Nas has released a number of classics in the 27 years since his debut album Illmatic, but he admits some of his LPs could do with a little tinkering. In a new cover story for i-D Magazine, the Hip Hop legend was asked whether he’d choose to redo any of his albums if he had the chance.
He responded, “No, but if I decided to challenge myself to do it, I would probably change some things on I Am… and I would change some things probably on Nastradamus.” I don’t even know what’s on those albums. I could probably only remember two songs for each album.”
Nas’ third studio album I Am… was released in 1999 including the singles “Nas Is Like” and “Hate Me Now.” Featuring Diddy, Scarface, Aaliyah and DMX, the LP debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, selling over 470,000 copies in its first week. Intended to be a double album, several songs leaked online prior to its release, forcing Nas to record new material and restructure the tracklist.
“After my first record, they were like, ‘You can’t do it again. He can’t do this. He can’t do that. He’s not as big as this one. He’s not as big as that one. He’ll never be around again. He’s too grimy. He’s too street. He has a bad following. People around him start trouble,'” Nas told Rolling Stone in 2014.
He continued, “I had a bad rep, so I blew that away with the second album. So now they mad at that, and found a different reason to be mad at me. So ‘Hate Me Now’ was the appropriate record at the time.”
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Nastradamus arrived just seven months after I Am…, debuting at No. 7 on the Billboard 200 with over 232,000 copies in its first week. Despite their commercial success, both I Am… and Nastradamus have polarizing legacies.
“On [Nastradamus], there’s a couple of songs that have a certain sound to it that doesn’t sound like anything else I’ve done,” he explained to Rolling Stone. “And it was a gray area in my life and that album represents that gray area. It was personal stuff that I’d rather not elaborate on. But I have nothing against that album.”
He added, “The Nostradamus thing was about the end of the world being the year 2000, so my record would be dropping right toward the end of the world.”
Nas’ latest album King’s Disease II dropped in August and is nominated for Best Rap Album at the 2022 Grammy Awards, with his last album King’s Disease winning the award in 2021.
Nastradamus and KIng’s Disease are Nas’s worst albums. Illmatic, It Was Written, and KD II are his best. Surprised to hear him wanna change I Am… though. Then again, even Ghostface isn’t happy with his own classic material so…
What about hiohop is dead? That’s definitely up there
Gods Son is probably one his best too
They are not “worst albums” your just stuck on a certain sound. And you don’t want artist to change his sound sometimes. After a deleting 2 or 3 tracks off both kings diseases albums and putting them both in the same playlists on shuffle I enjoy listening to them. Cats need TO LEARN how to really listen to hip hop. Different sounds for DIFFERENT MOODS. It seems like some cats listen to the same kind of hip hop AT ALL TIMES lol
I Am… has aged well. Even Nastradamus has some great cuts. But it would have been a lot better if he released that double album.
Totally agree, Nastradamus couldve been cut by 5 songs and I Am as well
I do not care. I love both I Am… and Nastradamus.
I Am was the cheesiest most annoying song this guy made.
u mean the song “I Can” off God’s Son? cause yeah that was pretty wack, I Am the album is really dope minus like 2 songs
How Is “I Can” Wack? When He Was Paying Homage To Slick Rick While Also Dropping Gems For Youngins To Pick Up On And Apply…. Man If You Consider “I Can” Wack Then You Must Be Stuck On Stupid….
Some cats don’t recognise quality music when they hear it. They just stuck on one sound etc I dont personally like I am. But its not a wack song. That’s a track to inspire the kids and filled with gems. Your right some cats definitely stuck on stupid .
U sound dumb… he never had a song called i am… u hating with wrong info lol
I Am is a great album but Nas previously mentioned that Dr Knockboot was corny and so I think he’s referring to that. And yeah it is corny. Nostradamus was weak overall but had some good tracks. That song he did with ginuwine I guess he doesn’t like either. He had some pressure to go more commercial
Not aware of any bad Nas albums from the 90s at least. They all have classic singles even “Nastradamus” and deep cuts. IMO the late period trackmasters production sound very contemporary and timeless even though they mostly got clowned at the time when Swizz and Neptunes were more the street standard
Facts bruh. Some people just don’t know how to listen to music.. just becsuse they don’t like something for whatever reason they call it wack. There’s plenty albums i don’t like for whatever reason by rappers that I fucks wit. But I dont call it wack just because I dont like it lol sometimes its quality but its just not for me. For example on of nas’s albums was quality but it put me in a low mood cos it made me remember all my friends that passed etc through violence. I think it was the album he made after he lost his mom. I couldn’t play that album. Made me too sad
I am…is solid. Nastradomus is good too but it’s definitely different.
Nastradamus is Nas weakest album imo but! It does have one of my all time favourite Nas songs on it. God Love Us. That track is bananas! Theres a couple more nice joints there too like Project Windows and Shoot Em Up, but for the most part, its very mediocre. I Am on the other hand is solid. Remove Dr Knockboots and we good.
I wouldn’t call dr knockboots wack. But I’m different. I just like good music.. And it all depends on my mood. Sometimes I can tolerate certain tracks like dr knockboots and you owe me. It all depends on my mood and my settings. I’m versatile when it comes to music. It just got to be quality. And dr knockboots did have a message with a few gems
The original version of I Am was heat. Nastradamus is the only Nas album I can’t fuck with in any way.
I never heard the original “I Am”
Streets Disciple was the most forgettable Nas album in my opinion.
Nastradamus always gets clowned on but if you really listen to the album it has some of Nas’ craziest verses. “God Love Us” “Family ft Mobb Deep” “Life We Chose” the last verse on that track is real AF. “Project Windows” “Last Words where he talks about himself being a prison cell” “Shoot em up”.l and the subliminal Jay-Z diss before Ether “Come Get Me” its a decent album with a few gems on there. Def not his best. But not his worst. I think Streets Disciple was his worst.
Don’t you think Street’s Disciple was better than Untitled? I do.
NastraDOOMus was fire!!
Nas needs to go back and change his entire discography, nothing but wack beats. Hov crushes him all day.
Eh bing bong fuck ya mother
This is hip hop not dance music bruh. Its head nodding music. You saying his beats are not worthy of nodding your head to? You need to stop listening to music like a chick expecting to hear ass twerking beats to get your twerk on to.
Do you know what is hip hop? Apparently you don’t! Nas GOAT
Smh he can have all the best beats, he ain’t see in as lyrically or storytelling wise. God Mc not a biggie jaz o wanna be
Streets Disciple had a few good songs but definitely forgettable. When it dropped it sounded way behind quality of other LPs around that time…Carter 2, The Documentary, College Dropout, Black Album
Try and relisten and you might be surprised. I’d say it was slept on, but probably had a few too many average tracks that weigh it down. Alot of seriously slept on classics tho, like “Streets Disciple”(not to be confused with “Disciple” on the first disc which is more better acclaimed), “War”, “Live Now”, “Nazareth Savage”.
I actually enjoyed Street’s Disciple. The best songs could have probably fit on one disc but all in all it was not bad.
So… you are still the GOAT! Most artist don’t with a deep catalog…. Longevity and the revenant King!
Nas acts like he doesn’t remember he did songs with DMX, Aaliyah, Scarface and DJ Premier. He’s an okay rapper with terrible taste for beats and in person I think he’s an arrogant prick.