Distant Relatives

Good luck on that one.

Kid Joe wrote:

And Kevin, when you pose as a wiseman, you ought to take the time to check your accuracy. I'm clearly defending the man's prerogative to express his beliefs in absence of fact. But, time and again, the man is flat out wrong on common knowledge.

Furthermore, try to fathom that some people do enjoy intelligent debate. Maybe pointing to the album you like best is all the discussion you want around here. But, now and then, I like a bit more.

Should we start running our conversations by you for approval? Last I knew, Nas' lyrics fit nicely within the umbrella of hip-hop discussion.

Indeed. Even though I missed it, I found it very interesting...

Back to the original topic. I really like the album, which surprises me. Don't get me wrong, i'm a fan of Nas but i've never really gotten into Reggae. Other than "Nah Mean", i'm feeling pretty much all of it.

E. Taylor wrote:

Back to the original topic. I really like the album, which surprises me. Don't get me wrong, i'm a fan of Nas but i've never really gotten into Reggae. Other than "Nah Mean", i'm feeling pretty much all of it.

Sounds like could agree, given my previous comments about Reggae. I'll have to check this out...

E. Taylor wrote:

Back to the original topic. I really like the album, which surprises me. Don't get me wrong, i'm a fan of Nas but i've never really gotten into Reggae. Other than "Nah Mean", i'm feeling pretty much all of it.

Cosign. This album really, really surprised me and as of right now, it's my current album of the year. I love "My Generation", I even dig the children chorus. Lil Wayne stole the show on the song. "Strong Will Continue" and "Africa Must Wake Up" are probably 2nd and 3rd favorite off the album for me.

I was completely surprised by this album. This is my favorite Nas album since It Was Written, quite easily.

"Strong Will Continue" is probably my favorite track. It would be great if it was used for a video for the NBA Finals or some other big sporting event.

The more I listen to this album, the less I like it. It just seems monotonous to me. I do think Nas brings it, but some of the choruses and stuff just sound kind of corny, and all of the songs just kind of sound the same. I listen to it when I'm driving and it all just blends together, which could be good, but I think in this case is kind of boring. The album is still good, but I feel like this is an album I am going to forget about really soon

"I dig guys like Mavado, Bounty Killer, Damian Marley, Stephen Marley, Buju Banton."

I didn't know you were on that Dancehall music SRP. I've always like that more than roots reggae.

I've spun this album every day since I bought it. I'm diggin it more now than the Stimulus Package even.

I listened to Patience and maybe I missed something but what he said made sense and did not seem "dumb" at all.

um, so whats the verdict on the album?

Solid, 4-4.5

I wouldn't give anyone a hard time about giving it 5.

Slang Editorial wrote:

um, so whats the verdict on the album?

You haven't copped it yet or heard any of the reviews???

Well anyway, it's a consensus near classic.

yeah, i got it around 4.5 stars

4.5 stars.

I never wrote anything about this album but this one right here just basically follows up on Nas's Untitled effort but with a little (well alot of help) from Damien Marley

5 stars abound.....this shit is a classic ladies and gents...

The Strong Will Continue is my favorite joint off of it......


You obviously have to like reggae music to really get into this album...but this shit right here just completely BANGS...from start to end....

5 stars and quite easily too...if you don't have it in your collection yet then go add it today!

D.Powell wrote:

I never wrote anything about this album but this one right here just basically follows up on Nas's Untitled effort but with a little (well alot of help) from Damien Marley

5 stars abound.....this shit is a classic ladies and gents...

The Strong Will Continue is my favorite joint off of it......


You obviously have to like reggae music to really get into this album...but this shit right here just completely BANGS...from start to end....

5 stars and quite easily too...if you don't have it in your collection yet then go add it today!

Yeah man when I rented that Fifa World Cup game, that was my joint

This is an excellent album, no doubt. I find myself bored with already, though. That said, its still about my third favorite Nas album.

This is my current AOTY right now. I've spun it more than any new release thus far in 2010.

This is a dope album to me. I can't give it more than 4.5 stars though. That's not a bad thing but I am hesitant about labeling things 5 stars. It is mos def a great release from two very talented artists though.


Just My Thoughts...

Purple Haze wrote:

This is a dope album to me. I can't give it more than 4.5 stars though. That's not a bad thing but I am hesitant about labeling things 5 stars. It is mos def a great release from two very talented artists though.


Just My Thoughts...

I can respect this.

For me, 5 stars must have universal appeal; this album only appeals so strongly to reggae lovers, so therefore it cannot approach 5 stars IMO.

