Following his disastrous year of 1999, in which he not only put out music videos dancing with Puff, but also two albums, the first of which was (unfairly) considered mediocre, and the second of which was considered to be fit only for the incinerator, Nasir "Nas" Jones decided it was time that he left the limelight for a moment to pursue other ventures, including going to the hospital to chat shit about Puff Daddy with his newly injured manager Steve Stoute, and walking around his old Queensbridge Projects to find himself some random drug dealers that he thought looked like they might be good rappers. The second of these two activities led Nas to the idea of, instead of another solo album that year, releasing a compilation record of various songs by all of his new weed carriers, as well as some of the other QB rappers that had already established themselves. And so, in late 2000, Nas & Ill Will Records Presents: QB Finest was born.
While the album art looked a bit cheap and thrown together (the photo of Nas on the back was taken from the It Was Written liner notes, therefore taken four years earlier), the feature and production list certainly didn't. As well as various unknown artists including the Bravehearts (dammit!!), Pop (?) and Millennium Thug, we did also see appearances from Cormega, Capone, Noreaga, MC Shan and, most importantly, both members of Mobb Deep, who, if you remember, were still clinging onto their primes by this point. Behind the boards, the album was mostly backed by production work from L.E.S., who isn't always consistent, but still had provided Nas with some great instrumentals throughout the '90s. We also had beats from Havoc, EZ Elpee (who was on fire at the time), Scott Storch, and most importantly The Alchemist, who had proven over the past couple of years to be one of the best producers in the game.
This thing looked exciting, then, and even managed to spawn a hit single in the shape of "Oochie Wally (Remix)", a song that admittedly did give Jay-Z some ammo to go against Nas in the pair's eventual beef. The project was also fairly well received, at least in terms of the songs by established artists, so that's good. But is this Nas side project really worth checking out at all, or is it doomed to the same dungeon as Nastradamus for Nas album failures? Well, only one way to find out.
1. Intro (performed by Jungle & Wiz) (prod. L.E.S.)
Overly long and pretentious intro with a pretty annoying beat in the background. This shit is incredibly off-putting. Also, why is this one "performed by" Jungle and Wiz, when the rest of the songs are "featuring" the performing artists? That's just baffling.
2. Da Bridge 2001 (feat. Nas, Capone, Mobb Deep, Tradegy, Nature, MC Shan, Marley Marl, Cormega & Millenium Thug) (prod. L.E.S., co-prod. Nas)
3. We Live This (feat. Havoc, Big Noyd & Shante) (prod. Havoc)
Awfully repetitive chorus aside (this will become a theme), I found this one to be a pretty entertaining track too. Havoc's intense production is damn nice on here, and him and Big Noyd both deliver some pretty stellar verses here too, despite reliance on generic subject matter. Roxanne Shante was an unusual choice for the song, but props to her for coming out of retirement for an early 2000s gangsta rap cut I suppose. As I said, the hook is rubbish, but otherwise I liked this a lot.
4. Real Niggas (feat. Nas & Ruc) (prod. L.E.S. & Nas)
I don't know who put the stage name "Ruc" into this guy's head, but whoever it was should be fired immediately for incompetence in the workplace. I mean, Ruc? That's your stage name? Asides from that, I also find Ruc's voice to be pretty bloody uninteresting if I'm honest, even if some of his lyrics are pretty fun - "license plate screaming "fuck you!!"". As for Nas, he appears to have regressed to the incredibly dull delivery that was in abundance on his Nastradamus album. Another repetitive chorus truly does send this track to the dumpster. Still, at least the instrumental is nice, and props to Nas for admitting towards the end that he has repeated the chorus so much that the gimmick is now buried deep in the inner core. Self awareness is always a face saver, ain't it?
5. Find Ya Wealth (feat. Nas) (prod. L.E.S. & Nas)
The only solo Nasir track on this compilation LP, and it's bloody excellent. This one was allegedly cut from the I Am... The Autobiography sessions, but I'm glad it was resurfaced here, as this is one of the nicest songs in Nas' whole catalogue. The L.E.S. beat on here is easily one of the best the man ever put his mind to, offering an eerie boom-bap feel that gives Nas the perfect backing to tell the tales of his own journey to stardom, delivering the overall positive message that you will be and are good at something - you just need to "find ya wealth". The hook is also catchy as hell, and Nas' short bursts of singing here and there don't ruin things either. Very nice cut.
