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Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones, better known by his stage name Nas, is an American rapper. Rooted in East Coast hip hop, he is regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time. The son of jazz musician Olu Dara, Nas began his musical career in 1989 under the moniker "Nasty Nas", and recorded demos for fellow East Coast rapper Large Professor. He was later featured on the 1991 song "Live at the Barbeque" by his group, Main Source.
Eric B. & Rakim are an American hip hop duo formed on Long Island, New York, in 1986, composed of DJ Eric B. and rapper Rakim. AllMusic wrote that "during rap's so-called golden age in the late '80s, Eric B. & Rakim were almost universally recognized as the premier DJ/MC team in all of hip-hop." Tom Terrell of NPR called them "the most influential DJ/MC combo in contemporary pop music period." The editors of About.com ranked them as No. 5 on their list of the 10 Greatest Hip-Hop Duos of All-Time, and Rolling Stone ranked them No. 5 on its list of the 20 Greatest Duos of All Time.
Nathaniel Thomas Wilson, better known by his stage name Kool G Rap, is an American rapper. He began his career in the mid-1980s as one half of the group Kool G Rap & DJ Polo and as a member of the Juice Crew. He is widely considered to be one of the most influential and skilled MCs of all time, and a pioneer of mafioso rap/street/hardcore content and multisyllabic rhyming. On his album The Giancana Story, he stated that the "G" in his name stands for "Giancana", but on other occasions he has stated that it stands for "Genius".
God's Son is the sixth studio album by American rapper Nas. It was released on December 13, 2002, by Ill Will and Columbia Records. Production took place during 2001 to 2002, and was handled by several producers, including Salaam Remi, Chucky Thompson, Ron Browz, Eminem, and The Alchemist. Partly inspired by the death of his mother in early 2002, God's Son covers lyrical themes such as religion, violence, and his own emotional experiences. It has been recognized by critics as some of Nas' most personal work.
The Sun Rises in the East is the debut album by American hip hop rapper Jeru the Damaja, released May 24, 1994 on Payday Records. Production on the album was handled by DJ Premier. The album features fellow Gang Starr Foundation member Afu-Ra. The album cover depicts the World Trade Center on fire only one year after the 1993 bombing of the North Tower.
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"Nas Is Like" is the first single from Nas' third album I Am.... The song is the sixth collaboration between Nas and producer DJ Premier. It was well received by critics as it was a change from the more commercial and pop-oriented singles from It Was Written and Nas, Foxy Brown, AZ, and Nature Present The Firm: The Album. The song contains a combination of braggadocios and introspective lyrics over a choppy string sample.
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"Halftime" is a song by American rapper Nasty Nas, who would change his name to Nas after the release of the song. The song was released as his debut single, the sole single from the Zebrahead soundtrack album and the lead single from his debut album Illmatic, on October 13, 1992. "Halftime" was produced by Large Professor and features samples of drums and vocals from "Schoolboy Crush" by Average White Band, horns from "Soul Traveling" by Gary Byrd, and the bassline from "Dead End" from the Japanese cast recording of the musical Hair. The song was the first song created for Illmatic, and was released circa one and a half years earlier than the album.
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Visions of Gandhi is the third studio album from underground hip hop group Jedi Mind Tricks, and their first album on the Babygrande record label. Jus Allah split from the group after the release of their album Violent by Design (2000), returning the group back to its original lineup of Vinnie Paz, Stoupe the Enemy of Mankind and DJ Drew Dollars. Producer Stoupe expands his dark sounds, including beats with grand orchestral samples and Latin-tinged production. Vinnie Paz lessens his lyrical topics to focus on his thug persona. Album guests include Canibus, Kool G Rap, Percee P, Ras Kass, and Tragedy Khadafi, as well as underground peers Crypt the Warchild, Planetary of OuterSpace, and Non Phixion members Ill Bill, Sabac Red, and Goretex.
Illmatic is the debut studio album by American rapper Nas. It was released on April 19, 1994, by Columbia Records. After signing with the label with the help of MC Serch, Nas recorded the album in 1992 and 1993 at Chung King Studios, D&D Recording, Battery Studios, and Unique Recording Studios in New York City. The album's production was handled by DJ Premier, Large Professor, Pete Rock, Q-Tip, L.E.S., and Nas himself. Styled as a hardcore hip hop album, Illmatic features multi-syllabic internal rhymes and inner-city narratives based on Nas' experiences growing up in the Queensbridge Houses in Queens, New York City.
