Archive for July, 2008

Conversation with Sean “Diddy” Combs (2008)

Posted: July 20, 2008 in Music Interviews
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In the summer of 2008, I received an impromptu call asking if I’d be willing to speak with one of mus most successful moguls, Sean “Diddy” Combs. Of course, it was an offer I couldn’t refuse and a nice milestone in knowing my work was being noticed by some of the heavy hitters in Hip-Hop culture. Although we didn’t have much time, Combs and I had an interesting conversation on the “health” of Hip-Hop, Wayne’s meteoric rise, and the mogul’s tireless entrepreneurial spirit. It was interviews like this early in my career that inspired me to push forward and make my own dreams a reality.

Ismael AbduSalaam: Thanks for making the time, I know you’re real busy.

Sean “Diddy” Combs: No problem, sir.

Ismael: I wanted to ask you some questions about the new VH1 show you got I Want to Work for Diddy…

Diddy: Yeaaah…

Ismael: The first question I had…

Diddy: Yeah, yeah! Not to interrupt you but this right here is an overall plan of mine that I’ve had for the last year, which is to take over the airwaves. In the month of August (2008), I’m taking over the airwaves. I have three shows on the air and I’m renaming it Diddy TV. Monday night, you have I Want to Work for Diddy. Tuesday night you got Run’s House. Wednesday night you got Making the Band. The newest show out of all of them is I Want to Work for Diddy.

I was running over the last year to time everything so I had everything planned all at once, reruns and everything. So every time you turn on VH1 or MTV, you’ll see the Bad Boy logo or hear the music. You’ll see a lot of real estate on the air: a lot of branding, product placement, and things like that. It’s a new experiment I’m trying to combine the marketing with the creative content I produce and put together for TV.

Ismael: Very smart. What did you do to make sure every show stayed distinct even though you’re working on them all at the same time?

Diddy: It’s really being aware that I have three shows on at the same time. Being conscious to give people three different shows but also have a synergy. There’s a lot of African-American talent, number one. I’m very proud of that, [to] add some color to MTV, Viacom, and VH1. It’s really the positive messages for making them all distinct. My whole concept television-wise is about empowerment, by making it inspirational, to inspire people, and making it about empowerment.

So whether it’s Run’s House and the positive messages that are there with his kids. Whether it’s his kids starting a sneaker company or Rusty wanting to be a cook, or [launching] Team Blackout. It’s about us being able to empower ourselves and not asking for handouts. And that’s the family show.

Now on Making the Band, [it’s]just taking it up to another level [and] continuing with the drama that we’ve had. The drama’s natural, the drama’s real. And [also] really taking the show on the road. I thought that was something different for the brand. We’ve never seen the show go on tour and go to different cities. And that competitive thing you have on tour with the groups. Now, we’re releasing our 3rd album off that brand, which is Donnie Klang which we hope to have #1. That comes out September 2nd and would be our third #1 [album].

And then you have I Want to Work for Diddy which has a whole cinematic style to it. I went with a lot of steady cams and dolly shots. I shot it widescreen, letterbox. Some of my home video footage was used in there. So my look wasn’t like a fake Apprentice or another rendition of Making of the Band with people going to eat cheesecake. It was a show about following your dreams. Maybe not being from New York, you still want to work in the entertainment industry. People have that dream are all over America. We were truly able to accomplish that [vision].

Ismael: I know you’ve had a lot of assistants in your time. What’s the main reason assistants don’t last with you?

Diddy: That’s a misconception. I’ve needed more assistants than the average person. I have four assistants now since I’m running 10 companies and I needed more assistants. The positive thing is that I needed more not because my assistants didn’t last, [but] most of them went on to do bigger and better things, as you’ll see in the show. Most of them are like VPs, heads or presidents of companies, [and] most of them make six figures now. Most of their zip codes have changed to better zip codes. When someone is your assistant for three years and they’re doing a great job, you either have to promote them within the company, or they’re gonna get snatched up by another company. And that’s the purpose. If you’re a good boss, that’s really how you know that what you’re doing is good, if other people want your staff or to get hired in your organization.

