Nature — 98' Nate

In the spring of 2022, Jermaine "Nature" Baxter returns to release material three years after his last album.

This new Nature tape opens wonderfully, the boy takes the magic piano keys that Trackmasters originally designed for Nas' "Shootouts", a pearl cut from the album-peak of mafia rap "It Was Written". The New York emcee goes on for a minute in this tribute, for me it could go on for ten. "Bidden' It" features a skit from a movie that opens the track to a simple boom bap, string loops, dry midtempo drum, orchestral samples, good flow by Nature.

"Sling" steals from another classic, for some reason I think it's Nas: special boom bap, heavenly fantastic magic piano, hard dusty dirty drum midtempo, beautiful strings, magnificent samples, even vocals, exquisite silky delivery by Nature that cloaks the track, spoken hook where the boy tries to sing. The Queens artist lets the rhythm breathe half a minute at the end, magnificent choice. High piece in the discography of the emcee. The phenomenal beat is invented by Ez Elpee for "Calm Down", a Capone-N-Noreaga track that was released as a b-side to their single "Capone Bone" in 1997 (internet says the track is from 2003, and genius says it was released in 2006). The duo also features Tragedy Khadafi, who later included it on his album "Thug Matrix II" (2006), and Nas.

Choice number four is "All Out", a boom bap with a dry, unyielding drum, dirty zigzagging strings, and Nature's loose rapping. Little Vic produces "Newports & Kools", beautiful beat: lounge jazz mood, lush, smoothness, splendid sax, light boom bap, friendly drum, soft bass, graceful flute, silky delivery by Nature that flies on this light dreamy soundscape, also guessing the chorus right and carving out what can be defined as a personal classic piece and at this point one of the best moments of the 2022 season.

As in some of the best albums in the history of the genre, one classic follows another classic. And incredibly this is one of those cases, even if we can't call it a classic album in this particular case. A rare event however, because Nature follows the fifth track with another iconic piece, "Familia". Which is nothing more than the homonymous song by Firm that unfortunately didn't make it into the supergroup's only album released in 1997. Wonderful production by Trackmasterz: vibrant bass, dry midtempo drum, dirty strings, plucked guitar, elegant piano. Nature lets the rhythm breathe and delivers a single verse, the same as the original song, released as a b-side to Foxy Brown's single hit "I'll Be" from her debut album "Ill Na Na" (1996).

In the original, Nature has the second verse between contributions from Foxy and Nas, the piece is closed by AZ. There is also a version where Cormega replaces Nature's with his own verse for a track on one of his albums. In this new version, the Queensbridge emcee re-records his verse, letting the beat breathe a bit at the end. "Jungle Music" has another dope production, with a fantastic piano, dry downtempo drums, relaxing vibes, velvety delivery from Nature. The record closes with a lush outro where the artist takes pieces of his interview on "Drink Champs" with Noreaga.

What more is there to say? This is a beautiful record. Nature at his finest, probably his best work with just over twenty minutes, eight tracks, fantastic music and no guests. 8/10.