New NaS Album

ubu

It's been leaked, downloaded it today, have it pre orderded but wanted to hear it anyway.
Only gave it one listen but wasnt too impressed, after the last two Stillmatic and God's Son were very good albums and massive improvement on the Nastramaus period I was expecting alot from Streets Deciple and it hasnt hit me as being so yet, ill give it a few more listens and see what i think.
It is 2cd's and i just thought there seemed to be alot of filler in there it mightn't be the finished product either and thats the reason it doesnt sound the best, wait and see i suppose

anyone else heard it?

Burago

Double albums are risky! I love the current single with his father. I hope the album you have improves with listening, ubu, I'm a big Nas fan.

ubu

ive listened to it a few times over the weekend and it has grown on me a fair bit alright but there are some songs that are just really annoying 'American Way' w/kelis is an example of this, the chorus just bugs me, the beat is fairly sh1t aswell but overall it has got better with a few listens

Still think it should be one CD of pure quality rather than 2cds of some very good songs and some bad filler

@burago I'm a pretty big NaS fan aswell, illmatic is one of my all time favourite albums but i expected a bit more from this maybe because i built it up so much, dunno, but like any nas album it has moments of brilliance and definatly worth the money when it comes out next week

Bri

Most NaS albums grow on you...

If your right then I guess I'll be making a 'greatest hits' of this album and putting it on Minidisc!

Makaveli

Most Nas albums are hit and miss.

Illmatic - great
It Was Written - meh
I Am - forgetable
Nastradamous - total crap
Stillmatic - pretty good
God's Son - good, better than Stillmatic, nowhere near Illmatic
QB's Finest - better to forget that one too

Bri

We mighta had this discussion before but there are some decent tracks on almost all of those albums (although not all). Other artists get away with the same thing I think people just expect(ed) more from NaS because of Illmatic...all of which makes him a great (if overly commerical) rapper in my book Obviously he has some seriously weak moments too!

ubu

With the exception of QB finest(which doesnt really count) and Nastradamus all the NaS albums have been decent if not brilliant,

It Was Written - could never live up to illmatic and was always gonna get bad reviews when only other material to compare with was illmatic

I Am - had some solid tracks, 'NaS is like' springs to mind

It Was Written - nothing exceptional here but solid album

Nastradamus - bad

Stillmatic - Excellent album, some stand out songs Ether, Rewind, One Mic

God's Son - Again, Excellent album, The Cross, Get down, Dance all quality

The Lost Tapes - quality material here, how these songs get left out of the albums along the way i dont know

at the moment id be placing Streets Disciple in behind God's Son, Stillmatic and Lost Tapes, a cut above most other stuff out there but not exceptional

Makaveli

I still haven't listened to The Lost Tapes, must get around to it.

Bri

Very good examples there, had a quick look through the tracklistings and that's pretty much exactly what I'd mention too.

As for Nastradamus - God Love Us & Last Words are songs I still rate fairly highly. But I'd have to agree it's the lowest point of an otherwise notable career.

Kristok

listened to the new album once its ok probably grow on me after a while,


Illmatic - Pretty good i never really got the big deal about it

It Was Written - I liked this much more than illmatic

I Am - This is like the perfect nas album cant understand why people lump it in with Nastradamus its a totally different kind of album and the guest spots on it are excellent.

Nastradamus - Just boring fells like no real thought went into it

Stillmatic - This is his best album forget illmatic it was overrated

God's Son - Starts off solid then looses it about half way through but still good

The Lost Tapes - All classic songs

ubu

Kristok wrote:

Illmatic - Pretty good i never really got the big deal about it

How can you like NaS and not appreciate illmatic for the genius that it was.
40 mins of hiphop perfection

Kristok

Honestly i really cant see why people call it genius etc. its nice i like it but its not that great. I listen to it from time to time and its a good nas album but its not his best id rather listen too stillmatic or i am i think there both better.

Had another listen to his new album im really starting to get bored with it.

L!aM

OK, First of all, barring QB's Finest, I Am was his worst ever album. Absolute junk.

