Nas - Untitled: Album Review
Nas, Pwned by Al Sharpton (Def Jam, 2008)
Calling his last album Hip-Hop Is Dead worked out so well for Nas that he decided to up the ante by calling this album the dreaded n-word. But then a bunch of spoilsports found out and threatened to disinvest in the corporation that owns Nas' label, as if it was an apartheid state. Damn. At least the songs themselves are still gonna be brilliant, right?
QUEENS GET THE MONEY
The acapulco intro. If only there was a beat. There is some piano mess in the background, but it doesn't really sync up with the rap. I know people are getting all excited about that line where he says, "That's 50 porch monkeys ate up at the same time," but if he was gonna go at Fiddy, I wish he would have been a bit more direct.
YOU CAN'T STOP US NOW
I suggested yesterday this be left off the album, since even the 2008-era RZA flipped this better, and his version was released as a single, but I guess it was too late in the game. This shit leaked a mere matter of hours later.
BREATHE
And I thought this was gonna be left off the album? I'm not feeling the Mint Conditon-style nasty R&B of the production. As far as these things go, this is definitely no "Life's a Bitch." And all Nas seems to be rappin' about is his ice and how much money he spends. You sure this isn't a leftover from I Am?
MAKE THE WORLD GO ROUND
The synth-based production on this is a nightmare. It sounds like some shit that wasn't good enough to go on the Rick Ross album. What's worse, Chris Brown is singing on the chorus. And no, they haven't found a way to make Chris Brown sound like anything other than a fag.
HERO
I suppose this fits in a sequence with the last track, but as far as I'm concerned, this is a much better-executed example of a pop record on a Nas album. Not that this is ever gonna be played on the radio (perhaps if they got Lil Wayne to drop a verse). I'm just saying. Who knew Polow da Don had it in him? I'm not listening to any more Rich Boy, if I don't have to.
AMERICA
To think, I was worried Nas might not rap about kicking it at beach parties with Stella McCartney on this album. Whew! Nas really is rambling on this, even more so than he is on some of these other ones. And this production is gay. A waste of a provocative song title.
SLY FOX
Nas goes in re: Fox News. Check the science: "The fox has a bushy tail, and Bush tells lies. And a fox trots, so watch what you're watching." Hard to disagree with that kind of logic! I wish the guitar in the background was a bit more pronounced, but then I guess it wouldn't have been as hip-hop.
TESTIFY
Kids, this is why you want to stay off the weed. I don't care if all your friends are doing it. The only possibly acceptable excuse is if you find a woman who's willing to fuck for weed (but of course wouldn't cop to it, lest she look like a hoo-er).
N.I.G.G.E.R. (THE SLAVE AND THE MASTER)
The lame-ass DJ Toomp collabo. This might have made for a good T.I. record, to the extent that there can be a good T.I. record. But a Nas record? Not so much. Also, notice how the dreaded n-word is never formed into any actual acronym. 2Pac would have made sure it was. He was underrated as an MC.
LOUIS FARRAKHAN
As far as I can tell, not actually an ode to the legendary anti-semite. Maybe Nas saw that debate where Barack Obama was forced to throw Farrakhan under a bus and figured it'd make a provocative song title.
FRIED CHICKEN
The new best song evar. Listening to it makes me want to go get some of that new bright orange chipotle fried chicken from KFC. Busta Rhymes tacks some shit on at the end about how fried chicken and swine is gonna kill us, but obviously that's beside the point here.
PROJECT ROACH
Similarly, here Nas compares black people to roaches. Then, if the metaphor wasn't obvious enough, one of the guys from the Black Poets announces, "Niggers are like roaches!" Um, thanks.
Y'ALL MY NIGGAS
Nas' response to Civil Rights-era hip-hop critics. He addresses the controversy re: the album title, which is, of course, now a moot point.
WE'RE NOT ALONE
A real nightmare. Is this what that stic.man solo album sounded like? If so, it's no wonder he went with such a fruity album cover. The guy who sings the chorus to this sounds like he's gone down on a guy as some point in his life. I haven't heard such silky phrasing since Luther Vandross had that stroke.
BLACK PRESIDENT
Part of my problem with this is that it sounds like the kind of corny bullshit Will.I.Am would come up, but part of it's that I can't believe Nas is buying into Barack Obama to such a degree. I thought this guy was supposed to be an iconoclast.
COMMENTS: As it turns out, this is just as much of a mess as Hip-Hop Is Dead. Maybe even more so. There's a couple of strong concept records, like "Sly Fox" and "Fried Chicken," but there's a bunch of songs on here where you can hardly tell what the hell he's talking about. You get the idea he just smoked a shedload of weed, came up with a bunch of provocative song titles, and just started rambling. Not helping matters is the production, by a bunch of dudes either no one ever heard of, or no one would think to hire to produce a Nas album. How in the world Nas decided to work with them is beyond me. Maybe they brought the weed.
BEST TRACKS: "Hero" "Sly Fox" "Fried Chicken"
BONUS VIDEO: "Be a Nigger Too," which isn't even on the album
