Hip Hop turned 50 this year. An incredible genre originally intended to tell the stories of the streets has morphed into so much more. At its core, hip hop is still about telling your stories and revealing your headspace, given how it is generally focused on lyrics more than most genres. Whether you are a fan of the old school boom bap, or more into vibey trap, it is generally about self-expression. Whether it be expression of raw emotion or expression of important ideals, hip-hop is a genre that allows artists to shine in being themselves.
Enter Nasir Jones, otherwise known as Nas. A man who should need no introduction, but deserves one anyway. A man who told the stories of the streets in a way nobody had heard before in 1994. A man whose storytelling ability over the years not only changed the genre forever, but opened even me, a former skeptic, up to the world of hip-hop and the expression that comes with it. Age has been kind to Nas, because like hip hop itself, he turned 50 this year (yesterday at the time of writing).
Even at 50 he still has the ability to explain his life in a way almost no one else can. This is not surprising, however, given his prior output with producer Hit-Boy this decade. The King’s Disease trilogy brought Nas back on the map to even the most skeptical hip-hop heads, and the Magic albums just enhanced the idea that Nas is still in his prime. Magic 3 shows Nas continuing to explain his current life in a compelling manner. While similar to the other albums he has released this decade, there are enough unique sonic ideas in the production that separate it from everything else he’s released prior.
The celebratory tone that much of this album rightfully chooses to take is represented well in the opener, Fever. Here Nas reflects on his current status as a rapper and a general icon, as he has for much of this run of albums from him. The difference is there is a sense of urgency and finality to it all with the airy, chilling soul sampling used to make up much of the beat. I love how much of a contrast this is from the more reserved opener on King’s Disease 1. It shows how much Nas has considered his place in the rap game even during this run of albums. He knows who and what he is, and is not afraid to brag about it. He talks about how he has “Lobster sauce on aprons” and how he was “Singin’ to Stevie Wonder Happy Birthday”, using his usual imagery to express his currently lavish and exclusive lifestyle he’s earned. There are also more direct brags like how he asks the listener to “Bow to the old me” because he’s “officially OG”. The chorus even samples a track from Illmatic, “Represent”. Where Nas asks the listener to “Put your glasses up” for him to “represent”. The utter confidence, charisma and triumph on display here made me so excited that I wished I had a drink in my hand during my first listen. After a similarly confident second verse and final chorus, the track ends on this ominous humming that matches the beat quite well, it was unlike anything in the last 5 albums and added to the sense of finality I had so much hoped for in this project.
The aforementioned sense of finality continues in a more relaxed manner on I Love This Feeling. There is an even clearer soul sample here than on Fever. It nabs a section of soul singer Billy Paul’s “I Think I’ll Stay Home Today”, and like many good soul samples, it feels nostalgic in such a soothing way. Of course Nas is able to do this incredible beat justice, meditating on things such as his own morality and how he tries to keep good company in his life. He proclaims things like “you against morality, don’t come around me” and even mentions in the post-chorus “If you don’t have a team that’s militant, you better be brilliant”. Luckily for Nas he has both. It is also nice to see how Nas has evolved as a person since his earlier days. Going from a cutthroat gangster to a wise, rap sage. This has been bubbling since KD1 and even earlier but comes to full fruition here. He meditates about his career for another verse, bringing up moments revolving around it, like rapper Cam’ron hearing Illmatic on the series Ozark and being notably excited. He also mentions the initially mixed reaction to his 2019 track Jarreau of Rap, mentioning that “they ain’t understand it when it drop”. I personally enjoyed the track, but it was divisive to say the least. It feels rewarding to have been there for those moments. The final post-chorus sees Nas loving life, going into the studio, and even finding out “big bro” got his ankle bracelet off and now he’s “gettin’ on the private jet with him”. Nas is in a good place and I Love This Feeling represents not only that concept but reminds us of some of the reasons for it as well. Nas has earned this and most of the rest of the album proves why.
Like Magic 2, there is only one feature on this album, and it’s none other than legendary pop rapper Lil Wayne. But before his verse, however, another beautiful soul sampling beat from Hit-Boy in a similar vein to the others so far kicks off, this time a tad more pitched up. This is accompanied by light horns, heavy boom bap drums and a more involved flow that Nas provides on the track. There are plenty of slick, introspective bars on this one, my favorite being when he talks about being “the New NY and the Old NY at the same time”. It makes perfect sense and is another bar where Nas acknowledges his cultural relevance. After his verse, Nas provides a refrain that sets up nicely for Lil Wayne’s verse. A somewhat static flow and rhyme scheme is unfortunately what we get here. It’s still one of Wayne’s better features in recent memory but I was not that impressed. It had energy and that is about the best I can say about it. I would even go as far as to say it’s weaker than 50 Cent’s verse on Magic 2. Thankfully the other weaker moments on the album are few and far between.
