Dissecting Nas’ Untitled - Part 1
Nas
Untitled
(Def Jam; US: 15 Jul 2008; UK: 14 Jul 2008; Internet release date: 15 Jul 2008)
Official Site
The PopMatters writers guide recommends that record reviews run somewhere between 500 and 700 words. Sometimes I struggle to get 500 words out of an album and sometimes I have a hard time keeping the count under 700. This isn’t necessarily the difference between a good or bad album. Some very good recordings have qualities that are easily explained while some bad albums have complicated flaws that warrant deeper examination. To put it simply, as far as any art form is concerned, some pieces of work just generate more dialogue than others, often irrespective of actual quality.
I recently submitted my review for Nas’ new album Untitled and I had trouble keeping the word-count down, which ended up somewhere around 1,200. (Editor’s note: watch for the review on Monday.) Needless to say, this album caused me to think a lot—more so than any hip-hop album has since… well… I guess I started to put serious thought into any albums. The dialogue generated by content of Untitled should eclipse that which was generated by the controversy of Nas’ original desire to name it Nigger, which is funny because I was afraid that that controversy would be the only thing the LP had going for it. I feel like every song on this album deserves to be seriously discussed. I brushed over their essences in my review. Even at its extraordinary length, the piece still feels to me like a general assessment.
In an effort to explore the themes of this album in more depth as well as further explain why I think this is such a special record, my intention is to conduct a track-by-track analysis of Untitled in a series of posts on this blog which should be viewed as a companion to my review to give a more complete appraisal of the project.
Queens Get the Money
This was produced by Jay Electronica, who has been billed as the “next big thing” in underground hip-hop. A synthesis of J Dilla and Stones Throw, he crafts a beat that consists of only two alternating, off-kilter piano samples and no drums. Nas’ rapping, similar to the styles from which the production draws, sounds more like an a capella poetry recital that ostensibly ignores any discernible rhythm in the pianos. Some hardcore underground fans might view this as one of Nas’ best-ever tracks while more mainstream rap fans might hear this as only an odd mess of noise.
Nas’ lyrics for “Queens Get the Money” serve as an introduction to the world that Untitled was made to address. A world in which “niggas still screaming, paper chasing / But presidential candidates is planning wars with other nations over steak with masons.” For the “pregnant teens give birth to intelligent gangsters, they daddies faceless”, Nas offers love through his music: “Play this, by ya stomach / Let my words massage it and rub it / I’ll be his daddy if there’s nobody there to love it.” He goes on to address the detractors who only want from him another Illmatic and “Pray ‘please God, let him spit that Uzi and the army linin’ / ‘that shorty doowop rollin oo-whops in the park reclinin’” and states, “Hip hop was aborted, so Nas breaths life back into the embryo / Let us make man in our image.”
In the end, the eerily hectic quiet coupled with Nas’ transcendent poetry make for a great introduction to perhaps the most philosophically and thematically complex album of his career.
To be continued…
Comments
Good review. Keep them coming.
Comment by Drjash from London — July 10, 2008 @ 7:48 am
Nice review! I personally LOVE this album, and its getting really irritating when no matter how much good music Nas puts out, people still complain and refuse to give him his due respect. I’ve heard people complain about the production on the album like its horrible.
Someone even said David Banners “I Get By” is superior to everything on the album save for “Fried Chicken”. I would laugh at that, if it wasn’t so annoying. As much as I try, I can’t see whats so bad about the production. What do people want? What is “good” production?
Everyone has different tastes so “good” production is lost to the masses. Nas will never get the respect he deserves. Just as Nas said in Queens Get The Money “Niggas is still hatin, talkin that Nas done fell of with rhymin”.
Comment by Joel from Gretna, Louisiana — July 10, 2008 @ 9:27 am
dats sharp dun!everythig if felt,the bit,rhymes to every word,Nas layd the track down flat,I’m lovin it son
Comment by henry from malaysia — July 13, 2008 @ 10:18 pm
ive listened to the album about ten plus times, and ive tried to look for a weakness in it and i see none…i thnik its one of the most powerful albums in hip hop history,,will be looking out to read your review and track by track breakdown, nice stuff
Comment by victor from kenya — July 14, 2008 @ 2:25 am
Once again Nas has fully satisfied the lames and left real hip-hop heads alone in the dark, and I’m not one of those who wants another Illmatic, I just love music, and I love hip-hop. Nas may have a wonderful subject-matter, but fails to convey it though lyrics or musically. What die-hard fans such as myself want from Nas is simply good music, flowing over nice beats. Remember It Was Written, I Am.., Stillmatic, The Lost Tapes, the second half of Hip-Hop Is Dead, CLASSICS PERIOD.
It’s almost as if Nas has ran out of subject matter, hunger, and musical taste. So now he just appeases those who want the return of political rap no matter how un-aesthetically pleasing and pointless the music is. Hip-Hop is not dead because he have not allowed those who are saying it is dead to kill it.
