NAS & The National Symphony Orchestra - "Illmatic"

This premiered a while ago but I haven't had the time to post this yet, but let me tell you that you're doing yourself a huge disservice if you sleep on this. NAS was invited to be a part of the PBS' show "Great Concerts" back in 2014 - a program/concert series that link up legendary artists from different genres to perform their masterwork backed up by a full sympony orchestra, in this case the National Symphony Orchestra usually heard at the Kennedy Center. PBS sponsors the concert and also broadcasts it and for this installment they got what I believe is the first Hip Hop artist to be a part of the program - and of course it was Nasty Nas and his delivery of the timeles "Illmatic" album. Sometimes a full-orchestra and the heat of the moment sucks away all of the magic that made the original gritty piece what it was - not so here. Interspersed with small interview segments and vocal clips between most of the songs the acutal music proves why "Illmatic" has stood the test of time and should be considered by everyone as just as important as albums like Sly & The Famiily Stones' "There's A Riot Going On", Beatles' "Revolver", "OK Computer" by Radiohead, "It Takes A Nation..." by Public Enemy, and David Bowie's "Low" to name a few.

Here Nas, dapperly suited, standing in front of a huge orchestra, also backed up by what's more aking to a jazz quartet and a DJ, put further notice that he still is the greatest and that his debut still holds up as Hip Hop's crowning achivement. Hearing a live rendition of the LP with a huge instrumental barrage is further proof of that. Be sure to watch this while It's still available. Unfortunately PBS will only let you watch it if you're in the US but luckily anonymous YouTube user LonnieMac has supplied the rest of us with a HQ rip of the entire 52 minutes set. Don't sleep, this is Hip Hop history in the making!

The FIRM - What's the verict?

The Firm album had a lot of things working against it at the time of its release. For one thing Hip Hop was just moving into the shiny suit era where popping cristal and living "the good life" was on constantly being flashed. Now granted a mafioso rap record inspired by Martin Scorse and "Scarface" could definitely get away with spending large money on champagne, fine cuisine and poppin' tags. but it was the shiny suit type beats that didn't work at all. Luckily for every "Firm All Stars" or "Fuck Somebody Else" there as a "Firm Fiasco" or a "Desperados". Secondly these were all New York cats, and some of the hottest cats on the streets at that particular moment at that, yet it was released and co-executive produced by Dr. Dre. This is not a knock on Dr. Dre but we all know that he was in between signture sounds from between his Death Row days and what would become his Aftermath/"2001" sound. That's not to say that Dre didn't deliver bangers but this was a point where everything he touched didn't turn to gold. There's excellent Dr. Dre productions on The Firm album, whcih in fact was the first Aftermath LP, such as "Phone Tap", "Firm Fiasco" and "Untouchable" and these is the type of records we wanted an entire The Firm album to sound like - nothng but street shit. Unfortunately that's only about 50% of what we ended up getting.

The other half of the production team and the co-execs were The Trackmaster who had a long standing relationhip with both Nas, AZ and Foxy Brown at this point but would also go on to manage Nature for his debut album on Colombia in 1999. Granted we can't lay the blame on The Good Doctor's doorstep, neither can we lay it at the extended Trackmasters family (Poke, Tone, L.E.S., Curt Gowdy and Dave Atkinson). Because both teams made great music for the project, and both teams made some equally weak music for the projet as well. If anything I think both the pros and cons should be shared equally between all the major players involved (Dre and his production team, The Trackmasters and their production team, Nas, AZ, Foxy and Nature).

What bugs me is that this could've been a true street classic that would be remembered to this day as a great follow-up to "It Was Written", but it just wasn't to be. Let's start with the negatives and build from there - while AZ absolutely murdered all of his verses, Nature did a good job and Foxy was being Foxy, Nas was occassionally phoning it in but to be fair he did have some excellent verses along the way. Second all the skits beside the intro and maybe one more could easily have found its way to the trash can. Biggie started the stupid sex skit on an Hip Hop album, but seriously who the hell want to listen to AZ or Foxy Brown fuck on record? Nature was dope on this LP so I'm not even going to mention the Cormega connection or what could have been as a negative. What I will mention is the several songs that were either delted from the final tracklist or appeared on B-sides or mixtapes and that could have made the LP a whole lot stronger. But we will get to all that later.

