Nas

Street's Disciple

the flow

Review Score:

(10/10)
I want to dissect the music. Forget the b.s. Get the album. Will Rap for food b/c Nas has the cake. Rap is endanger to becoming like R&B.
Hands down, next to only Tupac, Nas is the greatest (Ether)lyricist. There is but only one criticism of Nas that some other rappers have and that is he doesn't offer catchy hooks or choruses. He does offer some. But to dissect the album, first off I have to give credit to Nas as an inventor. There few artists who introduce new creations into any genre of music. Nas has done it time and again with cuts like Rewind (tells a story bkwds), I gave you Power (tells story from viewpont of a gun), Getting Married (gets married to music and his wife before either happens), Sekou Story (where he embodies a woman's voice & perspective), U.B.R (gives another rapper respect), The Makings of (puts together the best aspects of a woman from a Frankenstein perspective, One Love (a jail friend reads a letter from Nas), to Book of Rhymes are to me the ingenious of his true narrative gifts where Nas reigns supreme. Other rappers like T.I. (getting himself straight on Trap Muzick) try it but Nas is alone. Nas's flow is for rap listeners. The flow was impecable on Illmatic. Why? Because he practically gave listeners 10 remixes to Follow the Leader. The flow is where a rapper barely lifts his voice to take a breath and seems to rap without ever breathing, yet constantly finds ways to emphasize or get his lyrics across in a way where the mind can understand the mood, pace, beat, and psychology (not to get too deep)of what the artist wants to convey. One word can ruin the whole flow. It's like listening to Stevie hit a high note, in rap it's done with words and the way a rapper raps that word to bring about that emotion that flows with the train of thought. Today people only listen to beats. They wouldn't know a flow if itwas a wolf f l o w turning back biting. Hears a heads up, the flow is best caught when you're high on it & stay with it (hint*just follow every word). I'm not endorsing nothing in anyway but the flow has existed since Nat King Cole, Ray Charles, James Brown, Muhammad Ali, Prince, Jimi Hendrix you get the point. Some sing, some flow, some try. Nas flows. The flow is when the voice is pitched in such a way where it ain't singing really at all but a pitch offered and changed but yet consistent with what the beat is doing. The flow is like reading a good book and turning the page. Nas's Street Disciple flows this way, all his raps flow, but you have to listen. The best way to understand and give homage to the flow is to try it yourself then you'll respect it and the lyrics over the beat b/c it is a brain-teaser it's like mind sex. If you don't get his flow then forget Nas and his stories, Slick Rick, RAkim, Ghostface, Outkast, 8ballMJG, Tupac. So when you listen to this album take into consideration how he flows, the mood of the song, the content, the lyrics, the story, the beat, and the transition from one song to the next (hell one album to the next w/out sounding like the previous). Big up to Nas for staying true to the spiritual root of all American Music (African struggle) and not selling out to sell out like so many other rappers that appear to be grown brats begging for attention.

More Reviews: