''For All Seasons'' is the debut studio album by the American rapper

Nature Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...

, released in 2000 via

Trackmasters The Trackmasters, also known as Poke & Tone, is an American hip hop production outfit composed of Poke (Jean-Claude Olivier born January 21, 1970; Brooklyn, New York ) and Tone (Samuel Barnes born January 20, 1969; Brooklyn, New York). Active fro ...

and

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

. The album was produced mainly by

Critical reception

Matt Conaway of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

praised Nature for being "an exceptionally flamboyant and charismatic MC" throughout the record, highlighting "Young Love", "I Remember" and "It's a Man's World" for showcasing his storytelling abilities. He concluded that: "Though he delivers a compelling debut, there are stretches of outdated productions that kept the record from joining the ranks of classic debuts from his borough's now-luminary figures ( Run-D.M.C.,

Rakim William Michael Griffin Jr. (born January 28, 1968), better known by his stage name Rakim (), is an American rapper. He is one half of Golden age hip-hop, golden age hip hop duo Eric B. & Rakim, with whom he released four albums: ''Paid in Full ...

LL Cool J James Todd Smith (born January 14, 1968), known professionally as LL Cool J (short for Ladies Love Cool James), is an American rapper and actor. He is one of the earliest rappers to achieve commercial success, alongside fellow new school hip ho ...

and

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air (S ...

)." ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

'' called the album "a crafty platter of metaphysical flair, compelling boy-meets-girl/girl-caps-boy-for-fucking-around narratives, and vivid ghetto reminiscences that recall Nas' early poetics." ''

Vibe Vibe, alternatively '' vibes,'' is short for ''vibration''. A "vibe" is an emotional reaction to the aura or energy felt to belong to a person, place or thing. Vibe may also refer to: People * DJ Vibe (born 1968), Portuguese DJ * Lasse Vibe (b ...

'' contributor David Bry felt that Nature's lyrics were "run-of-the-mill" and had "a profound lack of engaging hooks", concluding that: "Although it offers a brief, pleasant flashback to Cali's hip-hop heyday, ''For All Seasons'' fails to live up to contemporary Queensbridge quality. It's a professional but largely uninspired effort." Shaheem Reid, in a review for ''

The Source The Source may refer to: Film and television * ''The Source'' (1918 film), 1918 American drama directed by George Melford * ''The Source'' (1999 film), a 1999 documentary film about the Beat generation * ''The Source'' (2002 film), a 2002 scienc ...

'', commended Nature's lyrical abilities, saying that he is "conjuring up cinematically vivid images", but criticized the album for the lack of diversity, both in lyrics and vocal delivery, as well as in its production, which he thought was "as bland as white rice".

Track listing

Charts

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2000 debut albums Nature (rapper) albums Columbia Records albums Albums produced by L.E.S. (record producer) Albums produced by Lord Jamar Albums produced by Ski Beatz Albums produced by Trackmasters