Nas - Hip Hop Is Dead
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Music CD Cover
Artist: NasBrand: Baker & Taylor
Edition: Music CD
Audio: English (Original Language)
CD Release Date: 2006-12-19
Music Label: Def Jam
Soundtracks:
- Money Over Bullsh*t
- You Can't Kill Me
- Carry on Tradition
- Where Are They Now
- Hip Hop Is Dead
- Who Killed It?
- Black Republican
- Not Going Back
- Still Dreaming
- Hold Down the Block
- Blunt Ashes
- Let There Be Light
- Play on Playa
- Can't Forget About You
- Hustlers
- Hope
Free Music Notes for Hip Hop Is Dead
Free Music Review: Nasir Jones may think that "Hip Hop Is Dead" but he does his best to keep it alive with this CD.
Hit: 5 Stars
I have been a fan of Nas' since the first two tracks that I heard him on. The first track was "Live From The BBQ" which was featured on Main Source's "Breaking Atoms" CD, and also included Akinyele before the "Put It In Your Mouth" days and "Back From The Grill" which was on MC Serch's solo CD and featured Chubb Rock and Red Hot Lover Tone among others. Nas had a swagger from the very beginning. When I first heard the track "Halftime", which was featured on the "Zebrahead" soundtrack, (Yes I said "Zebrahead"...lol) I knew that Nas had great things to come in the future. The next track that I heard him on was "It Ain't Hard To Tell" which was produced by The Large Professor, who had also produced "Halftime". I later found out that the track would be the first single from his debut album, "Illmatic". To be honest with you, I can't remember exactly when I purchased the cassette tape. I just remember that the cassette didn't come out of my stereo for a very long time. Nas had songs produced by The Large Professor, DJ Premier, Q Tip and L.E.S. After the intro, which featured an excerpt from his verse on Main Source's "Live From The BBQ", I was introduced to "New York State Of Mind". I understood that this was Nas' 1st CD and that I still had 6 more songs to go since I had already heard "Halftime" and "It Ain't Hard To Tell", but I knew that after I heard "NY State Of Mind" that I would be a Nas fan for many years. That song 'til this day is my favorite Nas track. I had other favorites on the CD as well like "Life's A B...." w/AZ, "The World Is Yours", "One Love" and "Memory Lane" but nothing hit me like "NY State Of Mind". Nas had 1 critically acclaimed CD on his hands, but due to bootleggers and other factors he had nothing to show for it. So for CD # 2, Nas gave the infamous Trackmasters a call and "It Was Written" was officially born. The 1st single was the Lauryn Hill featured "If I Rule The World". Nas got more radio play for that one song than he did for his whole "Illmatic" CD. Before you know it, "It Was Written" was double platinum and at that time, "Illmatic" had yet to go gold. The only problem Nas had from some of his fans was that he didn't stick to the formula that made "Illmatic" a classic. He still had the lyrics but the watered down Trackmasters' beats were a bit too much for some of his fans. Plus, there were no Large Professor beats on "It Was Written". I still liked the CD however, especially with songs like "I Gave You Power", "Take It In Blood", "The Set Up", "Black Girl Lost" w/ Jo-Jo and "Affirmative Action" w/AZ, Foxy Brown and Cormega.
The next time around Nas came out with "I Am". The first single, "Nas Is Like" was produced by DJ Premier and you could tell that Nas was making somewhat of a concerted effort to release another street anthem with the 1st single. The coincidence ended up being that the biggest track from "I Am" was "Hate Me Now", which the Trackmasters co-produced and the track also featured Puff Daddy. My favorite songs from this CD were "We Will Survive", "Favor For A Favor" w/Scarface, and a track that I couldn't believe was never released as a single, "You Won't See Me Tonight", w/the late Aaliyah, that was produced by Timbaland. After "I Am", Nas would release what I would definitely call his worst CD, "Nastradamus". Originally I heard that Nas was going to release a double CD but when the tracks were getting bootlegged, Nas decided to release 2 CDs in the same year instead of releasing those original tracks. The only tracks that I liked on "Nastradamus" were "Project Windows" w/Ron Isley, "Last Words" w/Nashawn, "Shoot 'Em Up" and "Family" w/Mobb Deep. After "Nastradamus", I knew that Nas would go back to the drawing board and rebound and that he did with "Stillmatic". He got some needed inspiration from Jay-Z who called out Nas and Mobb Deep on "Takeover", which was a track that was featured on Jay-Z's "Blueprint" CD. Jay-Z made several points about how Nas made one nice CD and how when he used the sample from "The World Is Yours" that he paid Searchlight Publishing and not Nas directly. Then out of nowhere "Ether" was released and Jay-Z was put to shame quickly. Nas came back making valid points as well and the streets were talking and definitely crowning Nas the winner of the battle. Jay-Z tried to rebound with the "Super Ugly" freestyle but the track didn't cut it compared to "Ether". This track gave Nas some needed momentum on "Stillmatic". My favorite tracks ended up being "You're Da Man", "One Mic", and "The Flyest" w/AZ. In 2002, Nas released "The Lost Tapes" which ended up being some of the bootlegged songs that Nas never released on the "I Am" and "Nastradamus" CDs and songs that were left off of "Stillmatic" as well. This CD is clearly my 2nd favorite Nas CD of all time with tracks like "Doo Rags", "Drunk By Myself", "U Gotta Love It", "Blaze A 50" and "Poppa Was A Playa".