Ritual of Battle is the second studio album by underground hip hop collective Army of the Pharaohs. Released on September 25, 2007 under Babygrande Records, the album features group members Vinnie Paz, Jus Allah, OuterSpace, Chief Kamachi, Reef the Lost Cauze, Esoteric, Celph Titled, King Syze, Des Devious, Doap Nixon, Demoz, and King Magnetic. Although he was prominently featured on the group's debut album The Torture Papers, Apathy does not appear on Ritual of Battle. While still a member of the group, he explains on a MySpace blog that he was recording with Styles of Beyond in Los Angeles during the Army's album recording sessions. The rapper recorded for one song, titled "A.O.T.P.", produced by Snowgoons, but it was not included on the album. This song was included on the Apathy compilation Hell's Lost & Found: It's The Bootleg, Muthafu@kas! Volume 2.
"One Time 4 Your Mind" is the eighth song on Nas' debut album Illmatic. It is produced by Large Professor who provides the song with a mellow beat & a deep bassline. Nas raps two verses on the song and contributes to the call and response chorus with Grand Wizard. The song's lyrics deal with what Nas does in his leisure. Nas sampled a lyric from "One Time 4 Your Mind" on his song "Fetus". Termanology references a lyric from this song on "Stop, Look, Listen" by Statik Selektah. Steve Juon of RapReviews.com describes it as a "somber and slow-rolling banger." Marc Hill of PopMatters boasts the song's lyrics saying: "the laid back 'One Time 4 Your Mind' demonstrated a level of technical precision and rhetorical dexterity that [is] now requisite for inclusion among hip-hop's elite."
"Represent" is the ninth song on Nas' debut album Illmatic. It is produced by DJ Premier who samples Lee Irwin's "Thief of Baghdad" for the song's beat.
"Microphone Fiend" is the second single released from the hip hop duo Eric B. & Rakim's second album Follow the Leader. The song became a signature song for rapper Rakim, and AllMusic's Steve Huey says the song "weaves references to substance addiction throughout in explaining why Rakim can't keep away from the mic." Featuring a prominent sample of Average White Band's 1975 hit "School Boy Crush", the song was further evidence of Eric B.'s fondness for soul samples and became one of the most quoted songs in hip hop.
It Was Written is the second studio album by American rapper Nas, released on July 2, 1996, by Columbia Records. After the modest commercial success of his debut album Illmatic (1994), Nas pursued a more polished, mainstream sound for It Was Written. Produced largely by Trackmasters, it departed from the debut's raw, underground aesthetic and embraced mafioso and gangsta themes. The recording also marked the first appearance of Nas's short-lived supergroup The Firm, featuring the rappers Foxy Brown, AZ, and Cormega.
I Am... is the third studio album by American rapper Nas, released on April 6, 1999, by Columbia Records. Following the commercial and critical success of 1996's It Was Written, Nas put to work on a double album that merged the styles of his first two albums and detailed entire aspects of his life. Although he was able to use most songs, other songs that would have made I Am… a double album leaked onto the internet in MP3 format, forcing him to record new material for two separate single-disc releases.
References
- ↑ UltraGraphik.com Sampleur: "NY State of Mind" Search [ permanent dead link ]
- ↑ Scratchfaq.com: "N.Y. State of Mind" Search [ permanent dead link ]
- ↑ Cho, Jaeki. "DJ Premier Tells All: The Stories Behind His Classic Records". complex.com. Complex. Retrieved 2018-11-03.
- ↑ Top 100 Rap Songs.
- ↑ "100 Greatest Hip-Hop Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. June 2, 2017. Retrieved January 3, 2023.
- ↑ "ROCK THE BELLS RADIO NAMES "SHOOK ONES PT. II" GREATEST HIP-HOP BEAT". Rock The Bells. January 2, 2024.
- ↑ Hill, Marc. "Illmatic (Anniversary Edition) Review". PopMatters . Retrieved January 18, 2008.
- ↑ "Contents | The Norton Anthology of African American Literature | W. W. Norton & Company". books.wwnorton.com.
- ↑ Juon, Steve. "Nas' Illmatic at RapReviews.com" . Retrieved January 18, 2008.
- ↑ "Saints Row 2 Soundtrack Songlist revealed". videogamesblogger.com. Retrieved 27 May 2015.
- ↑ "True Crime: New York City Soundtrack Revealed". IGN . IGN . Retrieved 27 May 2015.
- ↑ "The 'Ozark' Season Premiere Is Completely Soundtracked By 'Illmatic'". GQ. 2022-04-29. Retrieved 2023-01-26.
- ↑ "British single certifications – Nas – N.Y. State of Mind". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved October 20, 2021.
- ↑ "American single certifications – Nas – N.Y. State of Mind". Recording Industry Association of America . Retrieved February 12, 2019.
