Album Reviews8/10
Nas Looks Back at Fame, Family, and Bad Choices on Life Is Good
Nas reflects on family, fame, and fate on Life Is Good, a dense, ambitious album that rewards patience.
CLAY TRIBUNE / THE ARCHIVE
Category: Album Reviews
Records we have scored.
Nas Built a Concept Album Around Prophecy and Made It Work
A dark, prophetic tale of family, fate, and the streets, told through fifteen tracks of Nas's finest rhymes.
Album Reviews6.6/10
Nas and Nashawn’s Napalm Review: A Flawed But Fascinating Experiment in Hip-Hop and Hard Rock Fusion
A fiery, genre-bending rap record that smashes hip-hop and hard rock together, reviewed track by track.
Album Reviews9/10
Nas Stakes His Claim on New York City in Illmatic
A look back at Illmatic, Nas's 1994 masterpiece, ranking its ten tracks and arguing why it remains one of rap's finest records.
Album Reviews7.1/10
Nas’ Magic 2 Trades Concept for Beats — and Mostly Pulls It Off
A review of Nas' Magic 2: a solid, beat-driven album whose peaks are high and lows are low, with a 71/100 Metacritic score.
Album Reviews8.2/10
Twelve Years On, Piñata Still Sounds Like Nothing Else Around It
A record of dealers, wives lost, and the street's grim comfort, told through old movie sounds and a voice that never flinches.
Album Reviews8.7/10
Noname’s ‘Sundial’ Packs Identity, Politics and Doubt Into Under Thirty Minutes
A swift chronicle of Noname's Sundial, wherein eleven tracks condense into a thesis of wit, sorrow, and protest.
Album Reviews8/10
Rapsody’s Thank H.E.R. Now Names Hip-Hop’s Women Pioneers Across 20 Tracks
A tribute to Black women pioneers in hip-hop and beyond, told across twenty tracks of solemn purpose.
Rapsody’s ‘The Idea of Beautiful’: Ambition, Unevenly Applied
Rapsody's debut album weighs ambition against length, with 'Believe Me' and 'Celebrate' carrying a record that drifts between modes.
Album Reviews8/10
Rapsody’s ‘Please Don’t Cry’ Is Messy on Purpose — And That’s Why It Works
Rapsody's Please Don't Cry is a raw, pointed album about surviving fame, family, and grief — a review of every track.