3/14/2023 0 Comments Nas composure![]() When Nas heads back into the purely magisterial, kingly vibe on “Store Run”, a perfectly placed soul sample underneath, the Tony Montana comparisons feel more apt. This cigar-toting, street-war-mongering persona might be less believable were he not served a timely assist by YG and A Boogie wit Da Hoodie on the following “YKTV”, the pair bringing enough fresh scars and war stories to sew up the cracks in Nas’ facade. Then, just as we’re settling into “Rare”’s swagger, the beat switches to a more dour, determined one, and Nas flips to a gangster flow with “levels of Tarantino”. Here, Corbett and Hit-Boy provide a beat with bright video game synths and a light boom-bap, and it feels like Nas is in his element – maybe not quite in the “rare form” he’s bragging about, but casually looping lines about his lifestyle (reading Nietzsche, rooting for the Mets, wearing Air Maxes) with an audible and infectious smile. He then takes a trip back to the hood – in his mind at least – on “40 Side”, where his raps about making millions and winning Grammys while admiring those who are “still thuggin” gets a little muddled.īoosting off the back of a typically effusive guest verse from Eminem on “EPMD 2”, King’s Disease II gets going in earnest on its fifth track, “Rare”. This breeziness is similarly employed on the following “Death Row East”, where attempts to weave himself into the Death Row lore of the 90s, and while it’s a fairly surface-level story, there is a certain amount of skill to the way he tells us his “history lesson”. Opening track “The Pressure” is his acknowledgement that he’s always living under a weight of expectation, admitting he’s expected to fend off pretenders and comment on the recent spates of police brutality – though he doesn’t delve much further into either topic. All this means that Nas has never had a moment to sit back and really celebrate what he’s achieved and amassed, so it was a pleasure to hear him doing exactly that on last year’s King’s Disease – and to continue the party on this quick follow up, King’s Disease II.Īlthough, this time around, he doesn’t get to the fun without first paying some dues. The longest he’s ever taken between releasing albums was six years, from 2012 to 2018, and since then he’s come back rejuvenated, with three in four years. Since landing in 1994 with Illmatic and immediately leaving an undeniable imprint on hip hop – one that he’s unavoidably had a foot stuck in since – he’s not ‘retired’, he’s not gone on hiatus, he’s barely even taken departures into side projects.
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