Nas - Life is Good (2012)

Nas is the best example I can think of of how having a great debut album can both make and ruin a career.  Nas’ debut, Illmatic, is not only his crowning achievement, but arguably the greatest hip-hop album ever recorded.  That’s something to put on a résumé; there aren’t many who can claim such an achievement.  However, having such a highly regarded album in his discography has, unfortunately, meant that many of his subsequent albums have been widely considered disappointments at the time of release, regardless of quality.  His second album, It Was Written, for example, received very mixed reviews, but is commonly regarded as a classic now. His 2001 album, Stillmatic, was similarly maligned by critics during its time, but has since been embraced as a classic.  More recently, Nas seems to have escaped from Illmatic’s shadow, somewhat.  Whether it be due to Nas’ greater consistency on the mic, or a growing population of listeners looking to hear and rain praises upon any and all things “non-commercial,” Nas’ more recent efforts have been largely well received.  That includes Grammy nominations for both Hip-Hop is Dead and Untitled.  I wasn’t surprised to see Life is Good be released to similar accolades.  That being said, Life is Good is better than anything Nas has released since God’s Son in 2002.

Any Nas album is going to begin and end with the vocals.  Nas is almost universally considered to be a top 5 MC of all time.  One Nas’ biggest struggles, however has been finding topics that he really seems to care enough about to write passionate verses.  He has historically been his best when facing some sort of adversity in his life or career.  Illmatic was his debut, It Was Written had him facing the prospect of following up such a widely acclaimed album as Illmatic, Stillmatic was motivated by his feud with Jay-Z and God’s Son was motivated by the death of his mother.  Since God’s Son, Nas has been dabbling in politically motivated tracks, mafioso type stuff and, of course, a fair amount (like an entire album’s worth) of tracks about the good ole days of hip-hop.  Frankly, most of it sounded kind of half-hearted.  As I said above, Life is Good is Nas’ best release since God’s Son, so what is motivating Nas this time, around?  A few things, it turns out.  The most prominent one is his extremely messy, not to mention extremely public divorce from singer, Kelis (of “Milkshake” fame).  He pays homage to this on the album cover, which features Nas sitting with a dress that is unmistakably similar to Kelis’ wedding dress.  One of the standout tracks of the album, “Daughters” has Nas musing about the responsibilities of fatherhood and how his celebrity status has effected his ability to be a father.  It comes in the wake of another public incident in Nas’ life, in which his 17 year old daughter posted a picture on Twitter of  her condom-filled jewelry box that she keeps on her nightstand.  For those of you who aren’t interested in hearing about Nas’ lady troubles, rest assured, there is plenty more here to keep you interested.  This is still Nas, so of course he can’t resist staying completely away from talking about the past.  He appropriately dedicates “Loco-Motive,” a track that sounds like it was ripped straight out of 1996, to his “trapped in the 90′s niggas.”

In a refreshing change of pace for Nas, Life is Good  happens to feature actually interesting production, compliments of No I.D. and Salaam Remi.  I might go so far as to say these are the best beats we’ve heard Nas over since Illmatic if it weren’t for the few inexplicable missteps.  ”Reach Out,” while featuring Nas at his best, treads dangerously close to 80′s boy band territory.  ”Summer On Smash” is kind of catchy, but dedicates far too much time to hooks, leaving us with probably a minute worth of verses in an over 4 minute song.  ”You Wouldn’t Understand” sounds like a pop track that got released 20 years too late.  Those missteps are easily overshadowed by a cornucopia of interesting, if not necessarily innovative beats.  ”Accident Murderers” makes better use of the organ than any track I’ve heard since “Pigeon” off of Cannibal Ox’s The Cold Vein.  ”Loco-Motive,” “Cherry Wine,” and “Nasty” all stand out as having better beats than almost anything we’ve heard Nas over lately, as well.

I can’t see Life is Good ever being considered to be in the same echelon as Illmatic, or even Stillmatic and It Was Written, but that’s not to say it isn’t still a very good album, deserving of all the acclaim it has gotten.  It’s definitely an album of the year candidate.  The only real flaw is that it tries too hard at times to pander to mainstream listeners.  Tracks like “Summer On Smash” not only don’t live up to the high standards that I’ve come to hold Nas to, but seem out of place in the album as a whole, somewhat derailing the ambiance that tracks leading up to it establish.  Not to harp on “Summer On Smash” in particular, but it’s presence is all the more baffling due to it not being released as a single.  I could understand if it was just a track made to get radio play, but that’s not the case.  In the long run, people tend to forget about such tracks though, this is going to be remembered as an album borne of heartache and adversity.  It’s unfortunate for Nas that he seems to need that in order to produce good music.  Whether coming out with a good album is worth everything that has happened to him over the last couple years is something only he can decide.  At least he’ll probably get another Grammy nomination.

Best Tracks: No Introduction, Loco-Motive, Accident Murderers, Cherry Wine, Nasty (iTunes bonus track)

Overall: 87/100