The darker knight

The boldest thing about the release of Nas' untitled ninth studio album has nothing to do with the word "nigger" -- instead, it's the timing. Nas' no-name disc (which I realize is more easily referred to as Untitled, except that misses his point entirely) arrives during a week when it's hard to think about any piece of pop culture besides The Dark Knight. But there Nas is, swooping into consciousness four days before the caped crusader, diverting some attention from 'round-the-clock superhero hype and Heath Ledger's still-unfurling eulogy. I guess that makes him a hero.

He thinks so, too. Nas comes with his N blazing (instead of on his chest, it's lashed on his back), the blood of a martyr ("I always put myself in a sacrificial position") and his head puffed up with importance ("The people need something to believe in," he says in reference to himself). The disc's first real single has all the bombast of a TV theme song, and if you're still not getting it, it's titled "Hero." (Incidentally, it's also the most energizing commercial hip-hop track I've heard all year, and Nas' best single since "If I Ruled the World." I don't know about that "behind every great man, there is a great woman" shit, but there's often a fantastic female singer backing Nas up on his best singles. Then it was Lauryn; now it's Kerri Hilson.)

At least he puts his all into the role. Regardless of release-date circumstance, you could fill caves with the similarities between Nas and Batman. On this album Nas battles villains who possess irrational evil -- busybody haters, racists and Fox. It's hard to root against him -- his heroism is virtually archetypal. Like Batman, who became one of the bats that haunted his childhood, Nas reclaims what oppresses him on an album that was scrubbed of its Nigger title, but not its theme (there's a lot of metadiscourse happening, but the most beautifully phrased, win-any-argument-with-this sentiment occurs in "Y'all My Niggas": "We changed the basis of derogatory phrases / And I say it's quite amazing / The use the ghetto terms developed our own language / No matter where it came from / It's celebrated now people are mad if they ain't one"). He takes the therianthropy to an even more literal extreme on "Project Roach" when he paints himself as that titular insect. His moves for common good are rooted in the personal - you wouldn't have too hard a time arguing that he's primarily motivated by selfishness. Nonetheless, he's obsessed with justice (a particularly eloquent example from "America": "Too many rappers, athletes, and actors / But not enough niggas in NASA / Who give you the latest dances, trends, and fashion? / But when it comes to residuals, they look past us"). Y so serious, Nas-man? Because if he isn't, who will be?

And like Batman, Nas uses a mix of his birthright (in his case, not a billion-dollar empire but street smarts) and the resources he's accumulated ("I use Viacom as my firearm") to complete his self-appointed task. When he's on, as is the case for so much of this album, the results are the stuff of breathtaking spectacle. His rapid-fire spitting in "Breathe" is enough to make me ooh and ah: "I'm fresh out of city housing / Ain't have too many options / Pennies on a pension or penitentiary-bounded / Plenty Henny in me / Envy was simply they trend see / My enemy was every hater that was bigger than me." He smacks you upside the head with cleverness in "Sly Fox": "The Fox has a bushy tail / And Bush tells / Lies and foxtrots / So I don't know what's real." And pulls associations out with his portrait of ghetto life in "N.I.G.G.E.R. (The Slave and the Master)" that are so sharp, you don't know what hit you: "Girls dye their hair with Kool-Aid / They gave us lemons, we made lemonade." His toys are remarkable, but then of course they are coming from someone who told us all those years back that he was, "Holdin' an M-16 / See, wit' the pen I'm extreme."

Maybe the most vital comparison to Batman is that even though he's reliably impressive, Nas is still explicitly mortal. He's obsessed with people's perception of him, as evidenced in his repeated references to criticism over his love for flossing jewelry. He seems completely unaware of the age-old battle against the patriarchy (in a spoken interlude just before the album's last song, he says with no sense of context, "I think it's just been recent where everybody started to feel like there was an elite group that runs everything and everybody else was sheep, ignorant, making all ethnicities, colors and creeds niggas"). He's even capable of performing acts that he rages against: in "Testify," he reveals prejudice for his fans "that life way out in safe suburbia," for no discernible reason beyond the temporarily release that catharsis brings. See, no matter how heroic and strong and well-equipped, he can still fuck up and fall off the buildings that he climbs upon.

And that's always the way it's been, as we've watched him fail album after album to deliver a worthy follow-up to Illmatic. Maybe, as with Batman, we were just watching him train for all those years. It could be fleeting, but it certainly feels like his career has been leading up to this moment. Nas' untitled record isn't perfect -- there's a palpable sense of it being watered down (like SFJ says, where's "Be a Nigger, Too"?), but then it's a little silly shackle something as dark and violent as Batman in PG-13 constraints, too (and at least Nas got his R-rated say with the more furious, less P.C. The Nigger Tape, which came out earlier this year).