The album had the mafiosos concept set up all the way back with "Affirmative Action" ('It Was Written') and "La Familia" ('Ill Na Na') and the album starts of brilliantly in this fashion with the intro, "Firm Fiasco", the excellent "Phone Tap" and "Executive Decisions". This is quickly then derailed with sugar coated BS like "Firm Family", "Firm All Stars" and "Fuck Somebody Else". However for the first four songs we are on our way to a classic album, Dr. Dre really did his thing on "Phone Tap" and "Firm Fiasco" mainly working together with Chris "Glove" Taylor wo's been around since 'The Chronic' days. The drum programming is straight slamming, the guitar melodies and the occassional electric piano chords and female vocalizations make both "Phone Tap" and "Firm Fiasco" nothing short of Dre classics. And while "Firm Fiasco" is a great introduction to the crew by Foxy, Nas and AZ (god damn, did AZ not murder that verse) but it's "Phone Tap" that is the lyrical masterpiece with Nas and AZ going back and forth over a tapped phone, with the two trying to talk through the static without incriminating themeselves. Dr. Dre plays the phone-tapping fed on the hook here,

"Executive Decisions" is the exact type of shit this album should've sounded more like as it's similiar i vibe and style to both "Affirmative Action" and "La Familia". Nas has a sick opening verse and the hook is straight up crack over those lovely strings but it might just be Nature who shines the brightest here. That is until you hear AZ's unbelivable flow that is though. All in all a monster of a record and at this point people had all the expectations in the world that this LP would be solid as hell.

So then we get to "Firm Family", a Dre produced collaboration between Nature and Dre. This isn't actually a bad record, but it's a Dr. Dre record, complete with the West Coast vibe and live instrumenttion by Sean Cruse (guitar), Kamara Kambon (keys), Jerry Moore (flute), Mike Elizondo (bass) and a summer-type cookout vibe interpolation of Sexy Mama by The Moments (1973). Both Nature and Dre does a good job but once again this should never have been on The Firm record. We needed beats like the three preceeding joints, "Affirmative Action" or "East Coast / West Coast Killaz". Oh well, at least it's a decent summer jam.

Well The Trackmasters sure ain't going to be worse for wear in producing something godawful that have absolutely no business on the album. Unlike "Firm Family" which was actually a tight joint on its own, "Firm All Stars" is The Trackmasters getting jiggy with it and though Nas is on the hook the verses comes courtesy of Foxy Brown and her little brother Pretty Boy. They had joints like "Time" and "State Vs. Sosa" and they thought this wa the way to go? What the actual fuck!

"Fuck Somebody Else", another Dre production, another Foxy Brown solo song. I don't know what the hell these guys were thinking here becasuse this is just wack. It's of course an interpolation of "You're Gonna Make Me Love Somebody Else" by the Jones Girls from 1979. This ain't no Firm shit!

"Hardcore" is once again Poke and Tone getting jiggy with it while Esco and Foxy is going back and forth. While the beats are a little to radio friendly circa '97 for my liking I can dig this as Nas and Foxy got bars on here. And speaking of bars the next joint is really an interlude produced by Dr. Dre and Mel-Man called "Untouchable" featuring a verse Nas ghostwrote for Hose of The Bravehearts. Why the fuck didn't thiey give this the song full treatment, it's that ill.

"Five Minutes to Flush" is Nature solo song, and a concept song at that. As Dre was constantly doing around this time he made interpolations of classics (sort of like Puffy but way better) and here he and Glove is remaking "Five Minutes of Funk" into "Five Minutes to Flush". Basically the Feds are at Nature's door and he better make rid of that drugs he got stashed ASAP. I fuck with this cut, it got that slamming Dre funk, the Roger Troutman talkbox, and an excellent take by Nature. But should it have been on this album, that's the question?

"Desperados" on the other hand is vintage Firm shit, produce by Curt Gowdy, Poke and Tone who's guitar driven beat is instantly rewind worthy. The only fault here is that this joint was originally 6 minutes long as proven by the original leak on a DJ Clue tape. On this album version Nas and Foxy Brown's verses are nowhere to be found and as excellent as Canibus' verse is I'm not sure who actually took it between him, AZ and Nature. Now if we can only get perfect CDQ/NO DJ FLAC version of the original version.

Now we have reached the most commercil record on an album that already has too many of them. Even the producers Poke and Tone kind of dissed this record (in fact L.E.S. produced it while Dr. Dre mixed it and added some live instrumentation). The idea was to come out the gate with a commercil single but you had fucking Nas, AZ and Dr. Dre, what you needed was street singles and a a street album. What's funny is that the remix known as the "World Famous" remix and appeared on some versions of the 12" single was so much better on all levels.

