West Coast Connection Forum
DUBCC - Tha Connection => Outbound Connection => Topic started by: Jome on December 19, 2006, 09:49:17 PM
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http://www.rapreviews.com/feature2.html
Music Vibes: 10 of 10 Lyric Vibes: 10 of 10 TOTAL Vibes: 10 of 10
Nas :: Hip Hop is Dead
Def Jam
Author: Steve 'Flash' Juon
"Redhead Kingpin, Tim Dog, have you seen 'em?
Kwame, King Tee or King Sun
Super Lover Cee, Casanova Rud
Antoinette, Rob Base never showin up
You see Black Sheep, Group Home, Busy Bee?
Ask Ill and Al Skratch, +Where My Homiiies?+
Leave it to y'all, these niggaz left for dead
Last week my man swore he saw Special Ed
Rap is like a ghost town, real mystic
Like these folks never existed
They the reason that rap became addictive
Play they CD or wax and get lifted
I recommend when your kid turn ten
Let him hear Spice 1, made plenty noise
... Positive K, Father MC, the Skinny Boys
Where are they now?"
Good question. While Nas is making a list, I'd like updates on MC Lyte and MC Ren, Def Jef and Daddy-O, Kam and Threat. There's a lot of rappers in the industry who have simply dropped off the radar without leaving a trace or even a forwarding address. When Nas says "Hip Hop is Dead," he might as well be talking about the careers of the peers he namechecks in "Where Are They Now." It's a sad statement on today's generation that the legends of the golden age are nowhere to be found - they pop up on a single once in a blue moon or cameo on a compilation, and you're lucky if you hear about either. Artists from Kurtis Blow to Big Daddy Kane to Roxanne Shante ought to be lecturing to today's generation of rappers, passing on the lessons learned and the torch earned, but their voices are silent and hip-hop is forced to exist forever in the now - disconnected from the past and crippled in the future, left scarred emotionally like a child that grows up without parental role models.
It's a peculiar dichotomy that Nas declares hip-hop dead on his newest CD yet seems to be breathing new life into it at the same time. This is a reflective and thoughtful Nasir Jones, a Nas who looked at the Cristal bottle and left it on the shelf, a Nas who took off his bling chain for the day and put it away. If anybody has earned the right to floss his legitimately acquired wealth it would be Nas, who is far from an overnight sensation in hip-hop and has been putting his voice on wax for over 15 years. The man who helped usher in an era of extravagance as Nas Escobar knows there's more to life than the accumulation of wealth though, and it's an irony of history that the image sticks despite his continued insistance on releasing well thought out and carefully crafted albums. While some rhyme writers would have trouble making a 9 and up on their best day, Nas does it time and again on releases like "Stillmatic" and "Street's Disciple." How can you top a track record like that? Nobody can, not even Nas. He's not out to top himself on "Hip Hop is Dead," nor is he even proclaiming himself the savior of a dying artform. Incredibly it's all so much simpler than that.
"Nas is the ghetto American Idol
No matter what you do you're never gettin my title
I can't sound smart cause y'all will run away
They say I ain't hungry no more and I don't talk about game
Like there's no other way for an ex-hustler
Cake of the ex-rich, glitter to touch ya; I beg to differ
When you four years in the game, we can have a conversation
Eight years in the game, I invite you on vacation
Ten years in the game, after I've enjoyed my fame
Only then I'll let you pick my brain"
"Let There Be Light" indeed. The beat by Kanye West and hook by Tre Williams may set the tone, but it's Nas who makes the track all his own with this declaration - I'm the fucking man, case closed. If hip-hop isn't braggadocious, what is it? Going back to conception, coming up in stunted growth spurts, fumbling and reaching towards maturity with one step forward and occasionally two back, the one thing hip-hop has always been all along is cocky and self-assured, ever since the bang bang boogey up jumped the boogey to the rhythm of a boogedy beat. What you hear is not a test, Nas is rapping to the beat. His swagger and self-confidence on this CD are as old and proven as hip-hop itself, and the greatest thing about that kind of belief in yourself is there's no limit to the great achievements you can reach. Did Michael Jordan ever doubt he'd make the last second jump shot? Does Tiger Woods ever think he's going to miss the green on the 18th? They are great because they expect to be, and know deep down in their heart and soul success is destiny and failure is not an option. Tell 'em Nas - tell us why we "Can't Forget About You":
"So I will light a cigar in the corridor of the crib
Pictures on the wall of all the things that I did
All the money and fame, 8 by 10's
of the whole Rat Pack inside of a big frame
Collidin with big names that could've made your career stop
All that, and your man is still here and I'm still hot
Wow, I need a moment y'all
See I almost felt a tear drop
When was the last time you heard a real anthem
Nas, the millionaire, the mansion
When was the last time you heard your boy Nas rhyme
Never on schedule, but always on time
[...]
