Street's Disciple  (Audio CD) 
by Nas

Nas is incredibly talented, but he can't really justify the heft of a double album any more than Jay-Z or Wu-Tang could. Still, most of Street's Disciple is as impressive as anything he's done in the previous few years. He's still hip-hop's most compelling and sophisticated lyricist (sorry Eminem, Jigga), and more than a few tracks here burn with his verbal heat–-a flood of phrases and metaphors that inspire imagery as rich as in any movie. Unfortunately, Street's Disciple is twice as long as it needs to be, especially with insipid fare like "The Makings of a Perfect Bitch" or tired club cuts like "No One Else in the Room." You wish Nas had forced himself to cut a single album because half of this double-CD set is truly hot. --Oliver Wang