It’s not everyday a reviewer gets to review one of his favorite artists.

Yet it’s my oath to you, the reader, to be honest. Nas’s latest release, “Nas: The Lost Tapes,” hits and misses on too many levels.

Nas has undoubtedly reconnected with a level of conciseness since “Stillmatic” to rival the days of “Illmatic.”

The material for “The Lost Tapes” was recorded during the session that produced the albums “I Am” and “Stillmatic”. Much of the material has appeared on mix tapes.

I only hope the tapes from “Nastradamus” and the “Braveheart” albums stay lost.

Nas takes it back with “Doo Rags,” a softer observation of his neighborhood of Queens Bridge. The song’s laid back delivery is laced with a serious and uplifting undertone. It comes with the same lyrical fiery we expect from Nas.

The album has dead spots, and track two, “My Way,” is one of them. Tracks three and four — “I’ve Gotta Love It” and “Nothing Last Forever” — set the album back on the right path. “Nothing Lasts Forever” sounds like classic Nas work. He preaches from his own personally styled doctrine of classic Queens styled hip-hop.

The album moves from OK to good with track six, “Blaze a 50,” a tale of twisted love in which Nas plays the murderer of his lover’s husband. It’s nothing new, it’s nothing enlightened, but the fantasy of it all lends to great production work. I was surprised that the song ended up on “The Lost Tapes.”

I can assume how the song would not have made “I Am,” since it already had “You Want see me tonight” with Aaliyah on it, and the song wouldn’t have fit the tone of “Stillmatic.”

The ups and downs continue with “Everybody’s Crazy,” and “Purple.”

“Drunk by myself” is a darker tale. Nas glorifies the life that he made famous with “Illmatic,” and commercialized with his “Queens Bridge” album.

The album ends with the truthful and liberating “Black Zombies,” and the underground release “Poppa Was a Playa.”

It’s hard to give this album a justified rating, because I know that it was put together without a concept. Even the bad Nas albums had concepts. One thing I found difficult to listen to was how the album would change from Gangster, to Playa to Preacher.