Prince and Nas had slightly different battles with their labels. I’m Prince on the stage, SLAVE on his face I’m movin’ all through the snares, sound on billionaireĪin’t nothin’ changed, I’m flippin’ the page The slight references towards social issues surrounded with braggadocio of his current lifestyle feels slightly awkward. Nas’ strength is making moments of the past feel modern, as well as reflecting on social events unfolding today. Rare keeps things contemporary, which shows us a bit more of Nas but also removes some of his relatability. There are of course artists that thrive off of constant musical disruption, but Nas aligns more than he deflects. This might not seem that important, but when the rhymes don’t intertwine with the beat on a relatively fluid level, it can create dissonance and distraction. The fluidity here is due to the production guiding the emcees to creating cadences of movement. In between those songs, Death Row East is a nostalgia trip, while EPMD 2 merges both nostalgic and contemporary verses. The Pressure and 40 Side feel like snapshots of life today, reflecting on daily life now. After revisiting the first four tracks of this album and reviewing the lyrics, it feels like there’s a back and forth going on.

King’s Disease 2 feels like a novelĭon’t worry, this doesn’t mean things are about to get academic. The verses feel like they fully utilize the production and are blended together naturally. The beats highlight this veteran emcee’s penmanship. This project feels like Hit-Boy and Nas actually sat down and paved out a trajectory for this tape. Perhaps I didn’t give the first installation enough of a shot, or I just got distracted by the fact that it felt like an adjustment album for Nas after the Kanye-produced prior project.Įither way, the sequel is so much better than its predecessor. Jones had been hinting at the follow-up to his Grammy-winning original King’s Disease for a little while now the sequel was undersold, hard.

Back after an unscheduled hiatus, A Week’s Worth Album Review returns tackling the highly anticipated King’s Disease 2 from Nas.

Composure nas lyrics