Untitled
by Nas
  • Record Label: Def Jam
  • Release Date: Jul 15, 2008
Metascore
71

Generally favorable reviews - based on 25 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 25
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 25
  3. Negative: 2 out of 25
  1. Dot Music
    100
    Brilliantly sequenced, the album reaches a euphoric climax with the "Yes, we can change the world" hook of 'Black President,' a close cousin of Lupe Fiasco's 'Superstar.'
  2. MSN Consumer Guide (Robert Christgau)
    91
    The beats beat Green Lantern's. And what the finale has to say about Obama is so sane I may just check out van Sertima myself.
  3. PopMatters
    90
    "Illmatic" was stylistically brilliant and incalculably influential, but Untitled is a more mature, emotionally-driven, and philosophically-complex piece of work. It’s also a masterpiece.
  5. RapReviews.com
    85
    Even if the music isn't extraordinary, Nas himself is legendary on "Untitled" - and as long as racism is relevant, so is this album.
  6. Entertainment Weekly
    83
    It's refreshing to hear a complicated record that doesn't shy from grown-up ambition.
  7. Billboard
    80
    From "Project Roach," where Nas says that the NAACP's burial of "n*gger" was pointless, to "Untitled," which discusses Louis Farrakhan's role in America, the Queens MC impresses his listener while provoking social and political thought.
  8. Boston Globe
    80
    The new album, immersed in a soul-funk sound with guest spots from the Stylistics and the Last Poets, is contradictory at times, but the idea of building hope through about an hour's worth of music supersedes any effort to brew controversy.
  9. Rolling Stone
    80
    This is a sprawling, furious, deeply ambivalent theme album about institutional racism, the failures of black leadership and the pathologies and promise of early-21st-century African-American life.
  10. AllMusic
    80
    A couple tracks might sonically resemble inferior versions of years-old tracks that helped make Nas a hip-hop deity and, nearly ten years after Nas was first accused of selling out, he might still sound a little awkward over radio-friendly productions. But the MC has never made an album as engrossing or as necessary as this one.
  11. Drowned In Sound
    80
    Mixing his ear for hits, like single ‘Hero’, with the political eloquence that marks the record out, this ought to be the album that promotes Nas back up into the super leagues that 1994’s "Illmatic" originally shot him into.
  12. Hot Press
    80
    Ho & bling free rap of the highest thought provoking order.
  13. The A.V. Club
    75
    Nas finds a wonderful groove in its final third, as the rapper takes a break from heady theorizing to rap allegorically from the perspective of a cockroach and pens a love song to fried chicken.
  14. Slant Magazine
    70
    The lyrics are all terrific; the beats, not so much.
  15. Hartford Courant
    70
    Those who care not only about hip-hop but the culture it reflects and shapes will find Nasir Jones' latest the most intriguing, provocative and ultimately troubling album released this year.
  16. Village Voice
    70
    Controversy aside, without any truly addictive tracks, you can't consider Nas's latest among his greatest. But it's hard not to appreciate the effort.

Awards & Rankings

35
#35 Most Discussed Album of 2008
73
#73 Most Shared Album of 2008

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
8.1

Universal acclaim- based on 154 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 128 out of 154
  2. Mixed: 13 out of 154
  3. Negative: 13 out of 154
  1. SeanL
    Sep 4, 2008
    10
    This is the album nas was meant to make but no one expected. at a time when mcs have given into the pressure to be unpolitical and passive to This is the album nas was meant to make but no one expected. at a time when mcs have given into the pressure to be unpolitical and passive to the liars in power, nas takes a bold move in addressing issues and topics untouched by most mcs. Nas is on point lyrically and instead of trying to create another illmatic as many pressured him to, he created a classic on his own terms that will take many listeners years to fully appreciate. Tracks like Sly Fox and Black President show his best rhymes and most thought provoking lyrics to date. Nas gives the hip hop nation what they need most and shows what non-hip hop fans (Pitchfork,LA Times,etc.) what real hip hop was meant to be. Listen to the best lyricist at his best on this modern day classic. Fox News and the non-hip hop fans are scared of how powerful his voice is and this album proves why rappers can still speak for a nation of millions… Full Review »
  2. EmH.
    Jul 20, 2008
    10
    Untitled is a new classic from the ever so consistant Nasir Jones. It is an insult seeing TC3 receiving 9's while Untitled has an Untitled is a new classic from the ever so consistant Nasir Jones. It is an insult seeing TC3 receiving 9's while Untitled has an average of 6 and 7s. The Pitchfork review is laughable. 9.5/10 I'm giving Nas' greatest album since Stillmatic. 1. Illmatic 2. Stillmatic / Untitled 4. It Was Written 5. God's Son 6. Hip-Hop Is Dead 7. Street's Disciple 8. I Am.… Full Review »
  3. Will******
    Jul 16, 2008
    10
    9.5 it's not a recent classic like Food and Liquor, but besides that it's the next best hip hop cd to come out.... tied with 9.5 it's not a recent classic like Food and Liquor, but besides that it's the next best hip hop cd to come out.... tied with Phoaroh Monch - Desire. untitled contains- Brilliant lyricism and the beats are above par, because lets face it Nas is not 50 cent, you don't listen to his cd for the beats. The Game has a lot to live up to. One Love.… Full Review »
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