Product description International products have separate terms, are sold from abroad and may differ from local products, including fit, age ratings, and language of product, labeling or instructions. .co.uk Some artists take years in between CDs and some just keep spitting them out. Put Nasir Jones in the later category, as his fourth album is his second of 1999. Judging by the title and the semi-apocalyptic tone of many of the tracks, Nas has pre-millennium tension and then some but his fears and prophecies are all stuck in the same old, and by now played-out, ghetto melodramas that have become the leitmotif of hip-hop. Nearly every track concerns the life on the streets, the Game, the hood, the mayhem and murder and Nas's muse and old stomping grounds, the Queensbridge Projects (a seminal place in hip-hop, it's the subject of Marley Marl & the Juice Crew's classic "The Bridge"). Not that Nas doesn't have something to offer on any of the above topics. You can, through the often clumsy production, hear fiery glimpses of the young child-poet who burst onto the scene in 1994 and was instantly heralded as the successor to Rakim. But as one might expect from a disc that arrives seven months after its predecessor, Nastradamus seems only half thought out, with Nas conflicted between glorifying the thug life and trying desperately to issue a cautionary tale. As always, the best cut is when Nas joins forces with Gang Starr uber-producer DJ Premier, who may be incapable of a bad beat. "Come Get Me" is the nearly perfect marriage of voice, words, and rhythms and, like the equally solid "Some of Us Have Angels" (produced by Dame Grease), shows why Nas--even with his shortcomings and missteps--can never be slept on. Now if he would just take a break and find new inspiration... --Amy Linden
J**3
Nastramazing
What an amazing album. And to think he wrote it within 5 months too is amazing
A**R
trjghf
great CD if you get the right one in the post.
A**Y
Great album.
Not as good as some of the stuff he has done but a good album none the less. Some good tracks some bad. But worth every penny.
K**Y
love this one
good album not every track is good but some really great tracks on this album
A**R
Five Stars
good value
R**R
not the best
Now don't get me wrong, nas is a quality artist, but this is his worst piece of music he has released. Ever. Every track is poor at best, apart from "come get me" and "shoot 'em up". If you like pre fabricated, poorly produced,generally terrible music then buy this and waste your money, but for anyone who likes decent hip hop, then buy any other nas album. The only reason to buy this is to finish a collection, but generally, its awful. Shame theres not a "no star" rating.
G**L
Bad album but.
I knew this album was not good when I bought it. As a Nas fan I did it to understand his evolution as an artist.On this album he's fallen into some really bad habits and terrible production. Nas isn't a populist rapper but he's trying to be and fails. There are however a couple of good tracks on it. Also, the Nastradamus idea, as a character, was an interesting one and if you look for the original double album line up of 'I Am .. The Autobiography' (As I Am and Nastradamus should have been before Internet piracy..) then you'll see more sense to the good tracks off of this. Look for an unreleased track called 'Amongst Kings', that explains Nas's Nastradamus character a little more.On the tracks themselves - Life We Choose, Come Get Me (possibly aimed at Jay-Z?), Family are pretty good.Project Windows is the standout track by a mile. Sounds like belongs on another album, it's a proper Nas track.. he's not boasting about anything, just observing life. Probably worth buying the album just for this.The worst tracks are Nastradamus .. just awful. You Owe Me.. Nas isn't a club banger type rapper, that's not his thing and he shouldn't be trying it. (See also Oochie Wally and Summer on Smash). Big Girl is hands down the worst thing he ever made - the limply sung hook, the dreary sample and the dull subject matter.Overasll not a great album but a piece of history as it was part of the beginnings of the Jay-Z Nas feud.
K**M
Don't sleep.
When I first got this album on the day it was released, I was disappointed and felt robbed of the money I had paid for it, as the other people who have reviewed it here seem to feel. However, after about 6 months I gave it another listen and have now changed my opinion - the tracks 'Life We Chose' and 'Some Of Us Have Angels', are 2 of the most complete lyrical masterpieces ever crafted, and although not all the tracks are as strong as these, once you allow yourself to be taken into the mood set by these 2 tracks, the rest of the album doesn't seem quite so bad after all. It seems highly unlikely that anyone will ever be able to match Nas' classic debut 'illmatic', which is still the greatest hip hop album of all time, but in some ways Nas has grown lyrically, and this is reflected in 'Nastradamus'.
Trustpilot
1 month ago
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