"Fortunately, I have hope that Nas' next project, which will be his first album with Def Jam, will be a more focused, more intense record, and will be more along the lines of "Stillmatic" and "God's Son"."

This sentence was my final say from when I last left Nas, as I expressed my disappointment for his failed attempt at a double album "Street's Disciple". See in my humble opinion, Nas is an emcee that hasn't lived up to the potential he set at the beginning of his career. His 1994 debut album "Illmatic" proved to the entire world that he had an incredible talent and, if he kept improving himself, he would be able to hang with some of the greatest emcees of all time. Unfortunately, it didn't pan out that way; as time went on, he would release sub-par albums that were well below the high precedents he set. And to add to that, he let his image change so much over the years that he's become nothing more than a convoluted enigma. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against rediscovery or wanting to switch up a style, God knows Hip-Hop needs it from time to time, but Nas chopped and changed more dramatically than most emcees of his kind, certainly moreso than his longtime rival Jay-Z. In fact, look back up at that sentence above. I hoped that his next album would be more of a triumph, but instead of mentioning "Illmatic", I referenced "Stillmatic" and "God's Son", two albums that were pretty solid -- not on the level of his classic debut, but still pretty consistent, with a few bangers. The sad fact is nobody, especially me, really expected him to repeat his master work anymore; Hell, I wanted him to at least make a record that utilizes those same abilities he showed back then. Thankfully, he did just that.

Back in May of 2006, when Nas announced that he had finally chosen "Hip-Hop is Dead" as a concrete title for his newest album, a lot of people were up in arms. Those four words had such an impact and provoked a variety of responses. You had those who agreed with him, and then those that didn't. And the ones who didn't defended that stance till their deaths. The phrase bothered me, but not in the way that one would think. No I didn't believe that Hip-Hop was dead (its supposed to be a culture -- how can a culture die?), but it was the person who said it that bothered me. If that phrase "hip-hop is dead" was uttered by someone like Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, KRS-One, or any of the other greatest emcees who originally came out when Hip-Hop was at its apex, I would've understood his position. But NAS?! He may be one of the dopest emcees out there, but let's face it: Nas has not always been the poster child for what Hip-Hop should be. Sure, he may have had "Illmatic", but the fact is Nas was acting like he was so high and mighty and pretending that he never contributed to the deterioration of Hip-Hop ("You Owe Me", anyone?). When it all boils down to it, Nas has had such an uneven catalogue, including some albums and records that have really dealt huge blows to his career (like the song I just mentioned), that he had no right to be talking about Hip-Hop being dead. But, as the album's release date grew closer, I started to gain more faith in him. I guess it was the first single (which was the album's title track) that clenched it in for me; after hearing that one song, I was interested enough to check it out. When the album came out, I was surprised to find out what Nas had done: he had not only utilizes those same abilities used in "Stillmatic" and "God's Son", he had created a masterpiece that rivaled even his debut record.

Nas is known for starting his albums with a bang, an opener that'll catch your attention in the best way possible. That tradition continues with "Money Over Bullshit", which is a no-nonsense braggadocio track that stands as Nas' call to arms. In the hook, he invites us to "join [him] in war", and remarks to his enemies that he's "afraid, not of none of [these] cowards, but of [his] own strength". L.E.S. & Wyldfyer collaborate to craft a beat that just sounds deliciously evil, with a low piano loop and a rhythmic drum loop that contrasts with flutes and lighter piano keys. Lyrically Nas shows that he has not lost a step lyrically, with lyrical attacks on young new school emcees ("Put a barrel in the Capo mouth 'till his scalp come out / you a kid, you don't live what you rap about") and intricately assembled stanzas revolving around a gangsta's life of crime (" From crack-pushers to 'lac pushers, and ambushers / and morticians to fortresses / case-dismissers, laced in riches, caked ridiculous / from nickel-and-dimin' to trickin' them diamonds"). Nas definitely gets his sinister on, and from then on, it's a hodgepodge of different concepts, rhyme schemes and styles, and producers. Of course, we find Nas delving into the obligatory hood tales with tracks like "You Can't Kill Me" and "Hold Down the Block"; while they're both nothing we haven't heard from Nas before, they're both passable enough to not be considered filler. A third song belongs in that category, but "Not Going Back" manages to be much different that its predecessors. Over a simply constructed piano loop, Nas exclaims that he will always represent the projects but promises that he's never going back to that lifestyle as long as he lives. A song with this type of message shows Nas' growth as a person, showing he's no longer a kid hanging in the hood, doing dirt. He's grown out of the "2nd Childhood" that he talked about in "Stillmatic", and this track perfectly exemplifies it.

