NASIR

Editors’ Notes The fourth in a series of weekly Kanye West-produced releases to come from the G.O.O.D. Music label head's Wyoming compound, Nas' 11th studio album is one of the most anticipated hip-hop collaborations since West and Jay-Z’s monumental Watch the Throne. With NASIR, it's clear that Nas and Kanye share a similar worldview, one focused on the world their children will inherit: The pair engage America's epidemic of police brutality toward people of color on the Slick Rick-sampling "Cops Shot the Kid," while Nas questions the practice of vaccination over the slow-burning guitar loop of "everything (feat. The-Dream)." The man who once likened himself to a prophet offers personal truths in abundance on "Not for Radio," but is ever-wary of penance, rapping on "Adam and Eve," "Pray my sins don't get passed to my children/I made a killin'."