Customer Reviews

Nastradamus

5 star:		(90)
4 star:		(55)
3 star:		(36)
2 star:		(33)
1 star:		(22)

 

 

Ok. It is Nas worst cd, but he still has some hits on dis joint. I look at some reviews and wonder if some of those people even heard this cd? I see it like this, every mc who puts out solo efforts is gonna have a cd that doesn't stack up to his or her other albums(Eminem:Encore,Jay-Z:Blueprint 2 to name a few).In Nas case I still think this cd is acceptable. I think its those people who judged this album based it on one song;the song he did with ginuwine. I didn't really like that song but as soon as I heard the rest of tha album I got over it. At least all his albums are different in their own right so I can't knock him for tryin somethin new, besides he came back super hard with stillmatic and shut everybody up. Yes its his worst cd but compared to other mc's "flop" albums he still gets it done.

i did not start my Nas catalogue from Illmatic, so perhaps i'm not close minded like many people, who probably didn't either... I own every Nas album, Including Qb's finest, The Firm, and the rest, and I downloaded all his unreleased material, and most of the songs he guests on... in other words, I have heard basically every Nas song there is... I'm very selective in my hip hop tastes, I like very few rappers, including foremost Nas, N.W.A, Jurassic 5, RUN DMC, Tribe Called Quest, Mission and a few others.
I did not buy this album, due to the fact that everyone said this was his worst album where he fell off drastically. However, my manager, who has been listening to Hip Hop for over 17 years (since 1985), told me to F--- it, don't care what others say, you get it, and tell me what you think...
I did, i bought it, and it was awesome, great production and great street poetry as usual by Nas, easily a step above 'I Am', on par with It was Written...
I believe the only reason people think he fell of with this album, is you listen to other peoples opinions, afriad to form your own... but i reckon F--- what they say, I bought it, i listened to it repeatedly, and I think Nas's wordplay in this is very enjoyable, taking every oppurtunity to throw the phrasing on it's head, people who say this album is his worst is just following what other people say, to afraid to admit what a good album it is...
how has he sold out or gone downhill? 80% of the album is about street life, and the other 20% is talking about people and their relationship to themselves through god... considering he did it in a few months, which is no excuse for a bad album, put its all the more reason for giving him praise to do a still awesome album in such a short time...
and what the hells wrong with everyone about the production? i think it's awesome production... you called it sold out, i call it good... i don't like the production being overpowering anyway, let's conceontrate on the LYRICS people...
I cant be bothered pointing out why you all are sheep, believing he fell off, just because 'The Source' says so...
Plus for the rest of you unbelieving mother truckers, 'Illmatic' is my favourite Album of all Time...
Be true to yourself...
If your a true Nas fan, you would've learn't that by now (plus your parents should've taught you that anyway... HAHA)

One Love,

Positive: Nas is a great rapper who usually has pretty tight lyrics. There were some pretty good tracks on his last attempt: I am. There are 5 tracks on this record that I find worthy of listening to. "Quiet Ni**as" is my favorite track cause it's something I agree with Nas about. A few songs have good rapping but nothing else.

Negative: Beats sometimes lacking. Choruses seriously lacking. "Life We Chose" sounds like Nas isn't quite with the beat. "Nastradamus" is so "Made-For-MTV" that's it hurts. It surprises me how pretty good rappers continue to try to attract Backstreet Boy fans by "selling out". The track "Big Girl" is so bad/comical it could be on Adam Sandler's next CD. The beat for "New World" is another comical experience for the true hip-hop fan. I heard he made this 7 months after "I am". He should have waited a little longer. The bad by far outweighs the good on this album and Nas has older albums that top this with only the intro.

I've read other people's reviews about this being for Nas's real fans who've been wit him the whole time. I'm sure it's true for a lot of peeps, but not me. I've never really heard Nas before now. I ain't got none of his other albums, but i still rate this album hard. So the next album for me is I Am, then Illmatic and so on! So to all y'all hip-hop fans buy this album, NOW! This guy's got real talent, make the most of it. Well dunn Nas, again. RESPECT! Oh, and big up to all man at Rastrick High!

