If you follow Elliott Wilson on Twitter (which, if you like hip-hop....you SHOULD be), then you saw the RT of Mr. Jay Electronica's twitpic of...
FUCKING INCREDIBLE.
YEA. Apparently the album is done, as previously reported...and it's got 2 features each from Mr. Carter and Mr. West. Fuck. I was already hyped about this never being dropped future release, but damn. My hype went through the roof, and my chill went out the window. A Ronald Reagan sample? "New Illuminati" with Kanye? A track with Puff? And NOT TO MENTION..."Nights of the Roundtable" (a play on words on Ms. Rothschild's Twitter handle, @KateRoundtable) Man. I didn't really think I could get more hyped about this shit, but FUCK. Dude is nice, and if they IMPROVED "The Shiny Suit Theory," I don't know what I'm going to do with myself.
This guy went from....
Oh word?
To this...
It's the ROC!
To this...
Jay Elect is a cold brother...
To this!
IT'S THE ROC, YOU BASTARDS!
Really, after the bullshit between him and Kate Rothschild came out, I heard a lot of mumbling about his album never seeing the light of day. I don't believe in the Illuminati AT ALL, but fucking with a millionaire's wife can't possibly have a positive outcome, so I was also of the belief that Jay-Z might have to drop him from the label, and we wouldn't get the Jay Electronica album. Seeing that tracklisting...I might shed a thug tear, man. Give me a moment.
Now we just need a release date, and a single to drop...fuck, I don't think I'm ready for this album to drop. Really, no matter how I look at it, this is going to be the first classic debut in a while...if that drops this year...this and Kendrick's debut should be great rivals to Nas' Life is Good for Hip-Hop Album of the Year.
Man. I'd like to preface this review with the fact that I FUCKS WITH RICK ROSS. So fucking much. Really, out of everyone who's out doing shit regularly, Ross might be my favorite artist. There's so much hate out there for dude, when really, he works hard. He promotes his artists. Who's put out more videos than him recently? He does 95% of the shit that niggas bitch about label execs not doing, yet people hate him...for what? Because he's got a fake persona? Who fucking cares? You're that worried about what another man did back in the day? And he puts out quality work. From Deeper Than Rap to the present, he really might be the most consistent artist. Seriously, you've got, what, Deeper Than Rap, Ashes to Ashes, Albert Anastasia, Teflon Don, Rich Forever, and now God Forgives, I Don't...dude has put out quality work. I've seen people mad because he's poppin commercially and his sound is ubiquitous...OK. Go pop in your Immortal Technique cassette or your Papoose shit. Just don't act like you're "real hip-hop" because you hate everyone on the radio.
Not really untouchable...but I fucks with it
If you've been following Ross at all, you know that he's a master of the absurd. He has no platinum albums...in fact, no rapper in his crew has a platinum album...yet he runs "The Untouchable Maybach Music Empire" hahahaha. He clearly gives no fucks about reality, which is great. It works for him, and honestly, all signs point to him getting money, so...fuck it.
1. Pray For Us - Typical cinematic opening....if he had gotten DMX to sign to the label, it would have been dope as FUCK to have DMX do the prayer for this instead of using the joint from Baby Boy.