Noreaga appears on "I'm Leaving" together with Nature, and brings a lot of that "War Report" style while Poke and Tone does an excellent job with the guitar heavy production and heavy drum programming. Nature's final verse is some heavy shit for sure. AZ and Haf-A-Mill did a lot of heavy records together and "Throw Your Guns" surely does not dissapoint as the album closer in any way shape or form. Drum programming and bass line is knocking and the guitar sample and the occassional cuts makes for an excellent album closer.

But god damn, is this album frustrting or what? It features probably 30 minutes of really dope music with excellent lyrics, strong beats by some of the best producers in the game, coool concepts, but the remaining 25 minutes is hardly what i would think anyone would wanted from a Firm album. And when you take into account that there's at least 20 minutes of unreleased material that never made the final cut it really tells you how dope this LP could have been. Download "Time" produced by Dr. Dre, and featuring Nas, AZ and Nature below as well as the World Famous remix of "Firm All Stars", featuring Mary J. Blige on the hook! 


Download @ ZippyShare
01. "Love is Love" (AZ / Nature)
02. "Affirmative Action Remix" (Nas/Cormega/Az/Foxy Brown)
03. "Firm Biz Remix" (The Firm)
04. "Time" (The Firm / Nas / AZ / Nature)

NAS x Symphony Orchestra - "Illmatic" live from the Kennedy Center

PBS channel has this show called "Great Performances" where they dedicate an hour show to a great performance by coupling a legenary artist with a symphony orchestra. There's been performances by Andrea Bocelli, Alicia Keys, opera performances of "Madame Butterfly" and much more. But there for sure has never been a Hip Hop artist perform in this context before and this is a HUGE look for the genre. And of course it is Nas who is going to be the one to do it. The Nasty one was in a somewhat similiar situation with his collaboration with DJ Premier and the Berkley Symphony Orchestra in "Regeneration" but this is an entire live performance of "Illmatic". Nas is always incredible live but this adds yet another dimension and you can see how he truly puts his all in it. PBS uploaded the video for free to their site but unfortunately only americans are able to see the conent. So thanks to YouTuber Lonnie Mac we can now all have the privelige of watching this amazing show,

[Compilation] TRAGEDY KHADAFI - "The Kuwait Tapes"

We here at The Lost Tapes love Tragedy Khadafi, while I did like his "Intelligent Hoodlum" album it was when he dropped "Tragedy: Saga Of A Hoodlum" that I really started to fuck with him. And then we got his whole 25-to-life movement and the molding he did of Capone-N-Noreaga from average street rappers to revolutionary slang kings on "The War Report". Nas, Mobb Deep and Tragedy Khadafi is the epitome of the Queensbridge sound, there can't really be one without the other based on the fact on how much they inspired each other. Some might think that Tragedy is just a street rhymer but they are clearly not listening - Trag is as ill a lyricist as Nas and Prodigy were at their prime. Just check Tragedy's verses on "L.A. L.A." (the Kuwait mix where he just keeps going and going), "T.O.N.Y.", "Parole Violators", "Calm Down", "Message to Killa Black", "Blood Type", "They Forced My Hand" and "Permanently Scarred". And that's just to name a few classic verses and tracks.

Recently Khadafi dropped two free tapes featuring some of his finest, yet rarest material from this period - fittingly titled "The Kuwait Tapes". The tracklisting is similiar to a Tragedy compilation I upoaded way back when that I never got around to reupload so I hope you'll enjoy it again this time around. I know I will! 

01. "Calm Down" (Ft. Nas & Noreaga)

This 1997 classic was supposed to appear on "The War Report" but it's a good chance label politics got in the way. At least it was released on the CNN 12" singles from "The Report".

02. "Judas Theory" (Ft. Capone-N-Noreaga & Mobb Deep)

This monster was produced by Stretch Armstrong as a promo for the upcoming artists back in '96.

03. "Half A Mill" (Ft. Capone-N-Noreaga)

This was another radio freestyle to get the CNN names out there. Some sources says it was recorded in 1995 and some sources say 1996. My guess is for the latter.

04. "Strange Fruit" (Ft. Noreaga, Pete Rock, Cappadonna & Sticky Fingaz)

Pete Rock was working on his first solo album back in 1997 and while the album came out nothing short of blazing the Soul Brother sure made a name for himself. The exception was the Nina Simone sampling "Strange Fruit" which was by far the hardest record on the LP. The album version didn't feature Noreaga, Pete Rock or Sticky Fingaz either.

