For all that Kanye West and Donald Trump's ongoing public love-in has proven embarrassing and nightmarish for a whole host of reasons, one thing they do have in common is a shameless desire to promote their respective “brands” at every opportunity. West's decision to produce five projects over the course of one Wyoming session is an impressive endeavour in and of itself, but releasing them all within weeks of each other is narcissistic even by his standards.
Nevertheless, while Pusha T's 'Daytona' and the Kids See Ghosts collaboration with Kid Cudi are both enjoyable listens (West's solo effort 'Ye' less so), even Kanye knows that promoting an album with east coast titan Nas requires a greater degree of deference.
Jay-Z's once arch rival may not carry the same clout as he did in his 'Illmatic' (or even 'Stillmatic') days, but there's a reason West raved to Barack Obama about putting together the beats for Nas's newest effort. To quote Obama’s favourite TV show The Wire: “The king stay the king.”
Nas might not have the ear of presidents like his producer has, but he hasn't felt the need to tighten his grip on the New York crown in recent years. His last effort, 2012's 'Life is Good', was an endearingly nostalgic piece that reflected on family struggles and long-time successes over a range of styles. 'Nasir' demonstrates that he still has much to say – unfortunately, much of it is garbled and disjointed.
The record immediately gets off on the wrong foot with Not For Radio, a brash and beefy banger that samples orchestral parts from The Hunt for Red October soundtrack. Not only is Nas's flow uncharacteristically choppy and his delivery uninspiring, but his verses are composed of mostly ill-informed provocations that resemble West's own tweets (“SWAT was created to stop the Panthers”). He repeats the trick on the track Everything, contradicting mountains of evidence to suggest vaccinations are harmful to children, while elsewhere he is conspicuously silent on recent allegations of domestic abuse from his ex-wife, Kelis.
This is disappointing from a commentator of his calibre – after all, few artists have so thoroughly explored the societal causes of racism and deprivation as he did in his early work. Sure enough, he's on more comfortable ground on the Slick Rick-sampling Cops Shot the Kid, where he expertly dissects police brutality over a jagged beat. If anything, the excusatory verse from West that follows (“I know every story got two sides”) suggests that Nas's impulsive outbursts elsewhere may have been encouraged.
That's not to say that West's influence here is entirely toxic – his sample choices in particular are vivid and expressive throughout. Bonjour is a delightful slice of ‘70s soul, with tinkling keys and mesmeric strings, while Adam and Eve's lo-fi piano progression feels well suited to Nas's elder statesman persona.
Nas himself is spottier, flitting between barbed social justice rants and conspiratorial accusations detached from reality. The album's very title could attest to West's respect for Nas as a hip hop legend – and unusually, he doesn't attempt to seize the limelight, at least overtly. Sonically, there's plenty to enjoy about 'Nasir', but the weak rhymes and eccentric concepts ultimately mark it out as a disappointment.
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