2. Pirates - Rick Ross has great delivery. I think people sleep on him because his bars aren't the best, but have we seen a rapper so good at realizing what he's good at? If you listen to Trilla or Port of Miami, you can tell he didn't yet know what his strengths were. Those problems are far in the past now. You already know what Ross is about, so drug dealing references abound. Won't lie, when Meek Mill jumped in for a second, I was hoping for a verse. I REALLY get annoyed with 2 verse tracks, but since this is basically an intro track, I'll deal. Overall it's a typical Ross track, which means it's a pretty damn good start - 4/5
3. 3 Kings (Ft. Dr. Dre and Jay-Z) - Disclaimer: Jay-Z is my favorite rapper. I think he's the GOAT, and I'll probably do a blog post detailing my argument for that over other rappers. The way you all get hyped for an Andre 3000 guest verse...that's how I get for a Jay-Z verse. So I pretty much already knew that I'd like this track. Dre spits a verse...that was definitely ghostwritten. At this point, it's more fun to try to guess who ghostwrote the verse, hahaha. I'm kinda thinking Ross wrote it, to be honest. Jay's got bars for days ("millions on the wall in all my rooms, niggas couldn't fuck with my daughter's room/niggas couldn't walk in my daughter's socks, Banksy bitches, Basquiat"), Ross puts in a double shift here with his and Dre's verses, and the beat is nice. Reminds me of "Shit Popped Off" actually, which makes me think that even though it's credited to Jake One (a beatsmith in his own right), Dre probably had a lot to do with it. 5/5
4. Ashamed - Ross is REALLY good at picking beats. The running gag is that he should executive produce a Nas album so that Nas actually has some good beats on his album, but really, he truly is that good at selecting beats. He's rapping over some shit that would sound right at home on Mood Muzik 2 here, but of course, he's not dropping Joe Budden bars, hahaha. He's actually got some quality introspection here, looking at his life growing up (although we really don't know what's true about Ross at this point), and his flow is good, as usual. 4/5
5. Maybach Music IV (Ft. Ne-Yo) - Really...when I saw this track title, I was looking for some killer features. Maybe all of MMG? Maybe Kendrick? Instead we got solo raps with a Ne-Yo feature. The beat is by the J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, but you already knew that, right? The format of this one is different from the previous Maybach Musics is different as well; we get 1 long verse and a short one, followed by an outro featuring Ne-Yo and LA Reid. Shit is dope though. The flow from this track to the next is great, and really, the sound is just as extravagant as the previous entries. Personally, I would have rather had a guest verse or even a third verse though, so this one gets a 3.5/5
6. Sixteen (Ft. Andre 3000) - Yo. Fuck Andre 3000. Yea I respect the OutKast shit, yea The Love Below was dope, etc. etc. etc. But really, fuck that dude. I don't know when dude obtained this cult following, but the shit is annoying. To be perfectly honest, he isn't that much better than Big Boi. Not that that's a bad thing, Big Boi is dope as fuck. But the shit is annoying as hell. Bun B has a lot of stans, but at least Bun drops solo albums with some regularity, IN ADDITION TO his guest verses. 3000 just sits back and does random movies and Gillette commercials (we ain't forget that shit, bruh).
This guy....
Anyway, when I get past the glorification of this dude, it's a dope track. Really laid-back and catchy...I actually catch myself doing the whole "when sixteen ain't enough" randomly. 3000 delivers a great verse, but again, I get annoyed with dude because he drops <10 verses a year, so it's like...he'd better be dropping great verses. Anyway, I don't want to give it a 5 just because it's got that bullshit guitar shit at the end of it. At least be good at the shit if you're going to be random, Mr. Jimi Hendrix. Fucker. Anyway, this one gets a 4.5/5
7. Amsterdam - Continuing with the chill tracks, we get this number. The subject matter isn't anything special, you already know what Ross raps about. He does some decent shit talking at the end of the track, and the beat is pretty fucking good. I really can't stress enough how good Ross is at picking the right beats for his songs. 9th Wonder said some of these other rappers need to enroll in the Ross School of Beat Selection...he has a very valid point. - 3.5/5
8. Hold Me Back - After all of the chill shit, we get to the other side of Rick Ross...the hood shit. HONESTLY THOUGH. WHERE THE FUCK IS FRENCH MONTANA. HAAAAAAANH WOULD HAVE BEEN GREAT ON THIS SHIT. He's using this one as a single...and surprisingly enough, I actually don't fuck with this one. I don't know if it's the sequencing or what, but this isn't the type of track that I like Ross rolling solo on. This one needs either Meek or French. - 2.5/5