Illmatic is just one of those albums that stands out as a landmark for hip hop, of course nothing he does will ever live up to the lyrical content of this, it's heralded as the greatest debut album ever and in my opinion it is. That said, I have a special place in my heart for It Was written. I Gave you Power, one of my favourite hip hop songs just for the originality. Whilst Nas has a very distinctive style, you have to notice that it's changed over the years, NY State of Mind would sound very strange on Illmatic as Rewind or Poison would vice versa but they're all genius songs. But I find most albums need a few goings through.

Superman

Yeah I like alot of Nas stuff and think he is definitely good , but it seems that for every great song he has there are 10 ok ones, I definitely think that Illmatic and The lost Tapes are the best two, because they got real good lyrical flow.

The problem with nas's stuff is that its rarely crap, but not very good very often!

Kristok

ah come on i am is excellent how can you call it garbage, ok illmatic is a good album to come out with for a debut but its no better than ready to die or 2pacalypse now etc etc as far as a good debut, all nas albums have lyrical content above the average rapper that dosnt make his debut his best it just makes it a good debut from a rapper that for the most part kept going in the same of direction. I personally think people like illmatic because the production was more raw than any other album he has done and people think its more real because of that, where as i think it was a good start.

Makaveli

Illamtic benefited greatly from having no filler on it. Every subsequent album has had it's filler tracks, Nastradamous was a filler album.
2pacalypse Now is not that good, never really liked it that much at all.
Ready To Die is one of the best debuts ever. I like it alot more than Illmatic, but then I like Biggie alot more than Nas.

L!aM

I'm not a great Biggie fan at all, I must admit so I won't debate on Ready to Die as I don't respond to his music all that much. When I hear Big, I think of Jay Z and every other rapper to bite his style. In my personal opinion, Illmatic was one of the richest lyrically based albums of all time. 2Pacalypse Now was a poor album put next to his later stuff, it didn't outline his intelligence enough. Put it like this, in Illmatic, there was no corruption in his style, it was an 18 year old kid spitting honestly in a style all his own. His flow is almost poetic.

Seaneh

Kristok wrote:

Illmatic - Pretty good i never really got the big deal about it

For Someone NaS' age to come out with an album that good and launch it with a song like half time was and still is almost unheard of.

Kristok

2pacalypse Now was what started everything its what got him noticed and it was far from his best album but thats the point im trying to get accross it was a great first album, and id say the same for ready to die great album but not his best but nas gets stuck with this classic 5mic first album and nothing will compare to it dispite the fact that most peoples favourite nas tracks are probably not from illmatic.

I just feel people think illmatic was just so great that he had to make something spectacular to compare to it, but the other albums are from different point in his life. Like stillmatic was his semi comeback album when it looked like he was becomming old news, all his albums are from different times of his life so they gotta be taken that way.

L!aM

Well the thing is, Illmatic isn't just considered one of the best debuts. It's a hip hop landmark. It's one of those albums that you can really say is 'real'. It would feature in my top 10 hip hop albums of all time. I think one of the problems is that it's not that accessible to unseasoned hiphop lovers. The beats are simplistic and the rhymes are complex. Once you can just adapt to the flow it's just pure lyrical onslaught.

Kristok

L!aM wrote:

one of the problems is that it's not that accessible to unseasoned hiphop lovers.

I believe that people accept it to easily as a masterpiece but i personally dont see the geneious in it i see clever ryhmes from someone who was comming up and I dont automatically accept that that makes it classic. Ive meet many people over the years who are as much into hip hop as i am and agree with me that its overrated, and ive meet others who believe it a classic but its just not for me.

Klimseven

forget illmatic it was overrated

yer ma's overrated...now shut up...

Bri

That's not very nice. Your quite the opinionated one arn't you.

Klimseven

no...die...

Bri

Does the new NaS album not work in a PC?!

I've got it here and I play all my music through my computer, yet both (legit.) discs read as non-audio, and the \ has 0 objects. I know this can be the case but there's no warning visible that I can see and it even says about bonus features by putting it in the computer.

What the hell?

ThE_IVIAcIVIAIV

the song ''virgo'' on disiple is great

Makaveli

Bri wrote:

Does the new NaS album not work in a PC?!

I've got it here and I play all my music through my computer, yet both (legit.) discs read as non-audio, and the \ has 0 objects. I know this can be the case but there's no warning visible that I can see and it even says about bonus features by putting it in the computer.

