After releasing the good but inconsistent I Am... in May of 1999, Nas knew he had to do something for the fans that had been promised a double album from Nasir, and were disappointed by the single disc version of I Am... that actually hit stores. Instead of doing the smart thing and just releasing a compilation of the unreleased songs from the not-leaked disc of I Am... The Autobiography (an idea Nas would finally conjure up in 2002, releasing the highly praised The Lost Tapes album), Nas decided it was better that he recorded an entirely new album for the fans, and that it would come out by the turn of the new millennium. Nas actually thought of this before the released version of I Am... was even put out, as we can see in the artwork of that project, where there are advertisements for an album entitled Nastradamus, a title I'm sure people found to be a rather stupid and obvious pun even back then. And, true to his word, Nas released Nastradamus in November of 1999, an album consisting of almost entirely new songs (only "Project Windows" and "Come Get Me" were carried over from the original I Am... The Autobiography tracklist) - apparently Nas was attempting to recreate the incredible run that DMX had in 1998, what with him managing to record a second album in about 6 months, quite a feat.
Or, it would be, if the album was any good.
Nastradamus was regarded as a complete disaster from the moment listeners who could actually get through the whole album finished with it, and most of these people probably never returned to it anyway, instead choosing to play Illmatic shortly after to cleanse their ears, forgetting about Nastradamus in the process. People criticised the album to high heaven, with reviewers tearing apart the generic lyrics, dull album cover, cheap beats, annoying hooks, and occasionally rather odd musical decisions as if they were excitable 5 year olds on a particularly successful birthday. The fact that the chap who had made the timeless classic Illmatic album was now making violent street raps over Christmas carols, and rather dodgy sounding sex songs for the clubs was enough to make the hip-hop world despise Nas as if he had walked up to each and every individual, urinated all over their Timberlands, and proceeded to shit on their newly implemented tiger skin rugs. It would take two years for Nas to regain relevance in the hip-hop world, and he had to go to the trouble of creating one of the greatest diss tracks of all time for that to happen. This album was quite the bloody failure then, I'll say.
Not that the producer or feature list would lead you to making this assumption. Yes, there was a Ginuwine collab track for the clubs, and Nas had also recruited his terrible Bravehearts pals for a track, but on the other hand we had Mobb Deep on this album, a duo still just about hanging on to their prime in most people's eyes, and a lot of solo tracks too, something this album has in common with Illmatic. Another thing that those two had in common was that there were L.E.S. beats on here, a good thing, as L.E.S. has made some nice contributions for Nasir in the past (see "Suspect", "Undying Love", "Life's A Bitch", bloody "Undying Love" (if you haven't, you'd better listen to that song already - now!!)). Dame Grease, the man behind a lot of DMX's classic It's Dark And Hell Is Hot is also present here, as well as Timbaland, Havoc, and finally, the legendary DJ Premier, which is just brilliant if you ask me. Honestly, looking at the tracklist of this thing, it actually looks pretty promising.
I haven't been through this thing in a while, so revisiting will be interesting, to say the least. So, is this as terrible as it is so often regarded to be? I think it's up to me to find out.
1. The Prediction (prod. Nas & Rich Nice)
For his next two solo albums, Nas would thankfully divert from the so-called "rap album intro" (he once again used one for 2004's Street's Disciple), but on Nastradamus, we aren't so lucky, as the evening begins with this pretentious spoken word track that introduces a theme that will OBVIOUSLY be utilised throughout the whole project. I mean, what sort of rap album wouldn't be able to hold a consistent theme?
2. Life We Chose (prod. L.E.S.)
For the first proper song, Nas decides to get his conscious side out from the start, and chooses to utilise this over a strangely disjointed but still solid instrumental from L.E.S.. Beginning your first verse on your new album with lines about how you like getting your back rubbed of an evening is a sure way to attract the street dudes, ain't it? The main thing I notice with the verses on here is that Nas actually sounds quite a lot deeper and more baritone than he did on his previous records - is that just me? Also, the second verse, which questions the general ideas of being "real" and having "trust", is pretty bloody powerful, I'll admit it, even if the hook is rather pointless. Not a bad way to start things off.
