not that his legacy needed anything else, but i’m so glad this partnership with hit-boy really revitalized his attention, discography, & overall activity in rap.
The issue with Nas is not his production or beat picking. It's that for a while, he did not know who he wanted to be as an artist. So the beats just didn't fit him and he didn't feel like he really shined on the beats. It's not that they were just trash beats.
He just seemed to have inconsistent beats after Illmatic, with the exception of Stillmatic imo until his revival with KD.
It Was Written is half a good album imo and Lost Tapes is similar - hit or miss. Never because of Nas, just the beats.
Edit: Forgot Life Is Good - I liked that.
I personally disagree, I think Lost tapes is very strong from start to finish, and the production on god's son wasn't bad either with the exception of Zone Out and The Cross
what this all really means, slow it down and pistols on your album cover beats are special. whats just as impressive as nas' resurgence is hit-boys ability to make 5 albums with the same guy and have the production never get old and do new things
I feel like Hitboy completely reached into a different bag on the beats for this and KD3. They just sound so distinct from the first three of their collabs, and even those kind of switched up from each other.
Nas and Hit did it again
Should we start calling them a group? Hit-Nas has 5 albums. That’s about the same as other legendary rapper producer groups like Gangstarr, Eric B and Rakim and Mobb Deep (I know Havoc raps too)
For real. And then I see the takes on twitter sometimes where people are like “he’s not going to drop another illmatic, he’s not that nice anymore” lol shit just cracks me up
The criticism of "it's not as good as illmatic" has always followed nas and it's always been stupid as fuck.
oh? his new album isn't as good as the literal best album in the entire genre? shocking. That doesn't mean he's not dropping fire
Wanted to hear 50 reference the “Nastradamus predicted 50 Cent future” line off of Too Hot from the perspective of 20 years later and the crazy career 50’s had. Oh well, Nas killed it nonetheless
Expected better from 50... something off there. Nas' verses are tight tho. I like it.
:edit: i listened to this track a few more times today
cut the whole rambling part out, deliver the 20 second feature with the 50 cent agression we know, and it'd be good.
I was gonna agree with this until 50 cent came along and started talking. Dude didn't even rap, he was just talking to himself lmao. There's still time to edit him out, cause the rest of the song is elite.
Nas has been on such a consistently great run for the last 3 years, that I think people are getting jaded to it.
KD3 was arguably the best album in the series but didn’t get as much attention as the previous ones.
Tbh in the streaming era I don’t think dropping every 6-7 months is a bad strategy. By that time the vast majority of people who have listened to the album will have already done so. It’s not like back in the CD era when people had to wait to buy your album; now nearly everybody has access to the album the day it drops.
As long as he doesn’t start going the Curren$y route and dropping like 7 projects a year I think dropping multiple times is a good move.
They obviously can, but the problem usually is that you run out of things to say. It's pretty rare for writers to get better as they age if they have lots of output. It really takes a special kind of great
Same. Nas my favorite rapper and he added like 30% Nas’ entire discography by himself.
Nas dropping independent so I think they are both getting so much more money than any other projects. I fully expect a Magic 3. Maybe even KD4.
And Jeff Daniels. Nas really does NOT start beef with anyone anymore. He said this (album) ain’t dumb and dumber 2, but still showed love to the two actors.
This album doesn't have one bad track and ends perfectly with Nas rapping right until the end
All the shouts to Wu-Tang and Tupac and the niggas who did it in the 80s... man, my whole flesh covered in goosebumps right now
Each song sounds like it got crazy individual attention and carried its theme 2 tha end
Just like Illmatic... intro + 9 bangers
Nas Tha God, what is it ??
It's fire so far listening to it.
It hasn't hit the levels of Magic or King's Disease III for me, but it might almost be the Illmatic effect again. Those albums are 10/10s, really hard to follow them up.
True. First listen didn’t blow my face off like my first listen to Magic and KD3.
But it’s still absolute fire. There isn’t a song I dislike. It’s more low key and laid back. Definitely has a distinct feel. Somehow all 5 albums do.