For whatever reason-- maybe human natures tendency to jump on the bandwagon-- people love to put this album down. Since Nastradamus came out, it's been cast as Nas's worst effort. In my opinion, this assement of Nastradamus couldn't be any more further from the truth. I'm going to go against the grain and say that this is perhaps Nas's greatest lyrical showing of his career. Througout his career, Nas had displayed a sharp lyrical ability--he has always been able to drop intelligent songs. However, he has never been as "deep" in his thinking and wisdom as he was in Nastradamus. One of the better illustrations of this is the song "Some of us have angels"; on this song, Nas speaks about the negative and positive sides that can be prevelent in a persons life and how these angels and demons can influence a person. With lyrics such as

"What does it take to realize, Satan's alive, he whispers
And any chance he get, he can take niggaz
He comes in all shapes and sizes, his best disguise is
when he stand beside us, but God is inside us, within me
You are your worst enemy - my mom's words echo in my head
And if I let go I'm dead
Every step my daughter takes motivates my spirit
An outer of body experience, and now I feel it"

Nas digs deep in his soul and scribes some very thoughtful and inceitful phrases. Throughout this album, Nas maintains this high level of lyrical depth. On the songs Project Window, Come Get me, Family, and Life we chose, we get a glimpse of the verbal sharpness that hase made Nas such a loved MC.

Ohter lyrical highlights of this album are the two songs "God love us, and Last Words". In response to the reviewer who said that Nas was being ignorant on God love us, by saying that next to God on the cross was the thug, I have to say that you're wrong. Nas was not being ignorant on the song, rather what he was showing, through his lyrics, is that even if you are a sinner and even if you live in some of the worst conditions, God still loves you. On Last words, Nas gives, in my opinion, one of his greatest lyrical showings. Rapping from the perspective of a jail cell he delivers chilling lyrics such as

"No remorse for your tears I seen em too often
When you cry I make you feel alive inside a coffin
Watch you when you eat play with you mind when you sleep
Make you dream that you free then make you wake up to me
Face to face with a cage no matter your age
I can shatter you turn you into a savage in rage"


Now, The quality of the production on Nastradamus is open to subjective opinion. Mostly, the beats on this album won't have you showing of your latest dance moves, they're not catered for that type of listen, rather the beats on this album are of a more serious nature. They are ment to be like this because of the cerebral quality of the lyrics. Thought not "poppish" most of the beats on this album are definetly raw and street. Piano melodies on "Shoot em up" and "Project Windows" shine as they provide the perfect background to Nas's grimy voice and gritty lyrics.


All in all , I feel like this album is a good one, maybe not one of his best: it has it's downfalls, as in boring productions, but Nastradamus is a lyrical masterpiece not deserving of all the hate that it has received over the years.

Well...what can I say about this disc? I'll begin by saying that if you have grown to like Nas more as each consecutive album is released, then this is the album for you. For those of you who are liking each album less and less, than steer clear of Nastradamus, its not for you. It is hard for any hip hop fan to bypass a new Nas cd because he still has all the talent you could ask for, but his selection of beats has become very questionable. There are some very good tracks on the album. "Come Get Me" is a Primo produced banger that is on par with "NY State of Mind 2". "Shoot Em' Up" , the lead single's b-side produced by Havoc (of Mobb Deep) is another tight cut where Nas flips a harmonic style that really works. After these songs though, the album falters. ToTo samples, weak guest rappers, and so-so Dame Grease (who provided some good tracks to DMX's debut) tracks dominate the rest of the disc. As Nas, in his own mind progresses, his core fans (read : Illmatic) are witnessing a digression. Although one of my guilty pleasures is a good Timbaland beat, the one used on the song "You Owe Me" sounds like something that should have been left in the vault. If you are a Nas fan and can't pass the album up, or like your hip hop from MTV, pick it up. To everyone else who knows what Nas is capable of, wait until the next one and hope Nas can re-establish himself.

