Track Listing

1. Prediction
2. Life We Chose
3. Nastradamus
4. Angels Intro
5. Some Of Us Have Angels
6. Project Windows
7. Come Get Me
8. Shoot 'em Up
9. Last Words
10. Family
11. God Love Us
12. Big Girl
13. New World
14. You Owe Me
15. Outcome

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #22663 in Music
• Released on: 2001-12-10
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Explicit Lyrics

Amazon.co.uk Review
Some artists take years in between CDs and some just keep spitting them out. Put Nasir Jones in the later category, as his fourth album is his second of 1999. Judging by the title and the semi-apocalyptic tone of many of the tracks, Nas has pre-millennium tension and then some but his fears and prophecies are all stuck in the same old, and by now played-out, ghetto melodramas that have become the leitmotif of hip-hop. Nearly every track concerns the life on the streets, the Game, the hood, the mayhem and murder and Nas's muse and old stomping grounds, the Queensbridge Projects (a seminal place in hip-hop, it's the subject of Marley Marl & the Juice Crew's classic "The Bridge"). Not that Nas doesn't have something to offer on any of the above topics. You can, through the often clumsy production, hear fiery glimpses of the young child-poet who burst onto the scene in 1994 and was instantly heralded as the successor to Rakim. But as one might expect from a disc that arrives seven months after its predecessor, Nastradamus seems only half thought out, with Nas conflicted between glorifying the thug life and trying desperately to issue a cautionary tale. As always, the best cut is when Nas joins forces with Gang Starr uber-producer DJ Premier, who may be incapable of a bad beat. "Come Get Me" is the nearly perfect marriage of voice, words, and rhythms and, like the equally solid "Some of Us Have Angels" (produced by Dame Grease), shows why Nas--even with his shortcomings and missteps--can never be slept on. Now if he would just take a break and find new inspiration... --Amy Linden

Customer Reviews

Nas at 90% of his analytical best...
Nas has to be the most inciteful rapper of his generation. Transcending the issues of East v West etc. that usually blight a lot of hip-hop and rap, Nas has created his third 'masterpiece'. While he does seem to concentrate more on technology and the future (a progressive theme through 'It Was Written'), the rap doesn't suffer due to the intensity of his lyrics and the intelligent use of sampling. The best cuts on the album? Life We Chose, Family featuring Mobb Deep and New World (which samples hte classic ToTo track Africa). Not as original as his first two albums, but then who is? A look at the output of current favourites Eminem and Dre shows that Nas is in a whole different world. It's good, but it leaves a little room for improvement.

Nas' worst album
This album is the result of releasing two albums in a year. It was rushed, and as a result is nowhere near the classic Illmatic and amazing It Was Written and the underrated I Am..

Let me shed some light on the situation surrounding the release of Nas' fourth solo album. At the time Nas' was starring alongside DMX in the classic hip-hop movie 'Belly' which Nas also wrote. The original plan was for the album I Am.. to be a double album with the 'I Am..' album to be disk1 and many of the original tracks from the later released 'Lost Tapes' to be on disk2. This would have been undoubtably one of the greatest double-disk albums of all time, alongside 2pac's 'All Eyez on Me' and Biggie's 'Life After Death'.

However greed and politics at Nas' record label led to the decision to release two separate albums to basically make more money. Therefore, the I Am.. album was released and 'Nastradamous' was set for a release later that year.

As is the case with most albums today, it was leaked and heavily bootlegged. Therefore the album was scrapped and Nas had to rush through this new album to meet the release date resulting in this disappointing album. Many of the original tracks planned for this album were re-mastered and released on 'The Lost Tapes’, which is an undisputed classic.

Therefore while most people rightly discard this as Nas' worst album, which it is it could have been so much better.

To conclude, if you want to buy a Nas album, don't buy this as your first choice. Buy Illmatic, Stillmatic or God's Son. However if you are looking for to complete your collection, you might as well buy this album, as there are some decent tracks on it, 'Project Windows' being the standout

Dissapointing
Overall i think that this is a half-baked album too rushed by any standards.It lacks any real point and once agin like the Firm project Nas reverts to 'gimmick' rap as u can see by the front cover. I wouldn't really put this album in a 'must buy' category but anyone looking to buy Nas material must buy 'Illmatic' Nastradamus is to pointed towards some 'end of the world' apocalyptic rap rubbish and i think it's time that Nas put's an end to this and takes it back to the dungeons of rap