Video: Nas feat Amy Winehouse - Cherry Wine

My favorite joint off Nas's "Life Is Good" also features my fav video vixen, Brittany Dailey (YESSSSSSS)! Dope song and a solid video treatment.


Lance, don't hate on me sicing B.D.!!!!!

Video: Nas - Bye Baby

I probably gave off the wrong impression of this song in my review of the Nas album. This is actually one of my favorite songs on the album it was just one that I think we all saw coming. The video is solid.


This is good, but I'm really looking forward to the video for my favorite song on the album, Cherry Wine, especially since the video is going to feature Brittany Dailey. Shot out to RipRock for posting this video on G+.

Rating an Album: Nas - Life's Good

I had formed an opinion on Nas's latest release when it first came out but I wanted to hold off on writing about it here until I had a couple weeks to listen to it, hear everyone else's opinions, ignore/disregard them, and come back to it and form as objective an opinion as I could for an album that dropped less than a month ago and had high expectations. Finally, I think I'm at a point now where I can talk about it and not feel like I'm going to say something that I'll completely contradict in a conversation later.

The first thing I would like to say is that this is a good/solid album. It's NOT classic but for Nas STANS it will be. It's not the best Nas album ever. It's not in the top 3 Nas albums ever (Illmatic, Stillmatic, God's Son). This is a solid Nas album for today's market conditions.

Let's get this thing rolling song-by-song:

1. No Introduction: I honestly can't get past this beat. I think I'm in the minority on this one but this beat is really just underwhelming. Not to be lost is Nas's lyricism and ability to paint vivid pictures but yet-and-still, this just didn't set the tone for me to the point where I was excited about what I was about to hear on the remainder of the album.
2. Loco-Motive: This is a joint I heard a minute before the album dropped and this actually got me excited to hear the album. This is that vintage 90's Nas flow right here and that sinister style production complements him well when he flows like this. One of my favorite tracks on the album. I guess I'm trapped in the 90s too, huh? Lol.
3. Queens Story: Mehhhh. This is the type of back to Queens type of track that really only works with me when he has a beat like the previous song. I can listen to this but it doesn't draw me in. I'm not even all that impressed by how he leads into the next track at the end.
4. Accident Murderers: Hardest beat on the album and Fat Ricky doesn't ruin the song and holds his own pretty well though he doesn't stick to the topic of the track, lol. Nas's verses are real talk.
5. Daughters: Another one of my favorite tracks on the album. This is just a great track for younger guys with daughters. Learn from Nas. This is the type of masculine yet vulnerable stuff that Nas does well.
6. Reach Out: Blatant radio joint. It's not a bad song at all I just hate that I know this is a contrived second or third single. That beat, MJB, come on man can't we be more creative here. I won't even mention how Jay-Z does the contrived radio joints so much better (oh my bad, I just mentioned it). Nas's first verse here is pretty good though.
7. World's An Addiction: If there was one song I'd skip it would be this one. The lyrics are on point but the song overall just doesn't cut it, definitely not within the flow of the album. Jam this in-between two radio joints? Who's A&R'ing/Exec producing this project?
8. Summer on Smash: Another radio joint and it just feels like something is missing and there's a little too much at the same time. Perhaps the too much is Miguel's "verse" and Swizz's voice. I don't mind Swizz so much but there just seems to be something sonically missing here and I can't put my finger on it.
9. You Wouldn't Understand: My favorite radio joint on the album. I actually hope that he releases this as the next single and makes a video for it. For some reason this feels much more tolerant and less contrived than Reach Out or Summer on Smash. At the same time, this feels like it could have fit in on that Nastradamus album too, lol.
10. Back When: Of the NYC back in the day joints on this album, this is my favorite, lol.
11. The Don: This knocks but much like Summer on Smash I feel like something is missing.
12. Stay: The horn on here is dope but don't be fooled, we've heard it before. Yep, CyHi samples this same horn on his joint, "Woopty-Do" though his track isn't nearly as good as this one. If I were Nas I would have left off World Is An Addition and replaced it with this and kept it at this spot on the album. He's going in on this track in terms of the topics he's addressing.
13. Cherry Wine: Overall, the best track on album. Perfect radio song for urban and pop markets. Let's see how soon they drop this as a radio/video single.
14. Bye Baby: You knew it was coming. The "you got issues and they ruined us and I got my issues too yet-and-still we had great moments so I can't really be mad at least I tried I thought you was a nubian queen but it's over and now I'm about to smash 20 year olds because I'm pushing 40 but still look 21 and I'm not going to let you know I'm really effed up in the game as much as you think but I've grown from the experience and feel like a better person now" track. You knew it was coming.
15. Nasty: Vintage "Nasty" Nas. Nothing else needs to be said.
16. The Black Bond: I literally have nothing to say about this song.
17. Roses: I like this song. I think it should have been the last song on the album. So much so that I made it the last song on my mash-up of Ross and Nas's albums.
18. Where's The Love: I like what he's talking about here but I'm not feeling this beat.

