The article itself is actually almost comically bad when it comes to making its point regarding Nas "falling off"
"
But in 2003, those calls began to dwindle, and I understood why: Just before Christmas of 2002, Nas issued God's Son. Himieh had begun to disregard Nas' new material as a bunch of street-poet rigmarole, lacking authentic New York street swing."
First off, you choose GOD'S SON as the example of Nas loosing his New York influenced sound and luster? The album that included muthafukking MADE YOU LOOK as the first single? The single that brought back to the forefront the Bom Bap era sound of early New York with the Apache sample?
Book Of Rhymes is street Poet Rigamarole? Get Down "lacks" authentic New York Swing? WTF??!!?!
"
In the end, Jay-Z won that war: Hip Hop Is Dead surrounded Nas with an A-list of rap celebrities, including will.i.am, The Game and Snoop Dogg. He felt comfortable as one of them, not something better. This wasn't the brainy, brawny emcee that Himieh and I had worshiped."
Carry On Tradition, Still Dreaming, Let There Be Light, and Hope weren't lyrically exceptional and " brawny" enough joints? Where Are They Now wasn't the type of James Brown sampling, ode to Hip Hop's forefathers, New York inspired, Boom Bap flavored joint that apparently the author has been wishing for? Who Killed It wasn't conceptually "Brainy" enough? How exactly is working with a fellow legend like Snoop Dogg (and getting him to actually spit some fire) not showcasing that he's something "better"? Since when was getting beats from Will I Am (who gave him some of the albums best production) a bad thing? What exactly is the point of bringing up Jay-Z and how did Jay-Z "win" the war when he stated clearly that one could never SIGN Nas, that he had to PARTNER with him? WHAT EXACTLY are you saying here?
"Last year's Life Is Good teased with the brilliant flashes of the emcee Himieh and I used to worship, especially on "Locomotive" and "Nasty."
The MC you "USED" to worship was a 21 year old kid from the projects who had a cloud so dark over his head from his hopeless upbringing that he couldn't even grasp the concept of tomorrow. The MC we all here now is a 40 year old father, ex-husband, and music veteran who has traveled the world, sold 20 million records worldwide, and has experienced a lifetime of pain, anger, love, hope, and joy. Wake up to TODAY you trapped in the 90's nikka
"But it was too little too late, or so I reckoned as Nas simply sat in his chair while Drake climbed the stage to accept the Grammy for Best Rap Album for Take Care. Nas lost in three other categories, too. There was a time when the hip-hop world seemed to be his, but this was the 13th time he'd been nominated for a Grammy and not walked away with a gold trophy. It could have been different. For a time, it was."
What exactly was Nas supposed to do? Rush the stage and beat the living shyt out of Drake for winning? Nas is a grown ass man, a Grammy doesn't mean shyt for his legacy. I wrote an article myself of the Grammy's history of disrespect for Hip Hop as a genre, if anything, Nas being snubbed 13 times for a Grammy is an inditement of the Grammy's failure to recognize Hip Hop for the creative and progressive genre it is rather a failure of Nas as an artist.
Coli News Nas, Jay-Z, Kanye West, and Hip-Hop snubs at the Grammys
Original article
Life and Nas were good | Music Essay | Indy Week
when I read that.
and probably won't be competitive this season, these games always do numbers, ticket sales wise. People from come up to NYC to watch the Phillies play the Mets.
to that dude Nasir
to what's next for the GAWD musically