While the themes of nostalgia and disappointment with current hip-hop dominate a good portion of the album, much of it is just filled with music that's thoughtful and sometimes daring. An example of the latter would be “Who Killed It?” Nas, who once rapped from the perspective of a gun, attempts his best Edward G. Robinson impression to tell a film noir-esque tale on this song. Although the quality of the song is debatable, you have to give Nas credit for trying something truly different. Something like this would usually be the domain of indie rappers and you have to wonder if we'll see another mainstream rapper try something so out there.

“Black Republican” is the long-awaited collaboration between Nas and former rival Jay-Z. The end result is pretty good with the two of them showing off their contrasting styles from the hook (where Nas calls himself a “black militant” as opposed to the title) to their verses. The dramatic classical music sample adds to the spectacle.

Even though Nas titled his album Hip Hop Is Dead, the album serves to prove that hip-hop is far from dead. In fact, with all the controversy over the album title, anyone who listens to it will realize that Nas doesn't actually think hip-hop is dead. He is just frustrated with the way things are right now, just as some fans who grew up with him are. Hip-hop has survived being called a fad, censorship, tragedy, introduction to suburbia, and even police raids against mixtape DJ's. It's not going anywhere but that doesn't mean we can't demand more from it. That might really be the message of Hip Hop Is Dead.