Nas - 'Untitled' (Universal) Released 14/07/08

While every song included has an underlining subject matter that relates to discrimination, issues of race and racial stereotypes, Nas is a clever dude with a clever outlook on life. Therefore tracks such as 'Queens Get The Money' have hidden meanings that you’ll need to listen out for carefully. For example, Nas spits: “Niggaz is still hating/ Talking that Nas done fell off with rhyming/ He’d rather floss with diamonds/ They pray, “Please God let him spit that Uzi in the army lining/ That shorty doo-wop rolling oowops in the park reclining”/ Take 27 emcees put ‘em in a line and they out of alignment/ My assignment since he said retirement hiding behind 8 Mile and The Chronic/ Get rich but dies rhyming/ This is high science/ Now add 23 more from Queens to B-More/ I’m over their heads like a bulimic on a seesaw/ Now that’s 50 porch monkeys ate up at the same time.” Think he could be getting at 50 Cent? And there are plenty more hidden rhymes within rhymes throughout this 16 cut educational trip.

The comical 'Fried Chicken' is a stand out moment with simplicity. Featuring the classic b-boy sound that real hip-hop was built upon, Nas and Busta Rhymes rap words of love for fried chicken. Very descriptive and pieced together cunningly, the track’s main purpose is to simply explain the age old stereotype that black folks love chicken. Over Mark Ronson’s famously familiar horns, the lyrical path the two take mirror the Nas classic 'I Gave You Power'.

Joints with menacing venom include the Fox network annihilation, 'Sly Fox', and the history lesson, 'N.I.G.G.E.R. (The Slave And The Master)'. One picks apart the TV network that criticized Nas’ choice of album title, while the other is a breakdown of where the word nigger comes from and the way it can be used. Both perfect in every sense of the word, describing the power they posses is impossible. The only way to truly understand them and absorb their key elements is to hear them yourself.

While this album is the blueprint upon which today’s hip-hop artist should build their own work upon, no one can do it like Nas. The album’s title track is another knowledge oozing explosion, with Minister Farrakhan at the base of its inspiration. And what should be the Barack Obama presidential anthem, “Black President” samples some eerie 2Pac lyrics which constantly echo, “And although it seems heaven sent/ We ain’t ready to see a black president,” which help evoke some thought provoking lyrics that closely relate to the future of our worldly issues.

Whether you’re a Nas fan or not, if you’re an inspired individual looking for some challenging music with non-stop passionate rhymes, then you needn’t look any further. Nas can now add savior to his resume, because “Untitled” is what hip-hop has been looking for to save face amongst the ultimately dull excuses for albums that are injected in to the game today. Nas has rebelled against the system and won. What more is there to say?