Ismael: One of the big things you said about a month ago in one of your blogs was that Lil Wayne’s album was a classic, and that the game has changed. So looking at it today, Lil Wayne has the 2nd rated (Tha Carter III)Billboard album on the charts, and Nas has the #1 spot (Untitled). So you have the previous generation and the new right at the top of the charts. Do you think that shows Hip-Hop is in a healthy state?

Diddy: Yeah, I think Hip-Hop takes criticism well. But Hip-Hop doesn’t like to criticize. When we were getting criticism from each other, Hip-Hop rises to the occasion. We don’t like being known as a genre that you don’t really need a lot of talent for, because this is the most talented genre in music. I think a lot of people got offended in a positive way and went in deep with the creativity. Whether it’s Lil Wayne or Kanye…and to be honest those two really have a huge level of responsibility on the rebirth of Hip-Hop.

All due respect to the OGs, and I would consider myself in that category, but the truth of the matter is it wouldn’t have worked the way it’s working now if the new generation didn’t step up.

There are some living legends still in the game that were always before their time. So it took the new cats some time to even catch up and step up. And by doing it I think its put fire up underneath everybody’s ass in a positive way. I think that Nas is a living legend. With Wayne’s album it wasn’t a southern album, it was like a classic Hip-Hop album. It’s just paving the way for true Hip-Hop artists such as Nas or Jay-Z. I think even if Common dropped an album [right now]. Anything that’s true Hip-Hop but also has that balance of not being too far left, but being up to center in the sense of understanding how to make big records, will do well.

Ismael: Bad Boy has put out a lot of strong R&B albums this year (2008). Do you have anything planned for 2009 as far as Hip-Hop albums go?

Diddy: Yeah, yeah. In 2009 I’m finally gonna release Aasim the Dream from Queens. I got a real huge internet push on him. You’re gonna be hearing a lot of noise from him. That’s really gonna be one of my main focuses on Hip-Hop next year.

Ismael: I have one more question for you. A lot of people are aware when you first started out you were interning for Uptown and there were a lot of things you had to go through. But you were really ambitious, even if that meant riding the train daily from DC to New York. You did what you had to do. You’ve always said the greatest thing you can tell people coming into the game is just to be you, and to be genuine. So when you look at the people coming up business and artist-wise, do you see them adhering to that and coming in with a genuine spirit?

Diddy: Man people coming into the game at this point, aren’t even seeing a fraction of the money that people like myself, Jay, Dr. Dre, or Death Row or anybody got. So if they doing it, they really gotta be doing it for the love [laughs] and that genuine spirit. Because there ain’t a lot of those $60 million, $150 million dollar checks being written no more.

Ismael: Very, very true. Well that’s all I got. Is there anything else you wanted to add that we may have missed?

Diddy: Yeah I got a new show on MTV that I’m announcing in a couple of weeks, I can’t announce it now. I’m real proud of the Emmy nomination for the movie I did for NBC, A Raisin in the Sun. I take a lot of pride and excitement in the year I’m having in television. It’s just a dream of what I wanted and what I want Bad Boy to be, from music, to television, to fashion…To be honest I think my crew is really doing their thing right now. My hat goes off to my team. We’re selling out the liquor stores, we got #1 albums dropping, #1 fragrance, #1 television shows, #1 movies…We only just begun. We’re about to go real crazy in the 4th like Jordan on these motherfuckers.

Ismael: Perfect way to end. I just want you to know when I was younger and just getting into music was when you were really making your mark with Mary J, Jodeci and Biggie’s first album. So I wanted to thank you for your contributions [to music].

Diddy: Thank you very much.

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David Banner: Unappreciated Genius (2008)

Posted: July 10, 2008 in Music Interviews
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One of my first extensive interviews came when David Banner’s manager agreed to an impromptu meeting following the Mississippi rapper’s performance at Atlanta’s Lenox Mall in the summer of 2008. Banner is without question one of the most passionate and opinionated artists I have ever met. In our discussion I could hear traces of disappointment over a preceieved lack of acceptance from fans for his lyrical ability. He was banking on his Greatest Story Ever Told as his breakthrough project, but it resulted in another disappointment as it garnered mixed reviews from fans and critics alike. The creative chip is still on his shoulder today as he prepares to drop a collaboration album with 9th Wonder entitled Death of a Pop Star.

