{"id":710,"date":"2023-07-28T12:25:21","date_gmt":"2023-07-28T12:25:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/2023\/07\/nas-magic-2-review\/"},"modified":"2023-07-28T12:25:21","modified_gmt":"2023-07-28T12:25:21","slug":"nas-magic-2-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/2023\/07\/nas-magic-2-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Nas, \u2018Magic 2\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">The Queensbridge legend\u2019s fifth project with Hit-Boy shows it may be time to introduce new tricks to the act.<\/p>\n<p>Nas and Hit-Boy have been rap\u2019s most impressive duo for the last three years. The new Gang Starr, in their own words. Starsky and Hutch. Inseparable for four albums straight, one of which led to the QB icon\u2019s first ever Grammy win. Every time you think they\u2019re done, the run continues. The run now stretches to five projects, taking off the <em>King\u2019s Disease<\/em> crown and putting on the magician\u2019s top hat for a sequel to their 2021 Christmas present.<\/p>\n<p>This time round, the rabbits are stuck in the top hat as Nas and Hit-Boy search for new inspiration.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"792\" height=\"532\" src=\"https:\/\/miccheque.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/nas-magic-2-press-shot.jpeg?w=792\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-24736\" srcset=\"https:\/\/miccheque.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/nas-magic-2-press-shot.jpeg?w=792 792w, https:\/\/miccheque.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/nas-magic-2-press-shot.jpeg?w=150 150w, https:\/\/miccheque.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/nas-magic-2-press-shot.jpeg?w=300 300w, https:\/\/miccheque.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/nas-magic-2-press-shot.jpeg?w=768 768w, https:\/\/miccheque.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/nas-magic-2-press-shot.jpeg?w=1024 1024w, https:\/\/miccheque.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/nas-magic-2-press-shot.jpeg 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 792px) 100vw, 792px\"><\/figure>\n<p>Hit-Boy has done Nas justice with the production across all their projects, improving with every album. <em>Magic 2 <\/em>is the first sign of beat regression, offering only a couple up to the standards shown before. The highlights come through \u201cOffice Hours\u201d, although the phoned in 50 Cent feature leaves much more to be desired, and \u201cMotion\u201d, which matches the dark sound of the first <em>Magic<\/em>, reaching a stellar climax with its string outro. Other tracks struggle to bring the best out of Nas, who ends up channelling cookie-cutter flows rather than the energetic, aggressive flows from the Christmas offering.<\/p>\n<p>Beats aside, Nas doesn\u2019t offer much substance topically. Few raps grip you, making it tough to pinpoint a purpose to songs like \u201cBokeem Woodbine\u201d or \u201cEarvin Magic Johnson\u201d. They carry the essence of freestyle tracks that punch in casual hooks around the verses. An exception is \u201cSlow It Down\u201d, which brings that reflective tone found on the best songs across <em>Magic<\/em> and <em>King\u2019s Disease <\/em>trilogy. More focused cuts like these would have <em>Magic 2<\/em> fulfilling its true potential.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"embed-youtube\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Nas - Motion (Official Video)\" width=\"792\" height=\"446\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/KjoIgPGR-Oc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>It may be over-reactionary to say, but Nas should start seeking a new challenge removed from Hit-Boy, or at the very least challenge each other with the production and song ideas. Some novel guest appearances would also spice things up. The series has shown the duo work in a small circle, particularly during the latest efforts. Is Nas not open to working with the Griselda crew? What about a song with more New York peers? There\u2019s plenty ways <em>Magic 2<\/em> could have reached for the stars (the pair also missed a golden chance to call the album <em>Stillmagic<\/em>). <\/p>\n<p>At this point in their partnership, the stakes aren\u2019t high. It\u2019s a creative exercise for a rapper who\u2019s thirty years deep, and a producer who\u2019s finally earned a stable name for himself. If the lyrics on \u201cAbracadabra\u201d are to go by, the partnership will be stretching to a sixth effort. Let\u2019s hope they have new tricks up their sleeve coming.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-huge-font-size\" style=\"letter-spacing:0.8px;line-height:1\"><strong>6 \/ 10<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"line-height:1.5\"><strong>Best tracks:<\/strong> \u201cOffice Hours\u201d, \u201cMotion\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Queensbridge legend\u2019s fifth project with Hit-Boy shows it may be time to introduce new tricks to the act. Nas&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14044,"featured_media":915,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6],"tags":[10,9],"class_list":["post-710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-rss","tag-culture","tag-hip-hop"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14044"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=710"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/710\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}