Overall I give this album 3.875 out of 5. I will admit that I have my own little rating system that I use - that I won't divulge in this post but in due time I will - and that's why the rating goes to 3 significant digits, lol. But I'll just say this, I think Nas covered a lot of different stuff here but I would have like to hear a tad less of the swaggerifficness and Imma smash this and that from HIM. But at the same time I understand he probably is still mentally going through it somewhat from his divorce and that may be a part of his coping process (sorry ladies, it happens). Daughters and Bye Bye Baby are stand-outs to me in terms of content but yet-and-still I could stand to hear less of Nas talking about how he is 40 bangin' 20 year olds or another story about how things were in Queens when he grew up. Those records have their place but they don't resonate with me as much and that's likely because I have heard similar tracks before and I'm also not from New York. When it comes to lyrics, Nas never really disappoints. Even when Nas is talkin' that swagged out semi-humble brag shyt he does, he is still sick with it. He's lyrically sound on this album as usual but content-wise I think there are some things he's somewhat redundant about.

My usual problem with Nas is that his production is questionable for the current state of hip-hop with respect to him wanting to actually move units nowadays. This album flows nicely for the most part in that there are really no points during the album where you feel like there's a noticeably abrupt/bad change (some people might sight "Summer on Smash" but I'm not going to I think "World Is An Addiction" is that point). But at the same time, there's nothing really special and/or cohesive about the album's arrangement of songs either. Like I mentioned above, I normally take issue with Nas's beat selection but I have definitely seen worse when it comes to his albums. Moreover, the beat on "No Introduction" underwhelms me and when I first heard it set somewhat of an underachieving tone for the rest of the album. And the alleged supposed-to-be club banger by Swizz is decent but it feels like something is missing. And similar to what I said above, "Reach Out" is a blatant attempt to pull on the nostalgic senses of those who know where it's primary sample came from. But in general, the album is listenable all the way through for the most part. The only real sticking point I'd have is World Is An Addiction.

All these thoughts are what lead me to my 3.875 out of 5 ranking. I'm sure many of you will disagree with this and say it's classic, which is fine but I challenge you to find a verse on Life's Good that's better than Nas's verse on this song. If Nas could do this for an entire album, it would be another undeniable classic (Illmatic much?).

Oh My Damn Hip-Hop! Face, Nas, and (raised eyebrow) DJ Khaled

FACEMOB!!!! Also, Nas's verse on this was pretty freakin' good. This is right up his lane. The track is an ill double-entendre. Oh yeah, Dwight Howard got traded to the Lakers last night too (somewhere Chris Paul is pissed).

Hopefully God forgives Rick Ross for this album, I know Nas Will

I'll leave a full post about Ross's "God Forgives, I Don't" alone and just say that the album is below average by great hip-hop album standards and average if not below even by Ross album standards. A few stand-out cuts, "3 Kings", "Sixteen", "Diced Pineapples", and my personal favorite "Amsterdam". There are a couple others I like as well but overall the album disappointed me even when confining my thoughts to "how does this measure up compared to other Fat Ricky joints". Yep, I said that in my head I promise.

With all that said, Ross's album doesn't really come close to touching Nas's album and I'm not overwhelmingly impressed by Nas's album either. It's a good Nas album but I'm not convinced it's a classic like lots of Nas stans seem to be proclaiming. But I digress.

The real point of this post is to let you have a listen to what I think would be the best possible combination of tracks from the two albums, "God Forgives I Don't" and "Life's Good". These are two most important releases of the last month or so in hip-hop and I'm not blown away by either (in fact, I'm listening to Childish Gambino's "Royalty" mixtape more than either of these) so I decided to create a mash-up of the two (hence the title of this post). Hopefully you enjoy it as much as I do.

Video: Prince EA: Backwards Rappers

It's been a minute, I've been traveling all over the place without much of an urge to do a post. Anyway, I ran into this video on Big Ghost's blog the other day and it reminded me of Nas's "Rewind". I like what he's trying to do here, I just wish he didn't have pink slippers on while doing it, lol. Otherwise, I think this is really creative and we need more "artists" doing stuff like this.

