Nasir Jones has a plan larger than some critics have given him credit for. Yea, even I, still cluching “Illmatic” to my chest cried “sell out” upon hearing certain singles on commercial radio throughout his career, but sometimes you gotta let go of the past. Plus, Mr. Jones is way deeper than that. He’s been criticized for his contradictions, but then Tupac was too (and isn’t he one of our greats?). And it is true that you can’t say that any of his albums from “It was Written” to “God’s Son” lacked at least one candid “conscious” track-which are all to often missing on a lot of Hip Hop’s mainstream records. “Street’s Disciple” Nas’s latest effort released in November, brings the various aspects of this emcee’s rapping career and persona into one collective piece-from the philosophical roughneck fans were first introduced to in 1994 when “Illmatic” dropped to the complex persona we see today that has gone through everything from the underground to the glitz and glam lifestyle and dog eat dog music biz.

The Album art referencing (what else?) The Last Supper, shows the many facets of Nas’s character; thugged out with ‘do rag and all, the Jay-Z look-alike with a bottle of Cristal in hand, the Hip-Hop back packer, and at the head of the table, the African Prince. Truthfully it’s over the top, but most rap stars have had some sort of Jesus or God complex for at least a couple albums in their career. And in a way the Last Supper image and multiple characters makes sense. It reflects what it means to survive as a Hip Hop star in the pop world- and the struggle to maintain true identity and credibility while doing so. Nas is vulnerable (at least as vulnerable as a rap star is allowed to be), reflective and real on this album. He tackles everything from politics, classicism and racism to the groupies in his checkered past and, of course, his true love and wife to be singer Kelis. Some nay-sayers may have something to hate on when it comes to tracks like “Getting Married” or the Michael Jackson inspired, early 80s throw back jam “No One else in the Room,” but Nas is grown and with over 30 years in this world, so is Hip Hop-the content sometimes will have a softer edge, and yea, it will sometimes include rhymes about true love too (LL is not the only emcee who can rap about that).

Jewels on the record include songs like “These Are Our Heros,” produced by Buckwild. This is Nas’s take on the role of Black celebrities in pop culture TV and media and it has particularly insightful commentary, the hook really kills it as nasty Nas asks “Whatever happened to Weezie/ the Redd Foxxes/who never got Emmys but were real to me” continuing on to comment about those on UPN and WB: “Whitey always tell him ooh he speaks so well/Are you the one we look to the decent Negro/The acceptable Negro/Hell na/But they say these are our heros.” Another banger that will get heads nodding is “U.B.R. (Unauthorized Biography of Rakim) with production by Nas reminiscent of beats from classics like “Microphone Fiend” and “I ain’t no Joke” from the masters Eric B. and Rakim. Rakim “January 28, 1968/Born into this world/William Griffen the Great” is immortalized by a fan and fellow emcee on this track in a way that’ll get any true head out there still hungry for the “good old days” of hip hop excited. Nas’s collaborations with his father trumpet player, Olu Dara on “Street’s Disciple” and “Bridging the Gap” reunite Hip Hop with one if its ancestral musical forms, the Blues. “Bridging the Gap” the record’s first single, produced by Salaam Remi, shouts out Blues greats like Howling Wolf and Muddy Waters with a sick blues riff contributed by Salaam Remi on Bass, Guitar and Drums and Olu Dara on Lead Guitar, Trumpet, and Harmonica-it provides a good motivation for today’s fans to check their history.

“Virgo” featuring Ludacris and Doug E. Fresh with old school sounds of beat boxing and rhymes about a groupies and girls from around the way takes it back to the free-spirited block party raps of years past. The Q-Tip produced track “American Way” with its sample from George Clinton’s “Atomic Dog” features vocals from Kelis as Nas breaks down the sorry state of the Bush administration and certain masterminds behind it-namely, “Condoleezza Rice/I don’t get this chick.” Nas’s opinion on our last national election is clear: “I ain’t with the President’s crew/what you peddlin’ and who you peddlin’ to/You ain’t got the ghetto with you/Tryin to lead my sheep to the slaughter-house/Talkin’ bout ‘rap the vote’/You ain’t thought about/The black vote mean naythin/who you gonna elect…../in the ‘hood nothing is changing.” Nas’s social commentary is especially poignant given the current state of affairs at home and abroad. And on the other hand with “Remember the Times” and “The Makings of a Perfect Bitch” we get a taste of more raw material with talk of sex and ho’s but all done so with clever lyricism. You could say he compromises content a bit on some tracks-but being on a major label that wants nothing less than big sales he has to drop a few radio friendly jams. In either case, Nas always manages to pull off the mainstream hit laced with a few politically and socially minded references.

There are only a few weak tracks on the album-which are lacking a bit in bringing original sounding beats, but these only comprise like 2 or 3 out of 24 songs. For the most part Nas delivers lyrically, and with appearances by Kelis, Maxwell, Doug E. Fresh, Ludacris, Busta Rhymes and his father Olu Dara and production contributions from L.E.S., Salaam Remi, Q-Tip, and God’s son himself the beats and flows compliment each other nicely. Overall Nasir Jones brings a compelling piece of work to the table. With sales increasing considerably since “Street’s Disciple” release Nas proves that he can balance the commercial dollars and the sense; he has mass appeal yet the lyrical skills to maintain his reputation as a hard-core emcee. And a conscious one at that.

Rating: 9 out of 10.