Can't forget about the old school, Bam, Cas, Melle Mel, Flash
Rocksteady spinnin on they back
Can't forget when the first rap Grammy went to Jazzy, Fresh Prince
Fat Boys broke up, rap hasn't been the same since
So irregular, how it messed you up
when Mr. T became a wrestler
Can't forget about Jordan's retirement
The shot Robert Horry to win the game in the finals kid
Some things are forever, some things are not
It's the things we remember that gave the world shock
They stay in a place in your mind so snug
Like who the person was with whom you first make love"
And there it is - Will.I.Am can produce it, Chrisette Michele can sing on it, but only the seemingly effortless flow Nas displays and how tightly spun his wordplay is can weave it into the tapestry of music that like the Nat King Cole track that inspires this song is truly "Unforgettable." At the darkest hour, when hip-hop had seemingly been abandoned to commercialism and cultural rape, Nas came back to say FUCK ALL THAT SHIT, WATCH HOW I DO IT AND LEARN SOMETHIN'. Far from hip-hop being dead, Nas has proven on this CD that it's alive and well. It's bizarre to even single out individual tracks on this album because every one is a masterpiece in its own right. The pounding L.E.S. and Wyldfyer opener "Money Over Bullshit" mixes old school scratches with modern day Queensbridge intensity that's undeniable, and it's only the first stop on a long road where every turn raises your expectations and then meets them. When Nas boldly states "You Can't Kill Me" he's speaking for himself AND the culture, and when he vows to "Carry on Tradition" he makes it clear that as long as he's alive, hip-hop's never dead and never could be.
The guests add on but never take away the focus from Nas. Jigga shares an epic beat with him on "Black Republican" but can't outshine him, Kanye West is "Still Dreaming" but Nas has an even bigger dream of success than he does, and even Snoop Dogg and The Game find that to "Play On Playa" means getting outhustled by one of hip-hop's best "Hustlers." Take it from acapella closer "Hope," Nas says it best when he says it like this: "Ain't got nuttin to do with old school, new school/Dirty South, West coast, East coast/this about us, this our thing/knahmsayin this came from the gut, from the blood, from the soul." That's why even though he's holding a black rose on the album cover, it's not a funeral you're attending on "Hip Hop is Dead," it's a wake. Nas has made a passionate album to reawaken your love of the art and if your heart isn't thumping in your chest by the end then it's not hip-hop that's dead, it's you.
Music Vibes: 10 of 10 Lyric Vibes: 10 of 10 TOTAL Vibes: 10 of 10
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If any album in the past few years deserve that its this one. You have the lyrics, the production, basically the whole package.
The only song that I still dont like is that joint "Who Killed It"
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who killed it is fucked up....
but the rest the album is dope
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who killed it is the best track
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I'd have given it 10/10 too. Who killed it still kind of confuses me a bit, not as good as the rest of the album but hey every album has to have a low point doesn't it?
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Who killed it grew on me, koo track. Explanation helped too.
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If any album in the past few years deserve that its this one. You have the lyrics, the production, basically the whole package.
The only song that I still dont like is that joint "Who Killed It"
Dude that is like the best SONG on the album...
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Classic album,
chill
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I think the worst track is the lead single, the rest of the album is dope, Who killed it, Where are they now?, Blunt Ashes, Can't forget about you are all dope IMO...I'd give it a 9/10, one of the top 3 albums of the year...