05. "The Turnaround" [Thug Remix] (Ft. Real Live & Capone)

Only the real heads knows about this one as it was the B-Side to the "The Turnaround" and thougit's proudced by K-DEF it really features that thugged out CNN type sound mid-'90s. This is probably my favorite CNN remix / B-side / rarity and for good reason so if you never heard it you are definiteyl in for a treat.

06. "LA LA" [Iraq Mix] (Ft. Capone-N-Noreaga & Mobb Deep)

The 'Kuwait Mix' was always my shit, as I always felt it came as hard as it could and it also proved Marley Marley was still one of the dopest producers in 1996 (Stretch Armstrong did the edits). The Iraq Mix wasn't bad by any streth of the word, but the West Coast vibe that payed "homage" to the Dogg Pound song didn't pack the lethal punch that a diss record of this caliber truly needed.l.

07. "1st Day of Spring" (Ft. Mobb Deep)

Word is that this is a "Hell On Earth" leftover, though I don't think I ever seen an official source for it. Either way it does pack Havoc's dark horror vibes production and raw verses from Hav, P and Tragedy - remember that Tragedy was the one that took Havoc uner his wing back in the early 1990s and had him rhyming on his "Saga of a Hoodlum" LP. "Hell On Earth" is basically perfect as it is, but to be fair, I'd rather have this song than that enhanced CD content "In The Long Run".

08. "Thug's Paradise Remix" (Ft. Capone)

"Thug's Paradise" originally appeared on the Nothing to Lose soundtrack before appearing as a hidden joint on "The War Report". And the worst song at that. D-Moet's flashy production really didn't do nothing for that album and this remix does equally little.

09. "Mumia 911" (Ft. Chuck D, Pharoah Monch, Black Thought, Last Emepror & Zack DeLa Rocha)

Ok now we're getting back to business. This was always a favorite of mine and the full-lenght version features a bunch of other rhymesligers like Afu-Ra, Wise Intelligent, Slim Kid 3, Aceyalone, dead prez and then some. This was released as a 12" single in honor of political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal under the collective name of Unbound Allstars. The 12" single featured remixes by Fat Lip, Diamond D and an uncredited one called "Rocks Tha World Full Length Mix". I'm not entrely sure but I think the version included here is the Diamond D remix so that's a good sign in and of itself.

10. "Renaissance 2.0." (Ft. Black Market Milia & R.A. The Rugged Man)

The only Black Market Milia member not to make an apperance here is Killah Priest but it's Ok considering how dope the beat is, and how Tragedy Khadafi. Timbo King and R.A. The Rugged Man murder shit.

11. "Lift Ya Glass" (Ft. Imam Thug)

This Ayatollah produced banger was actually included on Trag's first solo album, "Against All Odds" but consering how excellent this joint is and the back and forth between Trag and Imam Thug is I don't mind in the least.

12. "Usual Suspects" (Ft. DMX, Mic Geronimo, The Lox & Ja Rule)

Mic Geronimo had a lot of potential so it's a shame he kind of dissapeared after his second album, "Vendetta", from where this is lifted. "Usual Suspects" is kind of the follow-up to "Time to Build" that featured DMX, Ja Rule, Jay-Z and Mic Geronimo. The track in question is produced by Daven Prestige Vanderpool who was kind of an uneven producer but here he broguth the goods..

13. "Armageddon (Crime Side of Life)" (Ft. Self)

This Tragedy Khadafi single dropped in 1999 on Next Level Distribution but didn't make too much noise at the time. Consdering that Trag's "Against All Odds" was originally supposed to drop in 1999 it's possible that this is actually a cut song from the original album.

14. "Enemies Of The State" (Ft. Canibus)

One of a couple of collaborations between Canibus & Tragedy. I think the year is between 1997 and 1998 but I could be wrong.

15. "Bottom Line Dollar Sign" (Ft. X1, F.T. Royal Flush & Jane Doe)

Now this is an ill posse cut right here featuring several somewhat forgotten rappers. Personaly I'm a big fan of F.T. of Street Smartz and Jane Doe recorded a solid album with 88 Keys that never got released, and of course Royal Flush is an underground street legend in his own right. This js a rare joint right here, I actually never rhard heard it before.

15. "Let's Be Specific" (Ft. Havoc, Raekwon, Freddie Foxxx & Cool Whip)

This is an underrated banger for sure. Taken from Funkmaster Flex first installment of his "The Miixtape Vol, 1; 60 Minutes of Funk"). This is a power house ending to a sick compilationso sit back, press play, turm the volume up and ENJOY!'

