Words by Jesse Serwer—

Nas has been on a roll leading up to his upcoming Life is Good LP, beginning with last summer’s invigorating “Nasty” and, most recently, the highly personal “Daughters.” It’s the SuperCat-sampling ‘The Don,” co-produced by Salaam Remi and the late Heavy D (as well as Da Internz), that gives us hope that Nas might finally be set to break the curse of mediocre post-Illmatic albums. This song just hits hard in a way no other rap tunes are hitting right now, while Nas’ inclusion of SuperCat (not to mention production from a pair of Caribbeans in Salaam and Heavy) is a positive sign for those hoping reggae-inflected hip-hop will make a comeback.