Video: Nas - Daughters

I've been gone but I'm back like I left something. I wanted to post this Nas joint a week or so ago but I've been in-and-out of town so I'm just getting around to it. This song is dope!

"September 11th Marks the Era Forever of a Revolutionary Jay Guevera"

Remember that quote from Jay-Z's "The Bounce" on the Blueprint 2?  I do. And every September 11 I think about 2 things:

1. The tragedy that took place on 9/11/2001
2. Jay-Z's Blueprint

Call me shallow or a Jay-Z Stan (ahem, @mclaw3) for that second thought but every time I speak with someone or a group of people about the day the towers were taken down and the inevitable "I was .... when it happened" comes up, I remember that I was at my student job for the Johns Hopkins University Accounts Payable office and someone turned on a TV after the first tower had been hit. I remember thinking "What type of idiot pilot ran into the tower?" Boy was I wrong! Then, when the second tower went down, everybody freaked out and eventually, they let everyone go home. I remember my cellphone not working and trying to call my mom, grandparents, and girlfriend at the time all to no avail.

But leading up to that day, there was a buzz surrounding something that had nothing to do with national security, terrorism, or tragedy. That was, the hip-hop "beef" between Jay-Z and Nas (and Mobb Deep too). Everyone that was a hip-hop/rap fan around that time had most likely heard two songs: 1) "H to the Izzo" (because Jay debuted it at an awards show earlier, that was an epic moment now that I think about it), and 2) "The Takeover". For hip-hop this was pretty much as big as it could get. Two of raps best and most respected artists ever were about to battle, and Jay had thrown the first punch on wax. This was either a great marketing strategy, real rivalry/jealousy, a fight for the top spot, or some weird and twisted combination of all of those things and more. 

Sidebar: Let it be noted that at the time Jay took that shot Nas wasn't putting much music out and he was also (I believe, Nas Stans) dealing with his ailing mother who had cancer.Jay basically took an unwarranted shot at a man who was going through some serious life issues. It was totally unnecessary. The shot at Mobb Deep (Prodigy specifically)? Well, that was probably warranted.

Back to this post however, once they let everyone leave the office and head home and after trying to contact my loved ones, what did I do? I went straight to the old Record & Tape Traders on Charles Street in Baltimore and purchased "The Blueprint". And that leads me to the following article that poses some a couple theories as to why, like me, 419,999 other people went out and bought Jay's album that week. 

Why Jay-Z's Music Still Mattered on 9/11 (Source: cnn.com)

This article poses that many people purchased this album amidst the chaos of 9/11 and the days that followed because:

• Young people not directly affected are more removed from tragedies like this.
• "Jay-Z's teen and early 20s fans, already hyped up about this release long beforehand, remained focused on their idol".

I don't disagree with either of those theories and I probably fall into the first category more so than the second. One thing I do know is that on that day, I took my lemon of a 1992 Ford Taurus on over to the record store, copped that Jay, and it became the soundtrack of September 11 for me. It also became known and accepted by most within hip-hop as a classic album. Now, 10 years removed from that day, I probably wouldn't make the same decision. But of all the things that DID happen that day, the one thing I know for sure that did not happen that day was an era of a revolutionary Jay-Z beginning. I'm still waiting on that one.

Hip-Hop Ish: Best Debut Feature Verse of All The Times???

A week or so ago on Twitter, I mentioned that I thought Freeway's verse on "1-900-Hustler" off of Jay-Z's Dynasty album was the best debut feature verse (in my opinion). And by "debut feature verse" I mean a rapper whose debut verse was on someone else's song and they BBQ'd the verse (picture the verse from "Renegade" being Em's first verse you ever heard him on or Jay's "Free Mason" verse being his first joint you ever heard him on). I guess you could say my argument is confined to mainstream rap so all you hip-hop purists and back-packers and underground hip-hop heads that are gonna pull some random Cory Gunz verse out of your azz need not read any further.

In response to my tweet(s) about this, a friend replied that he mentioned it to his homeboy who said Snoop's verse on "Deep Cover" and AZ's on "Life's a Bitch" or Method Man on "Method Man" may have to be in the discussion as well. I also thought that DMX's verse on "24 Hours to Live" was a sick debut verse as well. And I have to add Lupe's verse on "Touch the Sky" in there to.

To be honest, some of these verses may very well have not even been debut verses, just the first time I'd heard these guys on a track. But nevertheless for the purpose of this blogpost, I'll consider them debut verses. Check out all the songs mentioned after the jump and drop a comment with any songs you think should be added to this list of potential greatest debut feature verses ever.