David Banner knows about struggle. Since his last album, 2005′s Certified, the rapper/activist had to deal with the traumatic effects of Hurricane Katrina on his native Mississippi, attacks on Hip-Hop from the federal government, and his father’s death from cancer in 2007. Despite these hardships and thoughts of retirement, Banner has persevered. He was one of the few artists to testify before Congress last year defending Hip-Hop lyrics, and did so again recently on BET’s Hip-Hop vs. America.

Now with a new album scheduled for release on July 15, David Banner explains the apathy and hypocrisy of our culture, and why his will remains unbroken.

Ismael AbduSalaam: How have you approached this record differently, if you have, from your last albums?

David Banner: It’s strange because initially my approach was just (making) hit records. Being that I produce myself I was trying to put as many back to back hits as I could. I know that nobody that’s on the level that I am is as close to the streets as I was when stuff got bad for me.  So I was able to come back to the street and listen to what kids wanted and give it back to them.

Katrina had hit and the support still wasn’t there for music with political content. I thought this was what the world wanted from us? But then I realized they were a bunch of hypocrites so I just said fuck it I’m gonna focus on just hit records.

But then here comes George Bush and all of his antics and then this high ass gas. People on the streets I know never cared about politics start coming up to me saying ‘yo Banner we now understand what you talking about. We know you gonna bring it on this album. We can’t wait!’

And I ain’t have no politics on the album (laughs). It was straight stuntin’.

Ismael: So you felt you had to go back and modify it?

Banner: I trashed that whole album and made a new one called 13, which is like Outkast on crack. But then I realized the best David Banner is a synthesis of everything: the political, street, and experimentation.

The album is 22 tracks. And Universal is mad because I don’t have standard, mechanical tracks. But I was like fuck that we’re gonna give the people a quality album.

If anybody says The Greatest Story Ever Told isn’t the greatest, there’s something they can do. They can close their eyes, pucker up, and allow me to push their face into rhinoceros balls…sweaty rhinoceros balls.

Ismael: Do you feel quality albums are missing in today’s market?

Banner: One of the reasons why music is so fucked up is that people have been putting out so much trash lately. If people don’t buy into The Greatest Story Ever Told I don’t wanna hear these rules and regulations about how Hip-Hop is supposed to be and you want it to better. Naw, you just wanna continue to dickride.

This is the album people have been waiting for. If they don’t get it, I’ll go do a movie.

Ismael: You recently produced the RZA for his Digi Snacks album. Being that you’re a formidable producer in your own right, what did you guys pick up from each other?

Banner: It was a learning experience. With the lack of record sales everyone is coming back to their senses. It’s humbling for all of us. The conversations me and RZA had were amazing, and I don’t think we could’ve had them say 4 years ago.

I told him ‘dude let me produce you. I know you’re a great producer but I got ideas that can work.’ The problem with Hip-Hop is that everyone is Pro Tools or let me send you the track. That wasn’t the case with RZA, we were in the studio together and I think it will be a beneficial relationship for years to come.

Ismael: Katrina’s lingering devastation on Mississippi, New Orleans, and Alabama is out the public consciousness. Do you feel it’s due more to general apathy or the media just pushing it away?

Banner: I told everyone this would happen. We’re only concerned with what the media spoonfeds up. We’re concerned about Sean Bell as long as it’s on CNN. We don’t seek anything on our own. The truth is we’re only emotional or speaking out if it’s on TV. So if they (the media) want it to stop they just turn it off.

And then us (Hip-Hop media), we follow the big media outlets to keep our numbers up. And that’s some bullshit.

Ismael: On the BET Hip-Hop vs. America men’s panel, you stated that there was a lot of ego-stroking being done, and when the cameras stopped everyone would just go about their business. Did that happen or were there steps taken to initiate action after the show?

Banner: Everyone exchanges numbers but there’s no follow up, but I knew that was what was gonna happen. That’s why I said it. “Y’all ain’t gonna do shit but talk.”

Ismael: Do you feel there have been any ramifications from you speaking before Congress last year about lyrics in Hip-Hop music, or that it was mostly posturing on Congress’ part?

Banner: If we wouldn’t have stepped up some shit would’ve happened. We showed that there are intelligent black people in rap that will protect our form of music. But what I don’t understand is the people who do that type of music the public won’t support them.

