The legendary rapper released a new album as a follow up to 2019’s ‘King Disease’.
VERDICT:
The album delivers several high class tracks filled with energy and great content, but as entertaining as the album is, Nas fails to evolve and has pinned his hopes on a fanbase interested in nostalgic notes of the past. Much of this is welded to the direction of its production, with beat makers employed (pretty much just HitBoy) to string along monotonous production.
As much as we love him, we’d love to see something different. Most rappers who conquered the ‘90s have failed to come up with the goods as the years go by. And although these are symptoms of the time from which they released their best, this isn’t an excuse to relax as the times roll forward.
‘King’s Disease II‘ is filled with music that will indeed make your head bop, though its wallpaper is simply covering previous with the same.
Nas’ collaborations are oft incredible selections, but this time a choice in Eminem, two opposing styles, clash with one another. Though a resurrection with Lauryn Hill is welcome, it just pointed to the past again.
HitBoy has done a number on KDII, but his recruitment remains as much a problem as the direction itself. As we saw with Nas’ Kanye collaboration, retaining the services of one producer serves only to do more damage than it’s worth.
But beats aside, the artist is still on his game, killing rappers with ill rhymes that are just too much at times. His development has never slowed and his writing remains the best. If only he switched up to dive more into a realm that would put him upon a platform where new audiences can appreciate the Queens poet.
We’re not asking for auto tune or dance beats (that would be a tragedy) just something that would take us to somewhere new. We know he’s capable of it, so why not again? Nas remains one of the best, but production this time around seems awfully Groundhog Day.
Nas’ mind to pen game is still yet to peak, evident on each verse of KDII. But the merry-go-round of what feels like recycled beats makes for a dull outing.
Stream full album:
Stanisland Magazine 