You can even view Nas' untitled album as a parallel to The Dark Knight itself, though I haven't seen the latter yet (Friday night!). Both obviously aspire to be more sophisticated renderings of a story we all know. And, just like the early reviews indicate that The Dark Knight wants to be more than a superhero movie, so does Nas' disc want to be more than just a rap album: it functions even better as polemic, a conversation piece, a conduit for discourse. As such, it is more focused on Nas' primary strengths (lyricism and provocation) than yet another paltry, album-long attempt at hit-making. It's about time that someone of Nas' talent and clout took this sort of bold move, to talk about the shit that needs to be talked about, regardless of how it ends up selling. We've known all along that Nas is one of the greatest rappers alive, but this album proves that it's not who you are underneath -- it's what you do that defines you.

Comments

[Noel]

finally the first to comment

[BabylonSista]

I've been a bit on the fence about whether to buy this album--it was hard for me to tell, throughout the name saga, if Nas was being genuine or was just trying to goad old civil rights horses (*cough*JESSE*cough*) into giving him free publicity. I shouldn't have doubted Nas's sincerity...this brotha is Da Troof. Can't wait to get my copy.

Looking forward to checking out this new album....No matter what Nas puts out, I always hear Olu Dara's (his dad's) Your Lips in my head for days. That's okay by me, though, because it's one of my favorite songs.
Jules
House of Jules

[hughman]

i'm not into this kind of music (hate Rap - more old school) but appreciate your take on this.

[Matt]

Ooh exciting, a review of a rap album... (sarcastic)

[Jenn]

I will admit that the album slipped my mind b/c of The Dark Knight and I was a little hesitant about from the jump. Thanks for your review, it sounds like Nas is still on his game.

[Molly]

He won anti-Patriarchy points with me when he married Kelis, even though she won't call herself a feminist she was straddling genres and classifications (hook girl, rock star, diva) and having her albums held back when Santogold was but a gleam in young Santi White's eye. Being a strong enough man to choose to be with a woman he views as an equal really made me love Nas even more than I already did.

[Noel]

I'm so excited to see Dark Knight. Also so excited to see you in most of your glory at Jezebel.It's alarming what a little nipple shot can do.

[christy]

the video in your "my hero" section just blew my mind a little bit.

[ParadiseImp]

Jesus, only 9 comments on this post? I really love your analysis of the album. I just got it today and so far I'm digging it.

[ParadiseImp]

Urgh after reading the comments I'm a little upset. This album (like all of Nas' album) is so poetic. God, the haters are strong on this post.

[whiterabbit]

you're such a nerd. don't stop

[Brandon H]

I was having this discussion with my friend and I came to the conclusion that Nas is a fan of "fake it until you make it." Sounds ridiculous now but let me explain. I don't fell that anything he's done since Illmatic has compared to its success- not that he hasn't produced quality work since then- but nothing has come close to that album. And he knows it. So I feel Nas' posturing and the need to overanalyze and almost force feed the audience a lesson (as you can see in his album cover) is a testament to him trying to achieve the artistic tantamount that is Illmatic.

We then brought up Erykah Badu's last album as comparison to drive home another point. Although you can tell she's put in her fair share of work on the album, nothing feels too labored over or forced- so the music flourishes. I would love to see Nas take on this trait. I honestly feel that if you listen to his flow and tone on Illmatic and then to the album now- he will sound more hurried and out of breath in each verse trying to get more out of it. True, it's been over 10 yrs since then so a change is inevitable, but you hope it's one of progression instead of frustration.

It may not sound like it but I'm a fan of his and of hip hop which is why I'm soo critical. I see too many of the artists I like only make it but soo far with their message and music before they're slapped with an underground label and put on the back shelves.

[DP]

This was a great read and a spot on analysis.

[Odd1]

Hero is without a doubt the best song of any genre I have heard in it seems like ages. To quote Ashanti, "it's bananas". I love these posts, you are absolutely fabulous.

[Queen Lena]

Thank you for writing this. I can't believe there are so few comments on this post. I've come to realize that Nas is the only hip hop artist out there that can effectively create a concept album. If you consider his discography, it seems that his albums always have an overarching theme or approach (some done better than others, of course). I'm not sure if this is intentional or not, but if it was, then he even more of a fucking genius than I thought.

[Scott T Sterling]

The new NaS album is a poignant and timely dissertation on being "black" in America 2008--period.

And for the record, While "Illmatic" will always stand as his accidental classic, there is PLENTY of amazing NaS music since then.

I mean, will people crucify the Strokes for "Is This It" forever? Yeah, probably...

[dissertation writing]

Blogs are good for every one where we get lots of information for any topics nice job keep it up !!!

[Phgsgmno]

p7jq2V

[cialis next day]

If you have to do it, you might as well do it right.

[Generic Viagra]

i really like to post a coment, about any blog and i`m really serious whith what i say in my coment, and this blog for is too intresting and have many qualitys, congratulations

[UK Dissertation]

Hi,
really interesting and informative article. Keep posting. Nice work, thanks for such information.

[Essay Writing]

Hi,
I really appreciate this post, because it’s really an impressive work. You provide useful information.

[A level Coursework]

Hello,
Nice blog and useful information.

[Essay Help]

Hi,
I personally like your post; you have shared good information. It will really help me in great deal.

Essay Help