Nas - Magic 2 (Discussion thread)

[JustCKing]

When you hit em with a fact they can't argue with everyone pretends not to see it.....lol

The expectations for Nas is just different

No one on the Goat list carries a Heavier Cross

Lebron n Nasir are actually very similar...

Instead of folks marveling at Lebron's 20th season, some rather talk about how he got swept n didn't win a championship

This.

With these four albums, I look at it as another peak. Nas at this point is on a whole other plateau because we haven't seen a rapper his age be this active with this level of quality. Yet, the knock against him is that we aren't getting "Made You Look" and "Nas Is Like" caliber tracks.

 

[ThirdAct]

Where’s them Da Vinci Code breaking ass nikkas?

No one saw the dead bird get resurrected on the 3rd lightning strike Then overlay that with the 3rd frame of the video

The bottom of the N is pointing directly at someone holding a bird at the peak of a mountain

Jesus died at age 33?

I saw a dead bird flying through a broken sky

 

[kes929]

This.

With these four albums, I look at it as another peak. Nas at this point is on a whole other plateau because we haven't seen a rapper his age be this active with this level of quality. Yet, the knock against him is that we aren't getting "Made You Look" and "Nas Is Like" caliber tracks.

I actually think hit boy and Nas have produced modern day versions of those type of songs. It’s a different time though. Thun, speechless, the truth etc… if all came out 15-20 years ago would be in that territory

 

[JustCKing]

I actually think hit boy and Nas have produced modern day versions of those type of songs. It’s a different time though. Thun, speechless, the truth etc… if all came out 15-20 years ago would be in that territory

Yeah, I think a lot of people won't see the how great the music actually is until years later. "Speechless" and "The Truth" are actually two of my favorite songs out of the four albums. They remind me of IWW. "Thun" reminds of me of something Havoc would lace Nas with.

 

[Discipline]

I can see why people want Nas to work with the producers he used to.

For instance, Lost Tapes 1 is one of my fav Nas albums and a classic.

Look at the producers that produced the majority of songs for that album......it was LES, Trackmasters and Alchemist for the most part.

There's a reason why people have nostalgia tinted glasses.

Actually if you think about it, LES produced some bangers for Nas over the years.......

I really like LES and Nas. I think their chemistry is just as good as some of these other produces people keep bringing up.

 

[Ziggiy]

I can see why people want Nas to work with the producers he used to.

For instance, Lost Tapes 1 is one of my fav Nas albums and a classic.

Look at the producers that produced the majority of songs for that album......it was LES, Trackmasters and Alchemist for the most part.

There's a reason why people have nostalgia tinted glasses.

Actually if you think about it, LES produced some bangers for Nas over the years.......

Lost Tapes 2 has Statik Selectah, Kanye West, Alchemist, RZA, and not one but TWO Pete Rock beats.

One of the disingenuous things about the “Nas should work with the 90’s producers” bullshyt is that Nas worked with at least ONE Illmatic producer on each album from 96-04, with the exception of Gods Son. People love to pretend like Illmatic was a one and done when the man STAYED working with those producers and somehow some way the narrative became that Nas picks bad beats. Then he moves to Def Jam and starts working with some of the hottest producers of the time like Will I Am, DJ Toomp, Stargate, Polow Da Don, Scott Storch, Kool & Dre, and Justice League and then it becomes “Where’s Premo? Where’s Large Pro? Where’s the Alchemist?” The SAME nikkas who was giving Nas beats that ya’ll was calling wack. Salaam Remi gave Nas some of his most popular songs and he was too wack for Nas but as soon as Nas hooks up with Kanye, Kanye SWIFTLY proved he was capable of locking in with Nas.

Now Nas is with a younger, hotter, popular producer whose in his own creative prime and people are all of a sudden clamoring for the SAME lineup of producers he gave us in 2019 that wasn’t supported. The way people in here are demanding an Alchemist/Nas track, It Never Ends should have been one of Nas top streaming tracks of the decade. Guess what? Its NOT. The way people demanded Nas finally work with Pete Rock again, the 2 pack of The Art Of It/Queensbridge Politics should be platinum. Guess what? Their NOT.

And you can’t chalk it up to lack of promotion. Lost Tapes 2 had its own promo trailer



TWO videos





Interviews






Nas did more promo for LT2 than both KD2 and KD3 COMBINED and both of those albums outsold LT2. So i’m just extremely curious on where all these fans are when Nas gives ya’ll what ya’ll claim ya’ll want but when he does his own thing and follows his own intuition THOSE projects end up being far more successful, acclaimed, and relevant. KD1 got Nas a grammy. NOT Lost Tapes 2. KD2 got Nas songs playing on ESPN and various commercials. NOT Lost Tapes 2. KD3 got Nas the most acclaimed rap album of 2022. NOT Lost Tapes 2.

I’m just trying to see some hard evidence that supports the notion Nas makes more acclaimed music with the same 90’s Boom Bap starter pack of Premo, Large Pro, LES, Alchemist, and Pete Rock. Or more supported music. Or music thats held in higher regards.


