Hip Hop Is Dead
by Nas
  • Record Label: Def Jam
  • Release Date: Dec 19, 2006
User Score
8.4

Universal acclaim- based on 175 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 154 out of 175
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 175
  3. Negative: 12 out of 175

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  1. todaywasagooday
    Dec 1, 2022
    0
    You just need to be humbled. This is just a decent record. Nothing more. When will you understand that these albums are just mediocre and can't be compared to real hip-hop masterpieces.
  2. Spongeee
    Dec 31, 2006
    3
    Pretty boring except for maybe 4 songs...he raps about the same crap he claims killed hip hop except that he believes he is wittier in his lyrics...whatever...rapping over a beat is not good song making. He IS NOT whats haddenniin'!
  3. ToddW
    Dec 22, 2006
    1
    Giving a rap album a 10 is like bestowing English degrees on those who can read, yet can neither comprehend nor write. Like some metacritics, as a matter of fact. Maybe Nas is on to something with the title to this album. One can only hope so. It would be welcome news in our poisoned culture. If you fools out there who claim to know music - those who drop 10s on garbage that will Giving a rap album a 10 is like bestowing English degrees on those who can read, yet can neither comprehend nor write. Like some metacritics, as a matter of fact. Maybe Nas is on to something with the title to this album. One can only hope so. It would be welcome news in our poisoned culture. If you fools out there who claim to know music - those who drop 10s on garbage that will invariably flood the used bins - want to listen to something substantive from this past year, check out these 10: Califone - Roots and Crowns; The Knife - Silent Shout; Various - The World Is Gone; TV on the Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain; Mastodon - Blood Mountain; Joanna Newson - Ys; Carla Bozulich - Evangelista; Grizzly Bear - Yellow House; The Liars - Drum's Not Dead, and Danielson - Ships. Honorable mentions go to Dwayne Sodahberk - Cut Open; The Decemberists - The Crane Wife (for all of you nabobs who will remember my first review, I came around); Yo La Tengo - I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass; Espers - II; Junior Boys - So This Is Goodbye; This is...Tunng - Mother's Daughter and Other Songs; M. Ward - Post-War; Sonic Youth - Rather Ripped; Herbert - Scale, and Isis - In the Absence of Truth. There's not a true "classic" or a 10 in the bunch, but they're all fine offerings. P.S. - Just to show that I haven't forgotten the rednecks; Tom Petty's Highway Companion isn't half bad.… Expand
  4. TheDrash
    Feb 12, 2007
    2
    The only decent track is the title track 'Hip Hop Is Dead'. That being said, the title not only shows Nas' ignorance of hip hop in 2007 but why he hasn't put out a consistently solid album in over ten years. Yes, hip hop has changed from the days when he was a factor in the genre and culture but it isn't as bleak as he would like us to believe. OK, we get it Nas, The only decent track is the title track 'Hip Hop Is Dead'. That being said, the title not only shows Nas' ignorance of hip hop in 2007 but why he hasn't put out a consistently solid album in over ten years. Yes, hip hop has changed from the days when he was a factor in the genre and culture but it isn't as bleak as he would like us to believe. OK, we get it Nas, you've sold out and now you feel bad but there are plenty of young kids out there keeping hip hop not only alive but thriving.… Expand
  5. Mr.C
    Dec 19, 2006
    0
    Album is very mediocre.
  6. gotosleepbtch
    Nov 25, 2022
    0
    Title should be "Nas is dead" since he failed putting out a decent album for years, this one proves it.
  7. bobbysolo
    Nov 29, 2022
    0
    would say something about this one but sales and streamings speak for themselves.
  8. itsaboutdrive
    Dec 6, 2022
    0
    Bad album, period. There's nothing interesting and I still don't figure out how Nas stayed relevant after Illmatic since almost all his albums after that one are ass.
  9. user0857
    Aug 4, 2023
    0
    such a mess of a album. after illmatic this man was finisheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed

Awards & Rankings

92
#92 Best Album of 2006
35
#35 Most Discussed Album of 2006
56
#56 Most Shared Album of 2006

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
79

Generally favorable reviews - based on 22 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 22
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 22
  3. Negative: 0 out of 22
  1. Entertainment Weekly
    75
    Hip Hop Is Dead is a lot like Nas himself: impossible not to admire, but hard to love.
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  2. The New York Times
    80
    Here’s the thing about Nas’s old-fashioned approach to hip-hop: It still works.
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  3. Pitchfork
    78
    More than Illmatic, it represents the real Nas-- not the ideal-- the MC with all the skill, all the rhymes, and all the insight who sabotaged himself with bad decisions.
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