There are a number of tracks on the album that follow the theme of explaining why Hip-Hop died, touching on the culture itself and the people in it, as well as how it was in the golden age. "Carry On Tradition" is the first major onslaught, as Nas rhymes over Scott Storch's simple but effective backdrop of synths and finger snaps. The first verse finds him attacking jealous old school rappers that envy his success, while the second verse targets younger rappers who don't know what Hip-Hop is really about. In the end, Nas promises to uphold the honor of Hip-Hop by getting rid of the weaker emcees. It may sound like he is bitter on this track, but it definitely makes for a great track. The title track "Hip-Hop is Dead" is particularly interesting, as producer Will.i.am flips a sample of "Inna-Gadda-Da-Vida" by Iron Butterfly, the same track that was sampled for a different Nas song titled "Thief's Theme" two years earlier. Surprisingly enough, it works even better here than it did before. Overall, it's one of the album's most creative and gripping songs because of Nas' acute ability to put these issues in perspective, as he mourns Hip-Hop's change from urban folk music to a commercial liability: "Went from turntables to MP3's / from 'Beat Street' to commercials on Mickey D's / from gold cables to Jacob's / from plain facials to Botox and face lifts". On "Where Are They Now", Nas remarks that "rap is like a ghost town" and reads off a list of once-prominent rappers that history seemed to have left behind. He name drops just about everybody, including EPMD, Craig Mack, UTFO, Spice 1, and Craig G, among others, over the primal boom bap of a classic James Brown sample (R.I.P. to the Godfather of Soul). In what would perhaps be a close cousin to that track, "Blunt Ashes" finds Nas speaking on the downfall of past legends in entertainment, over a spooky and dramatic beat provided by Chris Webber (yes, the NBA player). Finally, we have "Hope", where Nas closes the album by reminiscing on his childhood and how he fell in love with Hip-Hop, completely acapella. It serves a eulogy for the funeral of what Nas has been calling a dead genre, and then, he sends this powerful final message: "If you're asking 'Why is Hip-Hop dead?', pretty good chance you're the reason it died." That one statement pretty much exemplifies Nas' entire point behind the controversial album title: Hip-Hop is only dead if you believe it is.

Nas no doubt holds it down by himself but the album is also full of top-notch collaborations with well-known emcees. "Hustlers" finds Nas teaming up with The Game sharing over a nicely crafted beat from the legendary Dr. Dre (its sad how Game called himself 'The Doctor's Advocate' yet the only time he's able to work with Dre now is on someone else's album). For the concept, we find the two emcees looking back ten years into the past, speaking on previous exploits and using vivid imagery. Nas remembers being "the first New York nigga rappin' with Dre" while Game reminisces on his childhood days, when he was "in the record shop with choices to make / "Illmatic" on the top shelf, "The Chronic" on the left, homey / wanna cop both, but only got a 20 on me". For those wondering which one he chose, Game stole both and spent the 20 on weed. On "Still Dreaming", Nas teams up with Kanye West as they spin three different stories of people who get caught up in the wrong lifestyle over Kanye's dreamy piano-laced beat. This type of 'broken dreams' track has been done countless times before, but you gotta appreciate how Nas and Kanye execute it here. While Kanye is pretty dope, Nas outshines him easily. I've always thought that Nas was an excellent storyteller, and this track, especially the second verse, proves that he's still got it in that department. Nas even gets things done on the only mainstream-themed track on the album, "Play On Playa". Yes, Nas slips back into 'Escobar' territory, but he still manages to bring his A-game as he speaks on his future as well, talkin bout giving his riches to his daughter and looking towards meeting his mother again when he dies, all over a silky Marvin Gaye-sampling beat. Snoop Dogg joins Nas for the third verse, and while his verse is as long as Nas' previous verses, he really isn't saying much, and lets down the track a lot.

While these collaborations are indeed dope with (mostly) excellent guest verses, none of these cats outshine Nas or even come close to outshining him. The only cat that is able to keep up with him and stand toe-to-toe with him is his former rival Jay-Z, and he does just that on the long awaited Jigga/Nas collabo, "Black Republican". The two rap legends verse each spit a different verse and a chorus over a big, ceremonial-like track, courtesy of the sample of Carmine Coppola's "Marcia Religiosa" to make it so dramatic. Jay addresses his split with Dame Dash, chronicling how money and fame can cause someone to change. Meanwhile, Nas reps the hood all the way, speaking on the American Dream and what those in the hood do to achieve it. What is so interesting is that above everything, the chorus shows how Nas and Jay are so different: For the hook, Jay spits "I feel like a black republican, money I got comin' in / can't turn my back on the hood, I got love for them / can't clean my act up for good/too much thug in 'em /Probably end up back in the hood, I'm like 'Fuck it then'". Nas does the exact same hook, but changes the first line to "I feel like a black militant, takin' over the government", thereby making the viewpoint sound entirely different. It's a genius move that shows just how different they are, yet shows what makes them both so great.