Jay-Z feat Beanie Sigel, Memphis Bleek, and Freeway - 1-900-HUSTLER



Dr. Dre feat Snoop Dogg - Deep Cover



Nas feat AZ - Life's a Bitch



Wu Tang Clan - Method Man



Ma$e feat (Diddy's shyt talkin') The Lox, and DMX - 24 Hours to Live



Kanye West feat Lupe Fiasco - Touch the Sky



After listening to all these I gotta say it's definitely not Free's verse even though I like it a lot. I think it comes down to Lupe, Snoop, and AZ.

"I showed you your first Tech on tour with Large Professor..." - Jay-Z

I guess this is what Jay was referring to:

"Main Source soon set off on tour, along with the UMCs and Jaz. One particular night of that tour came up recently in the very public catfight between Jay-Z (then Jaz’s hypeman) and Nas (who rolled with Main Source). During a show in Washington D.C. the sound system cut out, forcing the artists to do the same. The angry crowd rushed the stage and chased the rappers back unto their tour bus.

'We were figuring we were gonna have to knuckle down,' explains LP of the incident, which Jay has used to attack Nas. 'Jay came outta nowhere, reachin’ in his gym bag like, ‘Don’t even sweat these niggas. I got that.’ He didn’t show [Nas] the gun like, ‘I’m gonna shoot you,’ but we were all just like, ‘Whew!’' (Source: XXL Mag, 2002)

Never knew the story behind this one but always wondered. If you aren't familiar with the quote, it's from "The Takeover" (which has its own wikipedia page by the way lol).

What's Life Without a Soundtrack...

Every time I hear the song "Music For Life" I think about how much music is a part of my life and how much I enjoy listening to music.

I'm a hip-hop guy so I tend to listen to way more hip-hop than any other genre of music. I get my R&B in of course, a little jazz here-and-there, and the occasional jump into rock or some sort of "hip-rock" mash-up. Lately I've had a few songs in my "Every Day" mix on my Blackberry that I'd like to share:

Veteran's Day - Rick Ross, Baby, Lil Wayne


Slow Down - Fat Joe feat. Young Jeezy


Exhibit C - Jay Electronica


Victory - DJ Khaled, Nas, and John Legend


No Excuses - Young Buck


Trap Or Die 2 (Reloaded) - Young Jeezy


Beamer, Benz, Bentley - Lloyd Banks & Juelz Santana


My New Sh*t - Drake, Von Pea, and Phonte

Examining Rick Ross-isms: Usual Suspects

When I first heard a snippet of Usual Suspects (courtesy of eskay) I was super-pressed to hear what NaSiR's verse was going to sound like. Ross held his own on the preview verse and the beat is arguably one of the album's best. When I finally heard the full song I felt like Ross out-rapped NaS but that's just my opinion. I've gotten into a couple arguments about this already and I am NOT saying NaS's verse is weak by any means but ... Ross 2nd verse > Nas verse > Ross 1st verse. Tell me why I'm wrong in the comments.

Usual Suspects - Rick Ross (feat. NaS)

I'm too cool for lame dudes to ridicule/I laugh while I'm doin' laps in the swimming pool: First thought was --> "I'm stealing that too cool line". Second thought --> "Ross can swim? NO WAY!"

And still my talent has yet to be challenged: Dare I say this is a shot at Jay-Z?

But back then dough was like a whore that Goldie loved, it didn't exist/and Officer Foley cuffs was after my wrist/was not Beverly Hills where we chilled/Imagine this the Nazareth had to get from rags to rich/I used to stand on rooftops with two glocks/Thinking how could I turn my Timberlands to Crocs/Now reptiles is left out I'm 'bout a watch: That right there is poetry my friends. NaS laced that! Officer Foley --> Beverly Hills...Rags to rich --> Timberlands to Crocs...Reptiles --> Watches with reptile skin. Dope!

As my 'fetti grow f--ck her, feed her Spaghetti-O's: Selfish, are we? How you gonna get more money and make your girl eat Spaghetti-O's? That ain't right!

Wow! This might be the least outlandish song on the album.

Previously:

· Mafia Music
· Maybach Music 2
· Magnificent
· Yacht Club

Sly Fox

NaS was/is correct.

NaS - Sly Fox

WE are the Media!

"The price of freedom is death"

Killer Mike is trying to get Guantanamo'd with his video for Pressure (featuring Ice Cube). And that's "Guantanamo'd", as in Guantanamo Bay. But you know what? I love that he has the guts, knowledge of history, and intelligence to put out a song and video like this. It's obvious he's not concerned with selling records but with opening people's eyes. We need artists like this to offset those that don't address these issues at all or sound un-educated or delirious when they make an attempt. Props to Killer Mike!

