Nas - Hip Hop Is Dead Review

Aight.. first. Props to Hemmers for starting this stuff in the first place. I'll do it the way he did it and go track for track.

I first must say. I didn't get this album right away, nor did I give it extreme listens til I was supposed to review it. After further listens to it...It's really NOT that good of an album.. here's why
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1. Money over Bullshit
A typical opening track in all honesty. Has that hard sounding blaring type sound to it. I don't mind this LES beat either, the piano adds a nice little compliment to it. Nas is kinda boring on this track however. Not the fierce opener I was looking for and is kinda drowned out by the beat. Everything about this track is rather quite typical, not classic Nas ( and you'll see not much on this album is). Too much talk about that violence gun clapping and money that is kinda wack

2.You can't Kill Me
One of my least favourite tracks on the album. A weird, Nastradamus like beat. An entire album of this would be terrible, sounds exactly like something that woulda been on I Am or Nastradamus. Another LES beat with a 'blah' chorus and 2 mediocure verses with a few clever lines. But as i mentioned, the beat and the corniness of the song are huge turn offs

3. Carry On Tradition
You don't need credits to tell you this is a Scott Storch beat. It doesn't get much more commercial than this beat. Its a catchy beat at that, and it backs yet another mediocure Nas rapping about all the things he and his people need to continue. He talks about his disgust for the hip hop game and how its become terribly wack. Here is where we get a GOOD first glimpse of him hating the rap game at the moment. He even challenges rappers to see which of the new guys could ' rap a big daddy kane line the fastest'. Not a bad track not a great one either.

4. Where are They Now
aahhhh FINALLY. A GOOD GOOD track off of this album. A Nice Salaam Remi beat that uses a very classical James Brown sample ( get up get out). Nas remenisces about people that have suddenly just disappeared. Everyone from Spindarella, Finesse, Young MC, Tone Loc, Mic Geronimo..the list goes on. Makes it sound so nice.. and makes a bold mention that its NOT a diss record, he just wants all these people to come out from whereever they are! I like this track... its an ode to legends

5. Hip Hop is Dead
The first GREAT track off of the album, the first single. First off, the balls an artist and the management team have to have to reproduce an already used sample, one album later. The beat is Will I Am, using In Da Gadda Da Vida much better than Salaam used it in Streets Disciple. Its harder hitting and the drum loops are a nice touch. Nas also raps much better on this track...ask questions to the people, talks about naturally.. hip hop dying, and his reaction to it...what he would do. Who to blame, who not to blame, and his dedication to the game. He fits a LOT into this song so poetically. Which is why I feel its so nice. Teh chorus is nice too.

6. Who Killed It?
Nas' first trademark story book track on the album. And its done well. A combo beat by Will and Salaam. Its kinda a weird,corny beat, but suits the song quite well. To put it simply, its about a Detective(Nas) attempting to find out the mystery of a murder of Hip Hop. There are many nice hip hop references in this track as well as a pretty funny story about how hip hop died, and what happend with the murderer. I think more songs like this shoulda been on the album because I love the creativity and the truth of the metaphors used.

7. Black Republicans f/ Kelis
I gotta admit, everytime I listen to this album, this song gets multiple plays and extra special listen. A BANGING BANGING BANGING beat from LES... I am still trying to figure out who could ghostproduced this, because this came outta no where. Using BEAUTIFULLY a Godfather 2 snippet that includes blaring trumpets that are perfect for these 2 'godfathers of rap' so may seem. Jay-z enters in strong with his first verse, and literally fits the beat beautifully. The lyrics are from a guy who's truely made it, looking at the people below him...and the state of the hip hop city. Nas' verse enters strong as well. Beautiful flow like Jigga's... and speaks once again about the corruption of the street politics. Its really hard to say who was better on this track, they were both great, and are both trying to clean up this sad city.

8. Not Going back f/ Kelis
I've tried tried tried tried tried to give this track a chance. The stargate beat provides for a track that should be taken seriously. The problem is, I really CANT take this song seriously. Nas' flow on this song is brutal, the Kelis hook is wack, and I'm not sure what point he's trying to get at. I'd like to think this song is a metaphor for him not going back to something like that commercial sound he displayed on his worser albums. The end of the song has him listing off Labels and just saying ' not going back'. I'm sure this song probably is good, i've given it many listens, but really can't find myself enjoying it or taking it seriously.

9. Still Dreaming f/ Kanye and Chrisette Michelle
Wow... SMOOOOOOOTH track. I gotta admit, didn't like this track at first, but it greatly grew on me. A wonderful Kanye beat who's beats work EXTREMELY well on a Nas vocal. The thing is, Kanye's verse kinda ruins the song. Making guest appearances are never and have never been his strong point. The sample voice of Chrisette is used wonderfully. Nas raps about all that he wish he coulda had, but compares it to the reality. He points out that most of the people who are ruining the game are the Dreamers. Great track, one of the best.