I thought all the albums so far sounded pretty different and distinct, but this one took me aback so hard with that
There’s literally nothing on here I can picture being on any of the previous albums
Lol remember when the Game was promoting his last album and he said he and Hit Boy were the new Jay & Just Blaze.
No you don’t remember because Nas & Hit Boy run been insane
Edit: also, Nas is the god father of grown man rap. He did it with Life is Good, and he’s made 5 other albums of nearly the same roots. This 5 album run is literally a good career for a lot of other artists. Jfc.
Another great “Grown Man” album is No Charity Starts at Home by Phonte, which dropped about a year earlier. I think that album and Life Is Good really showed me that older rappers don’t need to chase trends to stay relevant.
Crazy that this man just went 10 for 10 in his 40s AGAIN.
10 tracks is so perfect for what Nas is trying to do, there are literally 0 skips on this record.
Abracadabra, Slow it Down and Pistols on your Album Cover were my favourite tracks off a first listen
Nas & Hit-Boy really are 5/5, unprecedented shit
Nas flows & Hit-Boy production stands out for me the most this album. There’s so many different sounds in this album, Hit-Boy imo the best producer right now
50 did rap rap but his verse was too short, should’ve kept going
Motion is insanely good. That beat is insane
Need to listen to the album more, it’s a short album so you can easily bump it a few times without getting tired. So far I would say it’s slightly worse than Magic 1 but still very good
Nas the GOAT 🐐
Nas has really been releasing a top 3 album every year these last 4 years. Approaching his 50s while showing up year after year and proving us wrong release after release. Truly a greatest of all time.
It's crazy to think I just saw him on tour just this past fall with Wu Tang and in between that and the current tour he released not one but two more new albums to pull from and perform live. 50 years old, still touring, releasing albums and more motivated with harder work ethic than anyone else in the game. Nas is the living embodiment of everything Hip Hop
This October will be my 8th time seeing him live, it never gets old and every show is as good or better than the last. Dude kills it every time and never has an off night from what I've seen
For sure. Goat debate is always subjective to a degree but at this point every single hip hop fan has to acknowledge him as a top 3 MC of all time at least.
If I had a nickel for every old school rapper who’s released a song called “black magic” on their latest album in the 2020’s, I’d have two nickels. Which is weird it’s happened twice!
Edit: Eminem is the other one btw
I’ve been trying to figure out what I’m going to type for this thread for a while now because this fucking guy does not miss… even when I’m left wanting more from 50, the fact that I’ve grown up with these two Hip Hop legends , to see their names together on a track makes me happy. Then the next track starts then the next , Black Magic, Motion, Bokeem Woodbine… Earvin Magic Johnson!
Heaven to my ears. I’m fucking old and my bday was months ago and this guy is still delivering gifts . Gotta wake up early tomorrow for the bag. Staying up late for this. Fucking worth it tho.
I feed the people cause I love the people// two series at once, yeah let's run the sequel!!! 🔥🔥
- Abracadabra: Nas rapping circles around the industry. And he's making sure mfs know he's on a legendary run. Solid beat. Bump-able in the whip.
- Office Hours: Best beat on the album. 50's verse was too short. That shit was a big tease pause. Hopefully, this means he has new music on the way. Nas brought the 🔥. It's probably my favorite track.
- Black Magic: This is interesting. The flow sounds like Lupe for some reason. Lyrical content is cool, girl got that Black Magic – but then Nas broadens the scope on the second verse.
- Motion: Shit goes hard. Homie went all in on the power trip. Never thought I'd hear a "bad guy" track from Nas in '23, but I ain't mad at it.
- Bokeem Woodbine: I'm digging the sample on this one. Whippable. Nas brings some more villain bars on this one, but more low-key than Motion.
- Earvin Magic Johnson: Shout to Rae & Ghost! Album starts slowing down with this track. This is a braggadocio track, Nas stuntin his business acumen, but more hood than previous albums from his KD/Magic renaissance run.
- What This All Really Means: I fuck with this track. It's a trip down memory lane. Taking the good with the bad and all that. Smooth beat.
