King Of Queens

...Whew! So much new Nasir material, so little time. This means that almost half of Untitled has leaked, but I'm certainly not complaining! Continuing in his multifacited street poetics and masterful societal exegesis, Mr. Jones is as good as ever. Shouts to her, eskay, NMC and illroots for these gems.. Enjoy!
Nas - Breathe
Nas - Testify
Nas - We're Not Alone
Nas - You Can't Stop Us Now ft. Eban Thomas
Nas - Queens Get The Money

Nas + DJ Green Lantern...

... Release The Nigger Tape as a prequel to the veteran Queensbridge MC's upcoming Untitled LP dropping July 15th. These lines from my personal favorite "Hero" sum it all up:

Still in musical prison, in jail for the flow
Try tellin' Bob Dylan, Bruce or Billy Joel they can't sing what's in their soul
So 'Untitled' it is, I never changed, nothin', my people remember this
If Nas can't say a thing about these talented kids
With new ideas, being told what they can and can't spit
I can't sit and watch it, so shit I'ma drop it
Like it or not, you ain't gotta cop it

I give Nas the utmost respect for speaking his mind. Enjoy my picks:

1. Intro
2. Gangsta Rap Rmx (Prod by DJ Green Lantern)
3. Cops Keep Firing (Prod By DJ Green Lantern)
4. Hero ft. Keri Hilson (Prod by Polow Da Don)
5. Black President (Prod By DJ Green Lantern)
6.Association (feat. and Prod. by Stic Man of Dead Prez)
7. Legendary (Mike Tyson) (Prod by Salaam Remi)
8. Ghetto Rmx feat. Joell Ortiz (Prod by DJ Green Lantern)
9. Seen it All (Green Mix)
10. Esco Let’s Go (Full Song) (Prod by Dj Khallil)
11. N.I.G.G.E.R. (Slave and Master) (Prod by DJ Toomp)
12 Be A Nigger Too Rmx feat. Dante Hawkins (Prod. by Dj Greenlantern)
13. Surviving The Times (Original Cool and Dre Version)
14. Nas Timeline mixed by Statik Selektah (Narrated by Nas)
15. Outro feat. Richard Pryor

The Roots & Such..

... are coming. For now, I'll have to allow a low-fi web-rip of Rising Down to hold me over until the good quality hits the blogosphere. With that said, enjoy these leaked tracks and some random jams from lyrical newcomers Wale & Skyzoo, Yonkers slick-talker Jadakiss and (borderline) insane veteran MC Nasir Jones.

Be sure to cop the latest from the illest hip-hop organic jazz crew The Roots NEXT TUESDAY! Pre-order here at Okayplayer.com and support original, quality artists!

Listen here:

The Roots ft. Chrisette Michelle & Wale - Rising Up

The Roots ft. Saigon & Truck North - Criminal

Skyzoo ft. Wale - Lyrically Inclined

Nas - Be A Nigger Too

Jadakiss - From Then 'Til Now prod. Alchemist


The Roots' Rising Down Track List:

01. The Pow Wow
02. Rising Down feat. Mos Def & Styles P
03. Get Busy feat. Dice Raw, Peedi Crack & DJ Jazzy Jeff
04. @15
05. 75 Bars (Black's Reconstruction)
06. Becoming Unwritten
07. Criminal feat. Saigon & Truck North
08. I Will Not Apologize feat. P.O.R.N. & Dice Raw
09. I Can't Help It feat. Malik B & P.O.R.N.
10. Singing Man feat. Truck North & P.O.R.N.
11. Up There (Unwritten) feat. Mercedes Martinez
12. Lost Desire feat. Talib Kweli & Malik B
13. The Show feat. Common
14. Rising Up feat. Chrisette Michelle & Wale
15. Birthday Girl feat. Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy

I'm So Fly..

[tracy, tina & alec own all]

...Because there's less than a month left in my semester, then it's a Screenwriting summer class and then getting that diploma yessir! Still looking for that job, but one step at a time.