10. Hold Down the Block
Not a bad track for following up so smoothly put together . A nice change of pace on a Mark Batson beat. I mean, he's done similar tracks, one that sticks out right away is Represent. So this joint pretty much holds no weight compared to something like that. Its a typical chill on the stoupe, watch my city see what happens, this is what happens in my hood song. Nothing special, but no one does this better than Nas when he's on the top of his game

11. Blunt Ashes
Produced by Chris Webber... YES.. Chris Webber. Trades in time outs for beat making. Kinda a wack beat, very lazy, he was probably high outta his mind when he made this. Not a bad concept by Nas though, starts off by another story telling. If the fucking chorus trumpets didn't run right in the middle of a verse and seemingly cut short, this could actually be a decent track. I mean, with this track, I feel Nas is about to tell a really good story, then these stupid trumpets kick in and.. Nas just ends it. Its not a BAD track, but like most of this album so far, its Mediocure. COULDA BEEN better if he extended these stories.

12. Let There be Light f/ The Williams
One of my favourite songs on the album. The beat by Kanye contains these QUICK 2-3 hit drums. The concept is beautiful. That when everything is down and out, theres that bright spot. Its a typical song yeah.. but this song really has this uplifting feel and is quite symbolic on an album called ' hip hop is dead'. Similar to Blunt Ashes, Nas is cut short by a chorus ( a much better one at that). I really do appreciate the spirit of this song, and love the lyrics Nas speaks of. The singer provides wonderful vocals too. Overall, this song is nice

13. Play on Playa f/ Snoop Dogg
Worst song on the album? Storch provides yet another bore of a beat. Surprisingly ( cause I don't like Snoop) I feel Snoop steals this song from Nas and provides the better of the verses. This beat does NOT suit Nasty at all is much too laid back, fast and not his style. Its hard to feel that this song is anything but a song about pimping out. I can'teven pinpoint any 2nd or 3rd meanings on this track. Its about 'ballin'... Not my cup of tea.. or Ovaltine Shake as Nas says. Skip this track unless your a Snoop fan. By the way...storch butchers a beautiful marvin gaye track

14. Can't Forget About Us f/ Chrisette Michele
Another beautiful track thats SOOOO smooth. Using a VERY popular track by Nat King Cole Will I Am shines on this track. The singer(Michele) provides a beautiful Chorus too. Nas once again looks back at all that he can't forget. This includes the more positive hip hop movements, urban cultured features. Its a nice track that you can listen with peeps and be like ' SHIT... remember that?!' Who wouldn't wanna remember Mr T as a wrestler, Jordan's shot against the Jazz. This is a nice song for the heads

15. Hustlers f/ Game
I gotta admit this too. After Black Republicans, this usually gets another bunch of listens. The beat although not stellar is addictive. Its hard not to bop your head to this 'Dre beat' and Marsha Ambrosius ( who's been on FIRE as the voice of many heaters recently) chorus. Nas and Game trade verses and its actually not that bad. It has game sucking more of the industries dick and proping up Nas and Dre and lowriders and such ( what happend to this guy, he was such a versatile, quality mc!) and Nas talks about what he likes and how he may do it in style. As good as this track as the potential to be, I think my expecatations were too high. Nas' last verse is much better than his second and sheds a new light on the track.

16. Hope
An accapella that is REALLY hard to review. Its just Nas rapping. Its a great close to the album. Its a track you just have to listen to, and is hard to review because he talks about so much. But as I mentioned, its a great ending to this album

All in all this album is no where near my expectations.The thing is when the tracks are good, they have potential to be VERY good. The beats provided by Will I am, Salaam and Kanye were all bangers. I woulda left Storch off and limited LES' work on this album. The lyrics were on for Nas. The thing is, I reviewed this album ( overall) in relation to the concept. For an album that started off with a song called ' money over bullshit' and ended with a song called ' hope' its a great comparison. The thing about Nas is that he ALWAYS have double, and sometimes triple meanings for his tracks. This review could be totally inaccurate. Nas is always a hard emcee to review. I can't say this is better than God's Son, or even the same level as Stillmatic. Its not bad, not great...specially considering what Nas has done inthe past, a Nas at 50% is still better than most emcees at 100 %. I just feel that this album coulda easily been a 10 song album. Illmatic was 10, and it was a classic. Its more of whats BAD on this album that brings it down as opposed to what coulda been really good.

7.9/10