We live in a different era than Illmatic, one where hip-hop has taken on so many different forms that each listener has their own definition of what can make or break the “classic” status. Nas’ latest – Life Is Good – is undoubtedly one of the strongest records of his career, but like all of his others, some will call it classic, others won’t. Life Is Good starts out remarkably with “No Introduction” – despite being a bit overproduced – Nas is at his best here, letting listeners know what he’s been up to since the last time we heard his voice. This leads into the very Illmatic-esque “Loco-Motive” (feat. Large Professor), which proves Nas could easily craft a true sequel to his classic debut, if he wanted to. But he doesn’t need to, as proven on tracks like the cinematic “A Queens Story”, the fake-gangster blasting “Accident Murderers”, and the incredibly penned “Daughters”, where Nas laments “What he date, he straight a chip off his old papa / who she date, we wait behind the door with a sawed-off…” ... “Back When” is another post-Illmatic banger, classically crafted by No I.D., while “The Don” is a dancehall fueled, Super Cat sampling New York anthem, sure to mash up the place. Closing out with a gorgeous pairing of Salaam Remi’s two greatest collaborators – Nas and Amy Winehouse – on the long overdue “Cherry Wine”, and the bittersweet dedication to his ex-wife, Kelis, on “Bye Baby” – it’s safe to say that Nas has recorded one of the best albums of his storied career. Life Is Good is easily Nas’ most personal album to date, which amazingly is one of the first albums to peel a layer away of Nas’ armored exterior – something that’s been largely kept quiet throughout his career. Like Hip-Hop Is Dead and Untitled before, Nas has crafted another amazingly solid concept album. And we’ll put that on every last one of his classics. - HipHopSite. Life Is Good was released on this day in 2012. Revisit the album below...
Some extra images that were included in the album's documentation...