Of course, as good as many of these tracks are, there are two that stand above the others as pure classics, easily two of the best tracks Nas has ever made. First we have the uplifting "Let There Be Light", which finds Nas in full braggadocio mode. Kanye West returns to produce another banger, as he slyly swipes the opening drum breakdown from Steve Miller Band's "Take the Money and Run" and combines it with some low-key pianos to give it even more of a wistful ambiance. Nas once again addresses the Hip-Hop is dead situation but this time is much more straightforward, calling for unity in the Hip-Hop community. Above everything else, he sets out to prove he is the best, so he spits flames at all his detractors, calling himself "the Ghetto American Idol". The song is given an added dose of excellence for the chorus, which is beautifully handled by Tre Williams (who, in my opinion, sounds remarkably similar to Anthony Hamilton), showing that Hip-Hop artists can utilize the best aspects of modern R&B and make it sound purposeful instead of gimmicky. Finally, we have what I consider to be the album's crown jewel: the second single, "Can't Forget About You". Will.i.am makes a bold move for the production, chopping up a sample of Nat King Cole's "Unforgettable" (the original mono recording from the 50s, not the stereo re-recording from the 60s) and combining it with a classic drum break. While readers may believe that it sounds like a cheap attempt at sentimentality, when you listen to the track you see that's exactly what Nas wanted to achieve. He finds himself romanticizing his glory days, recounting some of his greatest memories of life in the 80s and 90s. The subject of the good old days has been covered so many times that it's annoying, but this time it's just ... different. There is nothing bad that anybody can say about this song, it's a heartwarming anthem that's good enough to bring a tear to your eye. The hook, sung by Chrisette Michele, is just gorgeous, and amazingly sounds it too is sampled; Michele's melodic voice sounds like it could easily pass for a Billie Holiday sample. I'm not afraid to say it: with "Can't Forget About You", Nas has crafted the new "They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y)" for the younger generation.

Needless to say, this album surprised me. I didn't expect him to use crazy wordplay on the first track and all the way to the closer. I didn't expect him to unravel the current Hip-Hop scene in such a brutally honest way, all the while to remain optimistic that it could be revived. To sum it up, I never expected Nas to deliver an album like this, but never have I been happier to be wrong. "Illmatic" will be what Nas will always be most remembered for, so its pretty useless to compare anything to it. But in the long run, "Hip-Hop is Dead" shows Nas at his very best: extremely focused and socially conscious throughout, yet still managing to create a record that can be enjoyed by everybody. He shows that Hip-Hop must be preserved for the future, so we cannot allow its history to deteriorate. From a more self-righteous emcee, like say, KRS-One, the nostalgic concepts and attacks on the current Hip-Hop scene might seem like an annoying attempt to approve he's still relevant. But in Nas' case, he is the best embodiment of the angel and devil that stay perched on Hip-Hop's shoulders. There's no other way to put it: this is the best body of work that Nas has made in his twelve year career. It's lyrically sharper than anything that has come out in quite some time, the production is of the highest quality, and the content is memorable, covering issues that needed to be discussed by the community. Nas has raised the bar once again and has created such a masterpiece that will hopefully inspire artists to do what they can to strengthen this dying art form. Whether or not you believe the statement in the title, "Hip-Hop is Dead" is the type of masterful record that only comes around once in a while, so get it now before its gone.

FINAL RATING: 5 Stars

Track listing:
1. Money Over Bullshit (5 Stars)
2. You Can't Kill Me (4 Stars)
3. Carry On Tradition (5 Stars)
4. Where Are They Now? (5 Stars)
5. Hip-Hop is Dead (5 Stars)
6. Who Killed It? (5 Stars)
7. Black Republican feat. Jay-Z (5 Stars)
8. Not Going Back feat. Kelis (5 Stars)
9. Still Dreaming feat. Kanye West (5 Stars)
10. Hold Down the Block (4 1/2 Stars)
11. Blunt Ashes (5 Stars)
12. Let There Be Light feat. Tre Williams (5 Stars)
13. Play on Playa feat. Snoop Dogg (4 Stars)
14. Can't Forget About You feat. Chrisette Michele (5 Stars)
15. Hustlers feat. The Game and Marsha from Floetry (5 Stars)
16. Hope (5 Stars)

RELATED REVIEWS:
Nas - Street's Disciple

Recommended: Yes