9. 911 - Another hood joint. Another Ross solo. ANOTHER TRACK THAT NEEDS FRENCH. FUCK. I don't really like this one either...I dunno, I think I've grown tired of the hood Rick Ross. Truthfully, these types of tracks really don't work for Ross without a feature. Having them back-to-back really compounded this feeling for me. Before, we had "B.M.F." and "MC Hammer" and both of those were dope (although I could do without Gucci), better than either this or "Hold Me Back" - 3/5
10. So Sophisticated (Ft. Meek Mill) - Word. Another hood joint, but this one has more bump to it, in my opinion. That's great for Ross, because the album had hit a lull, and Meek Mill's voice and energy definitely got rid of that. It's nice to finally have a Meek feature, but he waited mad long to do it...I would've placed this a little earlier. This was the first "street single" from the album, and it bangs like a single. Ross actually has some bars on this joint, like "we know you pussies, so you got my niggas masturbating"...double entendres from the BAWSE. I fuck with this one, it's so sophisticated. - 3.5/5
11. Presidential (Ft. Elijah Blake) - Another one to vibe out to...I feel it though. Really, even though this is supposed to be more for the ladies, it's the same shit Ross always raps about, so it's not really much different, outside of the beat and hook. Man, Ross can really make you feel like you ain't doing shit with your life. Still finds time to drop a bit of truth here though; "I never been in love until I heard a beat." Word. Now it all makes sense - 3/5
12. Ice Cold (Ft. Omarion) - So on Self Made Vol. 2, I came to love the fact that Ross went out and signed Omarion...regardless of the stupid "Maybach O" nickname and shit. On "Presidential" I was kinda thinking "yo where is Omarion though?," so having him on this one is dope. Ross is kinda like Popovich at this point, it really seems like he pulls the best aspects of his team (with the possible exception of Wale). This is another one for the ladies, in case Omarion's presence didn't alert you to the possibility. I like it, it's better than "Presidential," probably because of the lack of that random ad-lib" - 4/5
13. Touch'n You (Ft. Usher) - I don't know if any of you listened to Game's R.E.D. Album, but my least favorite part was when he put 3 straight ones for the ladies together...Wale made a similar choice on Ambition. I really hope this isn't some new trend, because I can't deal. I guess it's what we get for not buying albums at the same rate that women do, but still, fuck that. Last thing I'm trying to think about is Ross fucking b. Was this the first real single? Anyway, I don't really ever want to play this one again. Can Usher get the fuck outta here? - 1/5
14. Diced Pineapples (Ft. Wale and Drake) - Another joint for the ladies. I've gotta say though, I approve of rappers relegating Drake to "Captain Hook" instead of letting him drop a verse. At this point, I'm hoping Ross has filled his "directed at females" quota for the album. I'm partial to Wale, but I HATE when he does that poetry shit on tracks, man. Fuck. I absolutely LOATHE it. The beat is smooth, but overall, this one is another one I'd skip. - 2.5/5
15. Ten Jesus Pieces (Ft. Stalley) - Finishing off the album we finally get a Stalley feature. The beat is suitable for a final track, a really good track to vibe to. Stalley is nice with it, the whole "Big did it the best, I mean, Nas did it fresh, Jay did it fresh, etc" line was fucking ill. Some people probably thought he was talking about rapping, but...nah. Anyway, this is a good way to end the album. We get a little Spanish outro as well, continuing the Colombian mob boss motif, and really, it works for the most part. It's hard to get drawn back into the "yo I move bricks" mood after 4 straight tracks for the ladies though. Rare misstep by Ross in terms of sequencing. This track, though, is dope - 4/5
Overall, I'm actually disappointed in this album. Self Made Vol 2 and Rich Forever had me ready for some really great ignorant shit, along with some smooth shit, and while this album does have some good tracks, I just feel like it was weighed down by all of the ballads. It started off great, hit a lull, kinda got its act together for the late middle, then was bad until getting lifted at the very end. The bonus tracks are both from Rich Forever, with a new mix of "Triple Beam Dreams" and the same old "Rich Forever"...both are solid tracks, but we've already heard them before. Since the bonus tracks are just tracks from the mixtape, I'll rate the album without them...this one gets a 3.5/5. I'm disappointed! I didn't peep the tracklisting before, so I genuinely expected greatness. This is the worst collective effort Ross has had in a while...I need some time to adjust to this paradigm shift bruh
In Noblesse 241, we continued to take a look at Frankenstein's initial encounter with the noble clan leaders of Lukedonia. As someone conscious of numerous mutant attacks (mutants are beings created by humans who have contracts with nobles...think a feral vampire), Frankenstein had beef with Lukedonia. Taking the fight as a chance to "get more data" on the Dark Spear, Frankenstein summoned the demonic weapon to use against Ragar Kertia, leader of the Kertia clan.