This video is probably the hardest shyt since Nas's Be A Nigger Too video and I'm loving both of them! Also, it was a nice touch putting O'Shea on the track.

Just off the visuals alone you want to go and smack the hell out of the first "ignant" azz person that says something reckless in regard to Black folks.


Somebody get Killer Mike, Cube, and [hesitates...] NaS in Barack's Cabinet. By the way, where was NaSiR when this was being recorded?

Black President... Jacked?

I recently posted the Black President song by NaS, but as it turns out, the original song is not his. I emailed a bunch of people about Obama's platform and on that list was a friend from elementary school that's a musician now and she goes by the name of Christina K.

Christina hit me back via email and dropped me links to a few blogposts where it's mentioned that NaS jacked the song from her. Check out her version here.

Now check out a bunch of blogs that have commented on the story:

SoulBounce

Rotting Television

Rawkus Records

2DopeBoyz

Nas and Wale are bringing the noise...In a good way

In the last week or so, Wale and Nas have both dropped mixtape CLASSICS!

Read it again...CLASSICS!

They're both in playlist format on your right, but I just wanted to dedicate a post to the ONLY two albums I'm listening to right now. Well not albums, but MIXTAPES!

NaS & DJ Green Lantern - The Nigger Tape



Check out the following tracks: "Cops Keep Firing", "Hero", "Black President", "Association", "Legendary", "Ghetto Remix", "Esco Let's Go", "N.I.G.G.E.R.", and "Nas Timeline".

Wale - Mixtape About Nothing

Check out the following tracks: "Rising Up", "Crazy", "Vacation from Ourselves", "Remake of a Remake", "Grown Up", "Manipulation", "Artistic Integrity", "Cliche Remix", and "Chicago Falcon Remix".

Yes, I am aware that the Carter III leaked. And YES, I listened to it. But NO, it's not in my rotation and other than Dr. Carter, Mr. Carter, and Mrs. Officer, it probably won't be even close to any of my playlists either. Not to shyt on a good (but not great or classic) CD by Lil Strapped and Bent Over but his album isn't even close to being as dope as NaS mixtape and isn't anywhere near as original and "hungry" as Wale's mixtape.

Put down that formula-driven commercial rap and pick up a mixtape people! Actually, pick up TWO mixtapes!

NaS...Very warm and d@mn near HOT!

I challenged Mr. Jones once... Then second-guessed that... Now I'm totally recanting my shyt...Without further adieu, the video for "Be A Nigger Too" by NaSiR JoNeS.



That shyt is historic!...Most meaningful hip-hop video in the last [insert number here] years...

I don't think I've seen a rapper be this provocative with a video in at least 10 years, probably more.

The video definitely makes the song more impactful (ok, so that's not a word, whatever). I probably wouldn't have challenged the song as much as I did if I'd seen the video first. The imagery adds so much more to it.

Also, "Black President" by NaSiR JoNeS.

Okay NaS, I'll shut up and let you, do you!

If you've been reading this boring ole' blog, you probably have seen me question NaSiR a couple times on his song releases up to this point from his upcoming album formerly titled "Ni99er" now titled "The N" (I believe, but really does it matter what he calls it now that it's not the N word?).

For the record, I questioned NaS focus on his first release, "Be A Ni99er Too" and I stated that he is getting warmer with his second release "N.I.G.G.E.R. (Slave and the Master)". Now that I've seen the promo image/flier/poster (shown below) for the video for "Be a Ni99er Too", I think I'm going to hold-off on my outbursts until I've downloaded purchased the album and listened to it several times.

New Music: NaS, Usher

NaS - N.I.G.G.E.R. (The Slave and the Master)


NaS is getting warmer with this joint. I wasn't so sure about NaS's last song but I think he read my previous post and he's being a little more coherent with his messages. At least, it seems like he's moving in that direction.

"We are the slave and the master/
What you lookin' for? We the question and the answer/"

Usher (feat. Jay-Z) - Best Thing


I think Jay out-performed Ursher on this track. But, I am a Jay-Z Stan (shot out to Laf). The beat is nice but Jay's appearance on the track makes it feel like it's a Jay-Z song featuring Ursher. Which is funny considering they only gave Jay about 6 bars at the beginning and another 6 bars at the end, LOL.

"You're the best mama!"

BONUS: Wale is from Maryland!



Having been in a similar position before (justifying your PG/MD/DC residency), I can feel Wale on this one. By the way, Wale is probably one hit away.