Nas

Nastradamus

Nastradamus (3.5 stars)

Review Score:

(8/10)
On Nas' fourth solo LP he brings us his new persona, Nastradamus. The original Nostradamus was famous for his bold predictions about the future. Seemingly this could be an outstanding perspective for Nas to take on this album as he is one of the best lyricists, storytellers, and political rappers there is. Unfortunately Nas uses this new name only as a title for the album, rather than as a blueprint to create a brilliant and intellectual album.
"Life We Chose" is a decent song. The beat has a solid base, with its instruments, but needs something to make it more interesting. "Nastradamus" is a very odd song coming from Nas. This would be an extremely popular song if it came from a hip-pop artist, but this just is not what the Nas fans want. "Project Windows" is the best song along with "Come Get Me". The first features a great guest appearances from Ron Isley. "Come Get Me" is produced by DJ Premier and features an up-tempo string beat. Nas brings his usual fiery lyrics. "Shoot 'em Up" lyrically is a solid song with great storytelling. However the beat sounds like a Christmas song and comes off a little weak. "Last Words" features a good verse from Nas as he raps from the perspective of a jail cell, but again shows that Nas needs to cut out his guest appearances as Nashawn and Millenium Thug hurt the song. "Family" has a nice grimy beat and features solid performances from both members of Mobb Deep. "God Love Us" is one of the more meaningful songs on the album. "Quiet N-----" has a solid beat, but features horrendous verses from the Bravehearts. "Big Girl" should never have made the cut onto the album. "New World" is a quality song from Nas as he gets into the Nastradamus persona and talks about the future. "You Owe Me" is a little too pop for Nas, even though it does have some political importance. Other artists can get away with songs like this because rappers like Jay-Z have made so many pop songs we have come to expect it from them. But fans expect more from Nas. He has really limited the number of pop songs he has made and we expect him to continually make great storytelling songs about the streets and politics.
The production on this album comes off as being flat and lacking the flair that he brought back on "I Am...". The guest appearances also hurt this album as "Last Words" and "Quiet N-----" have solid verses from Nas, but the guest appearances severely hurt the songs. The album also has the most mainstream tone of any Nas album, especially on the songs "Nastradamus" and "You Owe Me", coincidentally his two videos from the album.
Anyone looking to purchase a Nas album, I would make this my last choice as all four of his previous albums are better than this one.

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