Nas - Magic 2 (Discussion thread)

[prophecypro]

IWW got 4 mics too I believe (not that mics mean anything to me but just following your lead). I know I’m in the minority, it’s all good, I stand sternly on it tho. Stillmatic, minus like 2 joints, maybe 3, is an A+ album imo

Bro I was shocked when Pitchfork gave it a 9.1/10 in their classic retro review column a few months back
I figured it was one of those albums CaC snobs would try to say was super overrated and downplay

It couldnt be denied when it dropped

 

[prophecypro]

aint that the fan in the next vid kickin it with Nas? seems like Nas must have been like 'yo come chill with us'

I think thats Javier Nunez. Skateboarder and actor. and I think works at Supreme Hes good friends with Nas and rolls with the crew now.
He posted it on his insta first

 

[Slim Charles]

I think thats Javier Nunez. Skateboarder and actor. and I think works at Supreme Hes good friends with Nas and rolls with the crew now.
He posted it on his insta first

ah yeh you're right that's Javier at start of second clip. Not sure who white guy in red cap is but yeh must be part of crew .

btw how did Javier and Nas ever become cool? I know Javier from the film Kids and from buying Supreme back in the day. Then I always saw him and Nas together. I know Nas done a lot with Supreme but seems they go way back/ good friends. It's not completely random but always found it kinda random they're good friends

 

[Piff Perkins]

@Piff Perkins @spliz @kes929


I’ll also add that as much as we criticize the marketing team, they’ve done good as well and I think credit should be given when they do something good. Every album release sans Magic I feel like they do one or two things that really hit the mark, they just need to bring it all together under ONE cohesive strategy.

KD1 was the interviews, having the single/video ready before release. The initial announcement trailer. Some of the Ultra Black marketing videos they put on IG.

KD2 was having the video ready to go ON the night of release, which added to the hype. Also the interview with Ebro was pretty big. Also partnering with that company for fans to buy and own shares of Nas songs was pretty genius


Magic was a surprise release. No marketing so i’ll give that a pass

KD3 releasing the album cover and date a few weeks ahead of time. Again having the video ready to go on the night of release. The interview with Trevor Noah. The TEXT ALERT service was fukking genius. The Get Light Tik Tok challenge was cool.

Magic 2 was Nas erasing his IG and posting the storm video with the N logo. That REALLY got the computers computin for a min. It was the most hype i’ve seen regarding Nas social media since the night he went off on Kelis. The Houdini teasers was a nice touch as well. Really the whole social media roll out was really cool in my opinion.


Now if Nas combined ALL of that together for ONE album release I feel he’d easily get his 50K first week.

Good points. I def agree with this which is what makes me the most frustrated. It's like...well, me being a Detroit Lions fan lol. When we have a good offense, our defense is trash. When we have a good defense, our offense is meh. If everything can just get on the same page it'll work out ha.

If I was on his team I'd be looking at KD2 real hard. I don't think it's a coincidence that it's the album that had major label involvement (Orchard/Sony) and was the most successful album commercially. The video (and song, which was great) and the hype of the track listing were really important. The Em track got hype of course since he's Em, but IMO the Lauryn Hill track is what got the most buzz. It sparked conversations, it was trending on Twitter, etc. That album also had Death Row East which was another track that was an "event." People had to listen to hear the story, and then the interviews delved deeper with Ebro like you said.

I don't want a BP3 type Nas album with every big name slapped on. But I definitely think if they want to sell, having smart features make sense. Do I want a Drake or Kendrick track, specifically as the second track on the album to maximize streams? Hell yes. But going back to KD2 and Lauryn Hill...getting women to tune in is key too. Whether that means SZA, Summer Walker, whoever. Jhene Aiko did a dope track with Nas years ago, I'd love to see more stuff like that.

 

[prophecypro]

ah yeh you're right that's Javier at start of second clip. Not sure who white guy in red cap is but yeh must be part of crew .

btw how did Javier and Nas ever become cool? I know Javier from the film Kids and from buying Supreme back in the day. Then I always saw him and Nas together. I know Nas done a lot with Supreme but seems they go way back/ good friends. It's not completely random but always found it kinda random they're good friends

The second dude might be homie who runs Sweet Chick, forgot his name lol

Im not sure but I noticed Javier shouted him out more and more since KD3. I think he might have designed that Supreme Friends and Family tee for the MSG show but yeah he must have been cool with him for a minute

 

[Pop123]

Not for nothing but since he’s squad, Bron’s son Bronny fainted in practice and had cardiac arrest and was in the ICU, he’s been changed to stable condition now thankfully. Y’all send some prayers up, that’s nuts, only 18

 

[HNIC973]

I think thats easier said than done. From what I know they hadn’t officially locked down the tracklisting before the album was leaked and a lot of those songs ended up on Lost Tapes 1 or he reused verses from those songs on other official releases.