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Im not mad at the review although I would rate it 9/10
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yeah maybe not 10 outta 10 but dam close. I would have replaced 'Whare are they now' and 'Who killed it' with 'The N' and 'I Already know'. Now that would be even doper
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the lead single is fuckin dope watchu talkin bout bump taht shit loud in your car it rocks!
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and they also gave makaveli a 7.5/10
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the album is growing on me
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before spell check:
its getting better with every listen but who killed it ah that song just should have never made the album. someone should have told him nas just rap normal dude. :-)
after spell check: :-P
its getting better with every listen but who killed it ah that song just should have never made the album. someone should have told him NASA just rap normal dude. :-)
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who killed it is like a character rap....it's actually a brilliant thing to do on an artistic level.it's really well crafted.
this album is sicktastic.
-T
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album is pretty sick, Who Killed it is tight on the real
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'The N' is the bonus track in the UK.
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"Where Are They Now" beat is on some old school shit 8)
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I might give it a 9/10 overall, but I'm not even a lil bit mad at the review. I think "Who killed it" is a love or hate track, but a helluva brave move overall. The explanation for it did help it out a whole lot, even though it's not somethin u might always feel like listenin to.
I don't think he outshined Snoop on there though...they both came with it.
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i got no 'explanation' for who killed it I just listened to that shit and figured it was a character rap....was there an explanation printed in some interview or some shit somewhere that further illuminates it?
-T
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i got no 'explanation' for who killed it I just listened to that shit and figured it was a character rap....was there an explanation printed in some interview or some shit somewhere that further illuminates it?
-T
This is from another forum...
http://www.xxlmag.com/mb/index.php?showtopic=29954
look here see, pretty mike shanked two face al
over some gal
transalation: the microphone murdered the hypocritical MC over H.E.R.
find the body dead in the aisles
death by strangulation, microphone cord a dirty broad
transalation: nas the detective sees the hypocritical emcee get strangled by the mic due to whoring hiphop (a dirty broad)...in other words, wack emcees normally kill themselves eventually and real hiphop prevails
guess theyll never play it again Sam
damn that was my jam
transalation: speaking of that one-hit wonder, like "ice, ice, baby" WAS the jam whether you acknowledge it or not
now she's on the lamb
she made it out wit 200 grand
what a scam
transalation: speaking about hiphop cashing in as the result of this microwave music, which is all too typical
while these two compete on who's the star of the show
golden legs there makes off wit the doe
transalation: because of that commercial rapper fell off, you got two now wanting to compete for the crown, meanwhile "golden legs" (i presume the jewish executive or manager...i.e. the jerry hellers or jimmy iovines or clive davis...fuck it, the jews practically RUN the industry, go ask lyor...) cashes in off of their beef
I read the paper there wit joe da butcher
he said "one glance is all it took ya, she's a real looker
transalation: "joe da butcher" is presumely that street thug, gangsta rapper or whutever, and how he got attracted to H.E.R.
they say her old mans a bootlegger
transporting in any weather and at this rate we'll never get her
transalation: pretty much self-explainitory, i guess, but speaking on the issues with bootlegging, illegal downloads or whutever...something like lupe's album was passed down so much due to bootlegging that we never got the ORIGINAL version...alot of shelved albums happened due to this
fellas think its time to call it a night
all this talk of this mystery dames gettin me tight
transalation: the conversation about the current state of hiphop continued until late at night and it was getting nas a bit uptight about how messed up hiphop is right now
thought I saw her in my eyesight, right
hate to spoil the party
what are you guys havin? the same?
waiter another round for the gang
transalation: still uptight about hiphop, nas thought he seen REAL hiphop, but it was at the club, partying it up (speaking on how hiphop is not more clubbish these days than ever)
its strange how I always felt outta place
joe da butchers my ace, but in comes freckle face
while at this "club scene" nas admits he was trying to fit in, but still feels out of place, he's cool with being a "thug" AKA "joe da butcher" but parts of him wants to be that "backpack rapper", that nerd or geek, AKA "freckle face"
pretty much, nas right there is reflecting on how his career been contradictory..speaking about fronting the thug image, or being the party-goer, or being that packpacker all at once...