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[EP] DJ SHADOW - "The Mountain Has Fallen" (Ft. Nas & Danny Brown)

With a release like this EP, that brings back traditional hip-hop values, and invites some of the illest lyricists of the both past and present some haters might say that the legendary DJ/producer behind '96 stone cold classic "Endtroducing" is somewhat on a return. His new EP "The Mountain has Fallen" is no doubt a hardcore back-to-basics four-track project but the truth of the matter is that Shadow has been dropping gems for years; it's hardly like "Endtroducing" is his only worthwhile album and his legacy rest on what a fucking classic that was. That album broke a lot of ground as far as being 100% concocted from samples while being instrumental and sounded like totally new musical compositions. But beside "Pre-Emptive Strike" (which was recorded before '96) he kind of switched up his style and yes there's been some duds along the way; but that's what happens when you're an artist and experiment. But don't forget that he in 2011 released the super-slept on album "The Less You Will Fall" that sported a new era but borrowed heavily from what made Shadow fans first take notice, and also featured guest spots from Posdnous, Talib Kweli and even Little Dragon for good measure. If you haven't heard that album be sure to check it out ASAP.

Now Mr. Davis is teaming up with Mass Appeal, gearing up for another album, and just dropped an EP to whet our appetites and the four track project sure as hell does not dissapoint. A mixture of vintage samples, live instrument, breaks for headnodding hip-hop and some imrpessive turntable work this genre defying project will be getting a lot of play. Especially the first song that features no less than the first meeting between NAS and Shadow on the throwback banger "Systematic". Steven Price does a great job of closing out the project with the hectic "Corridors". Check it out for free below stay tuned for a new full-length by this one-of-a-kind DJ/producer.

J DILLA ft. NAS - "The Sickness" / "Gangsta Boogie"

As a huge J Dilla fan tomorrow is the date (April 15) that I hope will close the J Dilla posthumous saga once and for all, and doing so at a high note. This was the last album Dilla worked his ass off to really get the way he wanted to during his lifetime, and though MCA shelved it he and his then current Stones Throw family and especially Egon had discussions about releasing "Ruff Draft", "The Diary" (more often known as "Pay Jay" or just the MCA album) and of course "The Shining". The reason it has taken this long time to gather an album that a lot of people already have heard most material from (due to an unathorized, unmastered and real shitty sounding leak) and the 12 EP:s that was neccesary to finance the project the way it needed to be financed to put it out there as it should have been. It's fourteen tracks of Dilla rhyming over his own beats as well as tracks by some of his personal favorites and musical comrades - Madlib, Pete Rock, Nottz, Hi-Tek, Karriem Riggins, Pete Rock, BinK! and Wajeed. I can't wait to hear this fully mixed and mastered, definite buy for me and i will also be the last Dilla project I ever purchase.

The album, "The Diary", is a joint venture between Egon's Rappcats label and Nas' Mass Appeal imprint so naturally Nas wanted to get the chance to rhyme on an unfinished joint. But don't worry it doens't hurt the original concept in the least as "The Sickness", as this Madlib produced banger is called, is simply a bonus treat for the heads. It was premiered live a while back but here's the real studio version. Enjoy the realness and pre-order the full length album @ iTunes for digital or head over to RappCats for your physical fix -"The Diary" @ Rappcats . Also check out the final piece of the puzzle that made things possible to release as Dilla intended it - the Hi-Tek produced "Gangsta Boogie" featuring Snoop Dogg and throw your cash up tomorrow. I know I will!

NAS - "In Between Us" [OG Verse] (2001)

In 2001 Nas and Jay-Z where at the height of their famous feud - perhaps the last interesting hip-hop beef - and each released an album to receive the rare 5 mics review in The Source. The only emcee to have both artists as featured guests on his album was Scarface for his incredible "The Fix" LP, which incidentally also received 5 mics. "In Between Us" is one of my favorite joints on that album as both Nas and Scarface turns in absolute monster performances.. However, reading 'Face's autobiography (an excellent read) he revealed that Nas originally submitted a different verse for the song - one in which 'Face felt he had some thinly veiled disses aimed towards Jigga which led to him asking Nas to submit a different verse. So yesterday I stumbled across this little gem that you hear above. It's been out for years but since I'm not a big fan of blend mixtapes and the like I never checked it out. This appeared on Mick Boogie and Joey Fingaz "God's Gift" mix but you'll hear a different Nas verse that was obviously written in 2001 as parts of the lyrics would be re-used for "One Never Knows" and "Ether", respectively. My best guess is that this is the original verse that Nas submitted for "The Fix" album and as such it's pretty damn crazy to hear this... You can cut it off after the first verse and hook though as there's no need to hear Jay-Z strangely blended into this in my opinion.

