Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones, better known as Nas, is back with his third album of 2023. The 50-year-old’s work ethic is unlike anything we have ever seen in the history of the genre. Since 2020, he and his partner in crime, Hit-Boy, have released tons of music. In fact, this is their sixth album in a row. Furthermore, the duo has gone on to complete two trilogies in this span. The first one to reach finality was the King’s Disease series, which wrapped up on April 28, 2023. Now, the Magic continues with the third and last installment. God’s Son released this album on his birthday no less so you know he had to end things on a high note.
The Queens, New York icon did just that, with Magic 3 being the lengthiest project out of the trio. It features a tracklist of 15 cuts with a runtime of 45 minutes and 50 seconds, to be exact. What is also impressive about this album, is that Nas and Hit-Boy handle all of the production here. That speaks to how great Nas is because his rapping across this project is rock solid all the way through.
There is plenty of quality here, but one that might stand above the rest for most listeners is “Never Die.” It is the sixth cut off of the record and it possesses the only feature which is Lil Wayne. These two do not have a long work history with Nas appearing on the “Outro” of Tha Carter IV (Complete Edition). Even with their short track record both trade some truly incredible flows, wordplay, and bars on this punchy three-minute song. Some of Wayne’s bars are below, but Nas goes off too. “This my Tom Cruise flow, top gun, they too slow / Computers ain’t fast enough to keep up with Nasty ’cause.”
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