Hip Hop Is Dead... How Nasir's Battle Cry Helped Save An Artform
- Thread starter Ziggiy
- Start date
Yung Fresh
street money/str8 cash
weezy > nas. nobody fukking listens to nas in 2013
"It wasn’t Jay, Jay didn’t sign Nas, this is what I had to do to maneuver my career. These things I’ve done as a businessman, this is serious shyt. I don’t relate to a lot of artist’s situations because I don’t know their situations. What I’m saying is we have to stop blaming each other over idiot shyt cause these motherfukkers is buying YouTube and we renting yachts that they own. Come let’s think about where we are and we’re talking about he’s shining and I’m not, that’s slavery talk, we really have to think about the big picture."
Nas interview with Complex Magazine for their December, 2006 issue
http://m.complex.com/music/2013/09/nas-2006-interview
"I KNOW YOU CAN FEEL THE MAGIC BABY!" Jay-Z enthusiastically shouts on the intro to Black Republicans. You will notice how Hov begins his bars as a story, weaving a tale of friendship and brotherhood turned sour from greed, ambition, and pride.
"Neva thought we sing the same song that all hood sang
Thought it was all wood-grain, all good brain
We wouldn't bicker like the other fools talk good game
Neva imagine all the disasters that one could reign
Could bring, should blame the game, and I could
It's kill or be killed, how could I refrain?
And foreva be in debt, that's neva a good thing
To the pressure for success can put a good strain
On a friend you call best and yes it could bring
Out the worst in every person, even the good an' sane
Though we rehearsed, it just ain't the same
When you put in the game at age sixteen
Then you mix things like cars, jewelry and miss things
Jealousy, ego and pride, and this brings
It all to a head like a coin, cha-ching
The route evil strikes again, this could sting"
What's interesting to note is that his verse is a confessional of his own guilty conscious. Jay-Z has long been the (self crowned) King of the Hip Hop street hustler mentality. An ambition that rapping is a means to fame and fortune rather than artistry, what is ironic about this is that Jay-Z is unquestionably one of the genre's most talented MC's and lyricists. With just the right amounts of cocky showmanship and bravado Jay-Z has had an influence in just about every major avenue of profit that stems from the music. Clothing lines, alcohol brands, Record labels, etc. there's NOTHING that Shawn Carter has not touched and turned into a stack of greenbacks. This however, serves as a double edged sword as the deeper into the business one wades, he finds himself further from the shores of the culture. Jay-Z, in his heart realizes that he has a played as big a role as anybody in Hip Hop's death, his verse is an attempt to paint the listener a picture of the origins that led to his hustler mind-state. Using the "friend" in the verse as a double entendre (don't ask him how) for both a real life friendship gone wrong as well as how pure intentions regarding the love of Hip Hop could turn into a wealth scheme.
Nas comes right behind him with his own testimonial.
"I'm standin' on the roof of my building
I'm feelin' the whirlwind of beef, I inhale it
Just like an acrobat ready to hurl myself through the hoops of fire
Sippin' 80 proof, bulletproof under my attire
Could it be the forces of darkness
Against hood angels of good that forms street politics
Makes a sweet honest kid turn illegal for commerce
To get his feet out of them Converse, that's my word"
Like Hov, Nas is attempting to bring to light what leads to the mentality of artists who come from the bottom of America's slums and are faced with decisions on how to better there lives. In 1994 Nas was the "sweet honest kid" who dropped a work of unparalleled mastery in Illmatic, which many consider the best Hip Hop album of all time. Though it was heaped with praise and accolades, it was no secret that the album wasn't initially commercially successful. The album took 10 years to go platinum (compared to It Was Written, which took 4 months to go DOUBLE platinum) and by the next year Nas was still living in relative poverty with his mother, brother, and young daughter. So when Nas switched it up, adopted the "Escobar" moniker and began working with the Trackmasters for his 1996 sophomore album, many saw this as Nas attempting to "sell out" by choosing a more commercially accessible sound. In effect to "turn illegal for commerce", by going against the streets. No thought was given by critics to artistic growth and the need to expand ones musical repertoire, it was either another Illmatic or bust. Nas had committed the sin of trying to leave the very situational grittiness and hopelessness which had previously inspired him, to "get his feet out of them converse" and make a better life and career. Did this however come at the expense of Hip Hop's cultural purity? Did the young man hailed as a prodigy and placed upon a mantle as the spiritual successor to Rakim help inch Hip Hop closer to its grave by this decision? Or was Nas culturally crucified for helping to lay a blueprint which balanced expertly crafted lyricism with slick production?
