Nas - King's Disease II (Discussion Thread)

[NYK Loyalist]

I copped the digital and two shirts from the site. The first Kings Disease merch was quality

 

[Ziggiy]

Nas is an independent artist, he's not gonna get crazy good interviews ever. He doesn't care to play the game enough. And the ironic thing? All those albums that people don't like or say aren't good, from I Am to SD to HHID...got good reviews. Critics loved Street's Disciple lol. Flip side Stillmatic got pretty middling reviews outside of the Source. The streets crowned that album and fans loved it. And I think the reaction to KD2 from fans and "the culture" has been positive.

The way I think about this, even beyond the label/independent dynamic...think about Rick Ross. Sales and popularity wise he fell off. Doesn't sell like he used to, can't make hits. Yet people like us who listen to rap music still fukk with his music heavy. Port Of Miami 2 was dope. Got a 6.something from Pitchfork, prob got a 3/5 from Rolling Stone, middling reviews left and right. I feel like Nas is in that category of black music where people feel they can disrespect it or ignore it because it's not viral, it's not generating hits, there is no trendy movement to tie it to. You gain nothing by giving Nas or Rick Ross a good review. You risk being side eyed at your next suburban brunch though. The black music these people fukk with is largely shyt that is so big it can't be denied. The Beyonces and Kendricks. But then again these same people shyt on the biggest black artist out there (Drake) and don't give him any credit, even when he deserves it. Yall know I'm not a Drake fan, I'm just making a point.

When Hov drops his album full of investment brags/bars, these same people are going to call it refreshing and inspiring. That's just how the gam goes.

I was with you until the Drake thing. Why exactly does Drake deserve credit for having his music written FOR him?

 

[IllmaticDelta]

banger

 

[Pop123]

1. Illmatic
2. Stillmatic
3a. IWW
3b. KD2
4. Lost Tapes
5. LIG

. Lyrically KD2 is great but I don't know if I'd place it in his Top 5...but musically? Come on, that shyt is Top 3 no doubt...maybe Top 2, . The 2nd half of the album feels like a hip hop jazz album...just ran that shyt back tonight for the 5th time since it dropped...just as fire as it was day 1

 

[No Homo]

After a few days with this, definitely his best release since LIG(not better than it imo) .. Definitely better than the first..

I love this album

I could do without EPMD2, YNTV and Deathrow East tho..

 

[spliz]

Nas is an independent artist, he's not gonna get crazy good interviews ever. He doesn't care to play the game enough. And the ironic thing? All those albums that people don't like or say aren't good, from I Am to SD to HHID...got good reviews. Critics loved Street's Disciple lol. Flip side Stillmatic got pretty middling reviews outside of the Source. The streets crowned that album and fans loved it. And I think the reaction to KD2 from fans and "the culture" has been positive.

The way I think about this, even beyond the label/independent dynamic...think about Rick Ross. Sales and popularity wise he fell off. Doesn't sell like he used to, can't make hits. Yet people like us who listen to rap music still fukk with his music heavy. Port Of Miami 2 was dope. Got a 6.something from Pitchfork, prob got a 3/5 from Rolling Stone, middling reviews left and right. I feel like Nas is in that category of black music where people feel they can disrespect it or ignore it because it's not viral, it's not generating hits, there is no trendy movement to tie it to. You gain nothing by giving Nas or Rick Ross a good review. You risk being side eyed at your next suburban brunch though. The black music these people fukk with is largely shyt that is so big it can't be denied. The Beyonces and Kendricks. But then again these same people shyt on the biggest black artist out there (Drake) and don't give him any credit, even when he deserves it. Yall know I'm not a Drake fan, I'm just making a point.

When Hov drops his album full of investment brags/bars, these same people are going to call it refreshing and inspiring. That's just how the gam goes.

I mean I feel u. But the majority of the feedback has been positive. It isn’t really similar to Ross at all. This shyt is deliberate. Like the 2 bad reviews were deliberately sabotaging. That’s where I get pissed off. Because it’s not just some crackas who don’t understand Nas. It’s deeper than that. They literally are trying to sabotage his shyt. All cause they don’t want him to have higher critical acclaim than Ye when he drops his shyt.