But I can tell you right now there IS no evidence. Because it DOESN’T EXIST

 

[HNIC973]

I actually think hit boy and Nas have produced modern day versions of those type of songs. It’s a different time though. Thun, speechless, the truth etc… if all came out 15-20 years ago would be in that territory

Lost Tapes 2 has Statik Selectah, Kanye West, Alchemist, RZA, and not one but TWO Pete Rock beats.

One of the disingenuous things about the “Nas should work with the 90’s producers” bullshyt is that Nas worked with at least ONE Illmatic producer on each album from 96-04, with the exception of Gods Son. People love to pretend like Illmatic was a one and done when the man STAYED working with those producers and somehow some way the narrative became that Nas picks bad beats. Then he moves to Def Jam and starts working with some of the hottest producers of the time like Will I Am, DJ Toomp, Stargate, Polow Da Don, Scott Storch, Kool & Dre, and Justice League and then it becomes “Where’s Premo? Where’s Large Pro? Where’s the Alchemist?” The SAME nikkas who was giving Nas beats that ya’ll was calling wack. Salaam Remi gave Nas some of his most popular songs and he was too wack for Nas but as soon as Nas hooks up with Kanye, Kanye SWIFTLY proved he was capable of locking in with Nas.

Now Nas is with a younger, hotter, popular producer whose in his own creative prime and people are all of a sudden clamoring for the SAME lineup of producers he gave us in 2019 that wasn’t supported. The way people in here are demanding an Alchemist/Nas track, It Never Ends should have been one of Nas top streaming tracks of the decade. Guess what? Its NOT. The way people demanded Nas finally work with Pete Rock again, the 2 pack of The Art Of It/Queensbridge Politics should be platinum. Guess what? Their NOT.

And you can’t chalk it up to lack of promotion. Lost Tapes 2 had its own promo trailer



TWO videos





Interviews






Nas did more promo for LT2 than both KD2 and KD3 COMBINED and both of those albums outsold LT2. So i’m just extremely curious on where all these fans are when Nas gives ya’ll what ya’ll claim ya’ll want but when he does his own thing and follows his own intuition THOSE projects end up being far more successful, acclaimed, and relevant. KD1 got Nas a grammy. NOT Lost Tapes 2. KD2 got Nas songs playing on ESPN and various commercials. NOT Lost Tapes 2. KD3 got Nas the most acclaimed rap album of 2022. NOT Lost Tapes 2.

I’m just trying to see some hard evidence that supports the notion Nas makes more acclaimed music with the same 90’s Boom Bap starter pack of Premo, Large Pro, LES, Alchemist, and Pete Rock. Or more supported music. Or music thats held in higher regards.


But I can tell you right now there IS no evidence. Because it DOESN’T EXIST

All great points. I'm going to tell you what they'll say "His best most popular songs are the Premo Pete Rock produced ones". Again fam the argument is pointless people are stuck in their own nostalgia

 

[Ty-Fife]

I actually think out of everybody people named Al and Nas COULD do something special but it would have to be a similar situation like with Hit. Not just a one and done thing but at least an EP to get in sync and then a whole project. Basically something along the lines of what Nas/Hit and Al/Boldy did going from KD-KD2 and Boldface-POTIC and beyond.

 

[ADP]

Some of the gatekeepers are getting out of line a bit though, people are entitled to their opinion even if yall disagree with it

There's a bit of unnecessary hate spread around

95% of the posters here have been Nas fans for at least at the minimum 10 years so they can tell the trolls from the genuine interest

For example I personally don't need Nas on Metro Boomin beats but if others would like to see that I'm not gonna go out of my way to shyt on their opinion...

Nas is an extremely well rounded artist he can make whatever choices he wants at this point and he kinda always did as far as I'm concerned

 

[Budda]

Lost Tapes 2 has Statik Selectah, Kanye West, Alchemist, RZA, and not one but TWO Pete Rock beats.

One of the disingenuous things about the “Nas should work with the 90’s producers” bullshyt is that Nas worked with at least ONE Illmatic producer on each album from 96-04, with the exception of Gods Son. People love to pretend like Illmatic was a one and done when the man STAYED working with those producers and somehow some way the narrative became that Nas picks bad beats. Then he moves to Def Jam and starts working with some of the hottest producers of the time like Will I Am, DJ Toomp, Stargate, Polow Da Don, Scott Storch, Kool & Dre, and Justice League and then it becomes “Where’s Premo? Where’s Large Pro? Where’s the Alchemist?” The SAME nikkas who was giving Nas beats that ya’ll was calling wack. Salaam Remi gave Nas some of his most popular songs and he was too wack for Nas but as soon as Nas hooks up with Kanye, Kanye SWIFTLY proved he was capable of locking in with Nas.

Now Nas is with a younger, hotter, popular producer whose in his own creative prime and people are all of a sudden clamoring for the SAME lineup of producers he gave us in 2019 that wasn’t supported. The way people in here are demanding an Alchemist/Nas track, It Never Ends should have been one of Nas top streaming tracks of the decade. Guess what? Its NOT. The way people demanded Nas finally work with Pete Rock again, the 2 pack of The Art Of It/Queensbridge Politics should be platinum. Guess what? Their NOT.

