2xLP BLACK VINYL

Marking the alleged end of Nas and Hit-Boy's triumphant collaborative run, Magic 3 is truly the end of an era. The sixth album to be issued in just three years from this unexpected late-career pairing, this project represents the completion of one of modern hip-hop's most miraculous phenomena, a barrage of albums that feel as definitive and vivid as the rap icon's classics. Though Magic 2 perhaps landed the least acclaim of the six, there are no qualms to be had with the series' final chapter: this is the definitive ending to Nas and Hit-Boy's incredible partnership.

The ground on which Nas stands here is so effortlessly self-assured that you'd be forgiven for thinking rap was easy. Bars are constructed loosely but never carelessly, rattled out at a headstrong pace and tossed around like playthings, jeweled with slick double entendres and the wisdom of decades behind the mike. The vast weight of the MC's legacy is the bedrock behind the words, but his snapshot living is as high-life as ever, with New York luxuries coursing like paper trails through the wordsmith's verses. Yet, for all the hedonism, it's the spectrum of life that Nas refracts here that proves most remarkable: the chaptered "Based on True Events, Pt. 2" is a near-instantaneous story track classic, Lil Wayne back-to-back "Never Die" is like half of a rap Mount Rushmore come to life, and "Sitting with My Thoughts" sweeps across Nas' history with sonar-like precision. This is gold from the surface to the core.

Hit-Boy's productions continue to occupy that charmed middle ground between innovation and nostalgia, a formula that has refreshed Nas' historic sound authentically across the pair's previous five LPs. The steadfast soul that underscores Magic 3 works like fuel for the MC's relentless flows, adding a stone-cut drama to back-to-back "Never Die," an old-school thwomp to "Pretty Young Girl," and jazzy urgency to "Superhero Status." It slinks with sinister probes under the morbid "Based on True Events, Pt. 2" and brightly flits from chop to chop on "Speechless, Pt. 2" -- but never proves anything other than the perfect complement to Nas' stalwart vocals. Audio engineering from David Kim -- who gets a long-deserved shout-out on "1-800-Nas-&-Hit" -- is the final touch in the full modernization of the Nas sound.

Six incredible albums in just three years. The Magic and King's Disease series offer nothing less than a hall of fame-level performance from Nas and Hit-Boy -- and Magic 3 sits alongside King's Disease III and Magic at the apex of this legendary run. This is hip-hop history, indeed.

A1 Fever 2:47
A2 TSK 3:04
A3 Superhero Status 2:51
A4 I Love This Feeling 3:17
B1 No Tears 3:11
B2 Never Die 3:10
     Featuring – Lil Wayne 
B3 Pretty Young Girl 2:20
B4 Based On True Events 2:44
C1 Based On True Events Pt.2 3:14
C2 Sitting With My Thoughts 3:00
C3 Blue Bentley 2:35
C4 Jodeci Member 2:47
D1 Speechless Pt.2 3:05
D2 Japanese Soul Bar 3:01
D3 1-800-Nas&Hit 4:37