Album: Nas, Untitled (Def Jam)

It's been a long time since a major rapper made an album as politically radical as 'Untitled'. The presence of the Last Poets as guests offers a clue as to where Nasir Jones's head is at right now.

Three tracks in particular – the Massive Attack-ish "America", the consciousness-raising "N.I.G.G.E.R." and "Sly Fox", which berates the Fox network – are right up there with anything the Poets ever did. If this album has a fault, it's Salaam Remi's so-so production. Nevertheless, 'Untitled' micturates from a great height upon the recorded works of Nas's sometime nemesis Jay-Z.

Pick of the Album: Unfinished antipathy: 'America'