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:::Music Review:::
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Nas - "Street Disciple"
by William Ashanti Hobbs
author and co-owner of Meroen Press
March 2005
This Music Review is sponsored by:
1102 S. Adams St., ste.#5 - Tallahassee, FL 32301
850.222.6940 - www.flavamusic.net
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His laid back style was always suspect to me, since
the brilliant "Illmatic" came out so closely around
the arrival of the likewise laidback and talented
Snoop Dogg, I figured this was some ol' marketing ish
- or at best, a fluke. Nas stayed in my periphery over
the years with bangers like the whimsical "If I Ruled
the World", to the raucous "Oochie Wally-Wally" to the
immaculate "One Mic", but I was always able to shake
his chip-toothed hold thanks to the Mafioso-styled Nas
Escobar persona he had some years ago. After watching
how maturely he dealt with his beef with Jay-Z and his
marrying Kelis, my favorite alternative chick this
side of Kelli Ali, I decided to give the man's latest
a try. Though not meant to be the double album that it
is, Street's Disciple is a worthwhile experience.
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Always known for usually lacing his flow with a
stubbornly grounded consciousness, Nas jumps off with
"Message To The Feds" a rugged perception harking back
to classic Goodie Mob. "American Way - (with Kelis)"
follows suit, though saddled with a west coast, g-funk
track that doesn't compliment. "These Are Our Heroes"
is packed with a tart and entertaining sarcasm:
Let's hear it, one for the coons on UPN 9 and WB
Who 'Yes Massa' on TV, what ever happened to Wheezy?
The Red Fox's?
Never got Emmy's but were real to me
Let's hear it, two for the spooks who do cartwheels
'Cause they said they played they parts well
Now they claim caviar, hate that oxtail
Thing is the 25 tracks begin to dip and spike back up
in quality. Take the adrenaline-pumping, Busta Rhymes
assisted-"Suicide Bounce", which sports the ominous
theme music from the Dead Presidents movie. "Rest of
My Life" has promise. Nas also comes correct with the
suave commentary of the struggle of ghetto youth in
"Reason." You're with it, forgiving him for the
forgettable "Disciple" and what not, but money makes
remarkably ill use of Maxwell in the filler "No One
Else in the Room."
The newfound inspiration of Kelis is featured directly
(."Getting Married.") and indirectly (."Intro.") which
proves to be interesting in that it is the first album
of a hardcore artist openly putting out the
ultra-serious beginnings of his real life
relationship. The momentum of the candor is almost put
at a stalemate at times from insipid beats. Not
wanting to bore his audience with the hum-drum
predictability of monogamy, Nas, with his wife's
permission (that is so cool), reminisces about
memorably freakish lays of the past with ."Remember The
Times." and kicks the dust off his game with the
playful. "Virgo - (with Ludacris/Doug E. Fresh).."
His newfound direction of a rapper maturing into a man
with a substantial household to maintain, as well as a
matured love for the history of hip hop community
(refer to "U.B.R."), keeps you from completely
skimming through disc 2. In doing so, you find Nas
damn near falling from his stride and risking his
other front tooth with the forgettable "The Makings Of
A Perfect B****."
Nas' father Olu Dara spices up the end of disc 2 with
the boisterous blues duet "Bridging The Gap," giving a
look into another rarity in hip hop; a healthy
father-son relationship live and in color. "War" works
well with a drive back home from the club when your
head is spinning and smashed… Cartoonist Scott Adams
once said that creativity "is allowing yourself to
make mistakes", whereas art is "knowing which ones to
keep." Since Street's Disciple is as satisfying as it
is in flashes and flurries, you can't help but to
wonder if the artistry had shaved off eight or so
songs, could this have been the classic that both you
and I know Nas is capable of making - again.
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