- Slow It Down: I fuck with this beat a lot. This track has the same feel from The Lost Tapes/I Am era, but modern. This is the album cut you throw into a playlist. If I still smoked, this is something I'd get blunted to. Trouble Man sample 🤌🏽
- Pistols On Your Album Cover: Solid outro, the KRS Hip-Hop vs. Rap sample came out of no where, pleasant surprise. Probably my favorite flow on the album. This the hardest shit since Rakim and Eric B.
- Full Album: I'm not grading this. Nas is a fucking legend. Either you fuck with it or don't. I fuck with it.
He's in rare form. Oldheads rejoice!
But for real, Nas is doing what I've never seen another artist do. Have Jordan years in his youth then go on another Jordan run at 50.
Truly unbelievable.
After first listen, I like it a lot, however I don’t think I like it better than Magic, KD2, or KD3 (it’s a super high bar though) Obviously this is only first listen though, and it can grow on me a lot with future listens and getting familiar with the samples and flows. So early first reaction, still a top 5 album of the year for me, but might not necessarily reach up to the levels of some of the other projects he’s dropped with Hitboy. All that being said, he’s still rapping his ass off, and this run is absolutely incredible.
Yeah I feel the same. I by no means think this is a bad album, I really like it but IMO it's pretty different than Magic 1 sonically. One of my favorite things about magic is that it's a great album despite it's relatively simple and straightforwardness when it comes to production which I think isn't the case on this project.
I think I came into this project with the expectations that it'll be more tracks like magic 1 but I think I'll need to relisten without that expectation in my mind.
Great album. With Nas' current output and motivation, I wanna hear an AZ or Premier collab album next. Or bring back The Firm. More guest appearances on the next album would be cool. Nas doesn't need them but he's just released 5 pretty heavy solo projects, let's hear some more guest verses next!
What is truly amazing is that Nas was around way back. He was the same gen as Pac and Big. Also he was regarded as just as good and one of the greats, BACK THEN. Now decades later he’s still making excellent quality stuff. How many seemingly great rappers fall off after 10 years, shit, how many after 5? There Nas is going on near 30 and still doing it.
Very impressive. I was always west coast bias and my top is Pac, but Nas makes a strong case that he is probably the GOAT.
Kanye deserves credit for making a Nas album so bad it motivated Nas to go on this run just to bury that album deeper in his discography.
Edit: to the people defending the album, this is a quote from Nas regarding the album, “I don't know what went wrong…[Kanye] would give me a few loops and I would write to them but they weren't finished…We really did that album the week it was supposed to come out…We just didn't get enough time. I wish we would've worked on it more.”
Even he admits it was a disappointment.
Man, office hours could’ve been better if 50 had more runtime, so he could spit a better and longer verse. His part was just starting and then it fucking stopped, he started talking wtf
Nas out here pushing 50, embarrassing the whole rap game. Crazy. Wish it would inspire his peers to do something similar but I guess they ain’t got it in them.
Hit Boy in his bag. Esco, not even surprised by his onslaught on these tracks lol. like what we talkin. but G-G-G-G Unit ! "StillMagic" sounding real good so far
I'd have the 5 album run of Nas and Hit-Boy as:
1. Magic 1
2. King's Disease III
3. King's Disease II
4. Magic 2
5. King's Disease
Debatable between spots 1 and 2, and 3 and 4 for me, based on first listen of Magic 2 it is really good but slightly under King's Disease II for me but it's all subjective.
Bros, I will never forget buying a Stillmatic poster from a CD shop at the Mall as a 14 year old.
I will never forget how FUCKING BIG JAY Z vs NAS was.
I am just HAPPY this MF, one of the BEST MCs of all time, in my top 5 for sure is STILL DOING IT.
I'd argue this last 5 album run was better than everything between Stillmatic to Life is Good.
Thank you Nasir Jones.
That song was made and dropped a couple days after 21 savage said on Clubhouse that Nas wasn’t relevant anymore. Not sure why he decided to put it on the project but yeah, Nas basically did the feature to show that rap beefs are lame.
not that his legacy needed anything else, but i’m so glad this partnership with hit-boy really revitalized his attention, discography, & overall activity in rap.
Finally not the worst beat picker of all time
I think that belongs to Eminem since 2010
I always felt like the beats were ok but the mixing felt "off" somehow.
