Nas Album: “Street's Disciple [Edited]”

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Personnel include: Nas (rap vocals); Olu Dara (vocals, guitar, harmonica, trumpet); Emily, Kelis, Keon Bryce, Maxwell , Scarlett, Quan (vocals); Ludacris, Busta Rhymes (rap vocals); Vincent Henry (guitar, strings, harmonica, saxophone); Chucky Thompson (guitar, piano, bass guitar, drums); Salaam Remi (guitar, Fender Rhodes piano, organ, bass guitar, drums); L.E.S. (drums); Doug E. Fresh (sound effects). <p>Recording information: 2004. <p>While Nas has never been one for false modesty, it must be quite the rush to include his father, jazz trumpeter Olu Dara, on his single "Bridging the Gap" to speak of his son becoming "the greatest man alive." While that's a tall order, Nas is indisputably among the premier lyricists and provocative thinkers in hip-hop history. The Queens, New York native's seventh record, STREET'S DISCIPLE, is his most ambitious to date, a double album consisting of more than an hour of continual flow, encompassing many corners of the musical map with style. <p>Without need for filler or skits, the ultra-focused Nas has more than enough on his mind and in his rhyme arsenal to fill the two discs. He opens by raising Cain on false idols, first indicting both sides of the political spectrum on "Nazareth Savage," then scathingly tearing into Kobe Bryant and Puff Daddy (among others) on "These Are Our Heroes." Nas does a double shot of old-school rap, chronicling the life of Rakim on "U.B.R. (Unauthorized Biography of Rakim)" before nodding to Doug E. Fresh on "Virgo." Tying together this potent outing, Nas closes with a flurry of classic rhymes, on the grimy-yet-melodic bonus track, "Thief's Theme."

When I heard about Nas coming out with a double album I was ecstatic. But when I heard it, it falls under one of those cases where one disc is better than the other. Disc 1: The best disc. A Message To The Feds, These Are Our Heroes, Reason and American Way feat Kelis are gems by themselves and is a glimpse of the insight that Nas possesses. Nazareth Savage and Disciple is Nas's MC side at it's best. Just A Moment was a nice joint which introduced Quan to the world. Rest Of My Life has a weird beat but Nas flows well over its so its passable. Sekou Story and Live Now are glimpses of the storytelling side of Nas. The only blemish on disc 1 is You Know My Style. Disc 2: Suicide Bounce feat Busta Rhymes is a banger. Streets Disciple feat Olu Dara is okay. War is nice. I like the mellow beat and Keon Bryce was good on the chorus. Thief's Theme is a classic joint by itself. Unfortunatley this disc downhill after that. U.B.R.(Unauthorized Biography Of Rakim)is a boring and I doubt that a song of that nature should have been boring. Virgo feat Ludacris and Doug E Fresh sucked on Ludacris's album and it sucks now. Remember The Times is incredibly cheesey and was that intro with Kelis necessary? Bridging The Gap feat Olu Dara is instantly forgettable. More Disposables: The Makings Of A Perfect B****, Getting Married, No One Else In The Room, Me And You. Bottom Line: Street's Disciple is a solid double album is definetly one of 2004's best rap releases. Even though the second disc plays like a B-side to Nastradamus, the first disc made this album worthwhile. Standouts on Disc 1: NAZARETH SAVAGE, AMERICAN WAY, THESE ARE OUR HEROES, DISCIPLE, JUST A MOMENT and REASON. Standouts on Disc 2: SUICIDE BOUNCE, STREET'S DISCIPLE, WAR and THIEF'S THEME.

