Nas-Untitled

In the world of hip-hop, few MCs are automatically associated with excellence the way Nas is. This association, combined with abundant delays and controversy, has created enough expectation for Nas’ ninth studio album, Untitled, that fans and detractors are likely chomping at the bit as they wait for it’s release. Originally titled N***er, the album has faced much opposition and axing the original title probably wasn’t the only concession Nas had to make. “So untitled it is/I never changed nothing” is what Nas asserts on the album’s energized, radio friendly single produced by Polow da Don, “Hero”. On that very track though, Nas is censored (dirty or clean), when he mentions universal CEO Doug Morris’ name. It appears that in his attempt to craft a thought provoking concept album, Nas has also tested the boundaries of free speech and censorship.

Much of the censorship Nas faced originated from media pressure on Universal label heads and Nas addresses one of everyone’s favorite media outlets on the track, “Sly Fox”. Laced with a fiery guitar and even a solo near the end, the production fits perfectly with Nas’ venomous lyrical barbs: “What’s a Fox characteristic? / Slick s**t/ sensing misinformation, pimp the station/ over stimulation/ reception deception, Comcast digital Satan/ The Fox has a bushy tail/ and Bush tells lies and Fox trots so I don’t know what’s real”. The track is definitely a standout from producer Stic.man of Dead Prez fame (he produces three tracks on the album overall, in addition to his contributions on the pre-album mix tape entitled, The Ni**er Tape). Keeping with the theme of new collaborators, Nas has enlisted the new comer Jay Electronica, who contributes the track, “Queens Get The Money”, a spare piano tune which serves as a perfect intro to the album, setting the mood and giving Nas’ lyrics the room they need to breathe. Appropriately titled, “Breathe” is an airy track, in which Nas says: “In America you’ll never be free…can’t a ni**a just breathe?” “America” frames Nas’ words with a very “new age” sound where he continues to question the status quo: “The hypocrisy is all I can see/ white cop acquitted for murder, black cop cop a plea/ that type of s**t make me stop and think, we in chronic need of a second look at the law books and the whole race dichotomy.”

Nas doesn’t take himself too seriously though. With tracks like “We Make The World Go Round” featuring Chris Brown and The Game and “Project Roach”, the album is able to question and challenge without overburdening the listener. The latter track begins with The Last Poets stating how “silly” it is to have a funeral for the N-word and features Nas rapping from the point of view of a roach, similar to past creative efforts “I Gave You Power” and “Rewind”, where he rhymed as a gun and told a story backwards, respectively. Busta Rhymes makes an appearance on “Fried Chicken”, as the duo playfully discuss fried chicken’s place in African American culture. “You Can’t Stop Us Now” features production from longtime Nas collaborator Salaam Remi, with a sample that can also be found on The RZA’s latest single. In one of the album’s awkward moments, Nas strains to address the possibility of extraterrestrials on “We’re Not Alone.”

Stretches of the imagination and verbal acrobatics aside, Nas did assert time and time again that Untitled would explore the N-word’s old and new meanings and it’s effect on not only African Americans but people in general. Other than the expected boasting and hood reminiscing, Nas stays on topic. On the track “Y’all My Ni**as” Nas says, “It’s some heavy concepts we gotta explore/ We gotta strip the word down rugged and raw”, “They got Nigeria and Niger/ two different countries/ somehow Niger turned to Ni**er.” The track begins with a discussion about using words without understanding their “capacity.” The energy found in the clashing chorus as Nas defiantly proclaims his engraved place in history, is infectious. Another goal that Nas had in making this album was to transform the negativity of the N-word, turning it into something positive. On this front, one would have to question his success. Without a doubt, he bombards the listener with the word and even creates a positive acronym for himself on the track “N.I.G.G.E.R.(The Slave and The Master)”. Admittedly, one can’t help but feel sympathetic to Nas’ cause when he offers himself as a father to fatherless children in the womb on the album’s opening track, “Queens Get The Money.” On “Hero” he talks about people needing someone to believe in and at the same time elects himself to bear that burden. Shooting so high is certainly admirable but in the end, the promised verbal transformation can’t come from Nas’ words alone, no matter how much he wants to be the hero.

“Louis Farrakhan” speaks of revolution, while Nas ponders the possibility of being assassinated for his words. “Testify” feels like an interlude in which Nas questions the fortitude of his “supporters” and whether or not their favor only extends to his music and not his calls for action. The final track, “Black President”, produced by Green Lantern, finds Nas addressing the “pros” and “cons” of Barack Obama being elected president and his own personal feelings towards the candidate. In terms of production, this track, along with “America” and a few others, drain some of the overall power that’s generated early on. The finest moments however, are “Queens Get The Money”, “Hero”, “Sly Fox”, “N.I.G.G.E.R.(The Slave and The Master)” and “Y’all My “Ni**as.” Nas has always been known for his swagger but with the ambition and strength found on this album, he justifies it. On “Hero”, he shouts: No matter what the CD called/ I’m unbeatable y’all!” Fortunately for Nas, one might have to agree.