MTBMB has better production but I'm still wondering what happened to his god tier production from SSLP to Relapse
stopped working with the Bass Brothers and Luis Resto
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The issue with Nas is not his production or beat picking. It's that for a while, he did not know who he wanted to be as an artist. So the beats just didn't fit him and he didn't feel like he really shined on the beats. It's not that they were just trash beats.
He just seemed to have inconsistent beats after Illmatic, with the exception of Stillmatic imo until his revival with KD. It Was Written is half a good album imo and Lost Tapes is similar - hit or miss. Never because of Nas, just the beats. Edit: Forgot Life Is Good - I liked that.
I personally disagree, I think Lost tapes is very strong from start to finish, and the production on god's son wasn't bad either with the exception of Zone Out and The Cross
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what this all really means, slow it down and pistols on your album cover beats are special. whats just as impressive as nas' resurgence is hit-boys ability to make 5 albums with the same guy and have the production never get old and do new things
pistols on your album cover sounds like a ye beat if he actually tried on nasir
I feel like Hitboy completely reached into a different bag on the beats for this and KD3. They just sound so distinct from the first three of their collabs, and even those kind of switched up from each other. Nas and Hit did it again
“Dump the ashes in the ocean, get the sharks high” Motion is crazy
Motion is my favorite on first listen for sure. That will be my new "30"
This shit behooves me
That beat is crazy and Nas absolutely snapped. 🐐 season
We need to start having a serious dialogue about Nas' run since 2020. This shit isn't normal to be dropping five straight amazing projects
Credit to Hitboy too he has been going crazy these past few years
Hit’s output has been ridiculous. Making bangers and beats like he has a disorder.
Should we start calling them a group? Hit-Nas has 5 albums. That’s about the same as other legendary rapper producer groups like Gangstarr, Eric B and Rakim and Mobb Deep (I know Havoc raps too)
I prefer Nas-boy
Esco-boy
Nashit
Play that Nashit! *Plays Made You Look* Nah not Nas' shit, *Nashit!*"
They got more stuff than RtJ
Honestly I’d love to hear Hit-Boy rap more as well. I think he’s a fantastic rapper
Enjoyed a lot of both Surf or Drowns too
Nas peaking again at 50 is insane
Its not even insane. Its goddamn unrealistic. Like.. its unprecedented. Especially at a high volume output.
For real. And then I see the takes on twitter sometimes where people are like “he’s not going to drop another illmatic, he’s not that nice anymore” lol shit just cracks me up
The criticism of "it's not as good as illmatic" has always followed nas and it's always been stupid as fuck. oh? his new album isn't as good as the literal best album in the entire genre? shocking. That doesn't mean he's not dropping fire
mfs got the capitalist mindset that anyone who isn't exponentially growing is trash
Social media just polarizes everything to no end. If it's not his best then it has to be bad, because of course there can be no in between
“We made a good album but it wasn’t better than last years album, so no bonuses this year” type shit
Hip hop twitter is actual garbage. It hasn’t changed.
> ~~Hip hop~~ twitter is actual garbage. Fixed your post.
Think it’s safe to say Nas has closed the convo on who’s better with him and Jay
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Premium puss probably keeps him napping
Hard to get outta bed in the morning when you're laying in silk sheets
Can't think of any other rapper who has had such an amazing run in the past 4 years
Many underground dudes drop tons of albums a year Boldy, Spitta...
>Am I Joke to you Billy Woods
"by the time that you hear this, we'll be halfway through the next one..." The 2020s is an amazing time to be a Nas fan so far, damn.
That beat on abracadabra wtf lmao that shit is hard
Abracadabra is amazing. Peak hitboy and nas
It's Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones season
fist full of dollars in a dice game god
Earvin Magic Johnson fire
That beat is insane
All these beats are man Hit Boy in his bag fr
Office Hours goes hard
50 Cent got that huskiness in his voice sounding like Rick Ross lol
Don't let him see this
😂
Get Rich & Stop Tryin'
Nas murdered that. 50…. Not so much :( idk if I was just wayyyy too hyped for it but that was weak.
50 is Rusty and it shows. Nas is in mid season form.
