Maps of Music

Nasir (2018)

Where the lyrics of Nasir take you, and where it was really made.

Kanye West produced it as one of five albums released a week apart, and it debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 before falling to No. 36 the following week.

Key places

Recorded at West Lake Ranch, Jackson Hole (2018)

Recording site West Lake Ranch — The recording credit for Nasir names West Lake Ranch in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The point is placed at city-center level, not at the exact building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Nasir: eleventh studio album by American rapper Nas
• Released June 15, 2018 through Mass Appeal Records and Def Jam Recordings
• First album in six years, following Life Is Good (2012)
• Guest appearances from Kanye West, Puff Daddy, 070 Shake, Tony Williams, and The-Dream
• Kanye West served as executive producer
• Additional production from Mike Dean, Andrew Dawson, Dot da Genius, and Cashmere Cat, among others

Background

• Part of the Wyoming Sessions: fourth of five seven-track albums West produced, each released weekly
• Follows Pusha T's Daytona, West's Ye, and Kids See Ghosts; precedes Teyana Taylor's K.T.S.E.
• 2016: DJ Khaled's album Major Key had a track called Nas Album Done with Nas
• 2016: West expressed his wish to produce an album by Nas
• May 2017: Nas' brother Jungle posted from a recording studio with the hashtag #NasAlbumAlmostDone
• April 2018: West announced he was producing the album with a June 15 release date

Recording

• Recording location credited to West Lake Ranch in Jackson Hole, Wyoming
• Mixing: Mike Dean and Jess Jackson on tracks 1, 3, and 5; Andrew Dawson on tracks 2, 4, 6, and 7
• Cello and string arrangement by Phillip Peterson; violin by Victoria Parker; drums by Plain Pat on tracks 5 and 6

Cover

• Album title and cover art revealed June 14, 2018, a day before release
• Listening party held June 14, 2018 in Queensbridge, New York City, streamed on Mass Appeal's YouTube channel

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org · ko.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Born Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones on September 14, 1973 in Brooklyn, New York City; raised in the Queensbridge Houses, Queens.
• Son of jazz and blues musician Olu Dara; began as "Nasty Nas" in 1989 and recorded demos under Large Professor.
• Made his recording debut on Main Source's 1991 song "Live at the Barbeque"; signed with Columbia Records in 1992.

Career

• Debut album Illmatic (April 19, 1994) is regarded as one of the greatest hip-hop albums; selected for the Library of Congress National Recording Registry.
• It Was Written (1996) debuted atop the Billboard 200; single "If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)" featuring Lauryn Hill brought mainstream success.
• Feud with Jay-Z (2001–2005) via the diss track "Ether"; Stillmatic and God's Son helped restore his critical standing.
• Released Hip Hop Is Dead (2006) and Distant Relatives (2010) with Damian Marley, whose royalties went to African charities.
• King's Disease (2020) won his first Grammy for Best Rap Album at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards.
• Released King's Disease II, Magic, King's Disease III, Magic 2 and Magic 3, all produced by Hit-Boy.
• Announced Light-Years with DJ Premier, a 2025 collaborative album.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Nasir was met with generally mixed reviews from critics
• Metacritic: average 58 out of 100 from 16 reviews
• The A.V. Club (Colin McGowan): praised West's lavish production and Nas' political awareness, but found filler on Everything and Bonjour; called it a less-than-definitive experiment
• NME (Elizabeth Aubrey): called the album a difficult, problematic listen with strong moments undercut by contradictions; praised production, brevity, and lyrical maturity
• The Guardian (Alexis Petridis): praised West's production and Nas' social justice themes; criticized the failure to address domestic violence allegations and the mercurial lyrics
• Rolling Stone (Paul Thompson): called it a frustrating listen with glimpses of greatness; wrote that it is among the weakest Nas albums; praised Everything and Adam and Eve
• HipHopDX: described the album as imperfect fine art
• Vice (Robert Christgau): gave a one-star honorable mention, singling out Cops Shot the Kid and Everything

Reappraisal

• Nas later said he did not know why the album did not resonate with audiences and critics
• He named Cops Shot the Kid, Adam and Eve, and Simple Things as songs he liked
• He said the album was short and the team did not have enough time to work on it more

Records

• Billboard 200 debut at No. 5 with 77,000 album-equivalent units, of which 49,000 were pure album sales
• Twelfth top-ten album for Nas in the United States
• Dropped to No. 36 in its second week, with 14,000 additional units
• UK Albums chart peak at No. 16

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The album fell from No. 5 to No. 36 on the Billboard 200 in its second week, adding 14,000 album-equivalent units.
• Everything features Tony Williams and 070 Shake.
• The release notes say it was mastered for iTunes.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

Maps of Ages ↗ (mapsofages.com)

Privacy · Contact