Nas

God's Son

BITTERSWEETNESS

Review Score:

(10/10)
Nas continues the comeback trail with GOD'S SON, never going on cruise-control due to the momentum established by STILLMATIC. It seems that Nas is always aware of the mantle some place upon him, especially after releasing ILLMATIC. He does explore that on "Carry The Cross," with the forceful drums and soaring strings courtesy of Eminem giving his words great support. And once again, he asserts his position as King of New York ("Last Real N***a Alive"). The marriage of beats and rhymes is virtually harmonious throughout the album, with Salaam Remi, the Alchemist, Chucky Thompson and others handling production (Nas jumps in on the production tip himself with the James Brown-sampled opener "Get Down"). Notable examples are "Made You Look," the advice-for-the-kids song "I Can" (with a clever use of a Beethoven sample) and "Book of Rhymes," in which Nas amusingly pores over and reads some of his rejected couplets in his rhyme book. But the underlying theme concerns his mother Ann Jones, who had passed away a few months before. "Dance" is an emotional piece--both musically and lyrically--in which Nas pours his heart out about his mother, wishing for just one more dance with her. References to his mother are scattered throughout the disc, whether he ends up digressing to condemn pedophilia ("Heaven"), pairing up with 2Pac ("Thugz' Mansion") or likening his life to that of a warrior ("Warrior's Song"). There is really only one misstep in GOD'S SON, which is "Hey Nas," a trite song about relationships that should have been left on the cutting floor. But overall GOD'S SON is an artistic--and emotional--triumph for Nas, and proved that the juggernaut STILLMATIC was no fluke.

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