{"id":715,"date":"2023-09-17T19:28:14","date_gmt":"2023-09-17T19:28:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/2023\/09\/nas-magic-3-review\/"},"modified":"2023-09-17T19:28:14","modified_gmt":"2023-09-17T19:28:14","slug":"nas-magic-3-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/2023\/09\/nas-magic-3-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Nas, \u2018Magic 3\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Nasir Jones rolls back the years for a sixth time, replicating the rap equivalent of Michael Jordan\u2019s three-peats with the Bulls.<\/p>\n

Between 2010 and 2019, Nas released a mere three studio albums, two of which came in the first two years of the decade. It\u2019s fair to say no hip hop fan was expecting consistent drops from a rapper like Nas at this stage of his career. Within the blink of an eye, Nas released five albums in three years, all produced by an unexpected partnership with West Coast producer, Hit-Boy. Their first Grammy Award-winning effort, King\u2019s Disease<\/em><\/em>, turned into a trilogy, rounded off in 2022. In between came the start of a new trilogy, titled Magic<\/a><\/em>. The duo released the second instalment in their Magic<\/em> series back in July. Just two months later, the pair have come back to complete the trilogy, as well as confirming that it\u2019ll be their final collaborative project together.<\/p>\n

On Magic 3<\/em>, Nas and Hit-Boy take a worthy final bow, granting some of the best material of the eighty album tracks they\u2019ve created together.<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s so soon after the release of Magic 2<\/em> that Magic 3<\/em> feels strangely timed. While not a total miss, Magic 2<\/em> didn\u2019t stick the landing. While it was already revealed on the album that another collaboration was on the way, perhaps its limited presence triggered the quick bounce-back. And boy do Nas and Hit bounce back. Magic 3<\/em> celebrates Nas\u2019 50th birthday, as well as the 50th birthday of hip hop. The ode lives up to both half-centuries, a fitting demonstration of an experienced man still running a game that was once just 21 years old when Nas released Illmatic<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Hit-Boy rectifies the main issue found on Magic 2<\/a><\/em>\u2014the beats on show are no joke. Throughout their partnership, Nas sounds most rejuvenated when the production moves him. Behind-the-scenes footage shared by Hit-Boy has shown Nas\u2019 reaction to certain beats. It\u2019s from here where the inspiration hits, resulting in high-calibre rapping each and every time.<\/p>\n

The key is the focus on boom-bap and samples. Out the two trilogies, Magic<\/em> is the one aimed to sound vintage, something Magic 2<\/em> lost touch with due to trap-centric beats. Hit-Boy makes no mistake this time, laying some of the best beats of all six albums. Tracks like \u201cSuperhero Status\u201d and \u201cJodeci Member\u201d got that heavy knock that Nas powerslides and kickflips over. Thanks to this, we\u2019re only granted a couple moments of Nas\u2019 awkward flows where he chops up his cadence to jarring effect.<\/p>\n

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