Nas Is Like...Good Again?

I wonder what Nas thinks about his legacy. Does he sit in his favorite chair, press play on Nastradamus and turn the volume up, nod and think to himself, "This shit is underrated"? Does he ever wish that the crowds at his shows chanted for "You Owe Me" alongside "New York State of Mind"?

Judging from his recent output, my guess is no. Nas has more momentum (or at least goodwill from his core fans) than he's had in ages based on last year's "Nasty," this year's "The Don" and a few memorable guest appearances like "Triple Beam Dreams" with Rick Ross. None of these songs could possibly be made with hopes of siphoning from Drake's fanbase.  Nas just doesn't care anymore. He's making music for himself. Or maybe he's making music that he hopes gets his critics off his nuts. Either way, we win.

And now we get "Daughters." With a title like that, Nas fans naturally expect the worst – some pandering nonsense rap that reeks of hypocrisy considering the tone of the overall body of his work. But God's Son actually delivers one of the best conceptual songs of his career. He raps with real emotion about the trials of raising a daughter in our modern Internets age, and he actually makes sense.

Bravo, Nas! Now just make sure the rest of Life Is Good matches the quality of your singles. Then the discussion will turn to whether you can put together two classic albums in a row.






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Trey