[Stream] SCARFACE - "Deeply Rooted"

Mr. Scarface, one of the top 5 lyricists of all time if you ask me, finally returns with a new album and shit sounds banging from the first few cuts. This is Face's first full-length since 2008's overlooked "Emeritus" and now free from his Rap-A-Lot chains, he seems to be in an artistically great place. The bulk of the beats on here is produced by long-time associate N.O. Joe who brings forth the classic dark, deep and gritty Houston vibe we'd come to associate with this legendary emcee. I'd be suprised if this doesn't end up being one of the strongest albums of the year so be sure to support the man with a purchase (iTunes, UGHH). FACE IS BACK!!

01. "Intro"

02. "Rooted" (Ft. Poppa Reu)

03. "Hot Seat"

04. "Dope Man Pushin'" (Ft. Poppa Reu)

05. "Fuck You Too" (Ft. Z-Ro)

06. "Steer" (Ft. Rush Davis)

07. "Anything"

08. "Do What I Want" (Ft. Nas, Rick Ross & Z-Ro)

09. "God" (Ft. John Legend)

10. "Keep It Movin'" (Ft. Avant)

11. "You" (Ft. Cee-Lo Green)

12. "All Bad"

13. "Voices"

14. "No Problem"

15. "Outro"

STREAM "DEEPLY ROOTED" @ SPOTIFY

[Blends/Mixtape] DJ MONEY MIKE & LT. DAN presents NAS x DJ PREMIER (2006)

Now I rarely check for blends as I mostly listen to albums and official releases but there are definitely a few mixtapes of this kind out there that's absolutely brilliant. One such release is "PreMatic", a mix put together of classic Nas accapelas expertly mixed with classic DJ Premier instrumentals, and for the most part it works really well thanks to some very talented DJs. The four DJ's at work here are DJ Money Mike, Lt. Dan, King Smij and Wiz Hoffa, though the ones that really grabbed me were the mixes by DJ Money Mike and Lt. Dan who thankfully gets the most time on this tape. Nas and DJ Premier sounds so fucking incredible together even on a remix tape like this that none of the artists had anything to do. Don't sleep on this one as you know I don't recommend any wack shit... TURN IT UP!! [Additional Link]

DE LA SOUL Ft. NAS - "God It"

As  I'm sure you know De La Soul is finally wrapping up their first album since 2004:s excellent, but quite overlooked "The Grind Date". No title has been given yet but the Kickstarter founded project should definitely be out this summer. For a taste of what to come check out this amazing throwback single featuring Nasty Nas on the hook... I for one can't wait for this baby!

[Documentary] FASHAWN - "The Ecology" / Mass Appeal

I forgot to include this ill documentary that Mass Appeal Records released a few days prior to the official release of Fashawn's slamming sophomore release "The Ecology". The 16 minutes long clip put together by the label traces the artists transformation from Santiago Leyva to Fashawn, and offers a glimpse into the creation of the new album. An interesting note is that Nas found his inspiration to start writing rhymes again via Fash and "The Ecology", listening to "Golden State Of Mind" it ain't hard to tell!

[Album] FASHAWN - "The Ecology"

I remember back in 2009 when two really true fresh emcees stepped onto the scene with their respective debut albums that at least for me brought back the classic vibes of what a banging hip-hop LP used to be. I'm talking about Skyzoo and Fashawn, two quite different artists but who had the love of the music and an endless array of clever, well written rhymes and a knack for picking great beats. Fashawn's official debut project, "Boy Meets World", was entirely produced by Exile and featured a wide array of different styles, never coming of as boring or predictable, and I for one had him pegged as the great young hope. However his 2012 street album "Champagne & Styrofom Cups" left a sour taste in my mouth - so much that I almost entirely wrote him off...

Big mistake, a couple of months ago he teamed up with The "Alchemist and released the free mixtape "Fashionably Late", an absolutely fantastic showcase in beats and rhymes that proved to be a lot stronger than most albums released in 2014. Now signed to Nas' Mass Appeal records (the Queensbridge legend also acts as the executive producer of the project and appears on the stand out track "Something to Believe In"), Fashawn follows up with his official second album, entitled "The Ecology". Taking a much smoother approach than on The Alchemist collaboration, with tracks packed with fast drum beats, uplifting piano and synthesizer melodies, percussive vocal adlibs and smooth guitar licks as a trusted staple while Fashawn provides the songs with his unique vocal talents and well written and well spitten vocal output. Rather than letting Exile produce all of the album, Fash are also inviting a few friends to help him out behind the boards - including Alchemist, DJ Khalil, ATG, Quincy Tones, and Beewirks. I have a feeling this will be a real grower upon repeated listens, so be sure to support Fashawn and Mass Appeal records by purchasing the CD or 2xLP (coming April 7) @ UGHH.

