Antonio Reid, known as LA, chairman of Island Def Jam Music Group, said he believed that Love vs Money would be a bigger hit than its predecessor because it showcased Nash’s crossover appeal. “He’s that rare combination of high art like Kanye West, but also ghetto-friendly like R Kelly,” he said. “That’s part of what makes
him one of the great undiscovered talents of our time.”
Written during Nash’s divorce from Nivea in 2008, Love vs Money offers an emotional, confessional take on the ways wealth can make personal relationships feel empty. The interlocked, three-song mini-epic that anchors the album — Love vs. Money, Love vs Money Part 2 and Fancy — finds Nash admitting that all the Bentleys and trips to Paris he bought to show his affection ended up just making him feel used.
He sings sadly on Fancy:
They say you can’t buy love
Man, they lyin’
If Christian LaCroix brings a smile
I’ll buy it
It’s as if he’s having trouble convincing himself it’s all true. With music written by Stewart, Nash has made a lush headphones album, pulsing with new wave and funk melodies, synth-fueled ballads, thundering 808 drum machine beats and little electronic details that occasionally sound like R ’n’ B’s answer to Radiohead.
DOING ALRIGHT
“Love vs Money is music as theater, and no one does that better than The-Dream,” said Stephen Hill, president for music programming and specials for BET. “But he also knows how to give a young, black audience what they want.” Hill pointed to Sweat It Out, a song about a woman who has just perfected a slick hairstyle, only to see it frizz up when things get steamy.
If for some reason the new album isn’t a hit, Nash’s day job isn’t too shabby. He’s currently working with Carey on her next album, and he has just finished an album for the new R ’n’ B girl group Electrik Red, which will be released on his Radio Killa imprint this month. And Nash said he and West had talked about doing a collaborative album in the spirit of R Kelly and Jay-Z’s Best of Both Worlds.
Essentially Nash is always working. “I call my attorney three times a day,” he said. “The other day I came up with this phrase, ‘That’s Jesus!’ That’s a combination of saying something’s hot and it’s also a blessing. So I called my attorney and asked him, ‘Can we get “That’s Jesus!” copyrighted just in case it shows up on a T-shirt?”’
He credits his grandfather, who was a concrete mason, with his work ethic. “He basically built the city I grew up in,” he said. “He came out of a bad time for blacks in the South, but even though we lived in the hood, we had a boat, some cars and a house that was paid for. So I’ve always had a different outlook on life. There’s nothing I can’t do. My uncle used to say, ‘You’ll go on and become the dream of the family.’ That’s how I got my name.”
Nash shook his head, smiling. “He was probably thinking that I’d become a doctor or something. But if he was here right now, I think he’d say I’ve done all right.”
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