Comment by Quincy Bingham from Chicago — July 14, 2008 @ 3:35 pm
That Jay Electronica beat is amazing. And I’m glad Nas is still bringing his A-game to every track.
Comment by Derek from Illinois — July 14, 2008 @ 4:07 pm
Great album. The beats might not be perfect and the lack of catchy songs may get to some people, but the truth is that this is an album that makes you think. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea but Nas gets his point across without clouding his meaning at all. This is a classic in my mind. Way better than Hip Hop is Dead.
Comment by Josh from New Jersey — July 15, 2008 @ 2:43 am
I listened to it for the first time last night…GREAT ALBUM!!! I’m 28 with a daughter, paying bills with concerns about whats going on around me. If you are like me, you love this album.
Comment by Happy to be here from st louis — July 16, 2008 @ 10:12 am
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I just find it amusing when I read some of these reviews because I find that these so called experts and analysts out there all say the same thing. They either criticize the beat selection, or attempt to make claims that this album was not lyrically a great piece of work. This to me just proves that this country is full or people who don’t know how to think for themselves, just a billion bodies but with one brain. I could listen to the radio for a day and even switch stations but hear the same crappy “lil wayne” or “the dream” song at least ten times or more, that day. What ever happened to being original? If you hear the same songs over and over again you are bound to like them eventually (which doesn’t mean that song is good at all).
This new Nas album is a classic or close to it. It drives listeners to use our actual brain to think critically about topics that are very prevalent in our world. And I barely…no lets me say, never hear songs like “Black President” being played on the radio. To me? music invokes feeling…not just mindless reactions..one shouldn’t “NEED” to dance or pop lock and drop before they can actually show appreciation.
thank you Anthony for shedding a broad light on classic work.
Comment by Kalief Purrier from Bronx NY — July 20, 2008 @ 9:21 am
Nas they don’t get it…Hip hop isn’t dead. You just wanted to wake up some of those artist who had previously fallen asleep. You just want to put fire under the asses of those mindless folk who were pretty much sleepwalking in this game, as well as those zombie-fied fans. For that I truly thank you. Hip hop is at least a tad bit enjoyable again.
Untitled? Greatest work this year in my opinion.
Comment by Kalief Purrier from Bronx NY — July 20, 2008 @ 9:30 am
Thanks for the comments. I’m glad people appreciate this.
Have you read Byron Crawford’s post on XXL, in which he calls me a “clown” and a “hardened Nas stan” because I’m doing these posts and because the score I gave the album deviates 20 points from the MetaCritic score. Check it out: http://www.xxlmag.com/online/?p=23077
I definitely don’t understand the whole “production is whack” standpoint. What do these people want to hear? I’ll agree that the beats aren’t groundbreaking, but not a single one sounds bad to me by any stretch. None of the beats outshine Nas, which is what should be the intention of someone producing for a lyrical rapper. I feel like the production on <i>Untitled</i> is no weaker than the production on <i>The Carter III</i> - which, by the way, I also think is a brilliant work in a completely different respect. I give Nas the edge on best hip-hop album of the year so far based upon the fact that I do skip a couple of Lil’ Wayne’s tracks while I can happily hear <i>Untitled</i> all the way through.
I also don’t understand people calling Nas out for “not offering any solutions for the problems associated with race relations” or constantly contradicting himself. <i>Untitled</i> isn’t a dissertation for a PHD in African-American Studies; it’s an artistic expression from a Black man in America. It’s based on personal experience and I feel like Nas’ insight is incredible. His contradictions are due to the fact that he is addressing a range of conflicting emotions which result in conflicting points of view.
I am a long time Nas fan (how could any serious hip-hop fan not be?) but I’m not afraid to call something bad if I think it is. I’m not a fanboy just trying to convince myself this album is good. I remember hearing Nas’ last album for the first time. While I did like it, I still remember almost immediately anticipating what he would do next. That’s not the case here; I’m totally content with what I have in my hands right now and I’m still litening to it more than anything else.
I had no intention of writing this much about this album. My expectations for it weren’t even that high. I was afraid that the title controversy was just a ploy to cover for an uninspired artist. How good it was hit me out of nowhere and I just felt like I needed a platform to express that beyond just a single review.
Thanks to all who have been paying attention. I’ve seen lots of links to these articles on blogs and forums, which is cool.
Keep up the comments. I’ll try to finish this thing soon.
Comment by Anthony Henriques from California — July 20, 2008 @ 5:36 pm
I agree with most of the comments given so far.This is definitely an amazing album!Nas has always been a rapper who makes music for people who respond to metaphors,not just the chorus.What separates Esco from the rest is that he pushes the boundaries.Any other rapper would have choked on the beats used on this album.Album of The Year so far,without a doubt!
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