For years, Nas has been regarded as arguably one of the greatest rappers of all time, rising to fame in 1992 with his hit ‘Half Time’ which was featured on the soundtrack of the movie ‘Zebrahead’, though Nas truly had his breakthrough with his 1994 album, ‘Illmatic’, making him a millionaire within the first week of the record hitting the stores.
‘Magic 3’ marks Nas’ second album within two months, the first being ‘Magic 2’ released on Jul. 21. This newest addition also marks the final installment to the ‘Magic’ trilogy, also noting that this is his last collaboration with Hit-Boy, one of Nas’ long time friends.
‘Fever’ starts off the album very strong, paying homage to Nas’ song ‘Represent’, incorporating the chorus into the song while he describes what it took to get him to where he is today. This was a great, but poignant start to ‘Magic 3’. My favorite songs have to be ‘Based on True Events’ and ‘Based on True Events Pt. 2’ which are two upbeat songs that tell a story describing a past love, he pays close attention to who the woman associates herself with while also trying to keep the relationship going steady. Nas continues the story through ‘Based on True Events Pt. 2’, diving even deeper into the story.
The album finishes even stronger than it started, giving listeners a bittersweet feeling with ‘1-800-Nas&Hit’, reflecting on the past few years he’s shared making music with Hit-Boy and how thankful he is to have had everyone supporting him along the way, including family, friends, and other rappers. This track has Nas also describing how ‘If Huey was a rapper, he would say some wild things over a sample// Think about it, shh// If Malcom was a rapper, he would say some shit over the breaks’, talking about how late Black leaders like Huey P. Newton and Malcom X’s messages were attempted to be represented through many other rappers, and if they had been spreading their messages through music and entertainment, that maybe there would be a possibility that they could still be alive today.
Overall, I really enjoyed listening to this album, it’s one that you could just press play with no skips.
