hat is an acceptable time to wait between album releases? Most of us bitch and moan when our favorite artist takes three years to create their next masterpiece, but would we complain the same amount when they release albums very close together? Does it mean they are motivated, or needing to capitalize off of their current success? Stillmatic, Nas’ last album, came out one year and one day before God’s Son, his current release. The question, of course, being: is this enough time to craft a masterpiece or even something on the order of Stillmatic.


The nice thing about God’s Son, although it isn’t fantastic or at the level of Stillmatic, is that it honestly doesn’t feel rushed. Nas is responsible for the lyrical content of the album, and it, like his previous releases, is nearly flawless. The man simply doesn’t slip up and say anything that makes casual listeners cringe, unlike many MCs in this day and age. Nas stays poignant, clever and intelligent, and, in doing so, adds an extra incentive to purchase his album: simply put, he’s the best lyricist in rap today, maybe all time. Specifically, his consistency is such that he has the ability to save poorly produced songs with his rhymes alone.


One of the things that made Stillmatic so great were the concepts of the songs. Nas has always done a great job of setting his songs apart, starting with “I Gave You Power” off of It Was Written. God’s Son, thankfully, is blessed with the same attention to detail. “Book of Rhymes” is probably the best example. This song begins with Nas actually finding a book of his old rhymes, written 10 or more years ago. Nas begins to rhyme from that book, stopping at times when the lyrics become substandard. For added effect, the chorus is Nas speaking to himself, flipping through the book, attempting to find lyrics that aren’t too embarrassing and amateur. In addition, if listened to close enough, one can hear Nas flip through the pages as he rhymes. Also excellent is the “Fur Elise”-sampled “I Can”, a cautionary tale to children about growing up too fast and the dangers of drugs. The inspirational track features children singing on the hook, but unlike “Get Out” or “Hard Knock Life”, the youngsters seem to fit, repeating Nas’ mantra and lesson to them.


Unfortunately, as is the complaint with many of Nas’ albums, the production holds him back. In some places, like “I Can” and the Eminem track “The Cross”, the production is chilling and haunting, but in others, like the generic “radio” track “Hey Nas”, it is flat and uninspiring. However, to his credit, Nas tries do something different with many of the remaining tracks. “Get Down”, the introduction, is unique because it seems to contain many influences, from funk, soul and pop to jazz and reggae. “Thugz Mansion (NY)”, featuring a posthumous verse from 2Pac, is much stronger than its West Coast version on 2Pac’s new album, strengthened by an acoustic guitar. “Dance”, a track asking for one more day with his recently passed mother, features production that sounds straight out of 1995 and a Hootie and the Blowfish album- don’t worry, it actually works. Finally, “Heaven” appears to have a drum ‘n bass influence that accentuates Nas’ odd vision of what heaven is to him. Even though the production is new, interesting and even groundbreaking in a few places, there are very few songs that stand out and can represent the album well. Mostly it’s a bit disjointed and cluttered, and without the old-school influenced, trunk-rattling first single “Made You Look”, there wouldn’t be any tracks that really bring the vibe that Nas’ lyrics do: respect for hip-hop and what has come before him.


God’s Son is thankfully, unlike the last time that Nas released an album only a year between the last one, not a debacle. In fact, in many places it is trend-setting, but in others, flat and uninspired. One of the best things that can be said about the album is there are no skits. Honestly, if Nas had chosen to drop about four tracks and cut it down to Illmatic’s ten, it would be in the class of Stillmatic, and we’d be talking about it as Nas’ fourth classic. Instead, we shouldn’t be dissatisfied with a very good effort, one that could stay in pretty constant rotation for a few years in any hip-hop fan’s cd player.