# Life Is Good (Nas album)
**Life Is Good** is the tenth studio album by the American rapper Nas, released on July 17, 2012 by [Def Jam Recordings](https://www.edgepedia.org/def-jam-recordings). It was his first solo album in four years, and it is built around the aftermath of his divorce from the singer Kelis, his responsibilities as a father, and two decades spent in hip-hop.[1](https://www.metacritic.com/music/life-is-good/nas/critic-reviews) • [2](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-nas-life-is-good-def-jam-7944239.html) • [3](https://musiccritic.com/nas/life-is-good/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | July 17, 2012, Def Jam Recordings; Nas's tenth studio album and first solo album in four years[1](https://www.metacritic.com/music/life-is-good/nas/critic-reviews) • [3](https://musiccritic.com/nas/life-is-good/) |
| Length | 19 songs, 1 hour 16 minutes on the Apple Music edition; a 15-song version and a deluxe edition also exist[4](https://music.apple.com/us/album/life-is-good/1436745185) |
| Main producers | No I.D. (five of 14 tracks), Salaam Remi, Buckwild, the late Heavy D, and Swizz Beatz[5](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/16832-life-is-good/) |
| Cover image | Nas holding a version of his ex-wife Kelis's wedding dress[2](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-nas-life-is-good-def-jam-7944239.html) |
| Notable track | "Cherry Wine", an unheard Amy Winehouse duet created posthumously[2](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-nas-life-is-good-def-jam-7944239.html) |
| Critical reception | Metascore of 81 from 30 critic reviews: 28 positive, 2 mixed, 0 negative[1](https://www.metacritic.com/music/life-is-good/nas/critic-reviews) |
| Commercial performance | Projected before release to sell 120,000 units and debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200[6](https://www.xxlmag.com/no-i-d-speaks-on-working-with-nas-on-life-is-good/) |
## Background
Nas, born Nasir Bin Olu Dara Jones, was twenty years into his recording career when the album appeared.[7](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-xpm-2012-aug-18-la-et-ms-nas-20120818-story.html) The years before its release were turbulent: a brutally public divorce from Kelis with a costly settlement, an episode in which his teenage daughter tweeted pictures of a bejeweled box of condoms from her bedroom, and, by one reviewer's account, $6 million owed in taxes.[5](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/16832-life-is-good/) • [3](https://musiccritic.com/nas/life-is-good/) Nas had also come off the 2010 collaborative album *Distant Relatives* with [Damian Marley](https://www.edgepedia.org/damian-marley), which one album-history account describes as having reignited his artistic drive, and he consciously moved away from hood survival narratives toward subjects including love, money, aging, and fatherhood.[8](https://lyricsweb.com/album/nas/life-is-good)
## Production
**No I.D. shaped the sound.** [No I.D.](https://www.edgepedia.org/no-i-d), a Chicago rap veteran, mentor to [Kanye West](https://www.edgepedia.org/kanye-west), and executive vice president at Def Jam at the time, produced five of the album's 14 standard tracks and said he wanted to make a soundtrack that allowed Nas to be Nas.[5](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/16832-life-is-good/) The Los Angeles Times credited No I.D. and [Salaam Remi](https://www.edgepedia.org/salaam-remi) with doing most of the production work, describing the result as evoking hip-hop's 1990s heyday and providing a reprieve from the club raps and futuristic beats then filling urban radio.[7](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-xpm-2012-aug-18-la-et-ms-nas-20120818-story.html) The rest of the production roster included Buckwild, the late Heavy D, who gave Nas the track "The Don" before his death, and Swizz Beatz.[5](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/16832-life-is-good/) The opener "No Introduction" was produced by J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League and recorded at Westlake Studios in West Hollywood.[9](https://musicbrainz.org/release/b20f9ab0-0075-4e1e-a205-7b364af84d48)
Salaam Remi, a longtime collaborator, said in a release-week interview that the project felt like a good time for it because there had not been a summer album from Nas in a long time.[10](https://www.complex.com/music/a/rob-marriott/interview-salaam-remi-speaks-on-producing-for-nas-life-is-good)
## Themes and songs
The album is Nas's most open-hearted since *God's Son*, according to Pitchfork's review, drawing directly on the divorce and on fatherhood. "Daughters" responds to the condom-box episode and examines the responsibilities of raising a daughter, while "Bye Baby" addresses Kelis as a good-times remembrance rather than score-settling, recalling "screaming at the racist cops in Miami" as probably the highlight of his life.[5](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/16832-life-is-good/) "Cherry Wine", a duet with [Amy Winehouse](https://www.edgepedia.org/amy-winehouse) assembled after her death, closes the album's guest list alongside features from Miguel and Anthony Hamilton credited on [MusicBrainz](https://www.edgepedia.org/musicbrainz).[2](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-nas-life-is-good-def-jam-7944239.html) • [9](https://musicbrainz.org/release/b20f9ab0-0075-4e1e-a205-7b364af84d48)
