Review Summary: One of the best Nas albums ever.
Critical Reception:
Allmusic: 4/5
Robert Christagu: A-
Entertainment Weekly: B+
The Independent: 5/5
Rolling Stone Magazine: 4/5
Slant Magazine: 3.5/5
The Source Magazine: 4.5/5
With this album, Nas tackled the controversial topic of discrimination against blacks. Before the release of this album, Nas decided to name his album the "N" word, not the one ending with "a" but the one ending with "er", which of course caused controversy, so retailers, such as Wal-Mart wouldn't carry the CD if Nas kept the name (who cares if Wal-Mart doesn't carry a CD, their CD's are clean anyway), so Nas decided to change the album name to "Untitled".
The lyrical performances on this album, are outstanding, and beat most of the other albums, that Nas has ever came out with. This album may very well have been the best hip hop album of 2008, even better than "Rising Down" by The Roots, better than "The Preface" by Elzhi, better than "Pro Tools" by GZA, better than "3rd World" by Immortal Technique, and better than every other hip hop album in 2008.
Now for the track by track review.
1. Queens Get The Money: A short, but classic song, and an excellent way to start this album. 5/5
2. You Can't Stop Us Now: A classic song. 5/5
3. Breathe: A classic song. 5/5
4. Make The World Go Round: A classic song, that features Chris Brown, who does an admittedly good job, and this song also features The Game who does an excellent job as you would expect. 5/5
5. Hero: A classic song, that features Keri Hilson, who does an excellent job. 5/5
6. America: A classic song. 5/5
7. Sly Fox: A classic song, and one of the best songs Nas has ever done. This song is a diss to Fox News, and other media. 5/5
8. Testify: A good song, but pretty disappointing, when you're following a classic track. 3.5/5
9. N.I.G.G.E.R (The Slave And The Master): Now at this point, the album picks back up to where it was before the previous track. This song is a classic. 5/5
10. Untitled: A classic, and political song. 5/5
11. Fried Chicken: A good song, that features Busta Rhymes, that is literally about Fried Chicken, and how good it looks to eat. Definitely not up to par with most of the other tracks. 4/5
12. Project Roach: A good song, where Nas rhymes in the point of view of a roach, which is interesting, but definitely not something I will listen to everyday, and definitely not up to par with most of the album. 4/5
13. Y'all My N*****: A classic song. 5/5
14. We're Not Alone: A classic song, featuring Mykel, who I don't know of, but he does an excellent job on this song. 5/5
15. Black President: A classic song, which has Nas showing support for Barack Obama, who was running for president at the time of this album. This is an excellent way to close out, an excellent album. This song samples the song, "I Wonder If Heaven Got A Ghetto" by 2Pac. 5/5
Pros:
Lyricism
Production
Cons:
A few tracks that aren't as good as the rest.
This album declines towards the end, but picks up right after, and has an amazing ending. Overall, I give this album, 4.5/5, 9/10, 90/100, and the grade I give for it is an "A".
3 Best Songs:
1. Sly Fox
2. N.I.G.G.E.R (The Slave and the Master)
3. Black President
3 Weakest Songs:
1. Testify
2. Project Roach
3. Fried Chicken