We don’t do shit but talk and support the people who treat us like shit. You repay us by purchasing our music.

But we see that all the time. Look at the families of Malcolm X and Tupac. They should be financially rich beyond belief for all that they’ve done for us but they’re not and everyone continues to eat of their legacies.

Ismael: How did the mixtape with Whoo Kid come about?

Banner: Whoo Kid is a funny motherfucker. We’ve been cool for a minute since I had went on tour with 50 about 3 years ago. I don’t know if you heard the mixtape, but he put his foot in that shit. Like your grandma from Mississippi does when she’s making gumbo.

I got Chris Brown on there. People are gonna be surprised at the partnerships I’ve had that I’m finally showcasing.

Ismael: As an artist closely tied to the people, how much does that weigh on you when you’re making music since your constantly keeping their struggles in mind?

Banner: Every artist that’s a real artist is crazier than a motherfucker, all of them. Something ain’t right with me, Wayne, TIP, T-Pain, and 50. Andre 3000? Loony as a bat. But that’s the blessing. It’s Ying and Yang. God blesses us to think on a different frequency and to act on it. And it’s not just in music, it registers in all facets of your life.

I wish I could make records like Eminem and Andre 3000, but if you don’t have Jimmy Iovine or LA Reid behind your project that shit is gonna fail unless you push that shit on niggas.

People fronted (on the first single) “Get Like Me (Stuntin Is a Habit)” until people like Big Von (KMEL), Stan Branson (JMI), Leo and Ms. Kitty (XM Radio) got on it.

People say they want something different but they don’t support nothing different until it becomes mainstream.

Ismael: Do you feel that the tension that existed between the East and Southern Hip-Hop fans has finally cooled off?

Banner: A lot of times it takes a New York nigga to say some sh*t is hot before we say ‘oh it’s hot.’ Niggas heard me on that Nas record (“Middle Finger”) and all of sudden it’s “oh David Banner’s rapping and political now.” Nigga I been political! That verse I spit on “9MM,” if Biggie would’ve said it it’d be a Hip-Hop quotable. But it takes me to get on a record with somebody from New York before y’all will hear or listen to it.

Think about it. A southern rapper has never really gotten true credit for being a lyricist unless a New York rapper said it. People started accepting Wayne when Jay-Z said he was dope. Same thing with T.I.. It happened to me with Nas. Nah, don’t filter me through another nigga. Accept me for doing dope for me.

Why haven’t Andre 3000, Bun B, and Twista gotten their proper credit? Why are Scarface, Eightball, and MJG not in the top 10?

Ismael: Now that the album is finished, have you been able to relax? Or does the fact that you say Hip-Hop fans don’t support different styles of music cause anxiety and resentment?

Banner: Man, I don’t give a fuck anymore. With (my last album) Certified, that shit almost ran me crazy. I went through a really bad depression. I just knew that that album was the one. But that also showed that God was telling me “I tell you what’s the one, not you.”

I did the best that I can and for the first time I’m proud of myself. If they accept it, great. But I know what the world is about. I know the world is a bunch of fucking hypocrites.

Look at Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, and Andre 3000. White folks will jump on us and give us our praise first. I want me my people to love me, but who have we shown that kinda love to before they died?

Lina: A Love Supreme (2008)

Posted: July 1, 2008 in Music Interviews
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The fast pace of music industry will yield you countless associates, but not many friends. The soul singer known professionally as Lina is one of the few people I can sincerely call a friend. In 2008 we began corresponding on Myspace, and eventually conducted the interview below. Since then we’ve remained in contact, and I can attest to this woman’s wonderful, caring spirit. She was very instrumental in encouraging me to have faith in my own talents and to pursue my writing passion without fear.

As an artist, Lina is the definition of an “old soul.” While some use vintage sounds to promote a gimmick, Lina was crafting her music from the inspiration of 1930s Swing a decade ago. At the time of this interview, she was just getting her own label off the ground. Amongst the topics we covered were her favorite jazz influences and her purpose a musician. Enjoy.

