Magic 3
Nas
2023
The legendary MC is in love with rapping so much that he managed to release six albums in three years– just in time for his, and hip hop’s, 50th birthday.
Mafioso Rap/Golden Age Hip Hop
BY HARPSICHORD
FEBRUARY 2, 2024
On March 4 2021, the ‘Financial Times’ published an interview with Nas. It dropped ten days before the legendary emcee would win his first Grammy in a three-decade long career. King’s Disease I –the first installment of a series that would eventually be three (multiplied by deuce)– won Best Rap Album. Even before he tasted the glory, Nas told the outlet’s reporter, Thomas Hobbs, that when it comes to the current rap landscape, “no one [is] keeping me up at night.”
His statement had almost seemed cocky. King’s Disease I rightfully deserved the crowning jewel as it flexed various aspects of rap music. For instance, “Ultra Black” catered to the boom bap that raised the generation of Nas; “Spicy” pushed his sound into the ever popular drill movement; even “Full Circle” – a link up with his The Firm posse– addressed the goings of female rap, with Foxy Brown receiving the anchor leg that proved she could still be in full form when hopping out of retirement. From there, each installment of the King’s Disease and Magic series parlayed on what he told the ‘Financial Times’ – proving that he could have an impeccable run in the hip hop field, and nearly be undisturbed.
After winning the Grammy, six months later, the community would get King’s Disease II . This album around, Nas discussed the “Pressure” of it all with assistance from a Don Toliver hook. He boasted about being in “Rare” form, and even added new knowledge for the catalogs of rap historians that learned that he was close to signing with “Death Row East” – a move that eventually squashed all the speculated myths about a potential rap beef with Tupac.
The day before Christmas of the same year, Magic comes with nine tracks laced with straightforward Golden Age hip hop. The standout happens to be the opening track where Nas promises to leave his haters “Speechless.” Also on the album: a nod to Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s award show saying of “Wu For The Children” and a breakout performance from A$AP Rocky on the DJ Premier scratching “Wave Gods.”
Almost a year later, ‘The Telegraph’ mentions that King’s Disease III felt eerily similar to the third ‘Godfather’ film. Again, Thomas Hobbs, writes about another Nas project, giving it four out of five stars. On King’s Disease III , listeners are transported to the basics of classic hip hop. Fans of Nas thoroughly enjoyed “Thun” which sampled “The Bridge Is Over;” he addresses his Jay-Z “Beef;” and he compares the main executive producer, Hit-Boy, to the iconic pop pairing of “Michael [Jackson] and Quincy [Jones].” Safe to say, just like the track name, both men would not be wrong to claim “I’m On Fire.” The LP earned a ‘Best Rap Album’ Grammy nomination for the 2024 ceremony.
But the run is not done. In the summer of 2023, Nas gifted fans with Magic 2 . Shorter in length, with only 11 tracks, he receives assistance from 50 Cent in the midst of that legend’s World Tour. And after 21 Savage made a snafu of speaking on the audio chatroom app, Clubhouse– claiming that Nas wasn’t relevant in terms of commercial sales, and therefore implying that he wasn’t moving the needle of hip hop for the youth– 21 Savage gets outrapped on “One Mic, One Gun.”
That leads to the final chapter: Magic 3 , which was released on the day of his 50th birthday, which happens to coincide with the year hip hop turned 50. What made this six-part series stand out is Nas’s off-kilter punchlines. He holds no bars on the hovering dream pop and trip hop beat of “TSK,” claiming “if rappers were Presidents, I would get Trump’s vote.” That’s Nasty Nas’s knack for being controversial just to get the crowd to buzz, while also being outlandish. At this point, it’s clear to see Nasir is bored; and just like Trump, who has (questionable amounts of) hoarded wealth, he doesn’t know how to spend his talent.
One main criticism of the King’s Disease and Magic series is the idea of oversaturation. Nas is giving his fans a lot to digest over the course of three years. Sometimes these efforts can feel like a game of catch up for the sake of stats and legacy. Nas has been damned by the notion that some of his albums didn’t land in spite of his peers. And parts of that are true… Sometimes with hip hop, there are the albums that really make a statement, and some that are utter failures.
