Nas - Untitled (2008)

Nas - Untitled (2008)

"...this is a song about fried chicken?"

I said that aloud to my fiancee as I we were listening to Untitled in my car. On an album that Nas clearly wanted to be viewed as important (what with the controversy surrounding it's working title, Nigger), packed with hard-hitting social commentary and references to important moments and names in black history ranging from slavery to Barack Obama, it was a little surprising to hear this absurd song personifying black peoples' most well-known culinary stereotype. But then I listened to the album more. And to that song more. And now I feel a little silly saying that my favorite song on Untitled, and album filled with hard-hitting social commentary and references to important moments and names in black history ranging from slavery to Barack Obama, is an absurd song personifying black peoples' most well-known culinary stereotype.

This is not to say that the other songs fail. The simplistic, piano-driven intro, "Queens Get The Money", is probably the album's least over-produced song. Adversely, you have songs like "Make The World Go Round" and "Hero" that scream for radio play, coming complete with current hot pop stars (Chris Brown?) and hot producers. Sometimes the over-production works, such as on the track "N.I.G.G.E.R. (The Slave And The Master)", where the bombastic approach works for the emotion of the song.

Thankfully, Nas is on top of his game lyrically throughout the album, and it's enough to keep your attention on the song topics. It's just a shame that the beat-makers couldn't match him. You'd think that the raw subject matter would call for raw production, yet instead we get 80's synth effects (as on the song "America"). But hey, what do I know? I will, however, give props to DJ Green Lantern for the Tupac sample ("And though it seems heaven sent/We ain't ready to have a black president") on "Black President", because I've been wondering for the last year and a half when someone was going to dig that line up, and frankly was starting to get impatient. Thank you, Mr. Lantern.

Still, I come back to "Fried Chicken". What does this being Untitled's strongest song say about the album as a whole? I feel there's a deeper connection to be made with it that I'm not analyzing properly. So I'll opt for the "it is what it is" philosophy. The passive individuals philosophy of choice. It's the best song just because it's the best song and it doesn't really speak to any underlying meaning. It doesn't require analyzation because the meaning is more obvious than hidden, if there even is a meaning at all. That probably sums up my feelings about this album pretty accurately, actually.

I listen to this album and feel like the ultimate goal should be to promote a deep discussion about black society. One that speaks for a group of people like any good protest album should. Nas does present several issues and talks about them passionately, but in the end I don't feel like any discussion is necessary. Perhaps it's because a lot of the issues here have already been covered before in any number of albums by underground rap artists, or perhaps for some other reasons. But there's no depth to his commentary, so in that sense it kind of fails as a protest album even though it ultimately succeeds as a hip hop album.

I like Untitled more for what it attempts than what it accomplishes. What had the potential to be an eventful album, a What's Going On or It Takes A Nation Of Millions... for a new generation, ends up just being a good album that will probably be overlooked in music history, unfortunately.

Score: 7/10



"Fried Chicken"


"Black President"