a simple beat consisting of a bass guitar riff and faint drums, neither of which are sampled. Another track that is notable for its lack of sampling is "Thugz Mansion (N.Y.)." Produced by Claudio Cueni and Michael Herring, it contains a beat consisting solely of an acoustic guitar riff. Brett Berliner of Stylus Magazine described the sound of "Made You Look" as old-school influenced and "trunk-rattling", while he wrote that "Dance", a plea by Nas for one more day with his recently passed mother, features production that "sounds straight out of 1995 and a Hootie and the Blowfish album." Berliner summed up the album's diverse productions, stating: Although there is no actual musical band or ensemble for God's Son, various musicians play instruments on it; Mercedes Abal plays the flute, Jeff Bass plays the keyboards, Olu Dara plays the horns and Michael Herring plays the guitar. Lyrical themes Although guest appearances are made by Kelis, Alicia Keys, and others, God's Son is considered to be a personal album, in which he covers lyrical themes of his own emotional experiences The personal lyrics are a result of Nas' mother dying less than a year before the album's release. He dedicates "Dance" to his mom, and references her in "Warrior Song" and "Last Real Nigga Alive." "Dance" is considered to be one of Nas' most introspective tracks, and has been described as "a requiem for Nas' mother" that "is touching rather than mawkish." Nas' lyrics also deal with religion as the album's title conveys. He ponders the concept of heaven on "Heaven", and makes various biblical references to describe himself on "The Cross". Even with similar themes, each track is distinct from the rest providing God's Son with a "narrative sense". One noteworthy concept track is "Book of Rhymes" where Nas raps songs that he had written in his rhyme book years ago. At times, he stops rapping, and starts commenting on how bad some of his lyrics are amongst other things. According to one writer, "The self-examination that inevitably accompanies the death of a loved one has also provoked a renewed sense of socio-political consciousness in Nas." Singles "Made You Look" was released as the first single for God's Son on February 12, 2003. It was produced by Salaam Remi and samples "Apache" performed by Incredible Bongo Band. Jason Birchmeier of AllMusic claims that the first single on God's Son "announces