Noblesse 242 picks up right where we left off, with Frankenstein having summoned the Dark Spear. We learn something interesting about the Dark Spear; rather than being simply the weapon of a demon, it was created to copy the power of the soul weapons used by clan leaders. Since humans possess a finite lifespan, the weapon was created using the souls of countless humans (Frankenstein references plagues and wars being used for this purpose...it really could be millions of souls)
Suddenly this panel makes sense...
At some point after the weapon's development, Frankenstein obtained it, and has been using it sparingly (this is my assumption, since he seemed pleased to find an opponent he could use it on). Gejutel remarks that even so, Frankenstein doesn't have complete control over the weapon, to which Frankenstein responds that of course he's aware of that. His purpose, he tells the two, is to show them that humans aren't weak. At this point, he begins his assault using the Dark Spear, and despite Ragar's abilities (including stealth and being able to create copies of himself) he finds himself unable to subdue Frankenstein without killing him. Realizing this, Ragar asks Gejutel for his assistance, and we finally get to see Gejutel's soul weapon, Regasus.
Not bad, not bad
The chapter ends with Gejutel, Ragar, and Frankenstein clashing as Frankenstein's power gets out of control. Next chapter, I predict that they will successfully drag him before the Lord and/or Raizel, and we will finally get to see why Frankenstein serves Raizel so loyally. Again, this chapter leaves you impressed with Frankenstein. To be able to fight with a clan leader while using his soul weapon is a feat on its own, but to do so while fighting against your weapon as well...Frankenstein is something else. The fight he had with Ragar was basically a rehash of the fight we saw between him and Rajak, so there's nothing to be impressed by there, but seeing the root of Frankenstein's anger toward Lukedonia was good. I give this one a 3/5, if only because I LOATHE rehashes...it's like using stock footage in anime...that's that shit I don't like.
In case you weren't aware, I actually AM a nerd. So I read a bunch of manga/manhwa, and I do other nerd shit. Noblesse is a Korean webcomic that I read weekly...the storyline is interesting, the characters are neat, and the fights are good. Really, Noblesse has come a long way, in both art and storytelling, which I'm sure is a result of the increase in interest in it. The characters are mostly "pretty" and the art itself isn't bad...the fact that every page is in color is also a great help in terms of obtaining new readers. Anyway, I figured that since I won't be doing any reviews of Bleach or Gamaran (this could actually still happen) that I should do reviews of one of my favorite manga that I am reading.
Noblesse #241
In Noblesse 239, we started to get into Frankenstein's past. I'll do an overview of the Noblesse plot at some point soon, but Frankenstein is the #1 subordinate of the main character, Raizel. He's an immensely powerful human who has lived for centuries, probably due to his use of demonic power. His past is mostly a mystery, so getting these backstory chapters has been great. With #241, we continued exploring Frankenstein's past, with the appearance of two clan leaders, Gejutel (whom we've already seen) and Ragar (who is presumably the father of the current Kertia clan leader, Rajak). Clan leaders are on a completely different scale than any character we've seen, with the exception of Raizel (who is stronger) and Frankenstein (who is on their level), and it's obvious that Frankenstein hadn't encountered one as of yet. They banter for a bit, and it's really surprising how similar Frankenstein was to M-24...Raizel had commented on it before, but....
So disrespectful
He was really that disrespectful to freaking clan leaders? Frankenstein truly gave no fucks. After getting into a bit of semantics about whether a noble is responsible for the actions of one subordinate to it, Frankenstein showed some true M-24-level anger issues and attacked Ragar, sparking the fight.
Well then.
Aaand...yea.
Ragar easily takes care of Frankenstein's initial attack, something he CLEARLY isn't used to seeing...but in true Frankenstein form, he responds with hundreds of the same attack at once. The two fight to a stalemate at which point Ragar decides that, if he is going to take Frankenstein back alive, he will require his soul weapon. After Frankenstein remarks that he knows that it's a soul weapon, he proceeds to summon his own weapon...the awesomely epic DARK SPEAR
ANSWER MY CALL.