Look into Lina’s eyes and you’ll see a bygone era when Swing ruled the airwaves and defined the American songbook. For Lina, her affinity for older traditions is not a gimmick but a way of life. Releasing her latest album Morning Star on her own label, Mood Star Recordings, Lina now attempts to navigate the perilous line between creative artist and bottom-line conscious CEO.

Ismael AbduSalaam: You’ve stated that with the new album you’ve streamlined the best elements from your debut Stranger on Earth and your sophomore offering with Hidden Beach (The Inner Love Movement). Was that a conscious decision you made before going into the studio or something that developed organically as you were working on the project?

Lina: It developed organically. I just evolved. I got more familiar with the business and all my influences just kind of met each other on this album.

Ismael: Now that you have your own label (Mood Star) you’re juggling a lot of different hats while still being an artist. Have you had any difficulty separating all these responsibilities when it’s time to go in the studio and be creative?

Lina: Oh yes. I didn’t realize how really you have to go into a zone because I stayed (just) an artist so long and was able to just concentrate on being creative. I wanted to do the label but once the business started coming and I had to take those business calls and make executive decisions, I couldn’t be creative for a long time. I realized I had to balance both sides, and I’m still learning. I’m new at this but I have a lot of people helping me.

When I’m in business mode, I execute well. But making that transition (to artist) you have to take that down time and completely remove yourself. It’s like I have a dual personality.

Ismael: With your last album Hidden Beach had control and picked the songs they wanted from your catalogue. Since they’re a neo-soul label they picked most of your soul sounding records. If you had control over that project, how different would the album have sounded?

Lina: It would’ve been pretty different (laughs). It would have been more alternative….alternative soul.

Ismael: I remember when you first came out in 2002 you stated that you felt musically we were going backwards creatively and spiritually. Six years later do you feel the same way?

Lina: Oh yeah. We are going backwards. (There’s) nothing new under the sun whether it’s the 30′s, 40′s, 50′s, 60′s or 70′s. We’re in this recession right now and people just wanna feel something again. The standards of the music industry were tainted by video. Music was meant to be heard and felt so the person could have their own individual experiences. But when the video came along then people became more about icons and presentation. So it diluted a lot of the real feelings and real soul in music, in all kinds.

I think the only genre that kept its esteem was jazz. Everybody’s in a funk now. There are all these influences. You got the soul/gospel people coming back now. And now I feel this shift happening in the music business because of the recession. (A lot) of music shook our foundation of love with the content and the impression it made on people, and how it actually confused a lot of us. We’re seeing repercussions of that style of mainstream music that was really superficial.

Now we’re going back to real stories of funk, soul, and jazz.

Ismael: Being a CEO you now have to balance a musician’s artistic freedom with the vision you have for the label. Since you are an artist does that make this task easier or more difficult?

Lina: It’s easier because I look for artists that I connect with spiritually. I’m doing this so out of the box. A lot of my business managers have a different mentality about this and that’s ok, because I need that for my protection. But when I connect with artists I’m connecting with them on a level from an artistic point of view, artist to artist. I allow advisers to come in an advise them on the business.

It’s easier because I understand them. The things that happened to me in the business I won’t allow to happen to them. I won’t take on too many artists. I even have artists that have their own creative projection right now. They think they know what they want, but I know from when I thought I knew what I wanted and later on evolved, I know how to deal with them and knowing that spiritually they’ll come around.

If I have a rapper that raps about what he sees so far, but every once and awhile I hear him go there, I’ll say “Ok, I know he’s gonna evolve to that.” So I’ll work with them until they’re ready. I understand that.

Ismael: Love is a very big recurring theme and foundation in your music. With your label Mood Star the actual motto is “Life supports music because music supports life.” How strong do you think music can be as a vehicle for social change and are there any limits on music in regards to if it can improve society?

Lina: There’s no limits. Music is the universal language. I myself was raised by song. And I have a song called “Who’s Your Daddy” that talks about some of the youth being raised by rap songs. We were raised by music. It’s there when we’re alone; it speaks to our subconscious mind. It’s music so it’s that thing like love; one of those things you feel but cannot see. Just the instruments and the spirit of music….it is a spirit.

(Music’s power) is unlimited. If you listen to my all my records I’ve never wrote a true love song. I’ve written about being strong, you can’t do me wrong, I love myself, and even songs like “I hope this is love, but if not I’ll make it through.” That was me in this society of self-glorification and superficial music, (and) I grew up that era too.