What the hell?

What are you playing it on?
It must have copy protection on it. Try ripping it to mp3 using Audiograbber.

Bri

Explorer shows CD drive is blank - no title or files.
Winamp - no reading
Exact Audio Copy - Insert Audio CD

All for both CDs!

This is crap all I wanna do is play the original CD through my damn laptop speakers.

Does audiograbber have some ability that the above programs don't? Not being sarcastic here I'm just wondering why you mentioned it specificly.

Makaveli

I just mentioned Audiograbber because it was the only program that would recognise certain cds I have as audio cds.
But my computer recognised there was a cd there.

Does it work in a regular cd player?

Bri

Yeah I have it playing on a discman now.

Weird...I'll try it in another PC and maybe give audiograbber a go.

Thanks.

ubu

Got my (CD) copy last week, never put it on the computer coz i had it already, ill try it later when i get home and see if it recognises it

Bri

Thanks ubu. I tried audio grabber and no look. Strange really.

"Use this cd as your key to unlock special nas performance footage, music videos..."
"Insert this disc into a computer connected to the internet"
"click on the star icon"
"unlock and go!"

Don't even know where this icon could be except in explorer. I'm on an 11Mbps line here so how could it not work?! Man this is annoying.

Executive Steve

illmatic is a stonecold classic, and im not a seasoned hip hop lover... i mc drum and bass and nas is one of the only hiphop mc's who can do that easygoing but boastful and in your face vibe that the best drum and bass mc's do.... it doesnt feel like a hip hop tune imo, i'd love to have heard illmatic era nas over some faster breaks... new york state of mind is another great one, was very underwhelmed by it was written and have pretty much written him off since... might check out a few of the others now ive read this thread.... thanks!

ubu

Recognised it straight away on mine,
Sounds like you got a dodgy CD, or your comp is acting up, have you tried it on another PC yet?

David19

Try it on a different pc. If it doesn't work bring it back to the shop.

Bri

Yeah it works on an older Dell. What the hell? My CD Drive is fine works for all other CDs. XP Home SP2 with Winamp, EAC, Audiograbber, WMP10, even DOS!

I'll survive I guess.

ubu

What you think if the album anyway?

Bri

Got it first and thought it was better than expected. But recorded it (analog line-in to my MD) and listened properly with my headphones last night.

It might grow on me but first impression is CD1 sucks. Message to the feds is good but the rest struck me as very upbeat and I didn't like any of the guest appearances...I'd prefer just NaS tbh. Even Kelis on American Way just sings THE most annoying hook I've ever heard. I'm cringing thinking about it now. It's like half of it was written in under 5 mins (no pun intended).

CD2 strikes me as better (although it's all relative!). Suicide Bounce is good - no need for Busta to be featuring though as he doesn't really add much - pity. Funnily enough the new single with Olu Dara is actually one of the best songs on the album. Really sweet production. But again I havn't noticed much of the other tracks - the Ludacris track (again no need for him) coulda been damn good but it's just lacking something. And why we get 2 bonus tracks of Theif's theme in a row who knows. Surely they're better than The makings of a perfect bitch? Oh and UBR is good.

To be honest I'll probably contradict myself letter with more listening and giving the lyrics more of a chance of the tunes but, as expected, the double lp thing just didn't work. I'll def. be making this onto one 'greatest hits of street disciple' MD for my listening pleasure.

Pity really cos this just strikes me as unncesessarily poppy and yet I still have faith in NaS as a great rapper. The last 2 albums have been pretty good in my view, but they also had 1 or 2 brilliant tracks - One Mic, Get Down and Rewind (?) - all 3 with brilliant lyrics and beats. Where the hell is this one? Bridging the Gap might sound good to me but its hardly a rapping showcase.

ubu

Yea, ive found myself listening to CD2 more than CD1,
Theres a few decent songs on the first cd like "A Message to the Feds", "Nazerath Savage", "Coon Picnic" is ok, "Disciple" is good, "Just a Moment" also "Reason" but apart from that nothing much, the main reason i'm avoiding CD1 has to be American Way tho.

