Nas - Untitled (leak)

[JamSix]

Heres how my plays look, Breathe & Black President are pretty much auto-skip for me, the Chris Brown & Game track is growin on me.



My 2 favorite tracks easily are Hero & America. And yeah, Slyfox is definately the best track lyrically, some of those darts is just mind bogglin'. "I use viacom as my firearm to let the lyrics split you, who do you rely upon?"

[JamSix]

I think the poll choices are pretty accurate, its designed to accomadate everyone, Illmatic aint 10/10 in everybody's book people gotta keep that in mind. I also disagree how most albums are reviewed here, I mean Masta Ace's Long Hot Summer gets the same ratings as Only Built 4 Cuban Links? Heads just think that if the album is good with few skippable tracks that its a 10, and that shit aint right.

In order for an album to be 10/10 it needs to be perfection with no flaws, and there is no way Untitled is that.

[INF]

When I first got the mixtape , I really like hero. The hook is catchy and he bodies the track. The album version of HEro is good but either I wore it out or something cuz when I here it within the album it just dont really send me. idk why.

Nas' last 10 for 10 was Stillmatic. I really wanna say Streets Disciple but I cant cuz there was some joke of a track tracks on that shit.

He be delivering though everytime and just cuz he dont crank out 10's every time dont mean shit.

[SickSide]

First listen........7/10

[INF]

i voted 7 too

[oDoUoSoKo]

STREET'S DISCIPLE 3???? wtf....that shit was atleast an 8 to me.

[DR. NICK RIVIERA]

and Nastradamus is his worse effort, but that was a 5/10 for me...

so yeah, wtf?

[SHEEPISH LORD OF CHAOS]

STREET'S DISCIPLE 3???? wtf....that shit was atleast an 8 to me.

yeah i thought that was a very mature album and Nastradamus was the worst one he ever did dude to tracks like "You Owe Me', "New World" and "Big Girl"

[sarr]

i think a 7.5

its deffinetly a solid album..

[Sun Tzu, Tha Soul Controllah]

I gave in and listened to the leak

this album WILL go over people's heads, I guarantee it

but I am glad NaS went thru with this even though the album title was changed...some concepts coulda been explored deeper but then again this is still music...to do so might of become too much

but this is some powerful stuff

imma leave it at that

10

[Sun Tzu, Tha Soul Controllah]

BEST TRACK ON THE ALBUM IS TESTIFY.

[SHEEPISH LORD OF CHAOS]

yo this is sheepish lord of chaos and here's my official review
http://ustyles.com/usblog/
click this link and you can read my review on a blog i work for in my spare time

[Suga Duga]

STREET'S DISCIPLE 3???? wtf....that shit was atleast an 8 to me.

same what I thought, that's an ill ass album

[urbanlegend]

After listening through a bunch more times, this album is definitely solid and has a good vibe. Couple tracks towards the end of the album, after Fried Chicken, started to fizzle out though.

[Edgar Erebus]

01. Queens Get The Money (Produced by Jay Electronica)
Nice intro, but... In my opinion, intro should be something banging. This beat is nice, but it's prolly too smooth for an intro. But Nas lyricism always saves the day. Is he dissing Aftermath on this song?
4.25/5

02. You Can’t Stop Us Now (feat. Eban Thomas of The Stylistics & The Last Poets) (Produced by Salaam Remi)
Nah. We've already had two better beats centered 'round that sample. Nas' lyricism is excellent again, but he's capable of hitting even harder.
4/5

03. Breathe (Produced by J. Myers & Dustin Moore)
That's a Jay-Z beat, haven't you noticed that? Jigga has a thing with such beats, you know, "Hovi Baby", "Encore", "Sweet"... Nas is flossing right here, but again - he knows to floss even better.
3.75/5

04. Make The World Go Round (feat. Chris Brown & The Game) (Co-produced by Cool & Dre & The Game)
That beat is so Cool & Dre, wonder what Game had to do with it. Ah, yeah, Game. I literally needed two listens to realize which verse is Game's - that guy sounds too much like Nas. Lyrics are meh, this song is beat-driven. Bet it's gonna be next single.
3.5/5

05. Hero (feat. Keri Hilson) (Produced by Polow Da Don)
Well, album finally picks up steam here. Polow da Don made a nice, anthemic (fuck those beats, too many anthems, too few raps) yet athmospheric beat. First verse is unnecessary, second is good, third excels.
4.5/5

06. America (Produced by Stargate)
This beat is on some Eurosong ish. Lyrics are the bomb, though: this is Nas when not caring what anyone thinks, being the intelligent hustler that wants change. If only the beat was better...
4.25/5

