''N of tha World'' is the seventh studio album by

Natas The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) is an American professional service organization founded in 1955 for "the advancement of the arts and sciences of television and the promotion of creative leadership for artistic, edu ...

. Released in 2006, it was the group's first album released by

Reel Life Productions Reel Life Productions, also known as Gothom Records, is an independent record label based in Detroit, Michigan most associated with the hip hop subgenre horrorcore. The label was founded in 1989 by James H. Smith and his younger brother, rapper E ...

since 1999's '' WicketWorldWide.COM'', although there were claims that there was no newly recorded material by Natas, which broke up in 2002. Five songs on the album were newly recorded after Esham departed from Psychopathic Records in October 2005; the rest of the album consists of material recorded by Esham and T-N-T for a prospective Esham album, to be titled ''Club Evil'', that never came out. Despite the album being attributed to Natas, the only track by the group is ''N of tha World''. The other four new songs were "World's Apart", "On My Own", "Trouble & Pain" and "Niggaz Always Talkin' Alot of Shit".

Music and lyrics

''N of tha World'' features live instrumentation and loops which derive from

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

and

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

. "See You In Hell" is built around a sample of the

Muddy Waters McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913 April 30, 1983), known professionally as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer and musician who was an important figure in the post-war blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of modern Chicago b ...

song "Tom Cat", from his 1968

psychedelic Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary states of consciousness (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips").Pollan, Michael (2018). ''How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of ...

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

Electric Mud ''Electric Mud'' is the fifth studio album by Muddy Waters, with members of Rotary Connection playing as his backing band. Released in 1968, it imagines Muddy Waters as a psychedelic music, psychedelic musician. Producer Marshall Chess suggested t ...

''. "Why You Gotta Lie" samples the drum break from

Aerosmith Aerosmith is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of Steven Tyler (lead vocals), Joe Perry (musician), Joe Perry (guitar), Tom Hamilton (musician), Tom Hamilton (bass), Joey Kramer (drums) and Brad Whi ...

and

Run-DMC Run-DMC (also spelled Run-D.M.C.) was an American hip hop group from Hollis, Queens, New York City, founded in 1983 by Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels, and Jason Mizell. Run-DMC is regarded as one of the most influential acts in the history of ...

's "

Walk This Way "Walk This Way" is a song by the American rock band Aerosmith. Written by Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, the song was originally released as the second single from the album '' Toys in the Attic'' (1975). It peaked at number 10 on the ''Billboa ...

" and the chord progression of

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

's "

Enter Sandman "Enter Sandman" is a song by American heavy metal band Metallica. It is the opening track and lead single from their self-titled fifth album, released in 1991. The music was written by Kirk Hammett, James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich. Vocalist a ...

". The album's lyrics focus on topics ranging from women and violence to spirituality. Natas expresses self-reliance and allegiance to

God In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...

. However, Esham refers to himself once again as "The Unholy" on the album in material recorded prior to signing with Psychopathic, a moniker he had not used since the song "Enjoy Life" from the 2003 Bedlam album "Bedlamitez Rize".

Reception

About.com Dotdash Meredith (formerly About.com) is an American digital media company based in New York City. The company publishes online articles and videos about various subjects across categories including health, home, food, finance, tech, beauty, ...

reviewed the album favorably, writing "Great, great stuff that I personally will drop on the many I meet daily that are starved for proper hip-hop."

Track listing

Personnel

* Esham the Unholy a.k.a. Black Hitler — rapping * T-N-T a.k.a. The Dynamite Kid — rapping * Mastamind a.k.a. Mr. Hellraiser — rapping

Musicians

* Mike P. — lead guitar * Randy (The Leer Jet Engineer Fixin') Lynch — lead guitar on "Pancakes & Syrup" and "On My Own" * The Brian Schram Band — instrumentation ("Worlds Apart")

Production

* Esham — producer, executive producer * Young Kyle for Blackstone — A&R exec * Mike P. — additional technical support * Eric Saunders — cover art * Michael Broom — drawings

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:N Of Tha World 2006 albums Albums produced by Esham Natas (group) albums Reel Life Productions albums Warlock Records albums