Here’s some patriotic theme music, depending on your viewpoint. It’s the original version of Nasir’s “America,” still produced by Stargate, yet equipped with more bells, whistles & vocals. For as extensive as his unreleased catalog is, one can only imagine how many alternative takes this stubborn MC has tucked away in his coffers. Read the rest of this entry »

Earlier in the week, Nas openly admitted that his procrastination and laziness was the prime factor in some of his beat selection being less than…well, Illmatic. Quite understandable as The N usually has a lot on his mind (with weed being 75% of the problem). But his lollygagging has cost him a classic album–or three. As one of the remaining vets who can still sell records off the strength of his lyrics Read the rest of this entry »

R. Kelly cares not what you may think of him; sex still sells & he’s still peddling it.

He cares not that Nas already did the Untitled thing. Come November 10th, he’s releasing his own Untitled album.

Robert cares not that today is Sunday. He has a new song out titled “Religious” and…it has nothing to do with Sunday School, tithing or Creflo Dollar. Read the rest of this entry »

DJ 31 Degreez has obtained all the unreleased material from Nas’ last album, including this gem “The Fear Of Mandingo” b.k.a. as “Fear Of The Black Man’s D!ck.” Pause. They kinda do look scared don’t they?

I remember there was speculation if this track even existed, given the fact the nameless album seemed to lighten up on the incendiaries it first promised to have.

DJ 31 Degreez & Nas – Fear Of Mandigo (Produced By DJ Green Lantern)

EDIT

Go HERE for No DJ version

But if that doesn’t satisfy your cravings for new Nas…Pause. Read the rest of this entry »

As a consumer, three of my favorite things are…

1. The fresh smell of opening a new pair of Nike’s.

2. Poppin’ a tag off of a ‘Lo shirt.

3. Picking up vinyl in all of it’s oversized, colorful glory.

Don’t get it twisted. I still like buying some CDs but vinyl is a different experience, especially the purchasing of it. I try to stay away from buying online, preferring the to go into the store, quiet as libraries & full of like minded music lovers engaging in the elbow-to-elbow art of digging. “Spelunkers of sound” as I like to call my fellow diggers.

My love affair with vinyl has been off and on but always life long. It started as a kid, always diggin’ thru my dad’s sparse collection as well as all of the crates my uncle had as a DJ. In the mid 90′s when my grandad closed his nightclub, JM & I put together a few dollars, bought my uncle’s Technics…and a garage half-full of records, spanning genres, sizes and decades. Love affair reborn. Until I left those motherfuckers in JM’s care while I was away for a while & the collection seemingly grew legs. Love lost.

Until the past year or so.

Currently, I don’t even have a turntable to play my records on. But by my logic, I consider all of these purchases as if I were courting Alicia Keys. I save up so that once or so a month, I can take an excursion to one of the few vinyl haunts in town, our “date” of sorts. I wine & dine with her, splurging lovely. She hasn’t given me any yet, as in I haven’t bought a turntable. But soon I will and with all of these records sitting here with me, it will be a heavenly experience. I will unwrap & play record after record…and then play another record.

Yesterday, I made one of those dates by killing some time before an appointment. It was planned. I had set aside allotted spending money for whatever I might find & let my fingers do the rest. Below you will find pics of my bounty. No real rhyme or reason to what I bought. I don’t pretend to be a connoisseur; my pics are indiscriminate & instinctive. I saw it, I checked the price first, then the condition. If I wanted it, I grabbed it. Done deal.

Juan had ALL of these on vinyl when we were kids.

I have no intentions of deejaying a party so I rarely by 12″ singles. But this, this was a small piece of history. At .99¢, I’ll take it. Read the rest of this entry »

Generally, the bickering and babbling that coincides with ranking the year’s best LPs tend to blur the focus on the overall picture.

While some albums directly catered to personal preferences more immensely than others, all the selections emerged amongst the year’s best in regards to quality, visibility and of course, durability. Behold fifteen albums deserving of all the accolades and praises heaped upon them throughout the course of 2008. And their value will only solidify going in to 2009.

No order. No bias. Just noteworthy Hip-Hop.

Nas – Untitled

“From the brooding opening piano loop of “Queens Get The Money” to the uplifting snares on “Black President,” Nas channels his inner Walt Whitman as he explores the Black Diaspora. Lyrically though, his wordplay and delivery are sharp as ever as if all the attention to the title made Nas put extra effort and focus into his words…“ — From “America” – Review Of Nas’ Untitled Album

BONUS – Get familiar with Nas & DJ Green Lantern – The Nigger Tape Read the rest of this entry »

One of my favorite tracks from Untitled, mostly because of that beat.

But as for this video Read the rest of this entry »

We did this for Tha Carter III, so it’s only fair we give the other most talked about album of the year the same treatment.

So here we are, about three months out and it’s time to revisit Nas’ Untitled. First of all, who’s still listening to it? Is the album still in rotation? When was the last time you listened? Does it still hold up as a great album? Read the rest of this entry »

Featuring Jayceon & the lil pop & lock, Wrigley’s dude.

Fan videos > these budgeted videos nowadays. Read the rest of this entry »

… All the words past the margin.”

Before I go any further don’t ever use Media Mail to get something shipped to you. I ordered the CD & book on the 23rd of July and got it on Tuesday. I figured with being out of town for the rest of the month, it would be waiting for me when I got home.

Wrong.

So if you ever see that option, just pony up a few extra bucks and keep it moving.

Onto the book, it’s pretty nice. It’s roughly the size of two CD booklets and has the same artwork that’s in the regular booklet. The lyrics are there to some degree, but they definately didn’t copy them straight from Mr. Jones’ book of rhymes. It’s a toss up as to whether they had someone transcribe the lyrics from the album or just played the album into a mic and let Microsoft Word do the work. Some words are missing and some are obvious context errors (ware/where), while others are the same type of things we argue amongst ourselves as to what they are saying. Read the rest of this entry »

Video footage of Nas’ performance at the free MySpace release show at the Roxy in Hollywood.

YO!

Check your emails. You’re gettin the goods.

100% thanks to everyone who participated this time around & stay with us. These even more good to be given away.

Previously Posted — “Proof Of Purchase” – TSS x Untitled Giveaway

In other news…

1.) Nas Joining Picket Of Fox News In NYC [Billboard]

2.) The “Proof Of Purchase” – TSS x Untitled Giveaway ends tonight. Get your entries in folks so we can pull some names out of the hat & declare some winners.

It’s usually never a good idea to tell the world the impact your album will make before it’s released, let alone even made. Nevertheless, Nas has made a habit of this dating back to 2006 when he originally wanted to call his album Nigga, before giving in to Def Jam brass and settling on Hip Hop Is Dead. Never one to back down, Nas went right back in the studio to work on what else? Nigger. Wanting to create awareness and conversation on the word, yet this time the label seemed to be on board —until it was announced the album would go untitled and people began hollering publicity stunt. Is Nas a sell out for changing the title or did he stick to his intended vision by leaving the album nameless? While that issue may never be resolved, Nas is partly successful in delivering what he set out to do. Read the rest of this entry »