Nasir Jones was born in New York and is possibly one of the few hip hop artists that have had a significant impact on the hip hop genre. Nas had a major influence on the hip hop genre when he released the studio album 'Illmatic'. The Illmatic album was a deep and powerful album which included amazing lyrics, engineering and showcased Nas's lyricism capability. The album offered verses of his encounters growing up in the streets of Queensbridge where his songs included topics about gang rivalries, being alone as well as urban poverty.




Nas has released plenty of albums since the 1994 Illmatic album which have experienced commercialized financial success as well as creating chart topping singles. The Illmatic album set a benchmark for critics to compare his other work against.




Recently Nas released his 11thstudio album titled 'Life Is Good'. Life is Good was written after his public separation with the music celebrity Kelis and some of the songs reveal a darker side of Nas where he vents his frustrations during this time in his life. The album also includes some great guest appearances from the late Amy Winehouse and Rick Ross.




The album offers many new personal themes which involve the recent news of his daughter and ex-wife. On the track 'Daughters', Nas has found an approach to detail a very personalized scenario which he dedicates to his little girl. This has enabled Nas to widely create a style that may possibly react with many different families. 'My Baby' is likely to be the single track that pulls the album together and relates to the album cover. It truly is a unique look into the special relationship that Nas had with his ex-wife Kelis. Overall the 'Life Is Good' album is great but still lacks the passion from illmatic.