That coupled with sample clearance issues, it might be “impossible” to release a double album that was meant for 25 years ago

IDK i'm just thinking more than half of those songs samples are cleared LT1. The only ones you would have to clear stay scheming, Rise & Fall, Amongst Kings, Hardest thing to do stay alive, maybe Worst Enemy. I'm a believer if Nas pushed for it he could make it happen. The interest would have to be there I believe it would

 

[Mike Wins]

Good points. I def agree with this which is what makes me the most frustrated. It's like...well, me being a Detroit Lions fan lol. When we have a good offense, our defense is trash. When we have a good defense, our offense is meh. If everything can just get on the same page it'll work out ha.

If I was on his team I'd be looking at KD2 real hard. I don't think it's a coincidence that it's the album that had major label involvement (Orchard/Sony) and was the most successful album commercially. The video (and song, which was great) and the hype of the track listing were really important. The Em track got hype of course since he's Em, but IMO the Lauryn Hill track is what got the most buzz. It sparked conversations, it was trending on Twitter, etc. That album also had Death Row East which was another track that was an "event." People had to listen to hear the story, and then the interviews delved deeper with Ebro like you said.

I don't want a BP3 type Nas album with every big name slapped on. But I definitely think if they want to sell, having smart features make sense. Do I want a Drake or Kendrick track, specifically as the second track on the album to maximize streams? Hell yes. But going back to KD2 and Lauryn Hill...getting women to tune in is key too. Whether that means SZA, Summer Walker, whoever. Jhene Aiko did a dope track with Nas years ago, I'd love to see more stuff like that.

Good post. The top Spotify streaming tracks from KD era are

One Mic One Gun 28 million
Spicy 28 million
Wave Gods 24 million
Replace Me 19 million
Rare 18 million
EPMD 2 17 million
Nobody 16 million

So the answer should be obvious, working with younger artists and well-known vets is effective if pumping up streaming stats is the goal. I still question how much Nas care about all that, it seem like he mostly enjoying the ability to create and release music without the previous barriers. Especially the last 3 albums with minimal guests and promo

Think the cost of a Drake or Kendrick appearance probably don't make sense. But one thing Nas could easily do is hop on tracks on some of these younger artists tracks. He been a free agent for years, no reason he couldn't hop on a song on Kendrick or Cole's album, or do a joint with Drake and Ross for a DJ Khaled album

 

[Slim Charles]

The second dude might be homie who runs Sweet Chick, forgot his name lol

Im not sure but I noticed Javier shouted him out more and more since KD3. I think he might have designed that Supreme Friends and Family tee for the MSG show but yeah he must have been cool with him for a minute

did any SUpreme Nas F&F teams ever make it on websites to buy? reall wanted one but yeh never seen one pop up on places like Grailed

edit: just seen a few on ebay and grailed for $300+

 

[Ziggiy]

Good post. The top Spotify streaming tracks from KD era are

One Mic One Gun 28 million
Spicy 28 million
Wave God's 24 million
Replace Me 19 million
Rare 18 million
EPMD 2 17 million
Nobody 16 million

So the answer should be obvious, working with younger artists is effective if streaming stats is their goal

The cost of a Drake or Kendrick appearance probably don't make sense. But one thing Nas could easily do is hop on tracks on some of these younger artists tracks. He been a free agent for years, no reason he couldn't hop on a song on Kendrick or Cole's album, or do a joint with Drake and Ross for a DJ Khaled album

I was about to post that Rare was one of the top streaming songs from KD2. Thats proof that a DOPE video and the right hype will get streams.

Also hopping on songs with Kenny/Drake/and Cole SEEMS like a no brainer but we also have to take the ARTISTIC factor into account. Every beat/concept isn’t going to fit Nas or inspire him to write. Nas is too much of a legend to just JUMP at an opportunity to work with someone simply because they’re popular.


Cole said he originally wanted Nas on God’s Gift from Sideline Story. Kendrick said he almost reached out to Nas for Sing About Me/Dying Of Thirst. The plug chick said Drake wanted Nas on Lemon Pepper Freestyle from Scary Hours 2. These would all be pretty good placements for a Nas verse but we don’t know if going forward any of these artists had the right beat or idea for a Nas feature or if it would even fit. Benny left a Nas feature off Burden Of Proof because it was a chick song and he felt thats not what the fans wanted to hear from a Benny/Nas collab

 

[Braman]

Nas is my Goat but saying he recently dropped 2 classics is bugging. None of these 5 albums can stand along side certified classics like Illmatic, It Was Written or Stillmatic. These are solid probably 4.0 Mic projects and Esco definitely is aging gracefully and his flow is still there but let's not get carried away. Honestly I wish he would lock in with another producer. The Hit Boy cat is cool but I always feel something is missing with these projects.

