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19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another tight chapter in Nas' "Book Of Rhymes"., January 16, 2003
With 3 CDs released in a little over a year, Nasir Jones has been very busy. Although, the critically acclaimed "Lost Tapes" were pretty much B Sides from "I Am" and "Stillmatic". After battling Jay Z and reaffirming his spot in the game with "Stillmatic", Nas seems like he is on a different mission this time around. After dealing with the death of his mom, Nas wants to take the mature approach this time around. This is understandable although many artists deal with personal loss in different ways. The CD starts out with "Get Down" and gets things off to a good start as Nas is basically freestyling over old James Brown beats. Eminem then shows up to produce "The Cross" and if you didn't hear Nas' voice, you would be waiting for Eminem or someone from D12 stepping up to rhyme. On Track 3 and 4, you have the best 2 songs on the CD in my opinion. The first single and video from "God's Son", "Made U Look", took a little while to grow on me because of the beat by Salaam Remi. While Nas is always on point with his lyrics, I was not used to hearing him rap to old school hip hop beats with the exception of some of his freestyles on mixed CDs. On "Last Real N**** Alive", Nas tells the truth about his dealings with The Notorious BIG, Raekwon, Steve Stoute and the Jiggaman himself. "Zone Out" includes a "sick" beat by Salaam Remmi and the Braveharts and Nas sound like they transformed back to "Beat Street" and "Krush Groove" for a minute as they spit 80s type rhymes. On "Hey Nas", Nas employs Claudette Ortiz from City High and his boo, Kelis, for Salaam Remi's Trackmasters' beat. I think they were in the studio somewhere when this song was produced. However, Nas does a good job in my opinion, of describing the type of female that he is looking for. On The Alchemist' produced "Book Of Rhymes", Nas combines old rhymes that we has written or employs that concept to have a combination of different rhymes that make sense. This just proves how innovative Nas is. From there with the Alicia Keys' produced "Warrior Song", "Thugz Mansion" (NY) with a verse from 2 Pac, "Dance" and "Heaven", Nas takes his personal feelings and how he dealt with his mother's death and takes you inside of his mind for a minute. While all 4 of these tracks may not be the strongest cuts on "God's Son", the more you listen to them the more that you will start to like these songs. There aren't too many things that are wrong with "God's Son". The next single, "I Can" borrows too much from Slick Rick in my opinion. It sounds like a 2003 "Hey Young World" and to make it worse Nas even sounds like MC Ricky D. "Revolutionary Warfare" serves a good purpose but the song could have done better without Lake rapping on the song. Missing from "God's Son" also are L.E.S., DJ Premier and AZ, which are usually essential parts of a Nas CD. Anyone who heard the AZ and Nas song "The Essence" will understand what I mean. Overall, "God's Son" is a very mature presentation from Nas. I admire Nas for not being afraid to try something different. There is nothing wrong with trying a new concept when you have accomplished what Nasir Jones has accomplished. This CD also includes a bonus disc with 3 songs, the best of them being track 3, "The God" and track 1, "Thugz Mirror (Freestyle). If you are a real Nas fan then you can't afford to pass this CD up. Although there will never be another "Illmatic", "The Lost Tapes", "Stillmatic" and "God's Son" are right up there as Nas' best CDs.James' Top 5 1) Made U Look
2) Last Real N**** Alive
3) Get Down
4) Thugz Mansion (NY) w/2 Pac & J Phoenix
5) Warrior Song w/Alicia Keys
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
STOP IT, STOP IT, STOP IT!!!!, February 15, 2003
By A Customer
...Stop comparing all of Nas' other albums to Illmatic. When someone makes an album as great as Illmatic, its hard to live up to that again... Anyway, Nas has never made a wack album. NEVER!!! Even Nastradamus had it's high points (ignore the commercial songs "Nastradamus" and "You Owe Me"). God's Son is an exceptional album. It starts off very strong with "Get Down", which is a sample from an old James Brown song. The Eminem-produced "The Cross" doesn't have the nicest beat you will ever hear, but REAL hip-hop listeners look past the beat and actually listen to the lyrics (woulda been nice if Em had added a verse on there himself though). "Made You Look" was a good single to start out with. "Last Real N---- Alive" may be the best track on the album. At first I didn't like "Zone Out", but after listening to it a few times, it wasn't that bad (quit dissin G-wiz & Jungle, they aint that bad). "Hey Nas" was decent. I never thought I would hear Kelis sing on anything other than a Neptune track but theres a 1st time for everything.
"I Can" is good for the kids. Nas always manages to put one real creative song on each of his albums, and "Book of Rhymes" is the newest edition. I don't need to say anything about "Thugs Mansion" as it speaks for itself. "Mastermind"... good stuff. Alicia Keys... "Warrior Song"... Who knew? "Revolutionary Warfare"... amazing. I won't comment on "Dance". It's a dedication song. Everyone needs those. And finally... "Heaven"... didn't really like the singing in it. But the flow is nice. Overall. Very good album.
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29 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
God's Son is amazing!!!, December 29, 2002
This is Nas' best after "Illmatic" and "Lost Tapes". I ranked all the tracks on the album, out of 5.
1. "Get Down" 5/5 (Amazing song, great sampling (James Brown), great hook, amazing concept, probably my favourite song on cd)
2. "The Cross"4.5/5 (Great beat from Eminem, even better rhymes)
3. "Made You Look" 5/5 (Amazing street burner, great old school sound, good choice for first single)
4. "Last Real N***a Alive" 3.5/5 (Admits beef with Big, a few disses to Jay, but a slightly weak hook, and average beat)
5. "Zone Out" feat. Bravehearts 2.5/5 (Worst song on cd, beat is wack and to cluttered, average rhymes by Nas and Jungle, below average by Wiz)
6. "Hey Nas" feat. Claudette Ortez & Kelis 4/5 (Nice, yet simple beat, good rhymes by Nasir, nice vocals by the ladies)
7. "I Can" 4.5/5 (Don't think this is a 'Hard Knock Life' rip off, It has a great positive message by Nas, and some of the sharpest lyrics on the cd)
8. "Book of Rhymes" 5/5 (My 2nd fav song, amazing beat courtesy of The Alchemist, great concept for the song, great lyrics)
9. "Thugz Mansion" feat 2Pac 4.5/5 (Some think this is a lil to 'pop' for Nas, but it has a great guitar in the backround, and Nas and 'Pac tear up the track lyrically)
10. "Mastermind" 4/5 (Amazing song, not great hook, but has great lyrics
11. "Warrior Song" feat. Alicia Keys 5/5 (Great production, great editing, amazing vocals by Alicia, amazing lyrics by Nas)
12. "Revloutionary Warfare" feat. Lake 4.5/5 (Nice children choral sounds in backround, has a bit of politcal content, great lyrics by Nas and his boy Lake (who just got outta prison)
13. "Dance" 4/5 (A dedication to his mom who passed, nice beat, very touching song)
14. "Heaven" 5/5(The final track, crazy lyrics by Nas, amazing vocals by Toronto-newcomer Jully Black, nice beat, and a more concious side of Nas on this one)Best Tracks: "Get down", "The Cross", "Made You Look", "Book of Rhymes" and "Warrior Song" and 'Heaven". Conclusion: If you love great hip hop, and want more of Nas' great lyrical skills similar to 'Illmatic', 'Stillmatic' and 'Lost Tapes', I guarantee this album will not dissapoint.
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