so I said see you later
fore hurt him and his two ugly thumb breakers
met them in louisiana wrestling gators
and any idiot can tell there involved wit the caper
transalation: nas pretty much leaving the thug image behind to be down with the more conscious effort...the rest of that line is a subliminal knock on the south and how they embraced that thug image in which they're as much to blame in killing hiphop
so I pulled the revolver on my waist up
between the patrol car and the grey truck
behind the streetlamp was a silouhette
white gloves and a real long cigarette
whattya ya know all this time she's got me in her scope
transalation: now since nas is NOW more "conscious" in whut he's doing, it means he's more apprehensive in whut's out there, in reference of hiphop...especially with the aforementioned domination of the south and them being the supposed culprit of "killing hiphop"..but that's until he sees H.E.R. being hidden...that "got me in her scope" is an obvious knock on INTERSCOPE records, suggesting that label is keeling "real hiphop" hidden
she spoke says "the devils got you guys be the throat"
transalation: nas is stating that the industry that controls hiphop now got us looking like pawns attacking each other for no reason or merit
"your conspiracy theories won't work without evidence
that's the reason why eric b is not president"
transalation: nas is stating that here we are blaming this or that as the REASON of killing hiphop, but we don't have no proof to back it up, and while we're too busy trying to point fingers at each other, we forgotten whut "true hiphop" used to be
ya see?
look here see, "I know you got soul" your trying to hide it
transalation: hiphop today is "souless", nas begs to differ and has optimism that there's still some soul in hiphop
"how did you kill a man" out in "cypress"?
one eyed charlie
he only hangs with the "criminal minded"
says you guys did it "doggystyle" is he lyin?
transalation: returning back to the beginning of the tale about the death of the commercial rapper...speaking about how these commercial rappers always want to front a STREET GANGSTER image, hence "he only hangs with the criminal minded", and also how this character is fucking hiphop over doggystyle
she says " "walk this way" ill tell you a "childrens story"
we hit the bodega got her a few 40s
we jumped in my ride
we drove and she cried
twist off the cap there and opened her mouth wide
"swallowed it"
whole bottles half empty
drinks like a fish, now she's past "tipsy"
transalation: a quick trip back memory lane to where hiphop used to be the bodegas and drinking 40oz and (suprisingly not mentioned) smoking blunts...her drinking like a fish details how easily "loose" hiphop can get
truth came out as we got to her "suave house"
"chopped and screwed" her mouth and sat me on the couch
transalation: another obvious knock on the south, but not in a negative tone, just stating that the south put in some game into hiphop
I said, "its gettin late cmon give it to me straight
who's ya sponsor lady?"
she says, "bill gates"
transalation: i would believe it...bill gate probably OWNS hiphop right now as well as everything else, lol
"whattya born 77? 78?"
she says "nah it goes way to an earlier date"
slave times
claims the slaves said rhymes
but she fell in love wit some fella named clive
who?
"clive campbell from sedgwick ave, the bronx"
now she shows me the cash
I said who's clive? don't play wit me skirt!
she said clive campbell.....he's kool herc
transalation: now if you don't get this then you're slow as hell, but i will say this part thoug...that line where she ask to show him the cash, you got to rmemeber that hiphop is now a prostitute, and being whored over for money
Ahaaa Ahaaaaa
listen up sweetheart, now we gettin somewhere
as she's talkin she starts vanishing in thin air
transalation: nas STILL don't know who kills hiphop, but implying it maybe US that killed it, because as soon she starts talking, she begins to vanish, in other words we tend to IGNORE or ACKNOWLEDGE, alot of our culture have "vanished" due to lack of acknowledgement
but before she drops the money bag on the floor and died
she said if you really love me, ill come back alive
"hiphop is so fuckin' dead!"
transalation: the love of money is the root of all evil, hiphop dies once she accepts the money, however hiphop will ressurect IF we really want true hiphop back....BUT the last line in a whisper states otherwise...hiphop is so fuckin' dead
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"who killed it" is a GREAT track
on of the best albums to come out in a while no doubt
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word, is clive campbell kool herc's real name?
-T
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hmmm i liked this album at first but honestly i am already bored of it. listened to it maybe 10 times, and i probably wont be listening to it for a while.
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yeah, while a very well crafted piece of art, it's NOT that addictive. I copped the documentary the day before i got this and i've been listening to documentary more.
-T