FASHAWN x NAS x ALOE BLACC - "Something To Believe In"

When young California lyricist Fashawn first broke out onto the scene on a national level I was super hyped by this incredible wordsmith, solidified by his official solo debut "Boy Meets World", produced by Exile, and the ALC-produced prequel tape "The Antidote". Unfortunately since then this promising young emcee has barely released a track that has managed to capture my attention, releasing mixtape after mixtape that strayed way too far from what made me fall in love with his East Coast influenced West Coast bangers. Now signed to Nas' Mass Appeal Records, he late last year released the absolutely incredible free Alchemist collaboration "Fashionably Late" which even made it to my man Antoine's top three albums of 2014 and I wouldn't place it far behind. The real album will be another Exile full-lenght collaboration, this time called "The Ecology" and so far the singles are sounding a lot more promising than anything released by this heavy spitter for years. 

The latest single "Something to Believe In" features excellent verses by Fashawn and Nas going at it, while Aloe Blacc provides some welcome vocals to take it to the next level. The other singles released thus far include the Busta Rhymes assisted "Out The Trunk" and the lead single "Guess Who's Back". Check all singles below and watch out for "The Ecology" on Febbruary 25.

FAT JOE / BIG PUN / NAS / RAEKWON / JADAKISS - "John Blaze" [Original Mix]

Just an old classic for any music purists that might've missed this gem before. This is the original mix of "John Blaze", the blazing posse cut from Fat Joe's third (and last truly dope) album "Don Cartagena", recorded somewhere between '97 and early '98.  This demo version features a different, very scaled down beat that makes sure all the attention is kept on the immaculate wordplay of these five heavyweight lyricists. What's really interesting is the different Esco verse that sets off the session. The video up top is of course the music video for the album version while the original demo mix, ripped from a DJ Clue tape, is available to download. Shouts to the original ripper of this, and peace to SiccMade for the upload.

FAT JOE Ft. BIG PUN, NAS, JADAKISS & RAEKWON - "JOHN BLAZE" [OG MIX]

[DOCUMENTARY] TRAGEDY - "The Story Of Queensbridgde"

For my two first posts of 2015, as well as taking this time to wish all of my readers a terrific new year ahead of us all, you know I had to come with the big guns. First out is something that many of y'all have probably seen before although i know me myself has been looking for the full version of this for a long ass time, since the versions I constantly found always cut off after 68 minutes or something like that and had French subtitles. I'm talking about the excellent Brook Simms 2005 documentary on Tragedy Khadafi, who you should know by now is one of my all time favorites, "Tragedy: The Story of Queensbridge". YouTube user Hallvard Fauske Ekdahl has uploaded the, in my opinion, ever made on Queensbridge hip-hop as Tragedy pretty much inspired the major players of QB, from the Juice Crew, to Nas, to CNN, to Mobb Deep, to Cormega, Killa Sha, and so on. The narrative takes us through Trag's young days working as The Super Kids with DJ Hot Day, as the solo artist Intelligent Hoodlum, with the major underrated classics "Intelligent Hoodlum" and "Saga of a Hoodlum" under his belt, to his work with Capone-N-Noreaga creating "The War Report" and his long running solo career as Tragedy Khadafi, and much more. If you've never seen this before you are in for a REAL TREAT, a major shout out to Ekdahl again for the upload, and also be sure to support Trag's new street album "Pre-Magnum Opus" which is out now on iTunes. The video won't embed so head over to the playlist (which also includes two bonus footage), and has an all over running tme of about 85 minutes.

"TRAGEDY - THE STORY SAGA OF QUEENSBRIDGE"

[Album] J-FORCE Presents "Cadillac Respect"

When people think about The Future Flavas show they obviously  gonna think about the nr. #1 DJ:s Marley Marl and Pete Rock, and probably all of the incredible exclusive remixes and on-the-air songs that was played on air almost weekly. The Future Flavas remixes always stood for high quality, but the fact is that it wasn't Marley and Pete that was responsible for all these goodies though they often get that credit in the internet generation. Of course both of them put in a lot of work and created some still unreleased classics, but they also had lesser known but incredibly skilled beat wizards up there with them that was also responsible for some terrific remixes and exclusives. One of these guys were J-Force, who was down with Marley Marl for a long time, and released two now very rare self-released 12":s between 1995 and 1996 with "Bullseye" and "For All Thoze". Since then he has scored music for a lot of hip-hop films such as the "Beef" series, "Rock The Bells" and Bling" among others.