Nas interview with Complex Magazine for their December, 2006 issue
http://m.complex.com/music/2013/09/nas-2006-interview
"I KNOW YOU CAN FEEL THE MAGIC BABY!" Jay-Z enthusiastically shouts on the intro to Black Republicans. You will notice how Hov begins his bars as a story, weaving a tale of friendship and brotherhood turned sour from greed, ambition, and pride.
"Neva thought we sing the same song that all hood sang
Thought it was all wood-grain, all good brain
We wouldn't bicker like the other fools talk good game
Neva imagine all the disasters that one could reign
Could bring, should blame the game, and I could
It's kill or be killed, how could I refrain?
And foreva be in debt, that's neva a good thing
To the pressure for success can put a good strain
On a friend you call best and yes it could bring
Out the worst in every person, even the good an' sane
Though we rehearsed, it just ain't the same
When you put in the game at age sixteen
Then you mix things like cars, jewelry and miss things
Jealousy, ego and pride, and this brings
It all to a head like a coin, cha-ching
The route evil strikes again, this could sting"
What's interesting to note is that his verse is a confessional of his own guilty conscious. Jay-Z has long been the (self crowned) King of the Hip Hop street hustler mentality. An ambition that rapping is a means to fame and fortune rather than artistry, what is ironic about this is that Jay-Z is unquestionably one of the genre's most talented MC's and lyricists. With just the right amounts of cocky showmanship and bravado Jay-Z has had an influence in just about every major avenue of profit that stems from the music. Clothing lines, alcohol brands, Record labels, etc. there's NOTHING that Shawn Carter has not touched and turned into a stack of greenbacks. This however, serves as a double edged sword as the deeper into the business one wades, he finds himself further from the shores of the culture. Jay-Z, in his heart realizes that he has a played as big a role as anybody in Hip Hop's death, his verse is an attempt to paint the listener a picture of the origins that led to his hustler mind-state. Using the "friend" in the verse as a double entendre (don't ask him how) for both a real life friendship gone wrong as well as how pure intentions regarding the love of Hip Hop could turn into a wealth scheme.
Nas comes right behind him with his own testimonial.
"I'm standin' on the roof of my building
I'm feelin' the whirlwind of beef, I inhale it
Just like an acrobat ready to hurl myself through the hoops of fire
Sippin' 80 proof, bulletproof under my attire
Could it be the forces of darkness
Against hood angels of good that forms street politics
Makes a sweet honest kid turn illegal for commerce
To get his feet out of them Converse, that's my word"
Like Hov, Nas is attempting to bring to light what leads to the mentality of artists who come from the bottom of America's slums and are faced with decisions on how to better there lives. In 1994 Nas was the "sweet honest kid" who dropped a work of unparalleled mastery in Illmatic, which many consider the best Hip Hop album of all time. Though it was heaped with praise and accolades, it was no secret that the album wasn't initially commercially successful. The album took 10 years to go platinum (compared to It Was Written, which took 4 months to go DOUBLE platinum) and by the next year Nas was still living in relative poverty with his mother, brother, and young daughter. So when Nas switched it up, adopted the "Escobar" moniker and began working with the Trackmasters for his 1996 sophomore album, many saw this as Nas attempting to "sell out" by choosing a more commercially accessible sound. In effect to "turn illegal for commerce", by going against the streets. No thought was given by critics to artistic growth and the need to expand ones musical repertoire, it was either another Illmatic or bust. Nas had committed the sin of trying to leave the very situational grittiness and hopelessness which had previously inspired him, to "get his feet out of them converse" and make a better life and career. Did this however come at the expense of Hip Hop's cultural purity? Did the young man hailed as a prodigy and placed upon a mantle as the spiritual successor to Rakim help inch Hip Hop closer to its grave by this decision? Or was Nas culturally crucified for helping to lay a blueprint which balanced expertly crafted lyricism with slick production?
intilectual recipricol
Killin fake hip hop
nikkaz in pink suits tryin to be cute...
nacho cheese, Im Castro
nacho cheese, Im Castro
El Vato
Pro
A quote from Fat Joe LOL man when he came to the BAY AREA he went for ice cream that a friend of mine worked at and then was robbed. LMAO Nobody knows about that LOL
Ziggiys posts>source,xxl,vibe
T.he I.nformant
1st Ballot HOF Teller
Online User
Pro
Happy Birthday to the man, the myth, the legend, the GOAT, Nasty Nas! 40 years young!
El Vato
Pro
Pac did it first son at age 22I respect the Gawd for going against the grain on HHID.He paid homage to the forgotten pioneers and schooled the younguns bout square biz.
