A bit over a decade ago the two self-proclaimed kings of the New York hip-hop scene, Jay-Z and Nas released some of their finest LP’s, each with at least one track spitting vitriol in the others direction. Nas had the classic ‘Ether’ and Jay-Z had the vicious ‘Takeover,’ a track on which Jay attacks Nasty’s consistency:
Four albums in ten years n**ga? I could divide
That’s one every let’s say two, two of them shits was due
One was nah, the other was Illmatic
That’s a one hot album every ten year average.
And that’s so laaaame.
Well it’s been 10 (well, 11) years since the brilliant Stillmatic was released so if Jay-Z was right in his scathing diss then the ironically named Life Is Good will be up there with Nas’ three unarguable classics. Since Stillmatic there was a bunch of Nas LP’s that were only “good,” and good is not up to the standard of such an exceptional emcee.
Nas has gone through a lot in the past few years, namely a messy divorce and public financial woes, but the critically acclaimed rapper still persists that Life Is Good as he is seen cradling the green dress that ex-wife Kelis left behind on the LP’s cover art.
The well-titled ‘No Introduction’ is our doorway to Life Is Good and has Esco instantly killing any doubts we may have had of his ability to produce another masterpiece. This is perhaps the finest introduction to an album I have heard in over a decade and the Queens native pulls no punches. Nas is no one-trick pony either, two of the LP’s stand-out tracks follow the intro with the smooth ‘Loco-Motive’ and the cinematic ‘A Queens Story,’ both which recall the mid-90’s when his reign was unquestionable.
Nas isn’t the only one to credit with this LP’s success though; the majority of collaborators he has chosen to work with bring their A-game.
Rick Ross delivers a vicious verse on ‘Accident Murderers;’ Mary J Blige is in fine form on ‘Reach Out;’ the unbelievably-talented Anthony Hamilton brings a solid hook on the passionate ‘World’s An Addiction;’ and the late, great Amy Winehouse gives Nas his next hit in the soulful ‘Cherry Wine.
However, not all guests help Nasty lift Life Is Good above his past few efforts; Swizz Beatz, Miguel and Victoria Monet let the Nas down on their respective duties with ‘Summer on Smash’ and ‘You Wouldn’t Understand.’ Thankfully both tracks are squashed together and can easily be skipped over.
Nas has also been known for choosing the worst beats from the best producers, a trend which is thankfully not followed on Life Is Good (save ‘Summer on Smash’). The deeply-personal ‘Daughters’ is an excellent example of this, with producer No I.D layering some simple drums over a sweet 70’s soul sample from Wayne McGhie & The Sounds of Joy.
The jazz-infused ‘Stay’ is sandwiched between hard-hitting tracks like ‘The Don’ and official album closer ‘Bye Baby.’ The deluxe version continues with four more quality tracks, including last year’s ‘Nasty.’ It’s hard to pick your favourite tracks as the consistency on Life Is Good is something many of us thought Nas was no longer capable of.
As such, this overdue, but very welcome comeback is one of the more important things to happen in hip-hop this year. Hopefully Jay-Z wasn’t right back on ‘Takeover’ and Nas keeps up to this standard; with time (and a good follow-up) I don’t think anyone would have a problem re-crowning him the king of hip-hop.
Review Score: 9.1 out of 10
