First off, after 25+ years, anything we get from Nas is gravy. His contributions to music and culture are legendary. In illmatic he created one of the best albums ever, excluding no genre. He’s been one of my favorite rappers ever since I first heard him rapping about sending prisoners to Africa. I always look forward to any projects he’s apart of. Even though my expectations have lowered a little as he has aged and it feels he’s past his prime and his career has maybe reached its twilight, I still find myself checking for anything with his name attached. I was really anticipating this album it being his first release post-LIG. As soon as Kanye tweeted he was doing the album, I started dreaming up what we were going to get. I loved their collabos in “Poppa Was A Player”, “We Major”, and the unmixed “The World.” To a lesser degree I also enjoyed “Let There Be Light” and “Still Dreaming.” I wondered what a feature-length album, even an EP, would bring. To be honest, I still didn’t actually believe it was really happening—that we were finally getting new music from Nas with Kanye on the boards no less—until those other GOOD releases started dropping on schedule. When it was announced that there was a listening party in QB I imagined a soundscape of boom bap, break beats, and chopped-up soul to capture this place that Nas has described so vividly over the years. And I was sure the music would be complemented by what would no doubt be vintage poetry, commentary, creativity, and storytelling from one of rap’s greatest lyricists. Last Thursday I was glued to my phone. shyt felt like a holiday. Made sure I found a functioning link streaming the whole scene. When I saw that the Bridge was in the background, it just felt fitting. And then after some delay with Nas and Kanye showing up it happened—“Escobar Season”...is buffering. I couldn’t hear it. So anticlimactic. So I was left left to read some of the most mixed reviews I’ve ever read for a Nas album—those hailing it as a modern-day classic and those dismissing it as trash. That night I heard some version of some songs and found myself somewhere in the middle, probably more in the camp that wasn’t blown away from what they heard. But I also heard they were still mixing the project for the official release so I wondered if it would sound different when I could actually buy it. By Friday night mixed individual tracks were on YouTube. I listened to them in the order of the tracklisting. Overall, it just felt...a little flat. Lackluster even. Nas’s flow is too often, for my still high standards of him, disjointed, dull, and lazy. Kanye’s production is alright for the most part but it doesn’t always feel like it suits Nas and sometimes Nas seems out of place. 070 Shake vocal performances feel weird on a Nas record. (The Dream and Tony Williams came correct, though.) Don’t get me wrong, Nas has his moments and the project certainly isn’t wack. It was just crazy uneven to me. Mad underwhelming. I hope his next project is more consistently strong and it doesn’t take six years to be released. I know he still has some magic left; just wasn’t on this project.
Not For Radio: 3.5/5
Cops Shot The Kid: 2.5/5
White Label: 3/5
Bonjour: 3.5/5
Everything: 3/5
Adam and Eve: 4/5
Simple Things: 3.5/5
Overall: 3.5/5
Nas the goat fixing marriages
With Kelis crazy ass it was probably for the best 
