Nas

Nastradamus

Before you hate, LISTEN.

Review Score:

(8/10)
In "Nastradamus" Nas is focused on year 2000 and the uncertain future it will bring/represents. The result is a record laced with Y2k anxiety. Throughout the record Nas expresses wariness about having to move on and there is a kind of resigned and sullen feel to the whole disk. But don't confuse Nas' anxiety with a lack of inspiration. This disk is inspired. Not as good as "God's Son" or maybe, maybe, "It was Written" and clearly not on the same lyrical level as "Illmatic" or the "The Lost Tapes," "Nastradamus" is still an excellent record (better than "I am"). On any one Nas cd you can point to a few verses and/or flows that clearly show that Nas is inspired, a unique force in rap. I mean really inspired in a way that Kayne West, for example, can talk about but can't show. "Nastradamus" is no different. On "God love Us" and "Some of us have Angles" Nas gets spiritual without the Christ complex that weighs him down on "Gods Son." Some of the verses on "Some of us have Angles" are the best Nas has ever flipped. Nas's flow on "Shoot 'em up" is undeniable hot. "Last Words," "Life we Chose" and "Family" are two solid tracks, production and lyrics are just high quality, far above most rap then and now. "Come Get Me" is Nas and Premier and when has that not been a good thing? In the same vein as "World is Yours" and "If I rule the World", Nas drops the best track on the record, "New World." But this track is not one of Nas' best choruses and while some of the verses are representative of the highest caliber of rapping, all the verses are not consistently tight. So why is this song so good? Because in the context of the album it makes sense. "Nastradamus" is a dark record, much darker than either "Stillmatic" or "I Am" and probably, minus the two radio friendly tracks "Nastradamus" and "You Owe Me" and the filler track "Big Girl," Nas' darkest record. But the song "New World" rises up, reminding you that Nas has always been conflicted, two sided, and just a little bit more interesting than the next guy. The song also reminds you that you are listening to a real record. One difference between an album and a collection of singles is that an album creates context. Nas' is making albums, records with context and thus real meaning. One thing to notice is that about the reviews up here is that all the people that hate on it really got nothing to say. But look at the reviews written by the people that like the record. They are coming out and giving you song by song run downs, articulating exactly what makes this record the underrated gem that it is. Maybe some of these cats jumping on the negative take the immature and senseless view that you got to stand behind Nas or Jay Z. Brother you get to over all that. Both are good in their own different ways. Or maybe the haters don't listen to enough Nas and have not yet realized that Nas' is greater than "Illmatic" alone. That the man changes up his style and is actually coming out with real albums that hold together. I don't think you have to be a serious Nas dude to like this record. This record is one big reason why I like Nas as much as I do. So I would say that if you like Nas at all, pick up this disk.

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