People are all over this on the IMDb hip-hop board, but the appeal is pretty lost on me. All Hail the Queen is one of the lyrically strongest albums of the 80s, and her flow's still here on this, but it mostly sounds like bland 90s intellectual rap over bland 90s intellectual beats.
Choice cuts: Rough..., Just Another Day..., UNITY
It's been so long since I last heard a Nas album, it was wonderful to get back into him. This has some of his best material, especially on the first half. A bit stiff compared to his early work, but contemplative throughout and sometimes brilliant. Also bookended by amazing songs (of course I'm a sucker for drastic changes in production and unusual time signatures). Nas has to be one of the purest auteurs in hip hop, I think that's why I like him so much.
Choice cuts: Get Down, Last Real Nigga Alive, Heaven
Haha, replace Luigi Mezzanotte with Eric Tang and you have a better version of a Justin Kelly movie. I wasn't thrilled with it though. There's something too like literal and staid about it. It's gorgeous but maybe a bit on the EZ art side too. I'm not sure if it's a fair comparison but I kept thinking of Orinoko, nuevo mundo and how it would've done things better. Some of the stuff really struck me though. If you're in the mood for a guy wandering through a lot of awesome landscapes it should certainly sate you.
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