Steve wrote:

For me, 5 stars must have universal appeal; this album only appeals so strongly to reggae lovers, so therefore it cannot approach 5 stars IMO.

All ratings are subjective. I personally have this album at 4.5 stars but I have no problem with anyone calling it a classic. It's easily the best cross genre album of all time and it's definitely critically acclaimed so it's deserving of being dubbed 5 stars. This and Sir Lucious Left Foot are my fav albums of the year thus far.

As far as being a reggae lover, well I like it but it's maybe my 3rd fav genre at best. People that don't like reggae at all though aren't gonna like this album, but this is an album that will appeal to even a casual reggae fan.

Fuck Jigga and Kelly. Nas and Damian is the REAL Best of Both Worlds!!

If Nah Mean wasn't on here, I would say 5 stars. I agree with 4.5 stars for this one. I am not a huge reggae fan other than Bob Marley but Nas & Damian surprisingly make a cohesive unit. I have this, How I Get Over and Sir Lucious as my albums of the year so far.

Damn, minus .5 for one song?

Highsmith wrote:

If Nah Mean wasn't on here, I would say 5 stars. I agree with 4.5 stars for this one. I am not a huge reggae fan other than Bob Marley but Nas & Damian surprisingly make a cohesive unit. I have this, How I Get Over and Sir Lucious as my albums of the year so far.

Those three and The Stimulus Package are my favs

Damn right. Stillmatic loses .5 for one song.

Steve wrote:

For me, 5 stars must have universal appeal; this album only appeals so strongly to reggae lovers, so therefore it cannot approach 5 stars IMO.

Good point. I can definitely see where you are coming from with this.

This is a great album, but it has lost all replay value somehow...

Eastern Rap Pro wrote:

Steve wrote:

For me, 5 stars must have universal appeal; this album only appeals so strongly to reggae lovers, so therefore it cannot approach 5 stars IMO.

All ratings are subjective. I personally have this album at 4.5 stars but I have no problem with anyone calling it a classic. It's easily the best cross genre album of all time and it's definitely critically acclaimed so it's deserving of being dubbed 5 stars. This and Sir Lucious Left Foot are my fav albums of the year thus far.

As far as being a reggae lover, well I like it but it's maybe my 3rd fav genre at best. People that don't like reggae at all though aren't gonna like this album, but this is an album that will appeal to even a casual reggae fan.

Fuck Jigga and Kelly. Nas and Damian is the REAL Best of Both Worlds!!

I don't see how you can marry those two ideas in your head. Does your logic not have to make sense? My brain would explode tyring to reconcile those thoughts. Seriously.

Highsmith I feel the same way about Nah Mean.....its not bad just has no chemistry beat, lyrics, or even hook wise. It just seems like a fender bender or something.

And Shaun its funny but I was thinking that maybe we should look at albums losing a .25 for every song you do not like at all. Like maybe start evey album at 5 stars when you are lsitening to them and with time take awa a .25 for bad songs. Then maybe we will have more real ratings?

Braveheart party was -.5 bad tho Kev, lol

fuck an album cqan have a wack ass song and still be 5stars in my book. Fuck the mathematical bullshit, you dont measure classics or albums song by song, thats stupid

Slang Editorial wrote:

fuck an album cqan have a wack ass song and still be 5stars in my book. Fuck the mathematical bullshit, you dont measure classics or albums song by song, thats stupid

That's quite debatable. If braveheart party were on Illmatic it would have ruined it, the same way it fucked up Stillmatic. I just don't see and album having a big turd in between gold and calling it classic, near classic yes but not a classic.

Knowing the reviewer is key...

Slang Editorial wrote:

fuck an album cqan have a wack ass song and still be 5stars in my book. Fuck the mathematical bullshit, you dont measure classics or albums song by song, thats stupid

Well I was really meaning if you wanted to objectively rate an album for someone that may be a good method. Or if you were just curious what type of ratings some of your fav albums would end up with. Just for fun. But I agree there should not be no "system" to how you personally feel about an album being classic or 5 stars or whatever. Thats your fucking biz on how you feel about said album and you should not have to convince no one otherwise.

And Parker I agree with you, knowing the reviewer is big.

Tran if it's a whick whick whack song then that's a -.5

Braveheart Party, perfect example...
Nah Mean, perfect example.....


As a reviewer, I don't use a 4.75 rating. However, if the song was tolerable, I can understand only knocking a .25 off of the album. However, if the song should have never been released that's a -.5 IMO.

...And KJ you're right...add Stimulus Package to my list as well. That would round out my Top 4 with Statik Selektah possibly at #5