King's Disease - Nas: Review
is a New York rapper who made hip hop history with his 1994 debut album Illmatic which is still considered among the greatest of all time. It has been a turbulent road since then as Nas has tried to reach a similar level of success with mixed results. Following up his 7 track Nasir produced entirely by Kanye West in 2018 King's Disease features front to back production from Hit Boy.
Review By Lavender:
I like Illmatic as much as anyone but with 25 years between then and now it is safe to say that Nas has not had a very consistent career. Though most of his albums at least have points where they show off his immense talent it is often just that, moments. The last record we heard from Nas definitely had those moments particularly the excellent Cops Shot The Kid. While there isn't a song as good as that one to be found here, King's Disease is definitely an improvement as an album.
The record is 13 tracks and under 40 minutes but the brevity manages to pay off at a few points. The intro cut King's Disease is worthwhile at under two minutes. Some of the lyrics remind me a lot of Kanye and not necessarily in a good way but the worm instrumental and strong performance from Nas make it all worth indulging in. Blue Benz is another solid track even though it does end completely out of nowhere. It has some thematic consistency in the lyrics, some funny bars about the IRS, another good beat and another good performance from Nas. The Definition is also under two minutes and one of my favorite songs on the entire record. It features one of the best beats on the record with driving percussion and infectious synths. Nas is up to the task two despite having only one verse on the song he starts fiery and maintains that momentum throughout.
Ultra Black was the albums lead single and its a pretty good pro black anthem complete with a Doja Cat diss. I think the song works its angel really well and brings a collective attitude rather than a dismissive one making for a good tune. 27 Summers is a decent track the best part of it being that Nas is absolutely preaching in the lyrics which is more than enough to win me over to it. Replace Me is one of the only songs on the album where I think the features actually work. While the instrumental isn't my favorite everything else here is solid. Don Toliver is perfect on the tracks hook and Nas delivers a sharp opening verse. Even Big Sean manages to be a stage above comatose and not as boring as usual which makes for an all around solid track.
10 Points sees Nas giving some veteran advice which results in a couple of my favorite bars on the entire record specifically the "take it from a street dude, you don't need to be a street dude" bar. Nas is once again on point with his observations and the rich instrumental and brass samples are a perfect pairing for the track. The Cure starts off by shouting out Lennon over McCartney despite the fact that Nas is a very high profile example of an artist making poppier music but whatever. This track has a slick ass beat switch that leads from the average first half into the much much better second half. The low rumbling percussion is perfect for Nas to deliver some cutthroat bars and save the song.
Most of my complaints on the album come from features, in fact nearly all of them. Car #85 is a lowkey track with a summery instrumental that doesn't really fit with the fiery nature of Nas' performance. However the real disappointment on the track is the hook where Charlie Wilson's great singing fails to overcome some incredibly lazy songwriting with a chorus that only appears once to kill the momentum and then leaves. Til The War Is Won has a fantastic first half. Nas takes on some really specific issues of black women and the challenges to their experience. Given you had a song this good I have no earthly idea why the hell you would invite Lil Durk onto the song to undercut your entire message with some weakly performed and underwritten poorly thought out bars for the records worst feature by far. I can't explain this one it just makes no sense.
All Bad was a song I was excited about given the Anderson .Paak feature and I don't really have a major complaint about the track. The instrumental is decent and the performances are tolerable, the songwriting and storytelling are just really average and it doesn't do anything memorable to stand out unfortunately. Full Circle sees The Firm making a comeback which should excite some classic Nas fans. I don't hate the song but it is the most inconsistent here. The beat is very lowkey which is fitting for a posse cut but the quality of these verses comes with some very wide variety. Finally there's Spicy which was initially labelled a bonus track but that seems to have changed now so I guess I'll talk about it. The record has a banger beat and Nas is totally up for it delivering a hard-hitting hook and solid verse. Recent XXL freshman Fivio Foreign brings the right energy to the song but does it with some incredibly dumb and generic lyrics that demand you ignore them in order to enjoy his verse. A$AP Ferg on the other hand surprisingly fails to bring the proper energy to the song which given his history making bangers was a big surprise to me, but also served as the nail in the coffin for the song.
King's Disease isn't perfect but it may be the best Nas has sounded in a very long time. Given the most of my complaints on the record don't have much to do with either Nas or Hit-Boy I am surprised and incredibly pleased by the pairing. I find myself comfortable with recommending this to just about any hip hop fans as it has a tangible blend of new and old crafted by two veterans and resulting in plenty of solid songs. 6.5/10
Album Cover Review By Tyler Judson:
This cover is a lot to take in but I very much enjoy it. I love the illustration and the way it's composed. There is so much going on but the subject and themes are very focused and you're able to differentiate the back mid and foregrounds. The color palette is a slap in the face and would look awesome as a simple print. The text is also nicely integrated into the actual piece rather than floating on top. 8/10
For more hip hop check out my review of Blu & Exile's Miles here