6. Straight Outta Q.B. (feat. Jungle, Cormega & Poet) (prod. L.E.S., co-prod. Cormega)
While I appreciated the remake of "The Bridge", which bought together a slew of Queensbridge legends to make a song that sounded like something entirely new, this cover of N.W.A.'s "Straight Outta Compton" fails to do either of these things, instead sounding redundant and gimmicky, and also not making sense to cover, as that song was originally a dedication to Compton, not Queensbridge. Sorry guys, but I can't be doing with this one.
7. Oochie Wally (Remix) (feat. Nas & Bravehearts) (prod. EZ Elpee)
8. Our Way (feat. Capone-N-Noreaga & Iman Thug) (prod. Scott Storch)
A racket. Sorry, but that's all there is to say here. Scott Storch's beat might have been nice, but the fact that there seem to be about five different people talking at any one time here is just too off-putting and annoying.
9. Fire (feat. Nature) (prod. L.E.S.)
While a lot of people would have much preferred Cormega to remain in The Firm rather than be replaced by Nature, I personally believe that the latter is actually a solid MC who doesn't get the respect he deserves, and therefore I was pretty excited to see that he had a solo cut on this compilation. While L.E.S. disappoints behind the boards with a beat as dull and cheap as a packet of Tesco's bran flakes, Nature comes through with some solid verses, that admittedly do utilise the homophobic f-word twice (!), which means this track did not age well at all. The line "my man's callin' shit fire, I just call it flames" sounds a bit stupid too, as it seems to defeat the point of the song, but otherwise I must say that I enjoyed this one quite a bit more than the previous three.
10. Power Rap (Freestyle Interlude) (feat. Prodigy of Mobb Deep) (prod. Havoc)
Personally, I found Prodigy to actually have the worst verse on the earlier track "Da Bridge 2001", but bearing in mind that this came out during the H.N.I.C. era rather than the Infamy era (when P, to put things respectfully, fell the fuck off), I was still very excited for this track, and it didn't dissapoint. This one was apparently cut from the original Murda Muzik tracklist, and it is up to par with some of the best from that album - Havoc's chilled out beat is haunting and also relaxing, and Prodigy sounds absolutely in his element over this one with some brilliant flows and bars throughout - "you're growling all over the tape, you get chewed when I touch that shit". Excellent cut.
11. Street Glory (feat. Nas & Pop) (prod. L.E.S.)
Having gone for a quick cry in a back room after recording the dismal "Oochie Wally (Remix)" (or perhaps a quick fuck), Nas has returned for this cut with another unknown chappie, "Pop", who, like Ruc, has a painfully awful stage name. While this track title might lead you to believe that this was going to be another generic "I'm known in the streets" rap, it's actually quite different, with Nas and Pop speaking on how attempts to gain "street glory" when living in the hood will potentially get you into even worse situations than what you were in before, and over some dramatic L.E.S. production that gives a very clean vibe. Nas sounds much more Stillmatic than Nastradamus on here, which is obviously a good thing, but it's surprisingly Pop who steals the show, with an incredible verse that exemplifies the negatives of trying to be successful in the hood. Nas also drops a line that leads the listener to believe that Pop is the same person as Blitz the Ambassador, who appeared on the song "Every Ghetto" on Stillmatic. I mean, they do sound similar...
12. We Break Bread (feat. Lord Black, Littles, Craig G. & Chaos) (prod. L.E.S. & Precision)
No idea who Lord Black or Chaos are, but I know that Littles was a Mobb Deep affiliate for a short while, and Craig G. was featured on classic '80s rap track, Marley Marl's "The Symphony", so there we go. Since I don't really care about any of these people, I find my interest in this song waning fairly quickly, and I'm sure yours will as well, at least for the first two verses. Littles and Craig G. (with an extra long verse) both do OK, but I'm overall underwhelmed with this one, even if the production is pretty nice.
13. Money (feat. Mr. Challish) (prod. Alchemist)
Being an unknown rapper and calling your first song on wax "Money" is surely a bit like entering a singles bar wearing brown trousers and a wool sweater - no-one's going to notice you. The only thing that this one has going for it is the production from The Alchemist, his only contribution to this LP, but even that is pretty dull, attempting to be dramatic, but sounding inconsequential next to these generic lyrics. Still, I like the line "it's money over niggas, ESPECIALLY YOU!!", a rare sign of addressing the listener on a rap album (of course Prodigy did it in a much more creative manner on "Shook Ones Pt. II", but still).
