Helped Me Fall in Love With Rap
This was the first Nas album I heard and one of my first rap albums overall. I'd heard 'Hate Me Now' on a music video show and I couldn't get enough of it, and copped the album soon after. At the time I loved it and not a lot has changed years on. Now that I have heard his earlier albums, I can understand that after the brilliant Illmatic and It Was Written that some fans may be a tad disappointed with this, but I guess as I had a small catalogue of the genre at the time, I grew to love most of what's on offer. However, there are still many songs that I can't see not loving, no matter where this album came in someone's journey into Nas or hip hop. Overall, it does have a few more radio-friendly tracks like the Timbaland produced 'You Won't See Me Tonight', 'K-I-SS-I-N-G' and 'Hate Me Now', with Puff, which I guess could almost fit into that category at a reach, but as with Nastradamus, it isn't to the degree some may have you believe. Given that 'You Won't See Me Tonight' sounds like it was made for the radio, it is very surprising to me that it wasn't pushed as one first singles from this album and given a video.
Anyway, apparently this album was originally going to be a double-disc release with songs like 'Fetus' on it which appeared on The Lost Tapes three years later, but due to it being one of the first albums to be leaked through mp3s it was cut down to one disc.
Despite that though as it stands this is a more than solid Nas release with a good variety of tracks. There's the aggressive and bangin' 'Hate My Now', the conscious/political 'I Want to Talk to You', the eerie 'Undying Love', the radio-friendly 'You Won't See Me Tonight / We Will Survive' and the introspective 'Life is What You Make It' featuring on-screen mate (Belly) DMX, that offers a good mixture of hip hop. Lyrically it falls away toward the second half of the album with pop-rap songs, the main offenders being 'Dr. Knockboot', 'K-I-SS-I-N-G', 'Big Things', and 'Money Is My Bitch', which no doubt are the main reason people don't rate this album, but the production never falls away too much for any of these songs to be unlikable. However, while the beat on 'Money Is My Bitch' is poppy, lyrically Nas does what he did with 'You Gave Me Power' on It Was Written, and personifies an object, this time of course being money. It doesn't have the same impact but is an underrated tune. I've always dug the production for 'K-I-SS-I-N-G' with the R. Kelly sample, even if the lyrics aren't what Nas is known for.
Given the average light many fans see this in, it would be interesting how I would look at this if it hadn't been one of the first things I had heard in rap, but I guess I'm not Marty McFly so this album will always be looked upon as important in my musical journey.
Best Tracks: Nas Is Like, Hate Me Now, Favor for a Favor, Life Is What You Make It, Small World, Undying Love.
This starts off with some bangin' songs with the 'Intro' being particularly good. The high-pitched sampling that was common in the mid '00s is a feature on the first couple of tracks. The quality slowly drops from the second to the third song, but all are worth listening to. It drops further with 'So Much More' that sounds more pop-rappy than what came before and isn't one I'll be playing again. Joe borrows from Zapp’s 'Computer Love' for the average hook - "I know you've been searchin' for someone who".
Next, 'My Fofo' is a diss track directed at 50 Cent who has always deserved any hate coming his way. There are some decent lines but the beat isn't as good as it needs to be. There are better anti-50 songs like Game's many disses, Nas' 'Don't Body Urself', Ja's 'New York', to name a few. Cool & Dre produced this as well as 'New York' and it does sound quite similar. It also sounds like something was censored. At the end of the song, Joe says, "If I won't get you I will get your ......". It seems like the label cut it out. I assume it was something about his family.
'Rock Ya Body' is decent. I don't have a lot to say about it. The melody for 'Listen Baby' is nice and makes for an enjoyable contrast between the fairly bare hook and verses. At the end of the day though it's not a brilliant pop-rap song. 'Get It Poppin'' continues the pop-rap feel. Again, it's alright. It's no ''Wonderful'.
Finally, we get back to some realness. 'Temptation, Pt 1' and 'Temptation, Pt 2' both bring us back to some darker beats, themes and storytelling and are the best things on this album. To move things on faster, 'I Can Do U' has another nice melody and smooth hook. The man who was everywhere in the mid '00s takes over 'So Hot'. It feels like R. Kelly featuring Fat Joe. I'm a huge fan of Kelly but this isn't one of his best. Next, the classic 'Lean Back' gets remixed. I have never loved Ma$e on the mic. He has some good bars but he just sounds as if he needs some damn caffeine. I think I prefer the original. 'Beat Novocain', the moniker of DJ Khaled back in the day, keeps the energy going of 'Lean Back' with thumpin' production. You'll be bangin' your head as soon as the drums start! Then, from bangin', we move to a song that couldn't get any softer with 'Hold You Down'.
I like good, catchy pop-rap. There isn't anything great here though despite the many attempts at it. When the production is harder though, the album shines. There are a few tracks to go back to.
Best Tracks: Intro, Does Anybody Know, Temptation Pt1/2, Lean Back (Remix), Beat Novocain
Much of the production on this long-long-long awaited album from Rakim is just okay, with the main problem being the soft average choruses that appear on quite a few tracks. Generally, the chorus is meant to be the catchiest part of a song but it is Rakim's verses which are most memorable. However, even on his previous two solo albums for me, the production was far from brilliant on many tracks but Rakim held the albums down, particularly on 'The 18th Letter'. He does such things on this album also and turns an average beat into a good song. It would be hard not to enjoy Rakim over a metronome though. The subject matter features brag rap, some about the state of hip hop, a couple of hood songs and a chick song or two. It would have been nice to hear a bit more about what he has been up the last ten years while he hasn't dropped anything, but nevertheless, most of the lyrics are interesting enough.
I can understand people not loving this album due to the soft hooks and overall production, but overall Rakim hasn't lost his flow and I'm still enjoying it after quite a few spins.
Best Tracks: How to Emcee, You and I, Won’t Be Long, Holy Are You, Satisfaction Guaranteed, Message in the Song, Still in Love.
While some the beats aren't brilliant on Rakim's solo debut released a couple of years prior to this, they drop further here. There is no absolutely brilliant song here and a lot of the beats aren't anything beyond passable. Two producers shine though. 'Real Shit'-which has a beat that sounds like something Canibus would spit over-and 'Uplift', that are produced by Ron Lawrence and The Mighty V.I.C., are among the best. As are 'Waiting for the World to End' and 'When I B on tha Mic', that have beats that you should be able to pick Premo's signature style from the first few seconds. Some good songs, but overall, if anyone other than Rakim was on this it would probably be about one star worse.
Best Tracks: When I B on tha Mic, Uplift, Real Shit, Waiting for the World to End