Since then Nas has released "God's Son" which featured tracks that I enjoyed such as "Made U Look", "Last Real N.... Alive", and "Get Down" and the double CD "Street's Disciple", which I can't believe alot of people sleeped on with tracks like "Thief's Theme", "Nazareth Savage", "Disciple", "Rest Of My Life" w/Amerie, "Just A Moment" w/Quan, "You Know My Style", and "U.B.R."
One of my good friends that is a Nas fan told me that Nas was now a free agent and looking for places to sign a deal at. Never in a million years did I think that Nas would sign with Def Jam ,where Jay-Z is basically 2nd in command and rumors were rapidly spreading taht he was going to make a comeback CD and maybe not be focused on the artists that were on his label. The 1st track that I heard from Nas' Def Jam debut ended up being "Where Y'all At", which didn't even make the final cut of "Hip Hop Is Dead". The track had a nice beat and Nas was flowing as usual. I thought that if this was a sign of things to come that Nas would have a nice CD on his hands. The 1st official single of "Hip Hop Is Dead" is the title track that Will I Am produced. Will I Am used the same sample that Nas used for "The Thief's Theme", except that he speeded up the pace of the track. Will I Am created a format for Nas to use to state his case for why he think's hip hop is no longer alive. Nas does an excellent job stating his case and the track was definitely a good pick for the 1st single. The hands down 2nd single is clearly "Can't Forget About You" which features Chrisette Michele. Chrisette was also featured on Jay-Z's "Lost Ones" from "Kingdom Come". Will I Am produces a certified banger with "Can't Forget About You", which I will have no problem still listening to 10 years from now. Nas even plays around the fact that his CD releases never come out on schedule with his "Never on schedule, but always on time" reference in the song. Chrisette Michele's voice is absolutely stunning on the chorus as she sings about her and Nas' lifetime anthem. Nas has choice words for rappers who he thinks killed hip hop on tracks such as "Money Over BS" and "Carry On Tradition", where you can tell Jim Jones gets subliminally mentioned during the songs. On the Scott Storch produced "Carry On Tradition", Nas discusses the fact that artists are satisfied with going platinum on various labels and not taking the power for themselves to start labels and to help other up and coming rappers in the game. He basically is saying that rappers have a me first mentality and as long as they think they are making money that they are satisfied with that. On "Where Are They Now", Nas uses a James Brown (RIP) sample to perfection to discuss and mention various rappers from the past who we may have thought of as one hit wonders who didn't get their just due such as Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock, JJ Fad, K-Solo, Super Lover C and Casanova Rud, etc. This is definitely one of my favorite tracks from "Hip Hop Is Dead". Although, they left us in suspense until the last minute, you knew that there would be a Nas/Jay-Z collaboration somewhere on this CD and we got what we were waiting for with "Black Republican". Ladies and gentlemen, I don't know about you but this is definitely one of the reasons why I would say that hip hop isn't dead because of moments like these. L.E.S. and Wyldfyer make a nice track and Jay-Z and Nas keep us waiting for a minute into the song before they start saying the hook or rapping a verse. Many people think this track is overrrated but trust me I am not one of those people. Another clear reason why hip hop isn't dead is "Let There Be Light". The track features Tre Williams, who was also featured on the Kanye West and Nas track "We Major", from Kanye West's "Late Registration" CD and is produced by Kanye West. When you can take a tight track and make powerful, positive messages into the song, hip hop can't possibly be dead. Other standout tracks include "Still Dreaming" which features Kanye West and Chrisette Michelle and is also produced by Kanye, "Hustlers" which features The Game and Marsha from Floetry and is produced by Dr. Dre, "Play On Playa" which features Snoop Dogg and is produced by Scott Storch, "Not Going Back" w/Kelis, and "Hold Down The Block".
