Tracklisting

1.No Introduction (Produced by J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League)
2. Loco-Motive feat. Large Professor (Produced by No I.D.)
3. A Queens Story (Produced by Salaam Remi)
4. Accident Murderers feat. Rick Ross (Produced by No I.D.)
5. Daughters (Produced by No I.D.)
6. Reach Out feat. Mary J. Blige (Produced by Salaam Remi, Rodney Jerkins, DJ Hot Day & Nas)
7. World's An Addiction feat. Anthony Hamilton (Produced by Salaam Remi)
8. Summer On Smash feat. Miguel & Swizz Beatz (Produced by Swizz Beatz)
9. You Wouldn't Understand feat. Victoria Monet (Produced by Buckwild)
10. Back When (Produced by No I.D.)
11. The Don (Produced by Salaam Remi, Heavy D & Da Internz)
12. Stay (Produced by No I.D.)
13. Cherry Wine feat. Amy Winehouse (Produced by Salaam Remi)
14. Bye Baby (Produced by Salaam Remi & 40)


Introduction

Nasir Bin Olu Dara Jones or as he is better known, Nas announced himself to the music world with his critically acclaimed debut 'Illmatic' album which was released when he was just 21 years old. Since then he has produced music of a good standard but not always up to the heights of his debut album. He is known as an insightful storyteller. 'Life is good' is his 10th studio album and was released in July 2012. This is his first album as a solo artist for 4 years, although he did collaborate with Damien Marley on 'Distant relatives' in 2010.

Nas is now much older (38) and this album contains a lot of personal subject matter. This includes his bitter divorce from singer Kelis, tax issues with the IRS and also dealing with a daughter who is growing up.

When Kelis left him, she took everything she owned, except her green wedding dress which he is shown with on the cover of the album. He is shown relaxing on a black leather couch in a sharp white suit with his hand supporting his chin with the dress draped across his lap . This is in sharp contrast to his first album which featured a photo of the rapper as a 7-year-old against a backdrop of New York housing projects.

He explains that "This album talks about life, love and money. It talks about the fact that marriage is expensive. Life Is Good represents the most beautiful, dramatic and heavy moments in my life."

The producers of the album include the likes of No I.D. and Swizz Beatz,

The album

No introduction- this is a good opening track to the album and is a kind of reintroduction to Nas. He goes through some of his upbringing and some of his misdemeanours such as "15, I got a gun, 16, I robbed a train." 4.5/5

Locomotive- He continues his storytelling from illmatic on this track with a pumping beat which sounds like a train rattling along." I know you think my life is good cause my diamond piece
But my life been good since I started finding peace" is one of the best lines from this song. 4.5/5

A Queens story This is about his hometown and he raps 'Brooklyn keep on taking it
Manhattan keep on making it Trying to leave Queens out. He is repping queens in this song. 4/5

Accident murderers-this track shows Nas' grittier side and the consequences of stray bullets. "These two different personalities had to collide/N***as could not aim and innocent n***as died." Rick Ross features on this track showcasing the rags to riches story. 4/5

Daughters-. Nas opens up in this track about the highs and lows of his relationship with his daughter, Destiny Jones.Lyrics include" One day she's ya little princess, next day she talking boy business
What is this? And "It ain't easy to raise a girl as a single man
Nah, the way mothers feel for they sons, how fathers feel for they daughters" This is the latest single from the album. 4/5

Reach out-another big collaboration this time with Mary J Blige. This song has a decent backbeat and works well with Mary's great voice. This is a funky track as Nas' lyrics intertwine with Marys soulful voice. "When I was young they called me Olu's son
Now he's Nas father, I was the good seed
He was the wise gardener" Nas raps in this one4.5/5

Worlds an addiction-Another collaboration and this time it is Anthony Hamilton who provides his voice. In this song they are talking about obsession/addictions in the world such as drugs and money and the negative effects of these. Hamilton sings "The world is an addiction
Serving up a fix
The world is an addiction
It's way too much for me." 4/5

Summer on smash- this track seems to be a bit out of place on this album. It seems to be a track made for radio play with beats from swiss beatz. Low point on the album for me. 2/5

You wouldn't understand-The tempo is lowered for this track and this is a mellow track with vocals also provided by Victoria Monet.4/5

Back when-this is a song about his early days and how it all got started.Another solid track.4/5

The don- In this song the lyrics are about the difficulties of poverty inside disadvantaged societies and other issues such as weapon and drug problems. Another one of the singles off the album. 3/5

Stay-another smooth track with jazz style backdrop. 3.5/5

Cherry Wine"--this features the recently deceased Amy Winehouse and is another top track from the album. Winehouse' beautiful voice works well with the lyrics of Nas. In the song he fantasizes about his dream girl . "You're the woman I need, but where is she."4/5

Bye baby- In this song Nas is coming to terms with his failed marriage and also the good and bad things that came about from it. It is written like he is directly talking to his now ex wife.
"Bye baby, I guess you know why I walked away
When we walked to the altar that was an awesome day."4/5



Overall

This album is able to show Nas at his best with some top tracks. It is not quite a classic but is a solid showing from the queens rapper. Nas is back but really it is like he never left. He is able to turn some of his recent pain into progression and pieces it all together with 'Life is good.' This is a socially conscious album and has a lot of personal subject matter. There are some top tracks including No introduction, Loco-motive and Accident murderers. The first 5 tracks get the album off to a good start but he falters a bit with summer on smash and a couple of others towards the end. Nas had an album entitled 'Hip Hop is dead'. With him still around, it is still well and truly alive. Overall I would give the album a solid 4/5 dooyoo stars.