVOLUTIONARY WAR (W/LAKE)
13. DANCE
14. HEAVEN (W/JULLY BLACK)
Bonus Tracks:
Thugz Mirror Freestyle
Pu*** Killz
The God
Skrabble Rating: 2 out of 5
Planets
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