King’s Disease II: Album Review
Nas became the archetype of an aging rapper who just did not know when to quit in the last decade. Every album and every verse felt more and more out-of-touch, and at times, he barely sounded interested in his own music. But on King’s Disease II, a sequel to his 2020 release, Nas pulls off something special. Nas finally mastered a more laid-back sound and crafts a late-career masterpiece. While most of the corny bars Nas has always been prone to are still there, Nas sounds more mature and together on this project making King’s Disease II a fun and fascinating listen.
Almost exactly a decade ago, Nas began a late-career arc with his 2012 album Daughters. Since then, Nas’ output has been filled with moments of genius but overwhelmed by a complete lack of creativity. Although Daughters reached a more mature sound, it never accessed anything profound. That same theme continued on Nasir in 2018 and the first King’s Disease in 2020: Nas wasn’t saying much that connected with an audience beyond those who started listening to him in 1994. There were moments of pure joy on each of these projects, but overall, they were not delivering with consistency.
With all due respect to Nas’ lyrical ability, the subjects he has spent most of the last decade talking about are no more interesting than playboy Carti or Future. In fact, in the last few years both Carti and Future have shown more emotional depth than Nas. But King’s Disease II excels because it moves past the emotionless mirage of real hip-hop and Nas inserts true emotion in his music in a way we haven’t heard in years.
On King’s Disease II, Nas uses his incredible storytelling ability to reflect on pivotal moments in his past. “Death Row East” sees Nas reflecting on the New York vs. L.A. beef with a maturity that he could not have possibly accessed at the time. Nas moves beyond just storytelling into acting as our de facto, primary source, historian. On other tracks, Nas uses his storytelling senses to tell us about the simpler moments in his life like on the track “Brunch on Sundays” where he discusses the intricacies of a Sunday brunch.
Even on the more contemporary sounding songs like “40 Side” and “YKTV,” Nas holds his own with rappers like A Boogie Wit da Hoodie and YG. He no longer sounds like he’s trying to prove he’s the better artist, and as a result, each collaborator can shine on the track at the same time. A Boogie delivers a fun verse that highlights his strengths and YG sounds great as always.
The easy standout from the album is the song “Nobody” featuring the legendary Ms. Lauryn Hill. The song is a majestic, 5-minute epic that features Ms. Hill rapping in a way that stirs the soul. Even Nas’ lyrics about “logging out of IG” can’t ruin the incredible feeling hearing these two on a track together gives you. When Ms. Lauryn Hill comes in she sucks all the air out of the room with the opening bar “All my time is spent focused on my freedom now,” and from that point, your mind drifts into pure bliss.
Nas has taken a big step forward on King’s Disease II and hopefully, he’ll continue to build on the energy he has created.