Yes, Nas’ “Life is Good” is Hip-Hop’s Newest Classic Album (Album Review) Posted by Nathan S. on 07/18/12 | Filed under Features, Opinion, Nas, Album Reviews

In all my time reviewing albums for the mothership I've only awarded one album classic status, Kanye's "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy". Until today. As a necessary disclaimer, it's of course crazy to call any album a "classic" only 24 hours after its official release. By definition a classic album is one that stands the test of time. But considering Nas' new album "Life Is Good" is so undeniably dope, I'll be shocked if I'm still not playing it five years from now.

I've included some select paragraphs from my DJBooth review below, hit the link at the bottom of the page for the full thing. Feel free to tell me what a fucking moron genius I am in the comments below and we can really break down "Life Is Good". Let the classic debate begin.

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In a way, it’s a compliment to say that a rapper’s fallen off. To have fallen, you must have once been at the top, and very few people can legitimately claim to have been the best in their profession, even if only for a moment. It also means that the world has high expectations for you, expectations you must have set via some previous work (or works) of genius. For example, it wouldn’t really be accurate to say that….let’s go with Jibbs…fell off. Like so many, he simply appeared, and then disappeared.

But Nas? Nasir Jones? Nasty Nas? God’s Son? Escobar? Yes, you could say that Nas had fallen off, or at least tripped. While his talent has remained a constant over the nearly two decades since he dropped his classic debut album Illmatic, his focus has sometimes strayed. I don’t think there’s any question that while his last two albums, Hip-Hop is Dead and Untitled, have been nothing to take lightly, both featured moments where he appeared to be coasting on talent alone, when we knew we weren’t getting Nas at his best. As Nas said in a Complex interview, “I toned it [his lyricism] down at times…I wanted to be relatable. And that was part of my mistake, because I toned it down a lot.”

There were nights when Michael Jordan knew that even at 90% he was better than everyone else on the court, and he was content to coast on that 90% and walk away with the win. But then there were nights when he was fully locked in, nights when he truly gave the game everything he had – and to see what Jordan’s 100% really looked like was awe-inspiring.

On his new album, Life Is Good, we’re hearing the most locked-in Nas has been in years, and the results are awe-inspiring. To return to that Complex interview, “With this album I’m saying what I’ve got to say, and that’s what it is.” I don’t know if it took a painful divorce or he has simply hit the point in his life when he’s thinking about his legacy, but goddamn then Nas, keep saying what you’ve got to say.

I rarely move through an album chronologically, but the first five tracks of Life is Good are so dope, so perfectly sequenced that I really feel like I have no choice. Perhaps Nas titled the album opener No Introduction because it’s far more than an introduction. Instead, it’s more of a manifesto, a warning shot, an announcement that God’s Son is back and he’s bringing his cinematic storytelling skills with him. Loco-Motive follows a similar powerful narrative arc, giving way to the gripping A Queen’s Story (sweet baby jesus the last minute of that song is incredible), shifting seamlessly into Accident Murderers (shame about that off-concept Ross verse though) and closing with the eminently personal Daughters. Straight up, I’ll put that five song stretch against any 30 straight minutes from any album since…well…ever.

For a moment forget about buzz, album sales, cultural impact and every other factor we consider during “who’s the best rapper alive?” debates. Instead, let’s say every emcee alive took part in a March Madness rap tournament, illest verse advances to the next round. Before Life Is Good, I don’t know if I would have put my money on Nas to win it all, now he’d be by number one pick. Everyone eventually falls, but only the truly great ones get back up.

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Read the Full "Life Is Good" Review via The DJBooth

See Also: Sweet Baby Jesus Nas’ “Loco-Motive” is Dope (Listen & Download)