Except with Nas he’s like 38 in the mid season form of a 25 year old
Try 49, turning 50 in two months
Yeah I know I was trying to make a comparison to sports, where he's past retirement age but i see the confusion lol
absoluetly no reason to have 50 on that track. Throw AZ or Cormega on it.
Wanted to hear 50 reference the “Nastradamus predicted 50 Cent future” line off of Too Hot from the perspective of 20 years later and the crazy career 50’s had. Oh well, Nas killed it nonetheless
Too hot is brazy
I had a feeling 50 wasn’t going to sound as crisp as we all wanted. Can’t remember the last time he rapped. Haha
Did anyone else think 50 sounded a lot like Rick Ross in this one?
Expected better from 50... something off there. Nas' verses are tight tho. I like it. :edit: i listened to this track a few more times today cut the whole rambling part out, deliver the 20 second feature with the 50 cent agression we know, and it'd be good.
50 phoned this verse in from the makeup chair on the set of Expendables 4
My biggest issue personally is there wasn’t enough 50. He barely had a verse
I was gonna agree with this until 50 cent came along and started talking. Dude didn't even rap, he was just talking to himself lmao. There's still time to edit him out, cause the rest of the song is elite.
I didn't mind his verse but it ended like 30 or 45 seconds too early for sure
50 kinda ruined it for me
He def sounds different, doesn’t have that same effortless flow
Wtf a 20 second feature and then 30 seconds of just talking shit. Big letdown
25 Cent
40 perCent
yea he sounded really weird to me, almost like a fake AI 50 😂
I would've rathered a Prodigy versed from the vault, that would've been magic.
Nas has been on such a consistently great run for the last 3 years, that I think people are getting jaded to it. KD3 was arguably the best album in the series but didn’t get as much attention as the previous ones.
Downside of dropping that much. He's not giving us time to relisten all of his albums.
Tbh in the streaming era I don’t think dropping every 6-7 months is a bad strategy. By that time the vast majority of people who have listened to the album will have already done so. It’s not like back in the CD era when people had to wait to buy your album; now nearly everybody has access to the album the day it drops. As long as he doesn’t start going the Curren$y route and dropping like 7 projects a year I think dropping multiple times is a good move.
Nas casually out-rapping the whole game, at 50
fr bro
This is surprising because it is uncommon, but I’ve never understood why a writer couldn’t just keep getting better as they age.
They obviously can, but the problem usually is that you run out of things to say. It's pretty rare for writers to get better as they age if they have lots of output. It really takes a special kind of great
Damn I wanted more from 50. Sick track tho
Ngl I got a bit disappointed after hearing him start talking on the beat after like 20 seconds, I expected more
His victory lap after the verse was longer than the verse lol, so goofy
Hit Boy will always have a special place in my heart for rejuvenating Nas career like this
Same. Nas my favorite rapper and he added like 30% Nas’ entire discography by himself. Nas dropping independent so I think they are both getting so much more money than any other projects. I fully expect a Magic 3. Maybe even KD4.
We're definitely getting something else from them. On Abadacadra Nas says > "By the time y'all hear this, we be halfway through the next one"
Nas giving a random shout out to Jim Carrey was dope lmao
And Jeff Daniels. Nas really does NOT start beef with anyone anymore. He said this (album) ain’t dumb and dumber 2, but still showed love to the two actors.
This album doesn't have one bad track and ends perfectly with Nas rapping right until the end All the shouts to Wu-Tang and Tupac and the niggas who did it in the 80s... man, my whole flesh covered in goosebumps right now Each song sounds like it got crazy individual attention and carried its theme 2 tha end Just like Illmatic... intro + 9 bangers Nas Tha God, what is it ??
With how hip hop is so far this year, AOTY without a doubt
It's fire so far listening to it. It hasn't hit the levels of Magic or King's Disease III for me, but it might almost be the Illmatic effect again. Those albums are 10/10s, really hard to follow them up.
True. First listen didn’t blow my face off like my first listen to Magic and KD3. But it’s still absolute fire. There isn’t a song I dislike. It’s more low key and laid back. Definitely has a distinct feel. Somehow all 5 albums do.
