Born and raised in the Queensbridge area of New York, Nas was one of the biggest names in underground hip-hop during the early 1990s. The rapper captured fans with his 1994 debut album Illmatic, and to this day, he is still a legend with an album classed as a classic.
Nas was a rapper, songwriter and, most importantly, a storyteller who other artists envied over. Good at illustrating the run-down inner city, the rapper could romanticise very sombre themes and find the beauty in what most would consider squalor.
However, by the turn of the millennium, when artists such as Jay-Z and Eminem began to take hold of the culture, Nas became somewhat of a less-relevant figure within hip hop, but this all changed in 2001 with the release of ‘Ether’ and Stillmatic.
Stillmnatic, Nas’ fifth studio album, saw a comeback for the Queensbridge rapper and only a year later, fresh on the heels of the album, Nas released another project, God’s Son. The 2002 album was recorded in 2001, and the album’s production was even partially directed by Eminem.
God’s Son was a very personal project for Nas, and in the project, the Queens rapper explores various themes, including religion, violence and his own traumas. Moving away from the 1990s, Nas parted ways with the sonics of his heyday and utilised more contemporary production for the project.
God’s Son was received very well by critics who praised Nas’ progression and growth. The album even spawned some Billboard hit singles such as ‘I Can’ and ‘Made You Look’. ‘I Can’ debuted at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was one of the more successful singles on the album. ‘Made You Look’ did not chart as high but made an appearance on the 2009 video game Skate 2.
Although many of Nas’ projects struggle to live up to his debut project Illmatic, God’s Son is most definitely an overlooked project that deserves far more credit than it receives. The project is a platinum-certified body of work, and with artists such as Alicia Keys and Eminem contributing to the album’s production, it is most definitely a hidden gem. You can listen to the album below.