Nas & Hit-Boy Find A Balance With ‘King’s Disease’ (Album Review)
On King’s Disease, the latest album from Nas and producer Hit-Boy (a surprisingly solid East Coast/West Coast pairing), the Queens hip-hop legend finds himself in reflection mode as many artists do at this point in their careers. We last heard from Nas with 2012’s Life is Good, which he followed up in 2018 with the Kanye West collaboration NASIR and last year’s compilation of unreleased tracks The Lost Tapes 2. While those albums were considered mixed bags to some, what we get with King’s Disease is one of Nas’s more consistent efforts in quite some time.
Nas has always been a standout MC, with an outlook that seemed to stretch further than many of his peers at times just based on presentation. The words he uses to express his points are vivid, often blunt, and to the point. People like to say hip-hop is street poetry. Nas exemplifies that and then some.
“I used to be at The Tunnel twenty deep in a huddle
Razors on us that’ll make skin bubble”
The production choices of Hit-Boy (who has previously worked with the likes of Dom Kennedy, Big Sean, Kendrick Lamar, Lil’ Wayne, and more) are diverse and well-picked. The opening title track contains a great soul sample, reminiscent of something from an early Kanye album, while “Blue Benz” manages to sound modern yet also like something that could have been on Dr. Dre’s 2001 album.
Moreover, “27 Summers” clocks in at 1:43 and has a trap-inspired beat where Nas explores the luxuries of success, whether it’s sitting courtside at NBA games or next to DeNiro at a movie premiere. Unfortunately, because it’s such a short song it comes off as more of an interlude when another verse could have made it one of the strongest points of the album. Nevertheless, it’s an excellent performance from Nas that hopefully results in either an extended version or remix somewhere down the line.
Additionally, the closing song “The Cure” is especially impressive from a production standpoint, transitioning from a triumphant sound to a darker, moodier one for the last 2 minutes or so. Nas sounds refreshed and comfortable on the majority of King’s Disease, often going with a laid-back flow but demonstrating on more than one occasion that he can still give us that hungrier Nas as well. “The Definition” is a great example of this:
“Yo, see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil
Traffickers, African, Latin, wire tappings
Here come the people, run my people, they don’t treat us equal
I’m talking the law, for me freedom is illegal
Tape telephone conversations, what kind of nation
Got three hundred million people they investigating?
I know they’re tryna watch me, a Russian oligarchy
Politically, it’s principle they try to stop me
Powerful people establish you, they try to mute you
Unethical ways put you in prison, try to roof you
Our youth is dead to us, they called us superpredators
Stupid words from the President’s mouth, where are his editors?”
If the album lacks in any department, it’s some of the guest appearances. There’s the Big Sean and Don Tolliver-assisted “Replace Me”, where Tolliver delivers a solid chorus but frequent Hit-Boy collaborator Big Sean comes off sounding a bit lazy and uninspired. It doesn’t ruin the track, but one may be tempted to tune out as his verse doesn’t add much to it either. There’s also a Lil’ Durk feature on “Til The War Is Won” and while his verse fits the theme of single mothers, toxicity, and fallen soldiers, he and Nas are just an odd pair stylistically that don’t mesh well.
Thankfully, other features work out better on King’s Disease. Charlie Wilson drops by to provide vocals on the standout “Car #85”, a smooth track which references an old neighborhood cab service used for anything from committing crimes to visiting flings. The Anderson .Paak collaboration “All Bad” is a groovier cut that will probably serve as a future single, while “Full Circle” gives us a reunion of Nas’s short-lived 90’s crew The Firm. AZ, Cormega, Foxy Brown, and very briefly Dr. Dre (no Nature, unfortunately) all appear on a sentimental song about honoring and respecting women, a sharp contrast from the mafioso concept raps of their 1997 album. AZ, in particular, comes through with an excellent verse:
“Dialogue superb, flyest cars on the curb, word
When I evolved, a higher God emerged reserved
More subtle, come from the stress and the struggle
Young then, obsessed in the bubble about it
Took advantage if a woman allowed it
One of the foulest, some would say I was childish, money-driven
Mischievous, I perceived it as livin’, gifts, and ribbons
Any kisses on the lips was forbidden, I was on it
She curvy, then shorty was cornered, no worries
For the naughty, it was higher performance, or was it really?
The games that I was playin’ was silly
Similar to them days when I was packin’ that milly, it could’ve killed me…”
We then have songs like “10 Points” and “Ultra Black”, the former pointing out charitable contributions people like Lebron James or Michael Jordan make that often go overlooked. “Ultra Black”, the lead single of the album, touches on being proud of who you are and overcoming despite the constant roadblocks in your way. Both are powerful songs that only add to the depth Nas displays on this record.
In closing, King’s Disease is one of the stronger Nas albums of late and demonstrates that he’s still able to drop by every few years and tap into modern stylings while still giving us those classic Nas raps that hooked us back in the day with classics like “The Message” or “One Love”. Hit-Boy provides a great canvas for Nas to work with, resulting in each song having their own identity and vibe to them. At 12 tracks (13 if you include the bonus cut “Spicy”) and just under 40 minutes, it doesn’t overstay it’s welcome and leaves you wanting more, which I’m sure we’ll get as Nas doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon.
