Perhaps its my recent revisitation of Illmatic (1994) or the disarmingly bleak landscape that sits outside the window (a rather large thunderstorm swept through last week, much to the detriment of the town’s tree population), but for a brief moment, Nas’s newest proclamation doesn’t feel right. The hair grease sheen Polow applies to this track, multitracked vocals and colossal atmospherics utilized liberally, momentarily seems to be an awkward, mirrored platform for Nas to stand on while spouting his messianic proverbs, reminiscent of an ill-fitting shiny suit he once donned while standing aside the one called Diddy (or whatever). Not that humility is Nas’s greatest asset, but neither is the boisterous boastfulness that seems implied by the pyrotechnics and grandiose arrangements of this, the lead single off of the album formerly titled…well, you know.

So when the scattered synths and self-important hook (“The game needs him / Plus the people need someone to believe in”)—seemingly leading us into an exercise of monotonous self-aggrandizement—give way to Nas setting flame to any misconceptions about the track’s bullshittery, champagne bottle-smashing veracity smolders less like expensive cigars, more like vindictive arson: “Now they shut down the stores that I shop in / Used to be train robbin’ / Face covered in stockings.” And when the production hits fever pitch, inverting itself into a burbling blanket of a dreamwork, Nas’s temper flares in equal measure, spouting forth scathing music industry indictments: “Try tellin’ Bob Dylan, Bruce, or Billy Joel they can’t sing what’s in they soul.” Sure, we’ve heard this before from Nas, and it’s likely these sentiments will be contradicted by a handful of pandering tracks on his upcoming LP, but the fervent poignancy of his latest testament is irrefutable.

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