Nas

NASIR

There are some slight missteps, like West’s tedious hook on Everything, but Nasir proves Nas’ ongoing relevance as one of New York’s biggest living rappers, with the best overall production and best quality control since Illmatic: the curse may finally be lifting.

A project that wavers between brilliant synergy and occasionally uninspired filler.

When you factor in all its dexterity, randomness and overall generality, it’s hard to truly believe NASIR was the album he had been cerebrally building these past six years.

Comprised of mostly good music, even in its flaws, NASIR leaves listeners intrigued as to the possibilities of its author’s next chapter.

For a 26-minute effort, Nasir has too much slack.

No longer able to summon his mythical sense of storytelling, Nas sounds lost on his 11th studio album. Kanye’s production doesn’t help, either.

Whilst stylistically Nasir may well have plenty of strong moments, its contradictions make it a difficult, problematic listen: it’s the silences on here which so often deafen.

The real issue with Nasir is Nas, who seems to have taken it upon himself to become as mercurial as his producer, his rhymes shifting from acute, powerful indictments of racism to stuff that makes no sense, or seems to be there purely for the purposes of provocation.

On most tracks, not even Kanye's excellent production is enough to save Nasir from Nas himself.

There’s no way to get around this: the worst part about Nas’s new album is Nas.

NASIR is the weakest of the recent Kanye output, though perhaps more consistent than ye it fails to put a dent in the current hip hop conversation, feeling especially limp in comparison to the sudden arrival of a one-time nemesis and his wife.

On its surface, Nasir is politically aware and a comfort to die-hard fans, but upon closer inspection, the album exposes itself as hollow and eerily manipulative. He's trying to play us.

Nasir is among the weakest Nas albums, but there’s nothing spectacular about its failure. It is, simply, the one thing Nas has avoided being all these years, through revolutionary highs and car-crash lows: dull.