Recently a post online mentioned how Outkast’s ‘Stankonia’ is now twenty-four years old and just twenty-four years prior to it’s release, the drastic change and evolution of the sound of HOP music. Can it really be said that the “music” of Hip-Hop has drastically evolved since the year 2000? It can be seriously argued that it has not but maybe the music evolving was simply the first stage of Hip-Hop’s growth. What has clearly evolved in HOP music in twenty-four years is the veterans that have continued to make the music. Since A Tribe Called Quest 2016 album ‘We Got It From Here…,’ it seems a renaissance or quite possibly an energy drink was put in rappers who had been in the game since the late 1980’s and 1990’s. In 2024 that motivation and energy has continued emphatically but the run of Nas might have been the new “energy drink.” ‘Magic 3′ marks the final album in the Nas and Hit-Boy series which started with the subtle comeback of Nas’ with the album ‘King’s Disease.’ ‘Magic 3’ serves as a send off to this collaboration and finds Nas giving himself flowers but not in an egotistical way but more as an official autobiography at times. Hit-Boy brings Nas back to what we love him for with the production and as a theme to all the ‘Magic…’ albums the one feature on this is Lil’ Wayne on the very hype ‘Never Die.’ Regardless of what many have thought about the last Nas run, what can’t be denied is how he added another stamp to his legacy. This is the second stage of Hip-Hop music’s growth and where unlike sports, you don’t need legs to keep you in shape, just ideas, a voice and a little magic. What did you think of the album?

Singles include:
‘Fever,’ ‘I Love This Feeling’ & ‘Sitting With My Thoughts’

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