When I heard Nas' new LP "Street's Disciple" would be a double-album, I had a lot of scepticism. Not many rappers have been able to pull off the double album with lots of success - 2Pac's "All Eyez On Me" is probably the best rap double-album, followed by Wu-Tang Forever in distant second. For a lot of double-albums, you can say the artist would've been a lot better off with one disc. Having said all that, SD is a fine double-album, even if it would've benefited as a single disc album. Here's how both of the discs break down:

Disc 1: Disc 1 begins with "A Message To The Feds, Sincerely, We The People", a track as much of a mouthful as it is impressive. Produced by the trio of Chucky Thompson, Salaam Remi and L.E.S. (We'll be seeing a lot of these 3 on SD), they prove that 3 heads are better than 1, helping Nas with a great opener. Nas spits some fire for about 2:40 on the Salaam Remi-produced track "Nazareth Savage", then he hooks up with his new wife Kelis on the Q Tip-produced track "American Way". The beat Q Tip hooks Nas up with isn't anywhere near as good as the one he gave Nas on "One Love", but it's good nonetheless. On "These Are Our Heroes", Nas weeds out some of celebrity sell-outs, then L.E.S. hooks Nas up with a really nice beat on "Disciple", an otherwise good track that suffers from a bad hook. "Sekou Story" and "Live Now" are two stand-outs that stand-out mainly because on these two tracks, Nas decided to alter his voice to sound like a female MC (Scarlett), but it's not too convincing. Still pretty creative, nonetheless. "Rest Of My Life" is skippable, but the 3rd single off SD, "Just A Moment" featuring Quan is also arguably the best track on the whole album. L.E.S. creates a nice backdrop for Nas and newcomer Quan to pay homage to those lost in the past. "Reason" is also skippable, but Nas changes up the mood of Disc 1 for the bonus track "You Know My Style". Salaam Remi flips the Run-D.M.C. cut "Jam-Master Jay" for the beat, while Nas drops some memorable lyrics for a perfect finish to a great disc. While it's not evident before many listens, the first disc is the stronger disc of the two. Nas benefits from the more serious mood of the first disc, and the beats are generally a lot stronger too.

Disc 2: Disc 2 starts off with "Suicide Bounce", a decent track produced by Nas and featuring Busta Rhymes on the hook, kind of disappointing that he doesn't drop a verse here. Next comes the album's title track, produced by Salaam Remi, with Nas' dad Olu Dara on the hook - another decent but unimpressive track. Things do get impressive though; on the self-explanatory track U.B.R. (Unauthorized Biography of Rakim). Nas gets behind the boards again here, but the beat takes a backseat to Nas' flawlessly put together biography of Rakim, one of hip-hop's greatest pioneers, who Nas once drew comparisons to when Illmatic dropped in '94. "Virgo" featuring Ludacris and Doug E. Fresh is another excellent track. With Doug E. Fresh on the beat-box, and Luda rhyming alongside Nas, Virgo is an excellent throwback-style track. The L.E.S.-produced cut "Remember The Times" is a great track about Nas' personal life, but the three tracks after it are all pretty unimpressive. The 2nd single off SD, "Bridging The Gap" is a really nice track, with Olu Dara on the hook, literally "Bridging The Gap" between Blues and Rap. Keon Bryce then delivers a memorable hook on the Salaam Remi-produced cut "War", but "Me & You (Dedicated To Destiny" is a pretty unnecessary track with Nas crooning to his daughter. Disc 2 finishes off with a bang - the 1st single off SD, "Thief's Theme" is classic Nas spitting venom over an "In A Gadda Da Vida" sample salvaged by Salaam Remi. While Disc 2 isn't as good as Disc 1, the more light-hearted Disc 2 definitely does have its moments.

Bottom Line: Street's Disciple, like most double-albums, probably would've benefited as a 16-track single disc album, but it's still pretty impressive as a double album. The production, done mostly by Chucky Thompson, Salaam Remi and L.E.S. is good for the most part, but it would've been great to see DJ Premier, Pete Rock and Large Professor on SD - maybe next album. Meanwhile, Nas is his usual self. Contrary to what some people think, Nas never "fell-off", at least not lyrically, and on SD, Nas delivers some of his most personal and introspective lyrics to date. Street's Disciple is a great album, but I can't stress enough how much better it would have been if it were cut down to 1 disc.