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The Queensbridge legend’s fifth mission with Hit-Boy reveals it might be time to introduce new tips to the act.
Nas and Hit-Boy have been rap’s most spectacular duo for the final three years. The brand new Gang Starr, in their very own phrases. Starsky and Hutch. Inseparable for 4 albums straight, considered one of which led to the QB icon’s first ever Grammy win. Each time you assume they’re completed, the run continues. The run now stretches to 5 initiatives, taking off the King’s Illness crown and placing on the magician’s high hat for a sequel to their 2021 Christmas current.
This time spherical, the rabbits are caught within the high hat as Nas and Hit-Boy seek for new inspiration.
Hit-Boy has completed Nas justice with the manufacturing throughout all their initiatives, bettering with each album. Magic 2 is the primary signal of beat regression, providing solely a pair as much as the requirements proven earlier than. The highlights come by means of “Workplace Hours”, though the phoned in 50 Cent characteristic leaves rather more to be desired, and “Movement”, which matches the darkish sound of the primary Magic, reaching a stellar climax with its string outro. Different tracks battle to convey the perfect out of Nas, who finally ends up channelling cookie-cutter flows fairly than the energetic, aggressive flows from the Christmas providing.
Beats apart, Nas doesn’t supply a lot substance topically. Few raps grip you, making it robust to pinpoint a objective to songs like “Bokeem Woodbine” or “Earvin Magic Johnson”. They carry the essence of freestyle tracks that punch in informal hooks across the verses. An exception is “Sluggish It Down”, which brings that reflective tone discovered on the perfect songs throughout Magic and King’s Illness trilogy. Extra targeted cuts like these would have Magic 2 fulfilling its true potential.
It might be over-reactionary to say, however Nas ought to begin looking for a brand new problem faraway from Hit-Boy, or on the very least problem one another with the manufacturing and track concepts. Some novel visitor appearances would additionally spice issues up. The sequence has proven the duo work in a small circle, significantly throughout the newest efforts. Is Nas not open to working with the Griselda crew? What a few track with extra New York friends? There’s lots methods Magic 2 may have reached for the celebrities (the pair additionally missed a golden likelihood to name the album Stillmagic).
At this level of their partnership, the stakes aren’t excessive. It’s a inventive train for a rapper who’s thirty years deep, and a producer who’s lastly earned a steady identify for himself. If the lyrics on “Abracadabra” are to go by, the partnership will probably be stretching to a sixth effort. Let’s hope they’ve new tips up their sleeve coming.
6 / 10
Greatest tracks: “Workplace Hours”, “Movement”
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