Nas - King's Disease III (Discussion Thread)

[Jamaro85]

Watching this video at the timestamp I marked just made me realize the album cover basically says ILL (capital I, lowercase l's). Don't know if anybody has pointed this out yet.

 

[Slim Charles]

Gonna have to let this one marinate but currently this one sitting above the previous 3 for sure.

Lot of this album is more understated in a lot of ways but actually the more you listen the more you realise the lyrics, flow, production is more complex and layered

I’ve said it before pre KD3 on here, what I missed from KD1 and 2 was Nas from a technical standpoint could hit higher highs. He obvious had some tracks that were from a skill standpoint ill but lot of KD1 and 2 the subject matter took the driving seat. Then Magic came and Nas was just a different animal

Then here with KD3 you got the themes/ concepts/ subject matter combined with elite MCing. Which is what always made Nas the GOAT to me. Some got bars but not great content. Some got content but not elite bars. Nas always married both perfectly

I’m not sure what changed. Some here think it’s because on first two he was punching in a lot/ freestyling his verses and working them up bar by bar while here he’s hitting the pen and pad. But on here and Magic, Nas really rapping to show he’s still the GOAT

 

[Soymuscle Mike]

Must've played this like 10 times already, sheesh.

TOP 5 SONGS:

BEEF
THUN
HOOD2HOOD
ONCE A MAN, TWICE A CHILD
MIKE & QUINCY

The Nas & Hit-Boy ranking:

KDIII
Magic
KDII
KD1

Too early to tell where this will sit in Esco's discography. Nothing will ever crack my top 4 (IWW, IllMatic, Lost Tapes, God's Son) but I'm not counting a top 5 slot out out at this point....

 

[Ball]

 

[Ziggiy]

Gonna have to let this one marinate but currently this one sitting above the previous 3 for sure.

Lot of this album is more understated in a lot of ways but actually the more you listen the more you realise the lyrics, flow, production is more complex and layered

I’ve said it before pre KD3 on here, what I missed from KD1 and 2 was Nas from a technical standpoint could hit higher highs. He obvious had some tracks that were from a skill standpoint ill but lot of KD1 and 2 the subject matter took the driving seat. Then Magic came and Nas was just a different animal

Then here with KD3 you got the themes/ concepts/ subject matter combined with elite MCing. Which is what always made Nas the GOAT to me. Some got bars but not great content. Some got content but not elite bars. Nas always married both perfectly

I’m not sure what changed. Some here think it’s because on first two he was punching in a lot/ freestyling his verses and working them up bar by bar while here he’s hitting the pen and pad. But on here and Magic, Nas really rapping to show he’s still the GOAT

Hit Boy told Nas not to overthink the songs and just say the first thing that came to his mind. I’m not sure he was “freestyling” per say in the traditional sense but more so not doing a lot of REWRITING on KD1 and KD2 and making the concepts more fluid.

Nas mostly writes on his phone the last few years so using pen and paper probably put him back in that “zone”

 

[A Pimp Named Slickback]

The things that shaped me would've murked you

 

[FloorGeneral]

Yeah I don't know what to say about this shyt. I'll try not to go too long.

If you're hating on Hit-Boy in ANY fashion...if you're longing for the days of Premo and Pete Rock and LP and whoever else. If you're pining for Alchemist or Havoc or a Rick Ross Executive Produced Nas album: fukk all the way off. Hit-Boy showed his ass all over this album. Man is batting a thousand with Nas, and the four projects sound nothing alike. This album is THE best of the 4. Production is excellent. It's versatile as hell. I don't know how you can listen to KD3 and think to yourself 'man, I wish Nas was rapping over different beats'. Nah, THIS combo is THE one. Match made in Hip Hop Heaven.

Now to the star of the show. The Chosen One. The Wunderkind. Hip Hop Jesus. GOAT. Pick your moniker, they all apply. How this man damn near 50 and putting out shyt THIS good?!? Like, STILL the sharpest on the planet? And not close. Flow IMPECCABLE, STILL?!? I don't like to bring this energy into convos, because I love both these dudes, and I grew up listening to both these dudes, and even with Nasir being my GOAT, still have mad love for Jay, but man, how you gonna listen to the shyt Nas putting out and not come to the conclusion that he been passed him? Like, there's nothing subjective about how good this album is. This is Nas STILL AT THE TOP OF HIS GAME, rapping over beats from arguably the best producer in the game, and pardon the pun, but damn if 100% PURE MAGIC didn't happen this time.