And you can’t chalk it up to lack of promotion. Lost Tapes 2 had its own promo trailer



TWO videos





Interviews






Nas did more promo for LT2 than both KD2 and KD3 COMBINED and both of those albums outsold LT2. So i’m just extremely curious on where all these fans are when Nas gives ya’ll what ya’ll claim ya’ll want but when he does his own thing and follows his own intuition THOSE projects end up being far more successful, acclaimed, and relevant. KD1 got Nas a grammy. NOT Lost Tapes 2. KD2 got Nas songs playing on ESPN and various commercials. NOT Lost Tapes 2. KD3 got Nas the most acclaimed rap album of 2022. NOT Lost Tapes 2.

I’m just trying to see some hard evidence that supports the notion Nas makes more acclaimed music with the same 90’s Boom Bap starter pack of Premo, Large Pro, LES, Alchemist, and Pete Rock. Or more supported music. Or music thats held in higher regards.


But I can tell you right now there IS no evidence. Because it DOESN’T EXIST

It never ends wasn’t anything special though, if Nas had the ALC beat that he gave to Benny and J Cole it would probably stream more than anything he has done in years, J Cole and Bennys record is Gold, I don’t think Nas and Em song is for a comparison.

 

[Ziggiy]

All great points. I'm going to tell you what they'll say "His best most popular songs are the Premo Pete Rock produced ones". Again fam the argument is pointless people are stuck in their own nostalgia

Funny thing is if we’re talking about popularity his highest charting songs are Trackmasters and SALAAM REMI produced lmao.

 

[Robbie3000]

I have to kind of agree with this. He is a great imitator of styles but a master of none.

After listening to those KD albums a few times and going back to it you realise how many mediocre/borderline generic beats there are on each album.

He puts together these soul loops and boom bap beats and thinks hes catering to that lane but there are other producers killing that style so much harder than him. Its the same reason that Benny album was so mid ... it was a whole album of outdated sounding soul tracks, it really was a roc-era type of sound that was just so boring to listen to.

A producer like Alc or Madlib could make a soulful album without drawing for those super obvious 70s soul sounds.. theyll make it actually sound unique.

Breh even used a mad obvious pre-made loop from a sample pack in one of the beats for KD3 .... how the fukk does he get a pass for that.

It’s 2023. Y’all brehs gotta move on from your Alc and Madlib dreams. It’s obvious that’s not what he is on right now.

 

[Budda]

All great points. I'm going to tell you what they'll say "His best most popular songs are the Premo Pete Rock produced ones". Again fam the argument is pointless people are stuck in their own nostalgia

The argument is good but it doesn’t all the way correlate, Hit Boy is current but it’s not like any of the Nas songs he’s doing are streaming great or doing crazy numbers in comparison to Nas tracks of the past, what Hit Boy should get credit for is the quality of the work.

I don’t think it’s beyond someone like Alchemist to produce similar though, ALC actually has a gold record with Benny something Nas and Hitboy haven’t attained despite collaborations with Em Big Sean and a couple others, if we want to argue for Hit Boy then it’s not the commercial value that should drive the arguments cause Nas would probably do similar numbers with a Premo or ALC album.

I wouldn’t want to see him do a Premo or Pete Rock though because I don’t think those producers are in their bag anymore while Hit Boy is, this is why I’ve mentioned Alchemist because he is still producing great quality projects and beats.

 

[Budda]

Also it’s not a fair comparison to compare a mashup work like Lost Tapes 2 to actual albums where Nas was in the studio with the producer making his body of work, when Nas was in the same zone with ALC in 2001-2, they produced songs like Book of Rhymes, My Way, Mastermind, Revolutionary Warfare,

 

[Ziggiy]

It never ends wasn’t anything special though, if Nas had the ALC beat that he gave to Benny and J Cole it would probably stream more than anything he has done in years, J Cole and Bennys record is Gold, I don’t think Nas and Em song is for a comparison.

That doesn’t make any sense to me whatsoever. So It Never Ends wasn’t “Anything Special” but supposedly Nas and Alc have the ability to knock out not one, but FOUR straight albums on the same level or better than that of three songs they did together TWENTY ONE YEARS AGO?!?!

We could do the “If Nas chose” game to the end of time. “If Nas chose to release I am as a double album in 99”. “If Nas chose to put Serious on Streets Disciple”. “If Nas chose to work with Premo in 05”. If If If. The fact is Nas chose what he chose from Alchemist for Lost Tape 2 and that pairing has been amongst the so called Nas fans most requested, and when it came out it wasn’t supported as people claimed it would be. Period. The album itself, chalk FULL of production that so called fans claimed they wanted wasn’t supported. But the Hit Boy produced albums HAVE been and there is verifiable evidence to prove it. There is no evidence whatsoever to support FORCING Nas to work with Alchemist (because thats exactly what he would be doing if he left what he and Hit Boy have accomplished) there’s no numbers. There’s no acclaim. There’s obviously not that much passion for his production or else they’d have more than FOUR songs together in twenty one years.

So again, i don’t see the point. All factors lead to this NOT being a dream collab more than the opposite