HAAAAAAANH
Of course, that's how the chapter ends...but man. I'm very excited to see how this turns out. We pretty much know that Frankenstein ended up meeting the Lord and Raizel, so we can kinda guess that...Frankenstein and Ragar fought to mostly a standstill, then Gejutel got into it and they were somehow able to take him back without killing him. I don't know how Raizel got involved (possibly because he could sense the fight?), but at some point Frankenstein becomes subordinate to Raizel, so considering his attitude in this and previous chapters (using nobles for experiments and such), something drastic had to happen for Frankenstein to become unconditionally loyal to Rai.
Frankenstein is really an awesome character...at this point, we've seen be kind, ruthless, inquisitive, and mischievous. He has incredible depth and his backstory is already ridiculous...performing experiments on nobles? Really? Hahahahaha he's terrible! I'm definitely ready for the next chapter, I'm giving this one a 5/5, even if only because of Frankenstein's hilarious banter!
Tumblr is kinda awesome. I can't do shit with mine and I don't really like dealing with it, but wow, lots of good images. The below image from Naruto was a pretty nice moment.
By not-yours-madara
So I decided to do another compilation....this time it's oft some 90s tracks that I like. More variety on this one than on the previous effort. I'm really liking doing these! I think I'm going to try harder with the sequencing next time, hahaha...link is here click away!
Yo, so one of the things I've loved from other blogs is the sort of compilations that they put together. I don't really want to put people on blast, so I won't say specifically who does it, but there are people who do the hip-hop community a great service by releasing "mixtapes" of sorts, composed of recent tracks. I personally would not have really gotten into hip-hop at all if not for both torrents and these compilations...when I went away to college, I didn't make a great effort to listen to the radio, and really my only interaction with music was when I hit parties. This is one of those things that helps to spread the culture to people who might otherwise be unaware. Odd Future doesn't really play on the radio...but I was able to hear "Bastard" by Tyler, the Creator through the efforts of a specific blog that I've followed since 2006. As a new student of the culture, I greatly appreciate what has been done by hundreds of blogs before this one and will be done by hundreds after. All I can hope for is that this blog can help someone else become attached to hip-hop.
This is the tracklisting. 20 tracks...I felt like that was a good number. It's mostly stuff I've already reviewed, with some things I want to review but probably won't.
Here is the link to this compilation, which I am entitling The Exstatic Tape Vol 1. Idk how many of these I'll do, but here it is. In the future, there will be more artist variety; lately I've been consumed with other duties, so I haven't been able to focus on this as much as I want to.
It's 2008. Nas drops an album, initially entitled Nigger, and, after a (calculated) uproar, removes the title and releases it as an untitled album. When you remove the fuss over the title, it's actually an above-average album; most of Nas' albums have been above-average, despite Jay-Z's claims to the contrary. It sells about as well as Nas' albums typically do, but is followed by the usual string of Ls that Nas seems addicted to. A tax lien is filed against him. Kelis divorces him, and is awarded child support. A promoter and his son are kidnapped because of a Nas no-show. Due to issues with Def Jam, the follow-up to The Lost Tapes is delayed indefinitely. Just ridiculous shit. In the interim, he dropped a project with Damian Marley that was a decent album, yet not a Nas album. With all of these Ls in mind, you can understand why people were excited for a new Nas album. The Nas: Behind the Music documentary helped to foment this excitement, and when the album cover was released with Nas and the wedding dress that Kelis left behind....I'm sure that half of the blogosphere had an orgasm. Anyone who had remotely followed Nas' career had to be interested in this album, and as someone who has listened to him actively....I was very interested in hearing this project. Luckily, some kind (terrible) soul made this, and thus this post, possible...