"Blunt Ashes" goes through stories of various events that happened in music throughout the 70s and 80s and is produced by Chris Webber of all people. Yes the same Chris Webber who just started playing with the Detroit Pistons and the same Chris Webber who called the infamous timeout when he was playing with the Michigan Wolverines as a member of the Fab 5. The track is actually pretty good as Nas talks about events that may have occurred betweeen Alexander O'Neal and The Time, Donny Hathaway, Diana Ross & The Supremes and others. Nas ends things with what's basically a freestyle with "Hope". Maybe he ended the CD with this track because hope may be what he is going to try to have with the future of hip hop. Nas has already mentioned that he is going to try to release another CD in 2007 and if that CD is anything like "Hip Hop Is Dead", Nas will be a pioneer in keeping hip hop alive and not actually killing it.
As reviewer, "Chandler" stated, If you have to ask yourself that question, meaning rappers in general, maybe you are one of the ones that are killing it. If you are a Nas fan then you can not afford to pass up on this classic.
James' Top 6
1) Black Republican w/Jay-Z
2) Hustlers w/The Game and Marsha
3) Where Are They Now
4) Can't Forget About You w/Chrisette Michele
5) Let There Be Light w/Tre Williams
6) Still Dreaming w/Kanye West & Chrisette Michele
Honorable Mention:
Not Going Back w/Kelis
Hip Hop Is Dead
Hold Down The Block
Play On Playa w/Snoop Dogg
Carry On Tradition
Hope
Money Over BS
Blunt Ashes
P.S. If you haven't heard "Why You Hate The Game" w/The Game, Nas, and Marsha from Floetry or "Music For Life" w/DJ Hi-Tek, Nas, J-Dilla (RIP), Common, Busta Rhymes and Marsha from Floetry then you need to check out Game's "Doctor's Advocate" and DJ Hi-Tek's "Hi-Teknology 2". These are 2 other nice tracks that Nas is currently featured on.
Ranking Nas' Discography
1) Illmatic
2) The Lost Tapes
3) It Was Written
4) Hip Hop Is Dead
5) Stillmatic
6) Street's Disciple (2 CD)
7) God's Son
8) I Am
9) Nastradamus
Hip Hop Is Dead Poster
Throughout his storied career, which began with 1994's classic Illmatic and has spanned the last decade with over 12 million albums sold, Nas has been more than just the genre's foremost lyricist and thinker. He has become a statesman, some would argue hip-hop's "conscience." Now, with the release of his long-awaited Def Jam debut--the aptly-titled Hip-Hop Is Dead--Nas returns to his role as mentor and teacher, his legendary mic skills as sharp as ever, and takes today's young rappers back to school. The lesson? Hip-Hop--as Nas sees it--is very much alive.Given its provocative title, it's no surprise that parts of Hip Hop Is Dead feel like an elegy of sorts. Nas practically came into the game looking backwards (see "Memory Lane" off Illmatic) but he seems more nostalgic than ever with tracks like "Where Are They Now?," "Carry on Tradition," "Can't Forget About You," and the title song which all focus on rap's past. This reminiscing can only fan the dim candle fans keep lit for Nas, hopeful that he'll make a full return to his former glory. But, once again, the rapper teases and falls short. As has become habit, Nas does manage to knock out a handful of excellent songs ("Can't Forget" and "Play on Playa" for example), along with a handful of awful fare (none worse than "Who Killed It," Nas's disastrous attempt to channel the spirit of '30s gangster actor Edward G. Robinson), and a few forgettable filler songs. The production is similarly uneven though Kanye West's and Will.I.Am's contributions are reliably listenable. The biggest shortcoming is that given it's title Hip Hop Is Dead aspires to be an event album but it never delivers on that promise despite the heady symbolism of former rival Jay-Z joining him on "Black Republicans." In the end, this is another good, not great album. Hip-hop isn't dead and neither is Nas but both could use a shot of life. --Oliver Wang
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