07. Sly Fox (Produced by stic.man of Dead Prez)
Boom! This song goes into official soundtrack to a revolution. Only flaw is that it's misplaced - it absolutely doesn't fit into the smooth synthy vibe of the album - but I'ma forgive that.
5/5

08. Testify (Produced by Mark Batson)
Ouch. This is probably the lyrically most aggressive song of the album. That's straight Bakunin shit, Molotov cocktail, makes you jump on your landlord, soak him with gas and burn the motherfucker.
And it's done with spoken word over R&B beat. That's what pisses me off. Really pisses me off.
3.5/5

09. N.I.G.G.E.R. (The Slave And The Master) (Produced by DJ Toomp)
Another misplaced song. This is the album closer, song that waves bye-bye. Well, anyway: nice from Toomp to show his darker side, and nice from Nas for giving some criticism on ghetto - which became more stupid than gritty. It ain't Cube's "Us", but, hey, it's 2008 anyway.
4/5

10. Untitled / Louis Farrakhan (Produced by stic.man of Dead Prez)
Oh, yeah, that's the beat. stic.man is crazy for this one, that fast drumbeat and murky synths are what I'm seeking for. Nas is also excellent - thoughts about revolutionary that got rich and gets old, and if he's still relevant. Yeah.
5/5

11. Fried Chicken (feat. Busta Rhymes) (Produced by Mark Ronson)
Excellent concept - is it metaphor for a woman or the food that makes you fat? (Tomato pasta ain't cholesterol-heavy, believe me, if you make it with olive oil.) I love when Nas does shit like that. Excellent beat, but Mark Ronson is capable of more.
4.75/5

12. Project Roach (feat. The Last Poets) (Produced by Eric Hudson)
Similar concept: can be really a tale about a roach or a metaphor for a black man sturdy. I swore I'd never front on Last Poets, but they're absolutely unnecessary here. Fine jazzy beat.
4.75/5

13. Ya’ll My Niggas (Produced by J. Myers)
Excellent song. Nas in his sharpest and most socially aggressive. Beat could use a bit of bass, but it's still nice.
4.5/5

14. We’re Not Alone (feat. Mykel) (Produced by stic.man of Dead Prez)
Uhhh... Singing is wack as something, really makes the song annoying. Plus, beat is really pale compared to before. But, Nas saves it, brings straight fire about development of his world views.
4/5

15. Black President (feat. Johnny Polygon) (Produced by DJ Green Lantern)
Uhhh... Scary how quickly will this song become dated. Nas is bad ass on this one - dare to say it's corny because of uplifting message! Beat is, yeah, excellent for a mixtape, weak on an album like this. Green Lantern really needs a Dr. Dre to tweak his songs.
4/5

TOTAL: 63.75/75
4.25/5 a.k.a. 8.5/10 (and I'ma give it a 9)



FINAL IMPRESSION
Yup, Nas did it again. His growth as an artist is really, really impressive - he went from a humble street hustler to a self-confident - yet not bloated (though he was in such phase too) - revolutionary activist. I have the feeling that, after long, painful years of uneven Nas who didn't know what to do with his talents, resulting in undercooked and often disappointing albums, he finally found himself and the view that he wants to express, no matter what haters have to say.

As for album: when he isn't doing something for the clubs (luckily, there's only two such songs on the album, and even they aren't as bad as it gets nowadays), his lyricism is as sharp as it gets - really excellent to know after he had some wack joints on Hip Hop is Dead.

Album could surely benefit from a more even production. There's a couple of painfully misplaced joints, "Sly Fox" should be a bonus track and "N.I.G.G.E.R." would be impossibly better as to close album. Plus, the album takes too long to pick up steam - I bet many casual listeners will get turned off with four intro songs that lack energy. But, when the beatmakers are at their best (Polow da Don and stic.man), results are straight amazing. IT's excellent to hear that Nas is back to the smooth, a bit melancholic production that characterized his every album sans Illmatic and Hip Hop is Dead (bravo, Nas, see you can do a relevant and juicy album without blatantly pushing sound of the day?)

Where would I put this album in Nas catalogue? I was thinking a lot about it wanting to be as critical as possible, but, in the end, I really had to give up. Yes, it's solid third place, after "Illmatic" and "It Was Written", and it has a lot of potential to be best album of 2008 overall. I recommend it to everyone who loves sharp, on point lyricism, smooth production and a reasonable measure of swagger - swag that complements deeper thoughts and is not the only point of the song.