First, I would like to say somthing about past Nas Albums, I have a incredible respect for Nas and his music. His first cd, Illmatic is so incredible that it remains a immeadiate classic in world of Hip-hop and rap, Some people, not even radical hip hopfans, will go as far to say that is one of the best cds from all catagories of music EVER. Its truly an amazing composition that deserves all the credit it gets, and more. His follow up cd to Illmatic (1994) was It was Written which I believe satisfied his want for Radio play and attraction. His cd was glamorized and he produced 14 songs that were commerical tracks. His hit on the album, If I ruled the World, is great- but it is clear his styles changed since the days of Illmatic. He had some tight joints but it was different. Listen to it, you can tell. Despite its problems it does have "The Message" which I believe is one of the greatest songs ever. It is so good, so deep- with the guitar in the back; its tight. Aiight, then came I Am came in april 1999,for this Cd, people had their high hopes, they thought he would return to his original styles, of straight amazing tunes, tottally perfect music that is amazing. He was incredibly commerically, which can lose him a lot of his original fans- but...it also gives him what he wants which is attention. BUT, NO MATTER HOW COMMERICAL NAS GETS HE WILL ALWAYS MAINTAIN HIS INITIAL QUALITIES THAT MAKE HIM ONE OF THE GREATEST MUSICIANS/POETS OF OUR TIME. Now on to this cd- Nastradamus is alright, its not great, its pretty bad in my view. We can obiviously have very different views on this album. For any rapper, this would be an alright joint. Nothing stands out 2 much on this album. We got some strange poetry in the beginning and end. We have some old samples, we got him rapping about his life (THIS IS THE GOOD NAS WE WANT) we also hear him talking about cars and money (THIS IS SOMETIMES GOOD<NOT ALWAYS) Most rappers rap about money, Nas raps about that kind of stuff on this album, nAS i FEEL is above rapping about garbage, finding as many ways as he can to ryme Bentley and BMW, Nas is a little above that. I gotta give him credit for trying to creat stuff with his creativity, but i THINk he was influenced by what seems to go well these days... Buy this album, listen to it- understand the simple stuff he stresses. IF you want greatness get Illmatic, if you a solid commerical, but great cd, get I am, if you want couple hit songs and little of everything get It was written. This album, to me was a dissapointment. It was hyped, but its really NOT THAT good. It has no stars, kill em all- is tight, but lyricially advanced, it aint. so when grading this album I am going 2 go on strictially whats on this album, Not knowing anything else about nas, 3 stars to 3.5, Now looking at his past accomplishments, this album in my view is a 2- 2.5. This album will have its fans, it will people who hate it, It might even get a couple hits, I am sure people are going to say its great. It cant be in my view. Go buy Illmatic, then buy this. Now u tell me, which one do you think is better?

Final comments... This album is not up to Nas's potential in any areas, it has many faults...not many great qualities... 2 stars.. NAS: U CAN DO BETTER. GO MAKE SOMTHING LIKE ILLMATIC> YOU WILL GET THE PEOPLE BACK BEHIND YOU.

Okay Illmatic was the lick, I Am was bumpin, It Was Writen was slippin and now Nastradamus is the worst of them all. Straight doodie. Nas has turned pop and in this utterly pitiful attemt to make another album and the worst song of the all is 'Owe Me' wit lyrics like "owe me like you owe your taxes owe m like you owe your rent" I feel that he owes me for having to listen to this garbage. The hook to track #3 should say Nas the Esco to Escobar now he is Nastradumbazz!

Whether it's because of the same old cliché of Nas not living up to his first album or the fact that this album came out seven months after "I am" and so may have been left in its shade maybe the reasons why a lot of people have called this album weak. I can maybe understand why some may say this is his lowest album compared to the rest but this album isn't weak at all. In terms of lyrics this album is ill and in terms of tracks, the only weak track on this album is "Big Girl" and since when has one track made an entire album trash.

Judging track for track, "life we chose", "Nastradamus", "Project windows", "Family", "God love us", "Quiet N****s" and "New world" all get 4/5 being the strong tracks of the album along with "Come get me" and "last words" which both get 5/5 being the strongest tracks. "Some of us have angels" and "Shoot em up" I would give 4/5 now although I wasn't feeling them before, it may take you time to get into them. "You owe me gets 3. Not the best track but it's a party track which is needed to get the clubs bumpin which it did. "Big Girl" is a track for all the females, I would give it 1/5 but my sister and all her friends like it so I'll give it 2/5.

People who keep on saying Nas hasn't lived up to his first album must understand that his first came out in a different era of rap since then rap has moved on. He's lyrics have come up since then and his albums have always been at the top end of rap whatever era of rap they came out in.

Considering "Nastradamus" has 13 main tracks compared to the 15 on "I am" this album is no worse or better than "I am" maybe it could have done with 2/3 more tracks and done without Big Girl maybe then so many people wouldn't have been so quick to say this album was weak. The only thing I'm disappointed about is Nas, poke and tone (trackmasters), L.E.S., Premo, Havoc, Dame Grease, Timbaland and all the artists that came together to produce a more than decent album only for a load of people to label it weak

It has been stated for the last four years, "Nas is no longer Nasty." What happened? Nas has got money. Does he still have his rapping skills? Hell yea. So what does he need to do? ( Nas listen close) Get rid of the trackmasters to start. (no offense poke and tone but your beats just don't fit Nas, go back with LL) Nas get some of the gritty and gutta Primo beats (not the smooth ones,matches your voice better), a couple from Pete Rock,one or two from Extra-P, a beat or two from Muggs, hell get a couple from new jacks such as the Alchemist or Evidence (SM represent). But whatever you do, get new beats. Secondly, keep the topic of your songs focused on something we can relate to. Forget the whole relationship thing, leave that to R&B and ODB. Keep it gutta boy. Talk on something serious even, just forget this whole esco stuff. The only thing you've ever ripped as Esco was on "verbal intercourse." Just listen to your first album and do it again baby. Show us growth, yes, but foget the bull---t!