Weaker moments such as Pretty Young Girl, which almost feels like a sequel to the infamous track from Nas’s Nastradamus album, Big Girl. It may have a funky, piano driven boom bap beat, and a confident flow from Nas, but the writing is a tad creepy. There are standard sexual rap bars on here, which is not off putting in and of itself, but the issue is that Nas makes multiple references to her young age during the song, like when he proclaims “I know her dad rocked to Nas”. There is even a mildly eerie pitched sample in the beat that goes “pretty young girl” over and over again. It just gives the song this lightly predatory vibe, thus I have no motivation to revisit it. The only other full track I would say is remotely weak is Blue Bentley. It has this heavily edited vocal sample that I can only describe as farty accompanying an otherwise underwhelming beat. Yes it picks up slightly at points but hearing about Nas romancing random women is not exactly what I wanted out of this album. He paints the story well, as always, but the story itself is just not that interesting.
What is interesting, however, is the album’s two part centerpiece, Based on True Events. It has a triumphant boom bap beat that if it were not so laid back would sound stadium ready. Nas recounts a man who was friends with his partner at the time. Said man reminded him a lot of himself and many who grew up in his environment. Nas can confidently tell the phase of his life he is on, mentioning to her how “he’s in the middle of it” and on his “little shit”. He mentions how the man has confidence, charisma and talent, but his arrogance may be his downfall. He also mentions how the man has reminded him of his old friend and fellow rapper Half A Mil, and how his success led to his downfall, along with similar worries Nas has for the man in question. This turns into a meditation on the streets, where Nas ponders things like “How did the projects turn into a war zone?”. This is another case of Nas drawing parallels in his life and creating images as a result. It helps that Nas is pretty loud in the mix on this track so you can really hear the story. This mixing choice continues on the second part of the track, which is far more direct in the structure of its storytelling, where the verses are all distinct chapters of the same story. This is indicated by a voice that says what chapter you are on at the beginning of each verse. The story follows a young man going to Spain to see his ex. Unfortunately the only way for him to get to Spain was to smuggle drugs for his friend. This ends about as well as expected, with the man being killed in Chapter 3 after the whole situation is revealed to be a setup to smuggle the drugs without compensation. There is definitely a higher sense of urgency here than in the previous part of the song. Nas flows a bit faster, the drums are a bit louder, all brought together by a somber woodwind. It is almost like you are watching a tragic gangster flick with Nas being the experienced narrator. It is so real and so well told. I was blown away by this one on first listen and am even more impressed upon reading the lyrics. It would seem Nas never runs out of stories to tell, which has been a consistent theme throughout this decade of output for him.
As the common adage goes, all good things must come to an end. I am happy to say that the end of this album, and by extension this run of albums, is one of the best endings I could have asked for, 1-800-Nas&Hit. The title alone feels like a love letter to everything that they have accomplished and the song lives up to that well. Hit brings his A-game here, giving us a squeaky, quaint and overall sweet soul sample to be the main ingredient of the beat. It is poetic how soulful much of the production on this album is, given how much soul helped paved the way for hip-hop. Nas definitely understands this and delivers bars that have a similarly poetic feeling. He compares his six album run with Hit to the Fast and Furious and Star Wars franchises, saying “Six projects, six sagas, it’s hood science”. Given my personal history with Nas and this saga of albums, this track was admittedly a tearjerker for me. The lines “Whether we did diamond or hardly sold
We did it for our soul” were particularly gut wrenching. It made keeping track of this album run all the more rewarding. You can tell Nas and Hit truly care about their craft and making something they can be happy with. Nas is in another prime, truly happy with his life and accomplishments, but he does care about authenticity. He also claims in the second verse that he “finally killed King’s Disease”. Not only does this work because it is implied he has been trying to for three albums now, but also it works as a double entendre. He finished the series and killed it, he made three amazing albums with Hit Boy and it all came from the heart. The whole track is incredible and feels like a love letter to the fans that have consistently enjoyed his work and never lost faith in him, even ending with an outro that thanks everyone and puts the triumph that this whole saga has been into perspective, opening with the lines “Six albums, in how many years?”. Four years Nas. Four, and I am so proud of you both.
I have been following Nas since roughly 2017. He was one of the first rappers I ever truly fell in love with musically. This album not only feels like the end of an era, but a reward for keeping that love through the best and the worst of times. After a six year hiatus and two less than stellar albums following it, many struggled to keep the faith with Nas and his music. I never truly stopped and knew he was capable of something like this. I just never thought he would end up doing it. With that said, what Nas and Hit have been able to accomplish in four of the most tumultuous years in human history is incredible, and Magic 3 is no exception. Through consistently effective storytelling, soulful beats and a mostly consistent crop of ideas that use these elements to the fullest, Nas has proven that he is still a captain in the fifty year rap game and I hope that he stays friends with his co-pilot forever. It has been a truly magical saga. Thank you Nas and Hit-Boy.
9/10