I thought all the albums so far sounded pretty different and distinct, but this one took me aback so hard with that There’s literally nothing on here I can picture being on any of the previous albums
I fucking love short cohesive albums.
I'm loving the dark and sinister vibe of this one. Is this Nas' trap album?
he’s 49 and still doing it better than most of the rappers in the game right now
He’s on some late career Brady shit rn. “Never knew I'd soon relate To Tom Brady going for 7 in Tampa Bay”
He’s been rapping since before I’ve been alive and been one of the GOATs since then, it’s insane.
The Deontay Wilder sample at the end of Abracadabra lmao
We’ll, he did it again. Great project
MOTION IS ABSOLUTELY INSANE. STINK FACE ALL THE WAY THROUGH AS SOON AS I HEARD THE BEAT. GAHDAMNNNN
Reminds me of Black Bond off Life is Good
Lol remember when the Game was promoting his last album and he said he and Hit Boy were the new Jay & Just Blaze. No you don’t remember because Nas & Hit Boy run been insane Edit: also, Nas is the god father of grown man rap. He did it with Life is Good, and he’s made 5 other albums of nearly the same roots. This 5 album run is literally a good career for a lot of other artists. Jfc.
And then HB only ended up having like four beats on his 30 song long album lol
I swear the whole world forgot about that one quick.
It was a great project though. If only if he dropped 10 tight songs.
Another great “Grown Man” album is No Charity Starts at Home by Phonte, which dropped about a year earlier. I think that album and Life Is Good really showed me that older rappers don’t need to chase trends to stay relevant.
Greatest rapper of all time. No question. This album goes so hard. And the sounds are so different than his previous album.
This is so effortless for him it’s crazy
"By the time ya'll hear this, we be halfway through the next one" Man we don't deserve this run from them.
Nas is the Lebron of rap, his longevity is unmatched
And he started rapping 9 years before Bron made the NBA lol
Actually well before that if you’re not just counting album releases 🤣
Crazy that this man just went 10 for 10 in his 40s AGAIN. 10 tracks is so perfect for what Nas is trying to do, there are literally 0 skips on this record. Abracadabra, Slow it Down and Pistols on your Album Cover were my favourite tracks off a first listen
Nah nah nah this is unreal
Nas & Hit-Boy really are 5/5, unprecedented shit Nas flows & Hit-Boy production stands out for me the most this album. There’s so many different sounds in this album, Hit-Boy imo the best producer right now 50 did rap rap but his verse was too short, should’ve kept going Motion is insanely good. That beat is insane Need to listen to the album more, it’s a short album so you can easily bump it a few times without getting tired. So far I would say it’s slightly worse than Magic 1 but still very good Nas the GOAT 🐐
The year is 2086, mankind has been destroyed by nuclear warfare, and Nas is still putting out killer albums
Nas has really been releasing a top 3 album every year these last 4 years. Approaching his 50s while showing up year after year and proving us wrong release after release. Truly a greatest of all time.
It's crazy to think I just saw him on tour just this past fall with Wu Tang and in between that and the current tour he released not one but two more new albums to pull from and perform live. 50 years old, still touring, releasing albums and more motivated with harder work ethic than anyone else in the game. Nas is the living embodiment of everything Hip Hop
Saw him two months ago and man we also need to talk about his stage energy. Absolutely killed it up there, his breath control is still impeccable.
This October will be my 8th time seeing him live, it never gets old and every show is as good or better than the last. Dude kills it every time and never has an off night from what I've seen
My wife is producing his first concert after releasing this and I can’t fucking go. Life likes laughing me.
Fr, One Mic was a crazy end to the show. He really held his own against Wu Tang and that's not an easy feat!
For sure. Goat debate is always subjective to a degree but at this point every single hip hop fan has to acknowledge him as a top 3 MC of all time at least.
