5 Reasons Why Nas Is More Punk Rock Than 99.9percent Of Bands

I'm not sure what it is recently but I've got a major bee in my bonnet about the idea of Punk Rock again. Upon contemplating that Punk Rock is in fact the realisation of possibilities, a certain self-dependence, civic duty, empowerment and the personal as the political alongside a lot of fun and a challenge to received wisdom, I'm now struggling to see which bands encompass such principles in 2009. I'm also listening to more hip hop than ever, Kanye might have turned into Phil Collins but Common's new record is astoundingly good, GZA's 'Liquid Swords' is getting dusted off and Spank Rock relentlessly played on the headphones.

The late D Boon of great American, no more punk band The Minutemen once had badges printed up that said "Punk Rock is whatever you want it to be" and that got me thinking..

Upon hearing Nas's 2008 album, 'Untitled' at the end of last year it struck me that this record is at least 99.9% more Punk Rock than all of the bands you listen to. Fact. This is why:

1) Despite the world of mainstream hip hop getting an unhelpful, though sometimes deserved, reputation for materialism and sickening misogyny, Nas has a moral compass and a sense of duty to inspire disaffected youth underpinning the entire opus. On the record it takes him only four stanzas to declare: "I do this for the group home kids and boarding houses", a sentiment that would sound so unbelievably clichéd if it wasn't so blatantly impassioned.

2) He is on his NINTH album and still sounds utterly vital, making him the Sonic Youth of hip hop. Or perhaps, with his incandescent anger and perfectly detailed scenes of the underbelly of American life and fondness for street reportage, a hip hop James Ellroy. It is arguably his best album since 1994's masterpiece 'Illmatic' and it is rapidly becoming my all time favourite hip-hop record, even usurping Jay Z's 'The Blueprint'.

3) The music and production are daring, capturing the possibilities of NOW. Production credits include DJ Green Lantern, Cool & Dre, The Game, Mark Ronson, Jay Electronica and many more, resulting in an absolutely glorious melting pot of beats and treats, an illuminating backdrop to the skillful lyricism. I Love the record for almost exactly the same reasons that I Love the new Animal Collective album, the sonic diversity and sense of exploration on display is transformative in the sense that all great pop music can be. Genre has nothing to do with it.

4) Nas is totally politicised, poetic in a very real sense and completely unafraid to address the taboo. He wanted to call the album 'Nigger', going on to address the subsequent uproar and major label panic that ensued on lead off single 'Hero', a provoking and anthemic tirade on the narrow parameters and controlling forces which hip hop artists and up and coming rappers have to deal with in the course of expressing their artistry.

So, he relented and changed the title to 'Untitled' (presumably so that the album would actually see the light of day) but did not filter any content nor his racial message and the issues within, appearing on the sleeve with flagellation scars in the shape of a letter 'N' and releasing the 'Nigger' mix tape on his own website leaving the world in no doubt as to the true title.

Whether you agree on use of the term in any context or not, and the arguments surrounding it are complex and plentiful, you can't deny that he uses a word with the very weight of history upon it to eloquently address historical and personal oppressions. Does the end justify the means in this case?

Other songs on the record include the self explanatory 'Black President' and 'Sly Fox', a white hot and brilliantly articulate attack on the operations of media conglomerate Fox.

5) He paints a colourful and conflicted world. I'm no Tim Westwood, I can't relate to Nas's upbringing in the Queensbridge housing projects of New York and nor would I proclaim to. But I can relate to the pale, contrived and utterly dull cardboard cut-outs that make up the likes of White Lies (currently at Number One if the U.K album charts) even less. Listening to Nas rhyme is the equivalent of a David Cronenberg film or an epic Alan Moore graphic novel. In other words, amplified escapism underpinned with harsh, gritty social realities. I heard a new 'Indie' band actually singing about being in Argos the other day and can't say that it conjured up similar comparisons or any inspiration at all to be honest. As the great man himself says: "All of these false prophets is not messiahs".

Come on 2009, I challenge you to prove me wrong