I listened to a lot of the materialistic Hip-Hop. Then I had my own battle with the music that put women down and I’m like “I’m not going to be done like that.” So I see how music affected me and my friends around the world.

Ismael: Jazz music, particularly the Roaring 20′s and swing have had a big influence on you. What in particular attracts you to those styles?

Lina: Its spirit. The people played with passion and it wasn’t about money. They were just being creative. There was individuality, independent thinking, and it was just no rules. It was the way they found joy and escape from all their problems. Whatever that “thing” is that they put into the music and pass along to the listener, that soul of it is what attracts me to (that sound).

It was purity, innocence, and genuine. I can hear it, no matter how low I feel it. Something about that music I have a connection with.

Ismael: I want to mention a few artists from that era and get your feedback on what immediately comes to mind when you hear these names.

Lina: Ok.

Ismael: First artist would be Benny Goodman.

Lina: Wow…genius (laughs)

Ismael: Next is Count Basie.

Lina: Oh my God…phenomenal.

Ismael: Duke Ellington.

Lina: Class. Just high standards…upscale.

Ismael: Roy Eldridge.

Lina: Ooh…the truth! (laughs)

Ismael: Dinah Washington.

Lina: Soulful, beautiful.

Ismael: And finally Billie Holiday.

Lina: Oh my God. (She’s) the epitome of an artist. The epitome of what our contributions should be as artists. I tell everybody you can’t be an artist if you haven’t listened to Billie Holiday. And not even so much about her voice by herself, it’s whatever she’s going through projected through her vocals. It had nothing to do with the track either; she’s music.

Ismael: Do you prefer her voice when it was clearer during her youth or the later period like “Lady in Satin” when it became hoarse but she was still able to project all that emotion?

Lina: I felt more pain and connected with her later on, because it was truly about her soul. You could feel her pain and her struggle in her vocals.

Ismael: With the new album Morning Star what are your favorite tracks off the album?

Lina: My favorite track is “Good Day” because that’s a song where I had to just keep it real on what I was going through. The album is not like the others. I call those my “empathetic albums”… this is me and other people’s stuff (problems). Morning Star is my stuff that I went through and things that I’m thinking about. I was bold enough to put it on paper and get over myself. I have to keep it real with me and express myself.

Other tracks (I like) are “Piano Song” and “Breakthrough.” I want all the ladies to listen to “Get It Right.”

Ismael: You’re close to 10 years deep as an artist. What’s the biggest misconception people have about Lina the artist or your music?

Lina: Probably my vocals, I can sing (laughs). I sing gospel, I sing R&B, (and) I’m not just one thing.

Ismael: Visually your clothing and makeup have always been striking and distinctive. Has that always been your style or something you consciously started doing to separate yourself in the industry?

Lina: No, I grew up with all women. I have six aunts who all grew up in the 70′s. They were very fashionable and my mom had her own clothing line for a minute and she was a beautician. So that was a thing my family was always into. And I always felt like an old soul. The things they were into were things I was into, while my peers were more modern.

Ismael: You’re currently working on a jazz album, have you named it yet?

Lina: I haven’t named it yet. I’m doing the jazz circuit now with all the festivals. The cool thing that’s happening with jazz now is that they’re bringing in alternative and soul artists to do jazz who are versed in it. I’m real excited about it.

Ismael: With jazz there’s always been that divide regarding what is “real jazz.” Do you subscribe to that or feel it’s too divisive with music?

Lina: I know that they mean because a true jazz artist knows their history and the greats. They study and read music. They’re very passionate. They make money but it’s about playing that instrument. I’ve worked with jazz and R&B bands and it’s totally different. Jazz musicians are extremely dedicated to their craft.

Ismael: Would you consider an album like Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew a jazz album?

Lina: Wooo, how dare you (laughs). It has a theme and respect for jazz but to me it’s something else too. It’s all things.

Ismael: Any closing thoughts?

Lina: I want to thank all my fans for holding me down. Somebody asked me what was the difference between me and another artist they named. I do music to glorify God. I realize that as an artist I have a responsibility to make a contribution to the soul of man the way a lot of my favorite artists did. I want to reach out to all the artists out there that we have a responsibility. Keep that in mind when we’re making music because we’re offering lives for the better or worse. Through some form make a contribution to the soul of man.