With his long brown hair, he looked almost more like a punk rock kid than a highly talented boom bap musician but looks can definitely deceive as both his work on Future Flavaz and his own records was more than proof off. Following him leaving Future Flavaz he kind of faded into the shadows, but as of last year the producing spitter has dug deep into his archives, releasing some previously unreleased solo tracks on a self-released 12" and even more exciting a 22 track remix compilation called "Cadillac Respect". It's the latter that I'm going to focus this post on, as it is an incredible listen that features several of his rare Future Flavas remixes that has never been released anywhere else, a long with some other exclusive mixes that is sure as hell going to make you respect this kid and his SP1200. There's also a few cuts featuring J. Force showing off his rhyme skills, and once again he's no joke on the microphone either, The remixes include revisits of classics by Kool G Rap, Inspectah Deck / Pete Rock / Kurupt, AZ, Nas, Ghostface, Nas/Prodigy, Black Moon, The UN, Mic Geronimo and more.

You can order a copy of "Cadillac Respect" a long with a T-Shirt @ Cadillac Respect.com where you can also read a whole lot more about J-Force, his past and his future endeavour. Below you can also stream the entire project for free, either via DatPiff or J-Force's official site mentioned above. You can also download the entire project for free via Hulkshare. Don't miss out on this sickness!

NAS - "The Season"

Damn it feels so good to hear some new Nas on the serious solo tip again; "Life is Good" might very well be my favorite Nas album behind his first two. I have a strong feeling that "The Season" will not appear on the next Nasty project but rather that Mass Appeal Records compilation we're all been waiting for. The beautiful beat Mr. Jones is rocking is of course Jay Dee/Dilla's "Gobstopper" from 2005:s "Donuts" but I'm sure as hell ain't gonna write produced by J Dilla, because he didn't produce it. He did all the music and beats for it, sure thing, but he didn't produce it. Hip-hop folks have a kind of twisted sense of what a record producer is at times - this should probably say "Produced and mixed by Nas, Music and beats by J Dilla" or something like that. Can't front though - have we ever heard Nas and Dilla together before, definitely two of my all time favorites.

[Mixtape] PETE ROCK vs. NAS - "Time is Illmatic"

Wow this is just HUGE! In honor of the great documentary "Time is Illmatic", the one and only DJ Pete Rock is bringing out a classic '90s style mixtape of the nr. 1 classic hip-hop LP ever releaed.  Man these lyrics and beats is about as timeless and hard you can possibl get. And ever sincee 1994 till now you can play them again and again and this is on oof those albums you play from front-to-ack - otherwise SHAME on you! Pete mixes the oriinal songs, with short musical interludes, the Q-Tip remox of "The World is Yours", and there's pretty much shout outs from qll producers involvd in the oriiginal session. This is just carazy, so don't sleep Props to pete Rock, Nas and XXL Magazine vor this gem - So whateer tou do don't sleep! (Direct lik)

LARGE PROFESSOR - "In The Scrolls"

Extra-P doesn't take time off. After producing what is likely the best album of the year with Cormega, The Large Professor is now preparing a new solo album. "RE: Living Legend" is dropping later this year via Fat Beats / Distrolord Digital, and the first single is called "In The Scrolls" and features G-Wiz. Sickness!

SCHOOLBOY Q Ft. NAS - "Studio Remix"

Nas last album, 2012's "Life is Good" was pretty much not only on of my favorite albums from perhaps my all-time favorite emcee, but since then the QB alumni has been rather quiet. Save for a few guest apperances for everyone from Mariah Carey to now Schoolboy . Here  Nasir is asked by Schoolboy Q to jump on the remix for his new single "Studio" and while the track isn't doing much for me, it's good to hear a pretty ill Nas 16 kicking things off so if that's the only thing you're interested in, you can stop around the one minute mark. The track which originally appeared on Q's "Oxymoron" album is produced by Swiff D and also features BJ The Chicago Kid.

What I'm really looking forward to is that Mass Appeal compilation (which is Nasty's new imprint, with the  younger God emcee introducing and rhyming with signed artists such as Fashawn, Schoolboy, Jay Eectronica, Puha T, Goldlink, and more.  Sunce thee original release date was September 2, hoopefuly it will drop very oon. Aminng the highlights, at least on paper is a Nas solo cover of Gang Starr's classic "Mass Appeal", stay tuned for more info!