CD2 starts alot better, "Suicide Bounce", took a few listens but liking it now, "Streets Disciple" one of the best songs on the album, "U.B.R" very good, kinda like "Last Real Nigga Alive" off God's Son, "Virgo", Nice, Doug E Fresh beat boxing is sweet.
The only missable songs on CD2 are "The Makings Of A Perfect Bitch" and "No One Else In The Room", which is terrible.
The Second CD finishes strong aswell with "Bridging The Gap", "War", "Me & You", which is about is daughter, and i suppose will be compared to the Eminem song where he sings to his daughter aswell, and then "Thiefs Theme"

I'd agree with you about the Brilliant track aswell, there are a good few stand out tracks but not the one that makes you think, "Damn, that is fcuking brilliant", or whatever.

Id say the "Greatest Hits of Street's Disciple" would contain mostly songs off the second CD and the ones ive Mentioned off the First CD.

Saying all that there hasnt been much better released this year and ill be giving it good rotation for another while anyway.

Makaveli

Double albums never really work out very well.
I think everybody would be much happier if the filler was scrapped and serious thought and effort was put into the tracks that go on the album.

Excluding compilations (eg Gang Starr - Full Clip), I can't think of any albums that wouldn't have benefited from being trimmed down to just one cd.

Bri

True. Even the Wu couldn't do it.

Full Clip is a great purchase I must say!

Kristok

Makaveli wrote:

I can't think of any albums that wouldn't have benefited from being trimmed down to just one cd.

even life after death and all eyez on me ?!? I think the new nas album is suffering from the same problems as blueprint 2, riding high off of two successful albums and thinking they where better than they where and no one disagreeing with them at the record labels.

Bri

Life After Death is probably the best of the doubles but there is still some bull**** on there. All eyez on me is definately not worth 2 CDs in my view.

For instance:
F.ck you tonight feat. R.Kelly
Playa Hater
Last Day feat. the Lox

Makaveli

Life After Death has a lot of crap tracks reallly. It was known that Diddy wanted to trim the album down and fix up the production on some the tracks, but then Biggie was killed and it wouldn't have been right to change it.

All Eyez On Me cd2 is a waste of space really apart from one or two tracks.

Bri

Indeed.

Kristok

have to disagree all eyez on me is probably my fav album all the guest spots work real well and its got a certain feel thats just never been replicated (i cant explain that any better)

Life after death is not one of my top 5 albums but for a double i think its a good example of how to do it.

You guys I think are into the underground kinda stuff more so i can understand you not liking either of em but i do think they are good examples of how to do a double album and something that nas really should not have tried to do seeing as he has not had a perfect track record in the single disc album stakes.

Bri

I really like Life After Death as an album - double or single - it has plenty of quality stuff. I like 2Pac too just in moderation! And I agree NaS coulda done better concentrating on the good tracks and making them better instead of the other filler.

Oh well!

jesus_thats_gre

sums up Nas perfectly I think:

Went from, Nasty Nas to Esco's trash
Had a spark when you started but now you're just garbage
Fell from top ten to not mentioned at all
to your bodyguard's "Oochie Wally" verse better than yours
Matter fact you had the worst flow on the whole ****in song
but I know - the sun don't shine, then son don't shine
That's why your - LAAAAAAAME! - career come to a end
There's only so long fake thugs can pretend
Nigga; you ain't live it you witnessed it from your folks pad
You scribbled in your notepad and created your life
I showed you your first tec on tour with Large Professor
(Me, that's who!) Then I heard your album bout your tec on the dresser
So yeah I sampled your voice, you was usin it wrong
You made it a hot line, I made it a hot song
And you ain't get a coin nigga you was gettin ****ed and
I know who I paid God, Serchlite Publishing
Use your - BRAAAAAAAIN! You said you been in this ten
I've been in it five - smarten up Nas
Four albums in ten years nigga? I can divide
That's one every let's say two, two of them ****s was due
One was - NAHHH, the other was "Illmatic"
That's a one hot album every ten year average
And that's so - LAAAAAAAME! Nigga switch up your flow
Your **** is garbage, but you try and kick knowledge?
(Get the **** outta here) You niggaz gon' learn to respect the king
Don't be the next contestant on that Summer Jam screen
Because you know who (who) did you know what (what)
with you know who (yeah) but just keep that between me and you for now

ubu

ahem....Ether