14. Self Conscience (feat. Prodigy of Mobb Deep & Nas) (prod. Mike "Trauma" D. & Jugrnaut of the Infinite Arkatechz)
Speaking of Prodigy, here he is again! Infinite Arkatechz have apparently sampled Mike Oldfield's "Tubular Bells" for this one, although there's no credit for this inside the booklet. Prodigy handles most of this one, having a conversation with his own conscience, which puts itself as his number one guy, over P's friends and family. Nas pops in at the end for a solid verse too, but you really listen to this one for Prodigy's incredible lyrics and concept over this haunting beat - this track is one of the best he ever did.
15. Die 4 (feat. Infamous Mobb) (prod. Plain Truth)
One of the goofiest beats on here stands as backing for the underwhelming Infamous Mobb, who are standing in for Nas' weed carriers on this one I suppose. Twin Gambino does OK here, but both G.O.D. and Ty Nitty are as generic as usual. And could these guys not have thought of a more inventive name?
16. Kids In Da PJ's (feat. Nas, Bravehearts & Millennium Thug) (prod. Infinite Arkatechz)
By far the most sentimental record on here, "Kids In Da PJ's" is far better than the horrific title and Bravehearts feature would lead you to believe. Infinite Arkatechz are back, and produce a flute-led beat with a background choir that fits very well with this subject matter, and could bring a tear to the eye of the more weak-hearted. Nas' hook is iffy, but his verse more than makes up for it, and his seat warmers also do fairly good jobs for themselves on here - a lot better than whatever the fuck they attempted on "Quiet Niggas" (from Nastradamus). Surprisingly good.
The following song is listed as a Bonus Track.
17. Teenage Thug (feat. Nas & Millennium Thug) (prod. Al West)
Despite the apparently motivational subject matter, this song almost crosses the line into "club banger" territory, what with the electronic beat and scratching of Nas' vocals towards the end. I do enjoy Nas on here, but Millennium Thug is nothing but extra baggage - no disrespect, but that guy is incredibly uninteresting. This hook is also honestly miserable - it's yet another that simply repeats the title of the song, and while that was par for the course in the early '90s, it's unacceptable for 2000. This isn't awful, but it's also quite a bit worse than I remember.
If this was somehow released as a studio album, then it would be one of the weakest in Nas' catalogue, but as a compilation, QB Finest is actually pretty damned good. The fact that it's a compilation means that you're supposed to take just some tracks and run away, and it isn't intended to be a cohesive or consistent experience. And with that in mind, almost half of these tracks are truly great. The beats on this thing are almost always stellar, and Nas seems to have gotten back into his bag after falling out and rolling onto the floor for Nastradamus. Meanwhile some of the other rappers present do their thing too - Prodigy delivers two of his best post- Hell On Earth performances, easily, and there are great verses on here too from Havoc, Big Noyd and even Pop. The clear issue with this is the abundance of truly dull rappers, who do appear frequently on this album, ruining some actually decent beats like those on "Money" and "Real Niggas" with inane rhymes about shit that's already been discussed a million times before. So, yeah, it isn't that consistent, and for a showcase of the unknown Queensbridge MCs this is pretty bad, given that pretty much all of the good performances come from those that were already established, but for a compilation put together by Nas shortly after Nastradamus, this thing is surprisingly competent, and fans of Nasir Jones and Mobb Deep should definitely delve into this, after consulting the paragraph below. This was pretty damned good,
Now, since this is a compilation of random songs, I've decided to do a different metric for track rankings. I'll be listing the "good tracks", the "mid tracks" and "the bad tracks", and getting every single song on here into each category. This seems to me like a better way of picking apart the thing, and finding the good within the compilation, and chucking out the filler cuts that only the performers actually thought sounded serviceable. Capiche? Good.
The Good: "Da Bridge 2001", "We Live This", "Find Ya Wealth", "Fire", "Power Rap (Freestyle Interlude)", "Street Glory", "Self Conscience", "Kids In Da PJ's"
The Mid: "Straight Outta Q.B.", "We Break Bread", "Money", "Teenage Thug"
The Bad: "Intro", "Real Niggas", "Oochie Wally (Remix)", "Our Way", "Die 4"
If you want to read about more Nas, click here. Oh, you want Mobb Deep too? Well, if you insist...
All images taken from Discogs
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