I love KD1 and KD2, then Magic came like a slap in the face like 'yeah, I still got THIS in me'. Little did we know what he and Hit were prepping. KD3 is Magic on steroids. It's Magic on the clear, and the cream, and andro and all that shyt pumped in. We got 50+ minutes of Nas and only Nas. Speaking on everything. Letting Jay know he ain't forgot. Letting Pete know. Letting Serch know. Letting other rappers know. Letting US know. You got beef with his beats? He said fukk everybody at some point in a most respectful way. Nas weaving in and out of pockets and flows like only he can. Again: at 50 years old. '30' came on in the car and one of the kids was like 'he been around for 30 years?' lol. I said yup, and back then, you got made fun of if you were even in your mid-30s and still rapping. Now look at this dude. 50 fukking years old and still, BY FAR the BEST in the world. Who else? Only one.

I'm not even gonna go through the tracks, cause why? Listen. Push play and just listen. Not one bad track to be seen or heard. All fire. Every one. Fire beats everywhere. Fire beat changes sprinkled in. Bars everywhere. He shut everyone up on this album. I know music is supposed to be subjective, but I'm sorry, if you got negative shyt to say about KD3, that's clearly a you problem. This probably the best rap album to come out in I don't even know how many years. We just got blessed.

Fin.

 

[Ball]

 

[CourtesyFlush]

Unpopular opinion: I wish there were more beats like Michael and Quincy and Till my last breath. Alot of the slower, soulfull beats just aren't my thing. Nas is getting better and better at spitting, this album may be his best rapping since stillmatic. I just am not feeling some of these beats. Magic had the perfect mix of hard tracks and slower ones IMO.

 

[Yapdatfool]

 

[Amestafuu (Emeritus)]

21 savage needs to be deported after that statement

To be fair his full statement made sense and the discussion was respectable. He said Nas wasn't relevant to the youth but he's really good at what he does and has a loyal fanbase.

I can respect that from a younger dude.

 

[Golayitdown]

the elements layered in the beats is what made me like Hitboy since KD. His beats need a whole listening session on their own.

I hear something different every time I run this one back

 

[Alexander Wiggin]

This may be an unpopular take in this thread, but I think he's a better producer than beatmaker. I'm not trying to be cute or play with words too much either. Like, if you put a bunch of his beats on a beat tape they aren't gonna blow me away. I think he's an above average beat-maker but not elite or anything. But with that being said...he's perfect at picking what sounds best for Nas to rhyme over, and he's versatile enough to give a ton of different sound. He's like a jack of all trades and master of none to me. He's able to be a little bit of a chameleon but without being a shark or a biter. He can sprinkle in a little bit of Timbo style, Just Blaze, Bink, Conductor Williams, Alchemist, Kanye, Pharrell, Preemo...

I feel like a lot of other producers would sound stale after 4 albums, but he's got enough ability to hop in and out of different bags where it keeps sounding fresh to me.

There are producers where I can't wait to hear their instrumental projects, and producers that are better suited to working with artists. Hit-Boy is the latter to me. Which honestly is the more important skill unless you just want to cater to die hard beat heads.

That's actually a honest and interesting take. I also think what makes hit boy/nas combo so great is the fact that hit can provide nas the right sound as opposed to the best beat.
For example a guy like nicholas craven said he sent Mach hommy 1000 beats. That's why they can release 5 project per year because they don't seat with the artist and really built an album with a vision but they just send packages via emails.
The way hit boy flips the beats wouldn't make sense if he was just making beats without an artist in mind and know if the rapper can adapt or not. When Nas talk about Michael & quincy it really mean something. Hit boy work with the game or big Sean don't ring like this

 

[semicko82]

fukk 21 Savage AND his mama.

Dude won’t be relevant passed this Drake album

 

[FunkDoc1112]

To be fair his full statement made sense and the discussion was respectable. He said Nas wasn't relevant to the youth but he's really good at what he does and has a loyal fanbase.

I can respect that from a younger dude.

This, I feel like everybodys being reactionary.