 

[Pop123]

After a few days with this, definitely his best release since LIG(not better than it imo) .. Definitely better than the first..

I love this album

I could do without EPMD2, YNTV and Deathrow East tho..

EPMD 2, YKTV and The Pressure are the only joints I don't love. I don't skip them, they're all good...but I wouldn't miss them if someone deleted them off my phone, lol.

 

[DaRock]

The nikka Nas is soooooo great with visuals and story telling...now he's had it/is actually living it over crazy beats..nikkas are really mad!!!!

Dude has real money(100 plus millions, true stories, can still speak this as he was talking on illmatic)

This shyt is truly for people...

Dude is the fukkin GREATEST!!

 

[GreenGhxst]

A lot of solid tracks but when its a miss its a miss

 

[areohbee824]

Haven't been to a show since late 2019 but man, I gotta catch him on tour for this album

 

[Piff Perkins]

I was with you until the Drake thing. Why exactly does Drake deserve credit for having his music written FOR him?

To be fair Drake also writes. He wrote 30 Hours and other shyt for Kanye, I don’t think anyone can genuinely say he writes nothing and gets everything handed to him. I’m just saying the way white publications dismiss him is weird to me. I get why they denigrate Cole…he refuses to play the game. Maybe they feel whether you praise or trash him you’re gonna get the same hits to your site. Whereas if you trash Beyoncé you’re gonna get harassed for years lol.

 

[Life is Good]

Nas is an independent artist, he's not gonna get crazy good reviews ever. He doesn't care to play the game enough. And the ironic thing? All those albums that people don't like or say aren't good, from I Am to SD to HHID...got good reviews. Critics loved Street's Disciple lol. Flip side Stillmatic got pretty middling reviews outside of the Source. The streets crowned that album and fans loved it. And I think the reaction to KD2 from fans and "the culture" has been positive.

The way I think about this, even beyond the label/independent dynamic...think about Rick Ross. Sales and popularity wise he fell off. Doesn't sell like he used to, can't make hits. Yet people like us who listen to rap music still fukk with his music heavy. Port Of Miami 2 was dope. Got a 6.something from Pitchfork, prob got a 3/5 from Rolling Stone, middling reviews left and right. I feel like Nas is in that category of black music where people feel they can disrespect it or ignore it because it's not viral, it's not generating hits, there is no trendy movement to tie it to. You gain nothing by giving Nas or Rick Ross a good review. You risk being side eyed at your next suburban brunch though. The black music these people fukk with is largely shyt that is so big it can't be denied. The Beyonces and Kendricks. But then again these same people shyt on the biggest black artist out there (Drake) and don't give him any credit, even when he deserves it. Yall know I'm not a Drake fan, I'm just making a point.

When Hov drops his album full of investment brags/bars, these same people are going to call it refreshing and inspiring. That's just how the gam goes.

You stated. “The black music these people fukk with is largely shyt that is so big it can't be denied. The Beyonces and Kendricks.”
What’s so big about their music?
What’s deniable about Nas’ music?

 

[prophecypro]

Regarding that Hip Hop DX review a 3.8 is closer to a 4 than 3 but I do find it bizarre when people say its not as good KD 1. Seen a couple of reviewers who also said that. I dont it they are being super transparent to harsh Nas but it feels like that. At least this time people realize it aint just stans who have an issue with people who do that to him.

 

[Mike the Executioner]

There ARE a lot of conceptual tracks on this album. My Bible, Nobody, Brunch on Sundays and Death Row East are all conceptual. Just because he doesn't have joints like Queens Wolf and Project Roach (which ironically he's usually criticized for ) doesn't mean it's not creative.

It's crazy how some people hate the wildly ambitious, experimental Nas from 2004-2008, but they want a taste of that in his later work. Salaam Remi said that when "Thief's Theme" came out, they couldn't even pay someone to talk about it. Years later, people come up to him and they talk about how much they loved that track.

He's not going to rap as a gumshoe detective or talk about making love to fried chicken these days. That's not the time he's on right now. We're doing King's Disease II this summer.

 

[Pop123]

I haven't read a single review. Can somebody tell me the general sentiment in the couple of bad reviews? Like what is their overarching complaint, if there is one.