Nas
While Nas remains one of the biggest stars in the music world he has always been first and foremost an underground hip-hop artist. Starting in 1994 with his classic debut Illmatic all the way through his 2001 multiplatinum smash Stillmatic, Nas has been the one MC the street has constantly fiended for. A new single, a guest spot on someone else's record, even a quote in an interview-all have been enough to ignite sparks of expectation throughout the hip-hop universe. So it should be no surprise that in this much-scrutinized ten-year career some Nas songs have been bootlegged or utilized as B-sides-or have even just been hidden away in the studio. Nas' Lost Tapes brings together some of his unreleased underground gems for the first time ever-and gives us twelve more slices of wisdom from the pen of a true lyrical master.
Like every Nas CD before it, Lost Tapes comes with a slew of superstar producers behind the boards-Trackmasters, L.E.S., and Large Professor, just to name a few. But on Lost Tapes the tracks are low-key and the beats subdued-there are no R&B cameos, no elaborate background choruses or catchy samples, and no skits. When Nas is on the mic the flow is always the star. Not overly flashy or relying on speed or tongue-twisting gimmickry, Nas spins words into indelible images and kicks a brilliant stream-of-consciousness style without ever rambling or losing your attention. The themes on Lost Tapes are also the same we've come to know from Nas' previous work: in Nas' universe drugs and fame and wealth are not things to be mindlessly celebrated, but false idols to be smashed; Nas' mission is to shine a light of truth and reveal the false and empty for what they really are.
"No Idea's Original" is taken from the legendary 2001 Stillmatic recording sessions. The Alchemist provides the track-using a Barry White sample and a simple backbeat. "No idea's original/there's nothing new under the sun/it's never what you do but how's it's done/what you base your happiness around?/Material women and large paper that means you're inferior not major." This track could stand as Nas' manifesto as an MC: Always be true to yourself and be original without being fake or flashy. "Black Zombie"-also from the Stillmatic sessions-adds a bit of revolutionary flavor to the flow, with Nas setting his sights on the mindless conformity he sees infecting hip-hop culture and the larger black community. "We catchin' holy ghosts in church/scared to do it for ourselves unless we see somebody doing it first/we begged we prayed petitioned and demonstrated/just to make another generation/Black Zombies." There is no other MC in hip hop who could write this kind of song, no other MC who could speak on politics and history and make it sound fresh, not preachy.
Lost Tapes also sports another hip-hop genre redefined by Nas: the action-thriller movie script come to life in a 4-minute song. "Blaze A 50"-with beats courtesy of L.E.S. and recorded for 1999's platinum I Am-is the vivid tale of Nas' night with a "chick who'd make Bobby leave Whitney." There have always been action-adventure tales in hip hop but no one creates unforgettable flesh-and-blood characters like Nas. On "Blaze a 50" he begins at a Super Bowl party, details a hot-tub sex scene, then a murder plot, a last minute double-cross, and Nas himself escaping at song's end in his drop-top Mercedes. "Fetus" (WHEN?) gives us Nas in utero, peering out at the world he's about to enter through his mother's "bellybutton window." "Doo-Rags" is propelled by the sweetest jazz piano loop you'll ever hear on a hardcore hip-hop song, with Nas' lyrics ranging from childhood reminiscences to Black America and African history.
Nas' Lost Tapes proves once again that Nas is the greatest MC of his generation. His CDs immediately shoot to the top of the charts yet he's never compromised himself or lost a shred of street credibility. "You won't be seeing Nas doing any beer commercials," he said recently on an episode of MTV's Diary. On Lost Tapes there are no cameos and no gimmicks. No hype. No product placement. Just pure Nas: strictly underground hip-hop and unrivaled lyrical genius.
NO CAMEOS -- NO HYPE -- NO BULLSH*T
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