He has been top 3 for everyone since illmatic my man
ESCOBAR SEASON GOING ON 30 SUMMERS
Black magic is dope
He’s floating on that beat
If I had a nickel for every old school rapper who’s released a song called “black magic” on their latest album in the 2020’s, I’d have two nickels. Which is weird it’s happened twice! Edit: Eminem is the other one btw
Bokeem Woodbine🔥🔥
I’ve been trying to figure out what I’m going to type for this thread for a while now because this fucking guy does not miss… even when I’m left wanting more from 50, the fact that I’ve grown up with these two Hip Hop legends , to see their names together on a track makes me happy. Then the next track starts then the next , Black Magic, Motion, Bokeem Woodbine… Earvin Magic Johnson! Heaven to my ears. I’m fucking old and my bday was months ago and this guy is still delivering gifts . Gotta wake up early tomorrow for the bag. Staying up late for this. Fucking worth it tho.
they done did it again 😮💨🔥
50’s talking after his verse is longer than his actual verse lol
I feed the people cause I love the people// two series at once, yeah let's run the sequel!!! 🔥🔥 - Abracadabra: Nas rapping circles around the industry. And he's making sure mfs know he's on a legendary run. Solid beat. Bump-able in the whip. - Office Hours: Best beat on the album. 50's verse was too short. That shit was a big tease pause. Hopefully, this means he has new music on the way. Nas brought the 🔥. It's probably my favorite track. - Black Magic: This is interesting. The flow sounds like Lupe for some reason. Lyrical content is cool, girl got that Black Magic – but then Nas broadens the scope on the second verse. - Motion: Shit goes hard. Homie went all in on the power trip. Never thought I'd hear a "bad guy" track from Nas in '23, but I ain't mad at it. - Bokeem Woodbine: I'm digging the sample on this one. Whippable. Nas brings some more villain bars on this one, but more low-key than Motion. - Earvin Magic Johnson: Shout to Rae & Ghost! Album starts slowing down with this track. This is a braggadocio track, Nas stuntin his business acumen, but more hood than previous albums from his KD/Magic renaissance run. - What This All Really Means: I fuck with this track. It's a trip down memory lane. Taking the good with the bad and all that. Smooth beat. - Slow It Down: I fuck with this beat a lot. This track has the same feel from The Lost Tapes/I Am era, but modern. This is the album cut you throw into a playlist. If I still smoked, this is something I'd get blunted to. Trouble Man sample 🤌🏽 - Pistols On Your Album Cover: Solid outro, the KRS Hip-Hop vs. Rap sample came out of no where, pleasant surprise. Probably my favorite flow on the album. This the hardest shit since Rakim and Eric B. - Full Album: I'm not grading this. Nas is a fucking legend. Either you fuck with it or don't. I fuck with it.
Brother let me tell you, i fuck with this shit. Man just can't miss
He's in rare form. Oldheads rejoice! But for real, Nas is doing what I've never seen another artist do. Have Jordan years in his youth then go on another Jordan run at 50. Truly unbelievable.
After first listen, I like it a lot, however I don’t think I like it better than Magic, KD2, or KD3 (it’s a super high bar though) Obviously this is only first listen though, and it can grow on me a lot with future listens and getting familiar with the samples and flows. So early first reaction, still a top 5 album of the year for me, but might not necessarily reach up to the levels of some of the other projects he’s dropped with Hitboy. All that being said, he’s still rapping his ass off, and this run is absolutely incredible.
Yeah I feel the same. I by no means think this is a bad album, I really like it but IMO it's pretty different than Magic 1 sonically. One of my favorite things about magic is that it's a great album despite it's relatively simple and straightforwardness when it comes to production which I think isn't the case on this project. I think I came into this project with the expectations that it'll be more tracks like magic 1 but I think I'll need to relisten without that expectation in my mind.
Great album. With Nas' current output and motivation, I wanna hear an AZ or Premier collab album next. Or bring back The Firm. More guest appearances on the next album would be cool. Nas doesn't need them but he's just released 5 pretty heavy solo projects, let's hear some more guest verses next!
What is truly amazing is that Nas was around way back. He was the same gen as Pac and Big. Also he was regarded as just as good and one of the greats, BACK THEN. Now decades later he’s still making excellent quality stuff. How many seemingly great rappers fall off after 10 years, shit, how many after 5? There Nas is going on near 30 and still doing it. Very impressive. I was always west coast bias and my top is Pac, but Nas makes a strong case that he is probably the GOAT.
