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Nas not so ‘Great’ on hits collection
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by Steve Lampiris
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Oh, how the mighty fall. Hard.
Nas seemed almost superhuman when in 1994 he released his
debut album, the undisputed classic album Illmatic.
It has been a relatively continual downfall back to humanity since then, with
the temporary market correction of Stillmatic
through God's Son. All three discs
during that time (2002-04) were good, perhaps great, but nowhere near the
immortality that Nas gained with his first attempt. Now, with Greatest Hits, Nas proves this fact with
alarming poignancy.
The clearest sign of this reality is in the track list
itself: Four of the 14 tracks are from Illmatic.
No other record represented here gets more than two. This obviously screams "Go
buy Illmatic, instead!" whether
intentionally or not. That is to say, Nas has released some worthwhile singles
since 1994, as shown in this collection, but hardly any albums that would
classify as such.
Add to that some of the odd inclusions on the compilation. A
remix of "Street Dreams" features R. Kelly trying (key word) to channel Marvin
Gaye, and is therefore the most out-of-place track. The original version, from It Was Written, is superior due to the
sample from Eurythmics's
"Sweet Dreams" being left alone in the background to ground the beat, as
opposed to being completely crushed under random keyboard sounds.
Also, Greatest Hits
contains two songs that are neither great nor really hits: The first two tracks
are new to the Nas catalogue. Opener "Surviving the Times" has never been
released and is an odd choice to open a disc of well-known songs. Then we have
the Cee-Lo collaboration "Less Than an Hour" from the "Rush Hour 3" soundtrack.
The latter is overall a better track than "Surviving the Times," but Nas'
rapping is vastly improved on the former. In fact, Nas spits so well on "Surviving"
that it gives hope for future work, including his forthcoming album next month
whose title might well overshadow the music on it.
Other than that, most of Nas' biggest hits are present,
including his best song, "One Mic." That said, this hits collection displays
Nas' rise from a rap god with infinite street cred (1994-96) to commercial
sellout (1997-00) and then coming full circle by regaining respect from his
peers (2001-present).
Whether it was blind luck or the result of a calculated marketing decision, Columbia is just lucky this disc isn't called Best Of. Had it been, a class-action lawsuit may have been brought against them for false advertising.
3 stars out of 5
Anonymous (November 8, 2007 @ 6:42am):
sorry, but I think Your opinion on the album is grap...big time...of course Illmatic was the best...but compared to all the other artists, NAS Greatest Hits is full of great music...not just soulless hits. even the "not so good" albums of NAS are better than "best" albums of 90% of the Hip Hop Game in the last ten years...And check Michael Jackson's or Janet's or Whitney's Greatest Hits...most of them have one superior album...so the negative tone in this report is ridiulous
Anonymous (November 8, 2007 @ 11:49am):
It Was Written, I Am..., Nastradamus, Stillmatic, God's Son, Street's Disciple, Hip Hop Is Dead
ALL classics
You don't get it
Anonymous (November 8, 2007 @ 4:21pm):
I just want to make sure folks know that beyond Illmatic, It Was Written is a great starting point for one's Esco-education. Obviously, I cannot vouch for the bulk of his catalog ("You Owe Me" is an underrated blingtastic shiny suit-era music video though), but those first two records are pretty indisputably thorough. While it's technically not his, I kind of felt "Live at the Barbecue" should have been included in this compilation, if nothing else for sheer significance. I guess C-Webb > more Large Professor. Peace.
Anonymous (November 14, 2007 @ 4:51pm):
the only bad album this man ever made was Hip Hop is Dead
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