by MikeNUFC » Jul 12th, '12, 03:32
No Introduction. GREAT start. He sounds so hungry. Fucking hell, his flow and rhyming is so satisfying on this.
Locomotive. Heard once before. Even better again. Lovely Illmatic throwback which didn't sound like a knock-off. Superb.
Queen's Story. Not wrong about his hunger here KB. First verse gets better as it goes on. His flow in the third is immense. Change of mood at the end is hair on neck shit. Wow.
Accident Murderers. Haven't heard this yet. Not memorable or anything but decent enough. Ross' verse is skippable. Nas still makes this kind of content interesting which is pretty amazing really.
Daughters. heard this plenty of times already. Bit soppy but honest and nice enough lyrically. It has some great moments.
Reach Out. Eh, beat and hook putting me off already. Honestly, this hook is fucking terrible. Nas' first is decent. Second is immense. This got better as it went on. The beat during the hook and the hook itself are awful, though.
World's An Addiction. Like the intro, atmospheric. Slow hook keeps the build up nicely, waiting for Nas to rip it now. Jesus, his flow is amazing, here. This is so enjoyable. Second ups it. Fucking hell. He's crafted this very well. THE THIRD: FUCKING HELL. WHAT THE FUCK. Lyrically, I don't think it was as good as the first 2 but the flow. Sweet jesus. Best song so far.
Summer on Smash. Don't think I'm going to like this. Hate the chorus. Not very interesting song. That 'Life Is Good' repetition is fucking annoying. Second verse is nice, though.
You Wouldn't Understand. Eh, not really a fan of the beat. Easy to listen to, but a bit boring. His second verse has a Distant Relatives feel to it. 3rd picks it up nicely, bit more hunger. It fits nicely after the Summer on Smash in terms of continuity. Not great, but picks up as it goes on.
Back When. Nice and nostalgic. I like the sampled chorus, adds to that effect. Nas is nice and mellow here, keeping it simple, which really works. Did Nas did do an anti-homophobia line there? Pretty refreshing if I heard it right.
The Don. Skipped as I'd heard enough before. It's very good, though. Feels like a good version of A Millie. Not as good as Nasty, mind.
Stay. Nice laid back song after the energy of The Don. Nas coming with it too. This is sick.
Cherry Wine. Looking forward to this, I'm a fan of Winehouse. I like the rhetoric between the chorus and Nas' verses. Winehouse's chorus is quite haunting actually. This is a really interesting song. I like it musically but not 100% sure what I think about it.
Bye Baby. Nice link from the last song. The verses feel like a letter he's writing to Kelis, due to speaking to her directly, as opposed to a verse, real personal. Not sure about the change of tone in the 3rd.
Nasty. Heard it enough. I like how it comes after Bye Baby. Almost like he's 'free' from Kelis after that so can just rap his ass off.
The Black Bond. Atmospheric beat. Wow at Nas' imagery straight away. This is sick. Short & sweet.
Roses. Haunting hook. Who is that? Is it a sample? Interesting first verse. Different from anything else so far, not sure I like it that much, though. I like the sound and feel of the song, but I thought Nas could have come harder.
Where's The Love. I like the concept here but I'm too fucking tired to probably comprehend this song haha. Will listen to this seriously tomorow. It's fucking 3:30am.
This is a great album. I'll need to give it a few more spins before I say too much. Possible his best since Stillmatic/God's Son, though. Some of the content is a bit repetitive but I expect that from a Nas album. He sounds so fucking hungry and he raps his ass off at times.