1. No Introduction - Woah. Production from the J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, eh? One of the universal complaints about Nas albums is about the production, so having the JL produce a track is definitely a good look. Recognizing our interest in his backstory, Nas gives us 3 verses depicting different times of his life, complete with a B.I.G. reference, a Kelis reference, and time before Illmatic. All-in-all, a good opening, and as I stated earlier, the production really increased my expectations for this album - 4/5
2. Loco-Motive (Ft. Large Professor) - Yooooo...Large Pro is a legend. Nice to have some vocals from dude over this No I.D. beat (btw, kudos again for the production). Doesn't this sound like some Illmatic shit? Definitely brings to mind "New York State of Mind"...ironic that he mentions winning with all of the aforementioned losing he's been doing lately, but somehow, it DOES work. After "Takeover," who thought Nas would be back selling platinum again? If he's really worth $200 million as he claimed in "No Introduction," then he is most definitely winning. The rhymes on this aren't the best of Nas' catalogue (not saying they're bad), and I definitely didn't want to hear the "supa dupa" flow on a Nas song, but the track works. I'm really feeling nostalgic with this one...definitely took me back to the 90s. - 4.5/5
3. A Queens Story - Salaam Remi floated with the beat here. Honestly, I'm having a hard time seeing how Nas tops this on this album. Even for a non-NYCer like me, the bars, beat, and story are excellent. I don't even want to do this song an injustice by trying to describe it. Listen to it below (it's altered a little) - 5/5
4. Accidental Murderers (Ft. Rick Ross) - Been waiting for Ross to be on a Nas album for a while now...we finally get the track here. This is definitely a Ross-style beat; it reminds me of "Mafia Music" to an extent. Aaaaaand, Ross definitely has one of the better lines with his opening - "We grew up doin graffiti, now hollow heads gettin heated"...I've already heard haters ignoring the alliteration there...but that's cool. Niggas hate hearing Ross win, so it doesn't even bother me. Not gonna lie, Nas is kinda winning with these tracks thus far b....he's got the storytelling vibe going perfectly, and even though Ross IN NO WAY stays with the theme of the track, the shit still works thanks to it being a Ross beat. I fucks with this one - 4/5
5. Daughters - You've probably heard this one already. I'm one of those people that when a track gets hyped too much I don't like it. For those who are wondering, I feel the same way about Jay-Z's "Glory." By the time I heard it, I had been bombarded with "OMG THIS IS THE BEST DEDICATION TO A CHILD EVAR" as if Talib hadn't done "Joy" and numerous other rappers hadn't also done a similar track. Just alkealkewf get over yourselves for a second man. Damn. Anyway, this is actually a good track, but damn, I'd really like to not get a bunch of overhyping about a track before I even get to hear it. I heard this one actually caused MORE trouble with his daughter and her mother....smh - 4/5
6. Reach Out (Ft. Mary J. Blige) - Yoooooooooooo Ms. Chicken Wraps is actually still doing music? Word. Anyway, I don't really fuck with this one. This isn't the type of beat that Nas thrives on, and just overall it feels too pop. Not trying to hear this one again. First fuck up of the album though (but again, I've been hearing "YO THIS IS A CLASSIC" from multiple people...including Twitter (where I thought Nas was hated lol) so hearing this one definitely made me alkefalirjflkrejfawe - 2/5
7. World's An Addiction (Ft. Anthony Hamilton) - I didn't even know dude was still doing music. I don't really like the beat too much...maybe it just sounds too much like the type of beat we would have heard Nas on on previous projects. That being said, the subject matter and bars are both legit. Nas is in full conversational form, with rhyme schemes sometimes tumbling through bars rather than remaining uniform. The beat is really disappointing though...keeps this from being a better track - 3.5/5
8. Summer on Smash (Ft. Miguel and Swizz Beatz) - Word...Nas doesn't do commercial tracks, but we got this number? I don't even care that he does the tracks, it's just annoying when Nas fans act like he's the epitome of rap purity and that's why they fuck with him. This isn't Immortal Technique, man. Anyway, yea, this is pretty meh. I can't act like the beat doesn't bump, but the bars are subpar, Swizz is doing his bullshit, and Miguel? On a Nas track? - 2.5/5
