Ever since Nas dropped Illmatic, fans have demanded a return to the sound found on this album. After all, it was an unprecedented classic record, receiving higher critical acclaim than any other record in his career - so why didn’t Nas ever record an album using this same team of producers? With the exception of Stillmatic, a worthy sequel that came close, there will never be a return to that early 90′s soul/jazz sampled sound, simply because, like it or not, hip-hop has moved on. But what about the heads, the purists who were raised on hip-hop in the late 80′s and early 1990′s, the ones that still long for that lost, classic sound? 

     While we are lucky to have groups that survived the 90′s still putting out records today, it’s good to see that new blood is emerging, carrying on these traditions in 2003. Leading off the new year is none other than Little Brother, who’s taken the indy world by storm with their debut, The Listening, produced by 9th Wonder, a beat-machine that sounds like the prodigal son of Pete Rock, DJ Premier, and Jay Dee. But how is this relevant to Nas? Simple, 9th remixed the entire God’s Son album. Nuff said. 

     While heads will be quick to judge 9th Wonder’s take on Nas’ latest, measuring each song up against the original versions, but to fully enjoy this record, it’s best to let yourself forget what the original sounded like, and to simply pretend its 1994 again. Reason being is that 9th’s renditions of already fan-favorites like “Ether” and “Made You Look” aren’t necessarily better than the original versions, but have become new songs entirely. But if comparisons will be made, so be it. The sparse minimalism of Eminem’s dark pianos on “Cross” have been completely done away with and been replaced by a cool summer breeze in 9th’s rendition, which actually outdoes the original. And while it’s hard to beat the classic James Brown samples found on the original “Get Down” no matter how many times its been used, 9th’s take on the track is more like a hard hitting Premier beat with Pete’s treats in it’s baseline. Same goes for the original dark thump of “Last Real Nigga Alive”, which 9th replaces with a moody piano propelled piece, or “Mastermind”, where Alchemist’s original 80′s drug-cartel movie backdrop gets traded for horns-a-plenty and a timeless 1994 Gang Starr snare. But the crown jewel here is the bonus track “Ether”, which gives a whole new life to Nas’ original Jay-Z dethroning. 9th echoed horns and muffled bassline play like it’s truly the ushering in of a new king of New York.  

     However, 9th’s remake doesn’t complete turn water to wine, as some tracks are beyond improvement, such as “Hey Nas” or “I Can”, both of which get honest reworkings for the better, but still remain somewhat corny on Nas’ part. Meanwhile, 9th doesn’t even attempt to fuck with the bounce found on “Heaven” or “Zone Out”, leaving these off, perhaps the reason being his beats don’t suit this type of flow. And the only other “complaint” here is that the album is edited - but we all know that’s because Columbia only issued clean promo vinyl of the acapellas! 

     By no means should this project “replace” God’s Son, as Nas is back at the top of his game, making good records again. But it’s great to see that just like that nerd who re-edited Star Wars: The Phantom Menace to make it “better”, there is an established producer out there like 9th Wondra, who would care enough to do something like this for the love of the art. So what’s next? Only the obvious - 9th needs to get some beats on Nas’ next album!!