Nas Proves Once and For All that He is Stillmatic.
Written: Dec 27 '01 (Updated Dec 27 '01)
Product Rating:
Pros: Poetic, intelligent lyrics. Great production. Nas returns to true Hip Hop.
Cons: The Bravehearts and Swizz Beats show up.
The Bottom Line: Nas departs from commercial rap to prove that he’s still illmatic when he wants to be. Stillmatic is better than The Blueprint and a contender for Album of the Year.
To be honest, until recently I had pretty much written off Nas’ music as a complete waste of money. I remember him being hailed as the next Rakim after his debut album Illmatic had dropped. When I first heard it, I was floored just like the majority of the Hip Hop community. It was a great album, filled with Nas’ inspiring street poetry relating to his life in the Queensborough projects in NY, backed by some of the most respected beat makers in the industry.
But since then, the quality of his music has been declining steadily. Every subsequent album was just a step below the first until his fourth album, Nastradamus, was nothing but a piece of commercial trash. By then, Nas had adopted pop-rap’s shiny suits, jiggy beats, and meaningless lyrics as a complete part of his new persona. After hooking up with P. Diddy on “Hate Me Now” and rapping about seducing women with jewelry on “You Owe Me”, a lot of Hip Hop fans felt like Nas was just wasting our time now. The Nas we knew was dead; all that was left were these pale shadows of a former artist.
But apparently Nas has been listening to our grumbling. With his latest album, Stillmatic, the rapper made a conscious attempt to pull proven elements from his classic debut. On most of the tracks he goes back to the minimalist beats and hard, honest rhymes that propelled him into Hip Hop’s elite. The end result is one of Nas’ best albums in a very long time.
Track Listing
1. Stillmatic (The Intro)
2. Ether
3. Got Ur Self a Gun
4. Smokin’
5. You’re Da Man
6. Rewind
7. One Mic
8. 2nd Childhood
9. Destroy and Rebuild
10. The Flyest (feat. AZ)
11. Braveheart Party (feat. Mary J. Blige)
12. Rule (feat. Amerie)
13. My Country
14. What Goes Around
15. Every Ghetto (Bonus Track)
One of the primary things that Nas felt compelled to take care of with this album is to respond to the multitude of rappers dumping on him. He starts with “Ether,” a devastating response to Jay-Z’s “Takeover” diss. Over a sparse drumbeat and simple synthesizer melodies, Nas proceeds to lyrically assassinate Hova and the whole Rocafella camp. He brings up everything about Shawn Carter too, from his apparent Stan-like obsession with Nas, to his affinity for spitting Biggie’s lyrics.
Then, he does a little more housecleaning with track 7, “Destroy and Rebuild”. Here he takes action on rappers who have been attacking him who also happen to be from his home Queensborough projects. He starts by deflating Cormega’s self-created drug czar image, then questions Prodigy on how someone so “thuggish” can get his jewelry snatched in his own ‘hood. For the hook, he impressively modifies Boogie Down Productions’ chorus from “The Bridge is Over”, KRS-One’s lyrical assault on QB resident MC Shan back in the day.
Nas shows both his creativity and storytelling muscles on “Rewind” . Here, over a great old-school guitar and drum beat provided by Hip Hop great Large Professor, Nas describes a day going in reverse. He starts the song with him shooting an enemy on his block, and ends the song with his crew calling him, telling them that they found the guy that he’s looking for. The rapper describes everything vividly here, from bullets travelling the wrong way into guns and people moving backwards. He even includes a minor sexcapade in there, “I said ‘No hell.’ She said, ‘Me kiss,’ / Bobbed her head then spit the nut back in my d**k.” That’s crazy. At the end of the song (beginning of the story) he makes the decision not to pursue the vendetta he described, adding a touch of morality to the piece.
“One Mic” is going to be yet another Hip Hop classic for Nas. On this song he uses his voice to add a dramatic element by starting to rap in a whisper at the beginning of each verse, then allowing his voice to gradually crescendo until he’s all but yelling toward the end. The effect blends perfectly with his rhymes that thrash out the pain of his existence. The tense, building music also tends to create its own dramatic feel. Nas’ production work here reminds me a lot of “In the Air Tonight” by Phil Collins, with that hollow emptiness resonating around the beat and accompaniment.
A native New Yorker, Nas is far from unaffected by the events of September 11th. With “Rule”, he raps about his desire for world peace. The Track Masters use interpolations of “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” by Tears for Fears for the music. It’s not quite the best track on the album, but it’s definitely not that bad. Honestly, it’s the Track Masters’ production that works to the detriment of the song. The use of the guitar samples and chorus are uninspired, so they work against Nas’ passionate vocals.
The rapper obviously felt “Rule” was waxing a little more patriotic than he’d liked, so he balances out the album with “My Country” . His lyrics reflect his belief that the United States still has a long way to go in resolving race relations and socioeconomic schisms. He gives his thoughts in a very direct and unflinching manner, relating examples from history and calling on experiences from his time in the QB projects as well. A serious-sounding melody with a classical guitar loop and synth accompaniment help give the track it’s profound tone.
But by far, my favorite song on Stillmatic is the next to last track, “What Goes Around”. With a cool guitar and piano melody playing in the background, Nas raps about karma and how evil perpetuated tends to reciprocate itself a thousand fold. He reflects on the cycle with these rhymes:
“I contemplate, believing in karma /
Those on top could just break and wont be eating tomorrow /
I know some b*tches who be sleeping on ni**as dreams /
They leave when they ni**a blow, she the first b*tch on her knees /
Knowing dudes that’s neglecting their seeds /
Instead of taking care of ‘em they’re spending money on trees /
I pray for you deadbeat daddies /
‘Cause when them kids get grown it’s too late for you /
Now you old and you getting sh*tted on /
Its all scientific, mystic, you know the Earth and the stars /
Don't hesitate to say you heard it from Nas /
What is destined shall be…”
Stillmatic is a complete triumph for Nas. After struggling for years in the attempt to become a commercial pop-rap icon like his rival Jay-Z, the QB rapper has hopefully realized that his true talent lies in making relevant music, not club tunes. The only rough points on the LP is the production that occasionally falters, and the appearance of the Bravehearts on the pop-rap track “Braveheart Party” . It’s 100% bubble gum rap even down to the pseudo-Latin style beat put together by Swizz Beats. Their “Oochie Wallie” style here gets on my nerves and diminishes the strength of the album.
All things considered, Nas may not have completely reclaimed his lost Illmatic status with this album, but he definitely comes very close to salvaging it. The beats are still banging. The poetry is still entrancing. The creativity is still present. The lyrics are still relevant.
And Nas proves beyond the shadow of a doubt that he is most definitely still illmatic.
The newly crowned King of New York has returned, and Stillmatic is his newest crown jewel. God Save the King.
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