3. Nastradamus (prod. L.E.S.)
4. Some Of Us Have Angels (prod. Dame Grease)
Despite the fact that Dame Grease came through with easily one of the weakest instrumentals on the I Am... album ("Ghetto Prisoners"), Nas decided he should bring him back for this LP, and this time for four (!) instrumentals. Thankfully, this beat is great, bringing an uneasy and dark feeling, which matches the new, half asleep Nas a lot better than the goofy track L.E.S. provided on "Nastradamus". A lot of other beats utilised with these exact vocals would have made for something dull, but this track ends up sounding rather intense and engaging, all thanks to that beat (the memorable hook plays a part too). Easily one of the best songs here, and ignoring Nas' dreary delivery, the lyrics themselves are pretty powerful.
5. Project Windows (feat. Ron Isley) (originally prod. Nashiem Myrick & Carlos Broady, re-prod. Poke and Tone (aka The Trackmasters) & Al West)
One of two songs taken over from the original I Am... The Autobiography tracklist, and you can tell, as Nas sounds a lot more engaged on this instrumental than on the previous tracks, an instrumental quite different from the original made for I Am... The Autobiography. This track's history doesn't make it any good, though - this instrumental is dull, and the Ron Isley vocals just sound dismal to me, although that may have something to do with my hatred for most rapper/male singer collaborations. Never liked this one.
6. Come Get Me (prod. DJ Premier)
Interestingly, the other track taken from the I Am... The Autobiography sessions is sequenced right after "Project Windows". I can't really tell if that's a good thing or not, so I'll leave that up to you readers. This is also the only track with a DJ Premier beat, and as such, it's easily the best song here. The instrumental is a hell of a lot more energetic than the rest of the stuff provided on here, and Nas sounds rejuvenated, at least compared to the rest of this LP. Notice how I just effectively stated that it's better than the rest of this in basically all aspects? Interestingly, this track is also widely speculated to diss Jay-Z, specifically on the second verse. "Fuck you say girlie mouth?" is an obvious dig at Jay's extravagant lips (which Nas famously feels negatively towards), meanwhile multiple bars about the unnamed target stealing Nas' style is something Nas would later bring up multiple times when their beef became more publicised. I see the hook on here as a call to action towards Jay, one he answered by releasing a song entitled "Come And Get Me" on Vol. 3... Life and Times of S. Carter - if anyone didn't see this beef coming back then, they were either very naive, or perhaps just not interested in the slightest. Nas also gives a clue to this being taken from his supposed "third album" in this verse, which I think is pretty interesting. This is easily my favourite song on here - absolute banger.
7. Shoot 'em Up (prod. Havoc)
Clearly having consumed more marijuana than should be humanely possible, Nas decides that it would be a great idea for him to rhyme about shooting people up to the tune of a popular Christmas carol. I'll leave it up to you to work out how exactly this one turned out.
8. Last Words (feat. Nashawn; Millennium Thug) (prod. L.E.S.)
The misuse of a semi-colon in the credits up there is pretty funny to me. See, Nashawn and Millennium Thug are the same person, and therefore the semi-colon is supposed to indicate this fact. A semi-colon should be used for a list, though, and so this actually indicates that Nashawn and Millennium Thug are different artists. What should have been used was a NORMAL colon, obviously. Come on, Nas. Gotta get yourself a grammar checker on the team. Anyway, this song is good - the lyrics are reasonably interesting, the L.E.S. beat is powerful, especially the sample, and Nashawn proves himself to be a worthy sidekick to Nas, if not being particularly standout. Not bad, overall. The skit on the end was overly long though.
9. Family (feat. Mobb Deep) (prod. Dame Grease)
A lot of people were probably anticipating this track the most out of the selection here, since Nas and Mobb Deep had proved themselves to be a pretty good trio in the past. The fact that Havoc doesn't produce this one should be a turn off, but it's alright, as Dame Grease provides us with a pretty entertaining, if a little overdramatic, instrumental instead. Sadly, the lyrical content is pretty generic and uninteresting on here, and Havoc's hook is way, way too long - was it really necessary to repeat it that many times? The line about Nastradamus predicting that "you'll rewind this" was kinda funny, but overall, this is pretty dull if we're honest, if far from the worst on here.
10. God Love Us (prod. Dame Grease)
Ugh... This beat is pretty nice, but that's all I can say here. Firstly, the whole concept behind this song is stupid. If God loved those in the hood so much, why would they be in prison in the first place? Saying he "takes time to listen" in the prisons is also quite tragic, as it just sounds ridiculously desperate and slightly deranged, even though I know a lot of people think like that. Look, I'm not saying God isn't real, but if you don't think this hook is complete rubbish, then I don't know what to say to you. And then, we have the elephant in the room. That third verse. That. Third. Fucking. Verse. I'll never be able to listen to the term "in the hood" again. Jesus, it's bad. It isn't dull. It isn't boring. It's absolutely dismal. As is this song. Get this shit outta here.
