Nas - Untitled - @@@ 1/2

As Hip-Hop’s culture is rife with the theme of party and bullshit, art reflecting and responding to troubling times [a la Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On] is a rarity. While Nas is to be lauded as the primary MC taking a public stance on current events through major label music, he has run the risk of being considered an ambulance chaser of sorts with 2006’s Hip-Hop Is Dead campaign and the sudden rallying cry around the impact of the word nigger [to be assumed in lieu of the recent Don Imus/Michael Richards debacles]. His latest album now Untitled finds his sights set on the grand task of carrying four centuries worth of racial injustice on his back.

Coming as no surprise to his harshest of critics, Nas means well but he doesn’t quite execute in fully fleshing out his concept. The highlights include the promising "You Cant Stop Us Now" which leads off the album as a brief history of black life throughout the ages detailing everything from colonialism to the modern day persecution of Michael Vick, "Sly Fox" taking Rupert Murdoch's conglomerate to task, and Toomp (producer of Kanye West's "Big Brother", Jay-Z's "Say Hello", and T.I.'s "What You Know About That") delivering one of his standard cinematic centerpieces with "N.I.G.G.E.R. (The Slave And The Master)". Unfortunately the moments of focus are far and few in between as the album seems semi-autobiographical with songs like "Breathe" talking about how far he's come in his career, “Make The World Go Around” sounding like an "Esco" era Nastradamus outtake and the overproduced [by Polow Da Don] self-celebratory “Hero”, not to mention “Louis Farrakhan” where Nas overstates his importance drawing a parallel between himself and the Muslim figurehead. Other questionably odd moments include "Fried Chicken", personifying soul food while espousing its virtues and recognizing its dangers, "We Are Not Alone" tying revolution to UFOs, and "Black President" capitalizing on Obama winning the Democratic seat while questioning the candidate's dedication to the black community.

Untitled may placate diehard Nas fans who pray for the return of a Queenbridge soldier barely out of puberty, but those who aren’t so easily impressed may spot figurative chinks in the album’s armor. Nas has always been able to map out exciting ideas while taking a thinking man’s approach to his craft, but if he is to continue creating pieces based around themes perhaps more emphasis should be placed into his final output than the buzz built around it.