Today, we put Nate’s solo hits in the spotlight…

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Al Shipley: Rarely did Nate’s G-funk sound more live and funky than on this underrated later solo single, with big loose, booming drums and warm keybs by Roc-A-Fella producer Bink!, then fresh off of helping craft The Blueprint.
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Martin Skidmore: This is my favourite of Nate’s own singles, perhaps because it has a livelier, stronger backing, plus some nice flute (rather reminiscent of that on Gil Scott-Heron’s “The Bottle”), and maybe the lack of a guest rapper means it invokes his own guest appearances less. It’s not a great or original song, but it’s one of Nate’s best performances.
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Ian Mathers: Donny Hathaway’s version of “I Believe to My Soul” is a great song, and hearing Nate bust out “If she stress me some more, I have to leave her dead in the street” over a gorgeous, silky sample from it is a little headspinning. This is the song where I really get all the arguments for him as rapping singer rather than rapper, and interestingly enough he sounds way more badass with the Hathaway sample and a little flute than he ever did with a bunch of rappers. Anyone who thinks that he could only handle the hook ought to be played this song, and then as he says “Voice kinda mellow, place, from the ghetto/If you still want some more, go and get the fuckin’ CD.”
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Asher Steinberg: I’m sorry but this is basically a pretty good Nate Dogg hook repeated 50 times with different words.
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Zach Lyon: My only complaint is that outside of the occasional TOTALLY BITCHIN’ jazz flute solo, everything is so repetitive it tails off into a lull. I always love it when it starts and forget I’m listening to it by the time it’s over.
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Katherine St Asaph: This is smug, smug, smug — the poised, steady rhythm underpinning everything, under a tight rein even when it speeds up; that pounding refrain that gets juuuust a bit too repetitive, not that anyone’d care; the matter-of-fact misogyny I expect to read about in the comments but won’t comment on myself; Nate’s vocals — too small for their frames, but you don’t undersing like this unless you know you’ve got it. And I happen to feel rather smug today. So, y’know.
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Anthony Easton: Love the flute, love how the flute accents the staccato rhythm of the work. This was the first song that I could not ignore the misogyny, esp. how loving hos seems impossible.
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