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- VH1 Soul is dead, long live Centric posted on March 29, 2010
- The ten most popular indie-rap artists… posted on January 11, 2011
- Digable Planets fracture, cancel tour posted on March 22, 2009
- Superlists!: Top Ten Femcees posted on March 24, 2009
- The Plug One Q&A: Flying Lotus posted on June 10, 2008
- Review: Atmosphere, “To All My Friends, Blood Makes The Blade Holy” posted on September 9, 2010
- R.I.P. Paper Thin Walls posted on August 29, 2008
- Zion-I tour dates posted on February 25, 2009
- Vibe’s demise posted on July 1, 2009
- Why Plug One survives posted on March 17, 2010
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Tag Archives: Nas
Review: Nas & Damian Marley, “Distant Relatives”
Nas & Damian “Jr. Gong†Marley, Distant Relatives IDJ/Universal Republic “This one right here is for the people,†announces Nas at the beginning of “Patience.†It’s an ethos that carries throughout Distant Relatives, his long-awaited collaboration with Damian Marley, as … Continue reading
Lies, Relatives and Revolutions: Nas, Talib Kweli and Sage Francis
This essay was posted on Rhapsody.com’s Music Stuff Place blog on May 25. I wrote it for my Rap Is Not Pop column. ————————————- Rap Is Not Pop: Lies, Relatives And Revolutions Do rappers even rap anymore? When B.o.B’s The … Continue reading
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Tagged Damian Marley, Hi-Tek, lyrics to go, Nas, rap is not pop, Reflection Eternal, Rhapsody, Sage Francis, Talib Kweli, true school
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The Plug One 2000s: 9th Wonder, “God’s Stepson”
100. 9th Wonder, God’s Stepson HipHopSite.com Released March 2003 9th Wonder inadvertently pioneered the album remix when online retailer Hiphopsite.com obtained a cappella recordings of Nas’ albums, and sought out three producers to rework them with original music. He was … Continue reading
Found: Trailer for Nas & Damian Marley’s “Distant Relatives”
Goofy rap trend of the week: Movie “trailers” for upcoming albums. I’ll post the others when, uh, I get to it. Update: B+ tells me that, unlike the recent trailers for Lupe Fiasco and Kid Cudi’s albums, this really is … Continue reading
Nas shifts from “Nigger” to “Untitled”
The neverending hype machine surrounding Nas’ new album — which has lasted for nearly a year now — will subside when Def Jam releases it on July 15. The big news is that after months of pressure from his record … Continue reading
Nas debates “Nigger”
By now, every hip-hop fan knows that Nas plans to drop a new album before the year is out, and he’s going to call it Nigger. Nas has bandied the title since late last year during promotional appearances for his … Continue reading
Nas wraps up landmark deal with “Greatest Hits”
Did you know that Nas’ longtime relationship with Columbia Records has lasted longer than nearly any other rapper’s? Yes, Nas has been on Columbia for fifteen years, dating back to his 1992 debut single, "Halftime." Only LL Cool J (20+ years with Def Jam) has had a longer tenure at a single label.
That relationship ends with Nas’ Greatest Hits. When he signed with Def Jam last year, part of the deal is that Columbia would get rights to two more Nas discs, with one — last year’s Hip Hop is Dead — being a co-release. Greatest Hits fulfills his contract with Columbia, and concludes a storied era in hip-hop history.
Scheduled for release on November 6, Greatest Hits contains one new track, "Surviving the Times." It includes most of his best-known hits, from "Life’s A Bitch" to "I Can." But fans will have plenty of reason to complain about its dearth of classics, too. Where’s "Halftime"? Where’s "Nas is Like"? Shit, where is "Ether"? Only God’s son knows.
The track listing is below.
Nas tours North America
Last fall, when the music industry’s systemic problems finally came home to roost in the form of catastrophic album sales and weak, uneven albums, Nas’s Hip-Hop is Dead was a small glimmer of sunshine. Unlike Jay-Z’s Kingdom Come, the album didn’t trumpet its values through heavy-handed advertising campaigns and glossy singles. It was dense and complex, full of conflicting emotions left open to interpretation. And in the end, the audience responded positively, proving that hip-hop culture isn’t a junkyard for pop culture (as some contend), but an art form capable of insights as profound as any other.
Next month, Nas is taking his revival act on the road. It’s called the "One Man, One Mic, One Night" tour, and kicks off in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on March 31. Tour dates are below.
Review: Nas, “Hip Hop is Dead”
On his eighth album Hip Hop is Dead, G.O.A.T. candidate Nas writes an elegy of sorts to the cultural movement that saved him from urban obsolescence. But can he satisfy the Illmatic conservatives? Continue reading
Fourth-quarter comebacks from Jay-Z, Nas
Three years after The Black Album and his "retirement" from the rap game, Jay-Z finally returns with his 9th album of original material, Kingdom Come. The disc is scheduled for release via Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam on November 21.
Last week the Def Jam president "leaked" what may become the most overanalyzed MP3 in history, "Show Me What You Got." An in-depth history of the song by Jay-Z and producer Just Blaze is available for perusal at XXL magazine, and a video will debut on MTV on Oct. 16.
Meanwhile, Nas is launching the hype machine for his new album. The title was tweaked from Hip-Hop is Dead? to Hip-Hop is Dead…the N, and its release date was pushed back from November 7 to December 19. The first street single is "Where Y’all At."