Album Review: Nas-Life Is Good

Although Nas has been active for a little over twenty years now, Nas frequently falls under the radar in the hip-hop world. Unlike many of his peers from that era, he has mostly stuck to his guns throughout his career and has made some bold moves (such as making a collaboration album with reggae star Damian Marley) to separate him from the mainstream hip-hop crowd. Nas's new record Life Is Good is his finest work in years and continues the almost unmatched consistency Nas has achieved throughout most of his career.

Life Is Good shows 110% that Nas still has it. It has a very old-school Nas vibe and it sees him returning to what he does best: Telling stories. The approach Nas takes on this album is in the same vein of his classics Illmatic, It Was Written, and Stillmatic and it is beyond awesome that he has returned to this style. In addition to his return to telling stories with his rhymes, Life Is Good sees Nas going back to blending his conscious side with his hardcore side. Both sides of his style are highly successful with equal lyrical bite and great production to suit the different vibes of each song accordingly. Even with these tone shifts, the album never looses focus and the transitions seem very natural. Surprisingly I found myself enjoying the deeper, more emotional tracks than the in-your-face hardcore ones. The 50 and 60's jazz vibes on "Stay" and almost classical sounding beat on "A Queen's Story" combined with the emotional and heartfelt lyrics made for some of the most enjoyable tracks on the album. At the same time, the hardcore tracks are also top-notch. "Back When" and "The Don" are absolute bangers that shows he can still spit with a ton of intensity and passion. Nas is also able to make great use of guest artists. Every guest artist (with the exceptions of Swizz Beatz on the albums lone dud "Summer On Smash" and Rick Ross on the otherwise solid "Ancient Murderers" ) improves each song substantially. There are some great hooks by Mary J.Blidge, the late Amy Winehouse, and master of great, catchy hooks in hip-hop songs, Anthony Hamilton. Each of these guest spots really drive home the power of each song and Nas could not have done a better job choosing these singers to do the hooks on his album.

Life Is Good is Nas best record since Stillmatic in my humble opinion. He's back in his element telling stories and his lyrics are as sharp and emotional as ever. This is a much-needed throwback album with meaningful themes and emotional power in spades. It almost seems like it should have come out fifteen years ago, Hip-Hop like this is rare these days. Hip-hop needs an elder statesman like Nas. He's been doing his thing and not hoping on any trends his whole career. The fact that he is notably absent from any best rapper alive discussion is both sad and sickening. Life Is Good will hopefully expose a new generation of hip-hop fans to the brilliance of Nas's work. Hip-hop needs more mainstream rappers willing to be different like Nas. Kudos to Nas for making another excellent piece of work and showing once again why he is such an important part of the modern survival of hip-hop.

4/5 Stars
Standout Tracks
1.Stay
2.A Queens Story
3. The Don