REVIEW: NAS - MAGIC 3

4/5

It's A Kind Of Magic

Six albums. Three years. Two trilogies. And now not eight weeks after the release of the sequel, how about another magic trick to paraphrase Heath Ledger's Joker? The final act and rabbit out the hat is here as Nas and super producer Hit-Boy have just completed their second trilogy like the gold bars of a 'King's Disease'. What better way to surprise birthday celebrate the 50th anniversary of H.E.R. herself, hip-hop with the most remarkable run in the history of the urban music scene? Black excellence on display on the same day as the long-awaited return of Diddy with 'The Love Album' and Corinne Bailey Rae's artistic game-changer 'Black Rainbows'. One of the game's greatest at what might not even be his peak, as we thought going from 'Illmatic' to 'Stillmatic' was for 'God's Son'. Who knows what other book of rhymes he has in his back pocket? Because since the pandemic it's all been real rhymes for hip-hop heads over def jams from a man who once said this very poetic art-form was dead. Way to bring it back to life.

This once again is the resurrection like the common sense of ghetto dreams. Months after dedicating tracks to 'Magic Johnson' like a Red Hot Chilli Pepper 'Salute To Kareem', it's winning time for Nas and Hit for one more shot. Even if HBO just cancelled that show. They call it Magic and this coldest play is still showtime for the back-to-back three-peat ring circus. Giving us 'Fever' like Peggy Lee and the infectious lyrics, "Wolf out of NYC, this is prophecy/Know this was meant to be, evolve constantly/Half a century/Put your glasses up, represent for me (Represent, represent)/Represent for me/Represent, represent, represent for me/Fly from infancy to half a century/Ah-ha, represent." Referencing and representing his classic like Diddy at the VMAs as this man kills it at 50 more than Keanu Reeves chapters of 'John Wick' with the pencil. No tsk's about it on 'TSK's' victory lap of, "First thing I learned when I was comin' up in age/When they stumble in your space, is to punch 'em in the face/The second thing I learned, I was in thе second grade/Slidin' onto second basе, I can orchestrate this game/The third I heard was, if it quacks, it's a duck/The fourth, of course, just be upfront what you want/The fifth was this, keep somethin' crisp on your wrist/Now we on album six, the top team on your list."

This is a man that could still keep it locked for six straight summers (word to his Kanye album). A man as old as hip-hop himself, who still has another half-century and a forever legacy in him. 'Superhero Status' for Keri Hilson's 'Hero', rapping, "Adidas shells, I keep a reefer smell on me/Ringin' the Wall Street bell at 9:30 A.M. is my coffee (It's a s--)/My gang is New York Stock Exchange/Here's my costume change" with a cape on. 'I Love This Feeling' on God, like "Homicidal vinyl section wherе they always found me/By the motion picture soundtrack with Richard Roundtree on the album sleeve/That's my era s###/Musical excellence, hot like on a detective list", for the baddest mother...watch your mouth since Shaft. I'm talking about Nas. Damn right! 'No Tears' reigns next before Tha Carter himself (Weezy F, not Shawn) gets down on something that will 'Never Die'. "Uh, icons, steppin' on pythons/Spittin' that cayenne, eat ya like Zion, peakin' at the skyline/Reachin' for the stars like I'm reachin' for the pylon/I seent ya on the sideline, we need to walk a fine line/We need to read the guidelines, instead of readin' the timelines" Wayne wows. All as Nasir Jones counters, "Let my soul bleed, inside a Rolls, wearing rosaries/Homie, I lovе the new NY 'cause I'm thе new NY/And the old NY at the same time (Same time)/I always hit the last shot when it's game time (Game time)/The Jordan, Kobe, 'Bron talk, take a long walk." This is GOAT talk. 

After sending out a kite to a 'Pretty Young Girl' he saw 'round his way (expect many to slide into his DMs now), hip-hop's greatest storyteller gives us some rewinds 'Based On A True Story', part one and two like an unauthorized biography. That's when it gets cinematic on the detective list, "you see". But 'Sitting With My Thoughts' is where Jones and his Boy get real inspired and introspective. "Never broke again, I'm blacker than the NBA/ESPN couldn't cover all of my highlights", Nasir muses before dropping it all in a 'Blue Bentley' that rolls smoother than if he was a 'Jodeci Member'. "Chain walkin' on water like Jesus Christ/Should I do the gators, Nikes, or Adidas stripes? (Two)/It's been a good day, but tonight, we goin' bad/Whole squad causing terror, shout to Joey Crack", he flosses one moment.  All before getting real with, "Try me like new shoes, try me like new clothes, a color you never wore/Try me like vegan food, I'll show you what we can do, so you ain't sad no more/A love you ain't had before", the next. 'Speechless' also gets its sequel with part two. And you know the Sake smooth with a hit 'Japanese Soul Bar' is going to be just what I ordered. Yet it's the hotline blinging closer '1-800-Nas&Hit' that you should really call on. "Yo, it's like the box sets, Star Wars, Fast & Furious franchises/Six projects, six sagas, it's hood science/4 A.M. infomercials tellin' you where to buy it/1-800-Nas&Hit, all six like a greatest hits/No, my brother, you got to cop your own/Whether we did diamond or hardly sold/We did it for our soul." And they surely did like the black on white of the album artwork for the Rat Pack don you can't forget about like sampling Nat King Cole and singing with Natalie. Now when's the next big-three? We still believe in magic. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: 'Never Die (Feat. Lil'Wayne)', 'Based On True Events', 'Japanese Soul Bar'.