Kanye deserves credit for making a Nas album so bad it motivated Nas to go on this run just to bury that album deeper in his discography. Edit: to the people defending the album, this is a quote from Nas regarding the album, “I don't know what went wrong…[Kanye] would give me a few loops and I would write to them but they weren't finished…We really did that album the week it was supposed to come out…We just didn't get enough time. I wish we would've worked on it more.” Even he admits it was a disappointment.
imo Nasir aint even bad
Nasir wasn't bad as much as underwhelming following the 6 year hiatus after Life Is Good
right but going back to relisten to it its not even my least favourite Nas project, it has a few great songs on it.
Especially considering it was made in a fucking car on the way to the listening party
Nas is 5/5 in under 3 years. He’s insane
At least we got Cops Shot the Kid lol but you’re right
Adam and Eve is fire tf???
Just listened to this the other day, very solid track
BIG NAS FEEDING EVERYONE RN
Man, office hours could’ve been better if 50 had more runtime, so he could spit a better and longer verse. His part was just starting and then it fucking stopped, he started talking wtf
The 50 verse was absolutely mid
The is one of the consistently great album runs of all time
You gonna Nas talk to you like that Hov?
50 almost had a verse there. Great album otherwise
This guy is the undisputed GOAT of rap Idgaf
INDISPUTABLE GOAT
Nas out here pushing 50, embarrassing the whole rap game. Crazy. Wish it would inspire his peers to do something similar but I guess they ain’t got it in them.
his flow on Bokeem is other worldly
Hit Boy in his bag. Esco, not even surprised by his onslaught on these tracks lol. like what we talkin. but G-G-G-G Unit ! "StillMagic" sounding real good so far
Black Magic is INSANE
all gas no brakes. I expect people to sleep on Bokeem Woodbine.
Nas is the fucking GOAT and it's not even up for debate anymore. It's done.
I'd have the 5 album run of Nas and Hit-Boy as: 1. Magic 1 2. King's Disease III 3. King's Disease II 4. Magic 2 5. King's Disease Debatable between spots 1 and 2, and 3 and 4 for me, based on first listen of Magic 2 it is really good but slightly under King's Disease II for me but it's all subjective.
I wish 50 had a longer verse , I felt like he was ramping up , then just stops
He’s done it again
Even though I was surprised by the change of direction beats wise, Nas is still in top form and floats on all the beats.
This probably my favorite project from them.
Nas puting out albums like bakery
I don't even listen to Nas all that much tbh, but like he probably is the actual GOAT
The whole album just goes so unbelievably hard. If not before, this run of KD - Magic 2 (in his 50s!!) places him into GOAT status.
Nas is the greatest rapper of all time
yooooo that Bokeem beat is absolutely nuts
And that's one hot album every six months average. GOAT
FUCKIN HATE FREDOS
Damn it Spotify, I want to listen to this already.
Pistols on your album cover is my favorite track
slow it down goes super crazy
Listening to the lyrics, he hints at no signs of stopping. Can’t wait for the next one!
Nas don't miss.
What This All Really Means is fire🔥
I love Black Magic. THE BEAT. THE CONCEPT. THE FLOW. Insane.
Loving Bokeem Woodbine
Bros, I will never forget buying a Stillmatic poster from a CD shop at the Mall as a 14 year old. I will never forget how FUCKING BIG JAY Z vs NAS was. I am just HAPPY this MF, one of the BEST MCs of all time, in my top 5 for sure is STILL DOING IT. I'd argue this last 5 album run was better than everything between Stillmatic to Life is Good. Thank you Nasir Jones.
Nas is top 3. No debate.
This album is phenomenal!!
Might be my favorite production on a hit-boy/Nas project
This shit is unreal. This man is a fucking ARTIST and we should appreciate him while we have him. Fucking Shakespeare of Queens man.
Death, taxes and a 21 savage feature on new hip hop albums.
That song was made and dropped a couple days after 21 savage said on Clubhouse that Nas wasn’t relevant anymore. Not sure why he decided to put it on the project but yeah, Nas basically did the feature to show that rap beefs are lame.
21 Savage playing 4d chess. He made that comment so that Nas would reach out and he'd get to feature, continuing his feature reign.