However, when it comes to this series of six albums, there is not one LP that fails as a complete body of work. Hit-Boy truly deserves his props for how he revived Nas’s standing in the hip hop game. People love to say that Nas didn’t select his beats correctly while at least acknowledging he’s still a goat lyricist despite that shortcoming. Hit-Boy replenishes that record– like a credit repair agent. The album and series appropriately ends with "1-800-Nas&Hit" where they celebrate “Yo, it's like the box sets, Star Wars, Fast & Furious franchises/Six projects, six sagas, it's hood science.”
If this six-series project had a must listens list, editorially speaking, the best are Kings Disease I and Magic 1 . From start to finish, these projects are cohesive and go further than the length of Nas talking his shit.
Nas is in a lane of his own because he is brilliant at adapting with age. In a solid link up with Lil Wayne, he claims in the first ten seconds, “I’m an icon in real time.” “We ain’t gon’ never die,” he repeats throughout the song as a promise from the legends that made hip hop the strong commercial force that it is today. Over the interpolation of “Tomorrow Is Another Day” by Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, Lil Wayne comes in and rips it with arguably one of his best flows and verses in all of 2023– and really this 2020’s decade so far.
What makes this specific record, Magic 3 , stand out is how he oozes a Mafioso appeal. While King’s Disease III has been likened to the ‘Godfather’ films, its Magic anti/polar-opposite also plays on that notion. For crying out loud, the cover features a blurred out Nas in donning a tuxedo– clear imagery of a man engaged in shiesty boss-like activity. The highlight of the project is “Based On True Events” and “Based On True Events, Pt. 2” which happens as the rising action and climax of this album’s saga.
“Based On True Events” comes in with the swagger of a banger jazz track. It aligns with the Al Jarreau synergy that Nas started getting into with 2019’s The Lost Tapes 2 . The first song finds Nas locating one of his enemies on social media, and questioning his date on an island about knowing that person. “Can't tell her it's an unsolved murder, never mind it,” confesses Nas to his audience. By “Pt. 2,” we’re getting late ‘90s, chilled-out Queensbridge rap that consists of ominous production and rapping. At the end, he reveals that the dude he pointed out on social media in “Pt 1.” now has a different fate. With his old school, golden aged skills of storytelling, Nas applies how we as a society investigate on social media with the wicked ending of: “Doin' my homework on IG/Under his last picture says, ‘R.I.P.’”
Sometimes with Nas’s discography, he has the most cheesiest type of sentimental records. Don’t get offended but what automatically comes to mind is: “If I Ruled the World (Imagine That).” Maybe labeling that classic “cheesy” is a foul committed… But there are no words to sufficiently describe how ghetto-hip hop can have a sentimental and emotional value. It’s not appropriate to cry to hip hop songs with a message that extends outside of rags and riches. But on “No Tears,” there’s that tatter of a toy soldier drum and the mention of “You a ghetto baby, in QB crazy.” Another song that fits that theme: “Sitting With My Thoughts,” which has an ‘80s styled new wave beat that finds Nas saying “To OGs and young bosses/We bounce back when we take losses.”
Much of ‘Magic 3’ is reflective, which rounds out the whole series and 2020-2023 run. On “1-800-Nas&Hit,” he says “finally killed the King’s Disease .” Cleverly he gets the whole point across of his three year mission. It’s a series that unpacks his hubris. He starts out the journey so cocky in various genres trying to prove he’s the GOAT of rap. Once he is given his dues, he’s able to decompress and hone in on key aspects of his career to give the fuller picture. It took three years because there wasn’t a rush to prove his point. It’s clear to see why Nas is bored: no one is doing this at the rate he’s provided.
“Superhero Status” for production that sounds like the title suggests but with the twist of classic Blaxploitation theatrics.
“TSK” for modernizing how Nas was so quintessential in combining the new wave sound of ‘80s hip hop with the coming-of-age of late ‘90s and 2000s.
“Never Die” for Lil Wayne’s killer verse. Sorry Nas, but you got ate up by your featured artist real bad.
“Based on True Events” for both versions showcasing Nas’s agility with storytelling. These are the standards of hip hop for both O.G.s and new gens.
Key Tracks
What a great conclusion for a stellar rap series. This is an unprecedented run for both Nas and Hit-Boy. They’ve done so well, that there is so much more to unpack.