Nas has been trying since 1994 to regain the mix of urban grit and brilliant wordplay that made his debut, Illmatic, an instant classic. 2002’s God’s Son, which yielded two impressive singles, was a step in the right direction, and it seems that following the 10th anniversary re-release of Illmatic earlier this year, Nas may finally be back on track. Then again, it takes a lot more than average, even from Nas, to be able to pull off a double album on the scale of Street’s Disciple.
Thankfully, the two discs have very distinct identities. The first disc focuses on the sort of streetwise storytelling that defined Nas’s earlier work, but also features some of his most overtly political tracks. The second disc, the stronger of the two, deals with Nas’s history, family, and especially his upcoming marriage to R&B diva Kelis. The phenomenal “U.B.R.,” Nas’s ode to the legendary rapper Rakim, is one of the album’s finest moments, though the “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida”-sampling lead single, “Thief’s Theme,” is undeniably Nas’s best track this side of the millennium.
Nas is backed by a production team that understands his style and doesn’t try to outshine his lyrical abilities with standout beats. The giant bass of “A Message to the Feds” doesn’t change up much, but when Nas switches up his flow to a series of triplets in the second half of the song, it’s all the more startling for the simple beat. Still, Nas fails where he always does: there are too many lazy, embarrassingly juvenile one-liners and explicit details of Nas’s sex life. Regardless of how good her milkshake is, some of his lines are just nasty without reason. As a condensed, single-disc album, Street’s Disciple would stand up to Illmatic, but the inevitable filler of the double-album bogs it down in the mediocrity fans have come to expect from Nas. Maybe he’ll get it right next time.