Nas: Untitled (Album Review)

Posted: July 1, 2008 in Album Reviews
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The Nigger movement has been a lonely crusade for Nasir Jones. As a younger artist, he was regularly blasted for allegedly selling out his musical integrity. Years later, a mature Nas now sees his attempts to bring relevant social issues to Hip-Hop cynically dismissed as a pseudo gimmick to gain exposure. But after all the comments and discussion, the final word will always be the quality of the music. And with the recently censored album name now christened Untitled (Def Jam), Nas seeks to validate himself after months of intense pressure from fans and media alike.

The album begins with the haunting sparse piano chords of “Queens Get the Money.” The lack of drums makes the track initially sound abrasive; as Nas weaves his rhymes on and off beat. But it is the dissonance of Jay Electronica’s production that accentuates Nas’ lyrics midway. The Queensbridge poet paraphrases elements from Rakim’s classic fourth verse on “My Melody” to take some piercing jabs at former apprentice 50 Cent.

 Regular collaborator Salaam Remi delivers a bass heavy, jazz infused rendition of “Can’t Stop Us Now.” The now popular sample has seen recent renditions from MF Doom, Mos Def, and the RZA. However, Remi makes the piece unique by incorporating jazz trumpet chords, the soulful crooning of Eban Thomas of The Stylistics, and the authoritative spoken word of the Last Poets. Nas’ rhymes remain on point as he takes aim at our accepted beliefs on early American patriotism (“Betsy Ross sowed the first American flag / Bet she had a nigger with her to help her old ass”).

 Recent criticism against Nas’ albums has been his use of somber, demure production, which the Queens MC has made strides in addressing. On the graceful “Breathe,” the melodic rhythms blend effortlessly with his urges for us to “exhale” on the stresses of American life. The celebratory “Make The World Go Round,” by far the most commercial and radio aimed track, works mainly due to the lyrical chemistry between The Game and Nas.

 However, the slick production starts to wane thin by the Stargate produced “America.” The continued bombardment of synth originated cadences (especially after the sonorous but enjoyable lead single “Hero”) starts to pull the listener out of the album. Still, Nas’ verses remain potent, especially a standout third verse criticizing the sexism and imperialism of Western society.

The LP gets back on track with the rock-tinged “Sly Fox.” Over PE reminiscent guitar riffs, Nas cleverly assaults the moral authority of Fox News on the basis of their manipulation of news and business dealings with Youtube and Myspace (“Only Fox that I love was the Redd one /Only black man the at Fox love is in jail or a dead one”). With “Testify,” Nas creatively crafts the song in the conversation flow of “Book Of Rhymes,” while questioning whether his fans are ready for social action beyond the music.

First seen on the now classic “I Gave You Power,” Nas’ expertise at personification is once again on display with “Project Roach” and “Fried Chicken.” On the former, the Last Poets appear again to ridicule the NAACP’s “funeral” for the word nigger, while Nas personifies the insect as a metaphor for the derogatory term. With the latter track, Busta Rhymes joins in as both MC’s skewer the stereotype of Black eating habits over Mark Ronson’s southern blues styled production.

The criticism is not just directed outward, as Nas questions his own materialism on the reflective and communal “Y’all My Niggas.” He continues that trend on the ethereal, “We’re Not Alone,” where Nas expresses regret at previously glorifying killers like Pappy Mason over figures such as historian Ivan Van Sertima.

On Hip Hop Is Dead, Nas made the mistake of presenting that topic as a loose theme over the album and expecting listeners to pick up subliminal messages. With Untitled, he’s able to not only cohesively explain his stance on the word nigger, but detail its use throughout history on social, political, and judicial levels. And despite the dense subject matter, Nas’ varied lyrical presentations keep the opus from ever becoming preachy or condescending.

Notwithstanding minor missteps in sequencing and production, Untitled has delivered on its potential as a cogent, intellectually honest piece of art. And like its predecessor The Nigger Tape, Nasir Jones has crafted not only a career highlight in his catalogue, but the most thought-provoking and challenging mainstream Hip-Hop album in a long time.