11. Quiet Niggas (feat. the Bravehearts) (prod. Dame Grease)
For the first time on one of his albums, Nas brings in the truly terrible group of Bravehearts, who surely stand as one of the worst crews ever endorsed by a legendary rapper. Most of these guys either sound ridiculously drunk, or just incapable of getting up from the sofa that they've been trying to binge watch The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air on, only for Nas to rudely interrupt them, just to ask them for a cheap verse. I'd rather listen to Nickleback than this. Heck, I'd rather listen to the incessant sounds of manic screaming than this. And the beat isn't even bad - it's pretty chilling, even if the drums are chaotic and poorly placed. The rapping on here is horrible, though, and the hook... Nas, didn't you think we'd probably have had enough of ridiculously played out repetition by now? God in heaven...
12. Big Girl (prod. L.E.S.)
Now, I think this might be considered the most miserably bad song Nas ever made, and let me be the millionth person to endorse that statement. It's not that this is that bad sonically, as the instrumental is pretty interesting, and Nas' flow actually works a bit better than on the previous album's attempt at a slightly choppy song ("Big Things"). However, as soon as you pay attention to the lyrics, or perhaps stumble upon the bloody hook, hopes that this might be good are immediately thrown out the window as fast as this CD will be once you've finished with this. I'm sure it wasn't Nas' intent to sound like a massive nonce, but he sure managed it with ease. Bloody hell, this is terrible. Funnily enough, Ghostface Killah utilised this same sample for a song of the same name on his Fishscale album, quite a bold move considering the inspiration for the song. This is positively horrific.
13. New World (prod. L.E.S.)
Rapped over the instrumental from Toto's "Africa". Sigh.... Still, it's better than rapping over "Carol of the Bells", I suppose, and at least the subject matter matches the positive feels of this beat. Nas - sorry, Nastradamus - also makes some pretty accurate predictions here. "Cash is the past, a new way of spending" and "computers taking over their jobs" both came very true - they certainly hold more truth than his prediction that I would rewind "Family". The beat and background singing in the hook are both unbelievably corny, but still, this is better than a lot of the shit we've just had to go through.
14. You Owe Me (feat. Ginuwine) (prod. Timbaland)
15. The Outcome (prod. Rich Nice)
Now, Nas had always (prior to this album) started his album with a skit or spoken interlude, but this would be the first and only time he also ended with one. That's pretty interesting, unlike this track, which is just "The Prediction" over again, but with different words.
While Nastradamus isn't completely terrible like a lot of people seem to say, it's still pretty bad, and seems to get worse whenever I go back to it - I used to rather enjoy this when I was going through Nas' catalogue for the first time. The reason for that is obvious, though - the production on this album, while not astonishing, is still good, and makes this album surprisingly more musically consistent than I Am..., an opinion I'm sure everyone under the sun will want to hang, draw and quarter me for. However, now that I am older, less biased and more perspective, I notice something: the rapping on this album fucking sucks. Sounds harsh, I know, but it's true, of course with the exception of a few songs like "Come Get Me", and "New World", which had possibly the worst beat on here anyway. The fact that from track 9 onwards the best song is "You Owe Me" is quite the warning sign, too, don't you agree? (And yes, "New World" is a technically better song, but the beat and hook sound like a throbbing arsehole, so there). This project is just plainly not very good, and while there are songs that I quite like, there's nothing on here to touch the highs of any other Nas album, let alone the three that came before this. Therefore, I'm definitely not recommending a listen here: while the production is quite solid, Nas and the guest MCs disappoint heavily, and the hooks suck wrinkly testicles too. This album is one that I never really want to listen to again, and I certainly wouldn't want to subject my (few) readers to it, would I? Now, go and check the best tracks out, and then forget this exists, like everyone else did as soon as Stillmatic came out in late 2001.
Best Tracks: Some Of Us Have Angels, Come Get Me, Last Words, You Owe Me (guilty pleasure pick - fans of the Illmatic Nas need not hear this one)
Worst Tracks: most of the bloody thing
If you want to read some more positive write ups, then click here - I do think the man is arguably the greatest to ever do it, so you're bound to find something there.
No comments:
Post a Comment