9. You Wouldn't Understand (Ft. Victoria Monet) - This one has an 80s feel....but overall I'm not fucking with this at all. The album is really in a bad spot at this point...started off excellently, but the last few tracks have been...jkalealkewjfweflk - 2/5
10. Back When - Word. We're back to good tracks...and of course that means that after a string of tracks from typical Nas producers, we get a No I.D.-produced track. This track is another trek into nostalgia, with Nas reminiscing on the old days in NYC. It's another track that would mean more to a NYC resident, but we get a real line with "You blame your own shortcomings on sex and race, the Mafia, homosexuals, and all the Jews." Real rap, I've lost count how many times I've seen people in the industry rant on about the Illuminati, Jews, homosexuals, etc. being the reason they aren't on....nah...that's not why. I fuck with this track - 4/5 (could use another verse, tbh)
11. The Don - One of the singles from the album, I'm sure you've heard "The Don" already. This shit BANGS. This is one of those rare Nas tracks that works as a single and actually has bars. You've heard this already, so I'm not going to get too deep into it. - 4/5
12. Stay - A nice, jazzy feel to this one. Again, a No I.D. beat, so we're in for a quality track. We've already gotten the Common/No I.D. album, but we definitely need a Nas/No I.D. album. "Some say hatin' is confused admiration"...YO. I don't really fuck with 2 verse songs like that, but this is an excellent one. We're back on a roll here. This is my second-favorite track thus far. - 5/5
13. Cherry Wine (Ft. Amy Winehouse) - I wasn't blogging when Amy Winehouse died, but if I was, I would have written some crazy long, rambling, angry post about people neglecting the health of others, and about regular people somehow thinking that famous people aren't worth our empathy. Back To Black is one of my favorite albums of all-time tbh...very sad that someone that talented died so soon. This track actually sounds a LOT more like an Amy track than a Nas track, but his flow still works on this. I'm getting emotional, man...fuck, we really could have had an Amy/Nas album...lkawelkawfawef fuck this world - 5/5
14. Bye Baby - This is one of those tracks that you can feel a lot more if you've gone through a break-up yourself. On this track, Nas basically gives his side of his break-up with Kelis...I actually had forgotten that she was fucking all of those dudes before Nas, lmaoooo...Anyway, I don't completely like this beat, but I can't even knock it after listening to the song. A great way to end the album. I'm gonna review the 4 bonus tracks, but this is the "official" end of the album - 5/5
Bonus Tracks
15. Nasty - The homie Ivan Rott (check his blog out if you haven't already) said it best when he tweeted "Any rebuttal to what I utter get box-cutter'd" <------ still the illest shit I've heard in a LOOOOOONG time..." He's right...that line is ridiculous. The track is hot, and it was a single...so why the hell is it a bonus track? Anyway, this is nice - 4.5/5
16. The Black Bond - You all probably aren't nerds, but part of this beat reminds me of Char's Counterattack (specifically the final fight between Char and Amuro). Anyway, that can only be a good thing, so yea, I fuck with this one. Basically, this track is Nas imagining himself as James Bond. A nice, 2 verse track. Another one that I would like on the album, but I can understand it not really fitting with the flow of the album. - 4/5
17. Roses (Ft. Nikki Flores) - Another track commenting on women (this could be about Kelis)...why isn't this on the album? I get put through "Reach Out," but this isn't on the album? Smarten up, Nas. Anyway, this one sounds pretty depressing...I can only imagine how pissed off dude must have been when Kelis decided to divorce him (while pregnant). If he's indeed talking about Kelis on this track...man. Hold your head. - 4/5
18. Where's the Love (Ft. Cocaine 80s) - I can do without the hook to this track. Outside of that, this is a good song...yet another candidate for the "Why the hell isn't this on the album?!" award. Completely change the hook and this is a great track. - 3.5/5
Without considering the bonus tracks, I give this album a 4/5. It had some GREAT moments ("Queens Story," "Stay," and "Bye Baby") but wow, it had some terrible moments as well. It finished out VERY strong, and that's the reason for the 4/5 instead of a 3/5. I feel like there were too many subpar tracks for me to give it more than a 4/5 though. If I could swap some of the bonus tracks with some of the official tracks, I would. This really could be a 5/5 album. With the trash tracks, though, it's more of a 4/5 album. I'll buy this when it comes out, definitely worth the money.
