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It’s tough to imagine a more unlikely superstar than Charli xcx. Despite her almost unwavering reluctance to slot herself into any of the preconceived ideas of what a pop artist should sound like, she managed to score what was inarguably… more ›
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God’s Son occupies an intriguing space in Nas’s catalog. After two stellar releases recalibrated his standing among his peers, album #6 functioned as something of a soft reboot; a chance for Nas to move forward without a giant elephant taking up… more ›
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A compilation of unreleased material is usually meant for the most diehard fans; those for whom the hit singles and studio albums simply won’t cut it. But The Lost Tapes rises so far above that threshold, it throws the entire… more ›
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Sometimes things just line up perfectly. Jay-Z’s critically acclaimed fifth album, The Blueprint, was fresh in everyone’s mind, thanks in part to the song “Takeover,” which mercilessly took aim at Nas, effectively kicking him while he was down. Jay’s star… more ›
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The years between 1996’s It Was Written and 1999’s I Am… were filled with their share of disappointments. The Firm’s collaborative album was a flop, and Nas’s ambitious comeback album became a casualty of heavy bootlegging. It’s understandable that he’d… more ›
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The benefit of hindsight makes I Am… an interesting album to revisit. Initially meant to be an ambitious conceptual double album, many of the songs were leaked to the internet, causing Nas and Columbia Records to go back to the… more ›
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Starting with the understanding that recreating Illmatic was always going to be a tall order, the criticisms of Nas’s sophomore album, It Was Written, have always felt a bit nitpicky. There are those who claim the glossy sheen of the… more ›
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The common thought is that Nas’s and Jay-Z’s stellar debut albums set them on parallel tracks at the start of their careers. But the truth is a bit more nuanced than that. Reasonable Doubt’s ascension was a slow burn, earning… more ›
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Album releases (particularly rap) don’t really feel important anymore. An album comes out, we listen, and even when it’s really good, we move on pretty quickly. That wasn’t the case for Let God Sort Em Out, and there are a few… more ›
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Over the course of Prince’s career, he’d release 39 studio albums. Of those 39, there’s a handful (I’d say, four) that could realistically stake it’s claim as his greatest. But Purple Rain stands head and shoulders above the others when… more ›