Yep. Everyone is saying the same thing, over and over and over again. Yet somehow theres still dudes in denial

You can’t have classic albums with no SOUL. No personal shyt. That’s what’s missing. Hit does not bring it out of him. Hit mirrors the dudes of his era (some in these threads) that DON’T want that, call it ‘sleep inducing’. Ie, how many times in these 5 albums hs Nas mentioend his son?? I mean I’d expect a whole song but I can’t even recall a mention. The production doesn’t evoke it.

So that’s what a ‘missing’ is you can almsot feel Hit/Nas are scared to have a slow/somber music. Case in point look how Hit ends the albums. Usually the last song is the super personal track the slow/somber track. This ngga ends it with Nas and 21 Savage. KD 1 it’s Spicy. He/they scared new age fans will call it boring. Nas didn’t become possible goat bc of his shyt talking. 5 albums of Nas talkin fly is not stickin to the ribs

 

[Alexander Wiggin]

Nas got so many elite tracks that it’s hard for songs to crack a top 25/30 Nas list. Just from Illmatic to God’s Son there’s 25 songs I’m not sure anything from his albums onwards since 2002 have topped. Like even Stay on LIG. Amazing song but does it get into a top 25. That’s not to diss any of this newer stuff as what these albums with Hit have is consistency we didn’t get from Nas for some of his albums. But that elite classic level a tough group to break in to. I guess time will tell and maybe it’s nostalgia or maybe it’s just those songs when Nas young just can’t be topped period. And I’ve omitted a lot of amazing tracks from 1994 to 2002

1. Ny state of mind
2. World is yours
3. Life’s a bytch
4. Memory lane
5. Halftime
6. One Love
7. Represent
8. It ain’t hard to tell
9. Deja Vu
10. Street dreams remix
11. The message
12. Take it in blood
13. I Gave You Power
14. NY state of mind 2
15. Nas is like
16. Stillmatic intro
17. You’re da man
18. 2nd childhood
19. What goes around
20. One mic
21. Doo rags
22. Purple
23. No ideas original
24. Get down
25. Made you Look

Yep.

And that's not counting the unreleased catalog that contains crazy joints (good lookin on Déjà vu. I would add The foulness too)

I love the hit boy catalogue some songs I like better than those on your list but your list is iconic songs. Hard to move. The only hb song I can considering put on a nas top 25 is Thun and maybe Michael & Quincy. In your list Purple No ideas original and What goes around can be replaced by If I ruled the world Thun and Thief's theme or Got ur self a gun

 

[Slim Charles]

Yep.

And that's not counting the unreleased catalog that contains crazy joints (good lookin on Déjà vu. I would add The foulness too)

I love the hit boy catalogue some songs I like better than those on your list but your list is iconic songs. Hard to move. The only hb song I can considering put on a nas top 25 is Thun and maybe Michael & Quincy. In your list Purple No ideas original and What goes around can be replaced by If I ruled the world Thun and Thief's theme or Got ur self a gun

This current run I'd say the songs for me that knocking on that top 25 door are Car 85, The Cure, Rare, Speechless (as an intro it's that good), Thun. But again i've also not got in that top 25 If I Ruled the World, Got Ur Self A Gun, any song from Street's Disciple to Life Is Good. Catalogue that stacked.

 

[Primetime21]

Yep. Everyone is saying the same thing, over and over and over again. Yet somehow theres still dudes in denial

You can’t have classic albums with no SOUL. No personal shyt. That’s what’s missing. Hit does not bring it out of him. Hit mirrors the dudes of his era (some in these threads) that DON’T want that, call it ‘sleep inducing’. Ie, how many times in these 5 albums hs Nas mentioend his son?? I mean I’d expect a whole song but I can’t even recall a mention. The production doesn’t evoke it.

So that’s what a ‘missing’ is you can almsot feel Hit/Nas are scared to have a slow/somber music. Case in point look how Hit ends the albums. Usually the last song is the super personal track the slow/somber track. This ngga ends it with Nas and 21 Savage. KD 1 it’s Spicy. He/they scared new age fans will call it boring. Nas didn’t become possible goat bc of his shyt talking. 5 albums of Nas talkin fly is not stickin to the ribs

He mentioned his son on KD1. Weird barometer though

 

[T.H.E.GOD]

Just wanted to drop in to say that EMJ is retarded…