Album Reviews
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View Stillmatic, his fifth full-length, isn't a complete washout. The Jay-Z beef has brought out the best in both MCs, and on "Ether" Nas lands some solid jabs, ridiculing Jay's sparse mustache, tai-bo workouts and Hawaiian shirts. On "You're Da Man," Large Professor's moody strings and spare boom-clap beat set the scene for some nightmarish introspection. "What Goes Around," an inflamed indictment of evils ranging from TV and religion to poor parenting and plastic surgery, drives with knee-buckling intensity. Even "Got Ur Self a . . . ," with its twinkly toy harpsichord and booming Sopranos-theme-song chorus, sounds fine after a few listens.
Sadly, the cuts that reveal Nas' depth and drive get lost in a jumble of sloppy filler. The hyperbolic urgency of "One Mic" feels staged, the trick of backward storytelling on "Rewind" comes off gimmicky and rushed, and the cadence that Nas rocks on "Smokin' " sounds startlingly elementary. Striving to maintain street cred while reaching for pop success has left Nas vacillating clumsily on past projects, and this record is riddled with similar inconsistencies. One moment he casts himself as a gritty cat who feels most at home on a project bench, calling out neighborhood snakes ("Destroy and Rebuild") and ducking gunshots ("One Mic"). The next, he's delivering dumbed-down verses over the Track Masters' rinky-dink rendition of Tears for Fears' "Everybody Wants to Rule the World."
In the end, there's little here to refute Jay-Z's harsh assessment of his rival's discography. "This is my ending and my new beginning," Nas spits on the album's intro. But for an artist who built his rep traversing breath-defying lyrical heights, Stillmatic's by-the-books beats and rhymes don't sound like the start of anything good.
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- Stillmatic (The Intro)
- Ether
- Got Ur Self A...
- Smokin'
- You're Da Man
- Rewind
- One Mic
- 2nd Childhood
- Destroy & Rebuild
- The Flyest - (featuring Az)
- Rule - (featuring Amerie)
- My Country
- What Goes Around
- Every Ghetto
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Your Turn
Review 1 of 7
jammerKingston writes:
Shes clearly a nas hater. not only is this one of the best hip hop albums ever nas is one of the best rappers ever. jay z makes hits witch is cool hes not bad but nas makes classics and thers no comparing lyricly. a bitch shouldnt be reviewing nas anyway
May 8, 2008 04:03:09
Review 2 of 7
ThaDaliLama writes:
Honestly, most people are saying the review was bad because it disagrees with there opinion. i agree with most of the review except that One Mic is a great song.
Jay-Z had the better album, hands down
Mar 16, 2008 12:33:46
Review 3 of 7
kjaaaa writes:
OMG WOOOOW WOOOW WOOOOW STILLMATIC WAS A LANDMARK IN HIP HOP AND CONSIDERED ONE OF THE TOP HIP HOP ALBUMS OF ALL TIME IM IN SHOCK AT THAT REVIEW ..ROLLINGSTONE IS REVIEWD BY WHITE BOYS WHO DONT KNOW SHIT ABT HIP HOP AND THAT PROVED IT...THESE DUDES NEED TO GO BACK TO SOLJA BOY AND BRITNEY SPEARS REVIEW CUZ OUR MUSIC DOESNT BELONG IN THEIR EARS
Feb 17, 2008 16:06:46
Review 4 of 7
hungle writes:
Sorry Kathryn, that was just a horrible review. Stillmatic is a classic and an example of real hip hop, I would say one of the best hip hop/rap albums of all time.
I'm still blown away that you thought the album was just okay... lol
Feb 12, 2008 12:53:20
Review 5 of 7
PointK writes:
I look at this review in disgust. You SOMEHOW manage to pull off a 2 1/2 star rating for this classic. OBVIOUSLY you do not have a clue about hip hop and rather listen to pop and commercial bullshit, because every quality hip hop album i see reviewed on this site is slated with an average stamp.
You people must be having a laugh with these reviews, if you don't like hip hop, then simply don't review that genre of album instead of telling your readers how mediocre it is when you don't have a clue what you're talking about.
You people are a shame, you probably listen to soulja boy
Jan 24, 2008 09:39:22
Review 6 of 7
hiphopisdead writes:
I'm sorry Kathryn, but if you think this cd is mediocre then I beg you to show me other fare from that year that was so stellar. How can you review rap cd's and come up with that poor excuse for a review. Ether didn't just pull a few solid jabs at Jay, what happened is that Nas tore it up like no other battle track in quite a few years. Then take a look at tracks like 2nd Childhood, Destroy and Rebuild, and last but not least, Rewind. I could pull a couple more but three should be enough, I could go on some more about your half assed review but I would feel bad since you obviously don't know what you're talking about to begin with.
Dec 23, 2006 16:57:56
Review 7 of 7
nastynas writes:
this shit's hot
Jul 20, 2006 11:11:17
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