The review press noted playful nods to *Illmatic*, including a familiar-sounding subway-train intro on "Loco-Motive", a track featuring Large Professor that Nas dedicates to "my trapped in the 90s" listeners.[5](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/16832-life-is-good/) • [9](https://musicbrainz.org/release/b20f9ab0-0075-4e1e-a205-7b364af84d48) The AllHipHop review found a middle ground between lyric-focused and production-focused listening, with original concepts throughout.[11](https://allhiphop.com/features/album-review-nas-life-is-good/) The All-Noise review observed that the album both suffers from and is enhanced by Nas's private life, with the slick production standing out immediately on the opener "No Introduction".[12](https://all-noise.co.uk/nas-life-is-good-album-review/2554/)
## Reception
Critical response was strongly positive. The album's Metacritic Metascore of 81, labeled universal acclaim, rests on 30 critic reviews of which 28 were positive and 2 mixed, with none negative.[1](https://www.metacritic.com/music/life-is-good/nas/critic-reviews) XXL scored it 100 and called it arguably Nas's best album since *Stillmatic*; DJ Booth also gave 100, and [The A.V. Club](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-a-v-club) gave 91, writing that the music of his youth proves a rousing platform for commenting on matters of middle age.[1](https://www.metacritic.com/music/life-is-good/nas/critic-reviews) Pitchfork called it his strongest album in three or four presidential administrations.[5](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/16832-life-is-good/)
The two mixed reviews targeted consistency rather than skill. The Independent (UK) scored it 60, noting the usual hip-hop baggage of aggrandizement, recrimination, and old-school reminiscence alongside the anger and regret, and PopMatters scored it 50, calling the album decent but too inconsistent to be more.[13](https://www.metacritic.com/music/life-is-good/nas/critic-reviews?dist=neutral)
Commercially, XXL reported before release that the album was projected to sell 120,000 units and debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.[6](https://www.xxlmag.com/no-i-d-speaks-on-working-with-nas-on-life-is-good/)
## Later standing
A [Dolby Atmos](https://www.edgepedia.org/dolby-atmos) mix of the album has been cataloged on MusicBrainz, and the release remains listed on Apple Music alongside a deluxe version and a 15-song edition.[14](https://musicbrainz.org/release/bfe4b0b9-5095-45c7-88cc-318e76ff7db5) • [4](https://music.apple.com/us/album/life-is-good/1436745185) In retrospective commentary the album is often grouped with Nas's most personal records; a [Poetry Foundation](https://www.edgepedia.org/poetry-foundation) essay on hip-hop's personal resonance singles out the cover, where he holds a version of his former wife's wedding dress, as an image that speaks to listeners who have experienced the loss of love through divorce.[15](https://static.poetryfoundation.org/o/uploads/magazine/4_2015.pdf)
## References
1. [Life is Good critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/music/life-is-good/nas/critic-reviews)
2. [Album: Nas, Life is Good (Def Jam), The Independent](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-nas-life-is-good-def-jam-7944239.html)
3. [Nas: LIFE IS GOOD Review, MusicCritic](https://musiccritic.com/nas/life-is-good/)
4. [Life Is Good - Album by Nas, Apple Music](https://music.apple.com/us/album/life-is-good/1436745185)
5. [Nas: Life Is Good Album Review, Pitchfork](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/16832-life-is-good/)
6. [No I.D. Speaks on Working With Nas on Life Is Good, XXL](https://www.xxlmag.com/no-i-d-speaks-on-working-with-nas-on-life-is-good/)
7. ['Life is Good' for hip-hop's Nas, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-xpm-2012-aug-18-la-et-ms-nas-20120818-story.html)
8. [Life Is Good by Nas - Tracklist & Story Behind the Album, LyricsWeb](https://lyricsweb.com/album/nas/life-is-good)
9. [Release "Life Is Good" by Nas, MusicBrainz](https://musicbrainz.org/release/b20f9ab0-0075-4e1e-a205-7b364af84d48)
10. [Interview: Salaam Remi Speaks On Producing For Nas' "Life Is Good", Complex](https://www.complex.com/music/a/rob-marriott/interview-salaam-remi-speaks-on-producing-for-nas-life-is-good)
11. [Album Review: Nas' "Life Is Good", AllHipHop](https://allhiphop.com/features/album-review-nas-life-is-good/)
12. [Nas - 'Life Is Good' album review, All-Noise](https://all-noise.co.uk/nas-life-is-good-album-review/2554/)
13. [Mixed Critic Reviews for Life is Good, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/music/life-is-good/nas/critic-reviews?dist=neutral)
14. [Release "Life Is Good" (Dolby Atmos mix) by Nas, MusicBrainz](https://musicbrainz.org/release/bfe4b0b9-5095-45c7-88cc-318e76ff7db5)
15. [Poetry Foundation magazine, April 2015](https://static.poetryfoundation.org/o/uploads/magazine/4_2015.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical works and recordings › Albums and recorded releases › Studio albums › Hip hop albums › East Coast hip hop albums*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license