Nas Week continues on…

It’s the summer of 1994. I’m fresh off my first year in a public high school with no scratches after going to catholic schools for most of my life. I had gotten into a tight love affair with St.Ides. One of the things that me and my peoples loved doing was getting a radio and playing whatever as hot at that time while chiefing and poppin’ bottle tops. A result of this was always the chief debate over which albums were better. This time, we were all arguing over what the song of the summer was. It came down to the Luniz’ “I Got Five On It” and Nas’ “Memory Lane“. Now I had bumped this song and the rest of Illmatic constantly since I got my tape. But to sit and actually analyze this track was something else. My boy Patrick asked me, excited and with Heineken in hand, “Chris, what song you pickin’?” “Memory Lane, man.” I said without any hesitation. And in the end, that was the song that marked that summer above all else.In its essence, the song is pure nostalgia. The beat is laid back seventies soul, not unlike what your parents used to blast at their parties. Premier’s production on this track is simply flawless; a simple but energetic bassline with key samples of Biz Markie scratched in among some soothing vocals in the hands of another producer may not have come out this smooth. And you could name only about two other producers who had the skills to try at this point, arguably.

Nas reveals his gift for image-laden storytelling on Illmatic’s other joints, but here he really shows his depth and boasts some verbal dexterity. How else could you explain this:

“I rap divine God/check the prognosis is it real or showbiz/my window faces shootouts/drug overdoses/live amongst no roses only the drama/for real a nickel plate is my fate/my medicine is the ganja..”

Think about it this way…Big Pun, another adept lyricist cited this track as one of his inspirations on how to write. Nas essentially crammed four different lines of thought into a couple of bars. And did it in a conversational tone. For a sixteen year old cat who was into heavy reading, it beat whatever Shakespeare put to page.

“Memory Lane” is a song that while it details life in the streets, it does so with a laid back feeling. You hear it all and breathe easy, feeling like you’re in the eye of the storm. You’ve got time to reflect. Build with your people. Drink a brew and reminisce. For me, that’s what this song still holds for me. Summertime, memories of great moments on the block and promises of more memories to come despite the challenges.

Note…

“Memory Lane” was produced by DJ Premier, arguably Nas’ best match in terms of production. When Premo laces Nas, it’s usually a heavy piano driven beat with the perfect sample to supplement both the beat and Nas’ lyrics.

With that in mind, we put together a few other tracks produced by Premo.

‘NY State Of Mind‘ and ‘Represent‘ from Illmatic.

‘Nas Is Like‘ from I Am.

‘2nd Childhood‘ from Stillmatic.

Add on by naming other Premo-produced Nas tracks that stand out to you & tell us why.