I had a big week in the Inside Beat coming out Thursday here at Rutgers New Bruns, I'll post my South Park Season 12 review, a cover story on the demise of TV theme songs and a review of Moby's latest Last Night. Next week will be even BIGGER with my review of Nas' Nigger and the new 30 Rock season A.K.A. the wittiest show on prime-time, network TV.

But first, some new jams to stay fly to.. Enjoy!

DJ Green Lantern Ft. Akon, Fabolous & Fat Joe - I'm So Fly (Off the GTA IV soundtrack, can't wait 'til April 29!)


Lil' Wayne ft. Static Major - Lollipop (Guitar Version)


Lil' Wayne - Lisa Marie

Nas album cover?

Shouts to LowKey for this pic, this is rumored to be the cover for Nas' new LP due in Feb...




Also, [dom corleone] is working on revamping the page design for the '08 so stay tuned for the new-and-improved Hits from the Blog. Not to mention the '07 breakdown coming soon.....

[mama i got dreams]

Nas Tells Details of Nigger

Nas chopped it up with MTV News about details for his new, controversial album Nigger. Read the article here.

A couple things he said that caught my attention:

"It's not an attack on white people at all. It's knowledge; it's understanding for all people. It's not an attack on any race."

This is good to hear.

"It's about the attacks that have happened to blacks, whites, all ethnicities. 'Mick' niggers, 'guinea' niggers, 'kike' niggers. I have a song called 'You a Nigger Too.' "

I guess Nas, you's a guinea too! He should make this the first single and see what happens.


[half man, half amazin']

Freeway Free At Last Review, New Wayne & Juelz, & Nas' Album Pushed Back

My review in this Thursday's Inside Beat, shouts to everyone at RU!

Freeway - Free At Last

With luminaries like Jay-Z and Kanye West highlighting the Roc-A-Fella roster, Freeway’s ability is often overshadowed. While the Philly MC and Sunni Muslim might never be a megastar – blame his grizzly appearance or grainy voice – his vocal acrobatics and high level of intensity make Free At Last a sufficient fix for street rap addicts.

Released as the second album in Roc-A-Fella’s holiday sales push, the production is first-rate on Free At Last. Executive produced by moguls Jay-Z and 50 Cent, Free At Last features soulful loops and rugged street rhythms prepared specifically for Freeway’s animated rhymes.

“Spit That Shit” sports West Coast piano chords as Freeway addresses the haters with his staggered rhyme scheme and Miami rapper Rick Ross hops on “Lights Get Low,” a hyped-up anthem produced by Cool & Dre where Freeway explains his brief hiatus since 2003’s Philadelphia Freeway.

A forceful vocal sample provided by Bink drives Free’s trip down memory lane on “When They Remember” while “Baby Don’t Do It” featuring Southern heavyweight Scarface puts a new spin on an oldie.

It’s not easy to take Free At Last as a whole, though. The soft sing-song of 50 Cent and pristine J.R. Rotem instrumental on “Take It To The Top” plus Freeway’s easily-forgettable rants on “Nuttin’ On Me” among others could have been cut.

Now, Freeway admits he’s not the smartest rapper alive – recall his “slightly-retarded” self reference in Kanye’s “Two Words” – but he could put up a fight for the toughest and most motivated.

Whether exchanging flows with Jay-Z on “Roc-A-Fella Billionaires” or expressing personal moments of pain on “I Cry,” Free At Last proves that Freeway lives and dies by his rugged demeanor.

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Lil' Wayne & Juelz Santana - Always Strapped

Shouts to LowKey at YouHeardThatNew.Com for this one. Around the Carter II and up to the Drought 3, I considered Wayne the most improved rapper of the last decade. Then he became over-saturated (partly thanks to the media), lazy and sometimes boring, puting out material every 15 minutes. He might be more focused now after hearing "Gossip," "Brand New," and this one with Dipset rep Juelz Santana.

Lil' Weezyana has had his ups and downs, but this one here is pretty fire (which also happens to be the subject of the track, fiyaaa!). Buzz for the duo's collabo album Can't Feel My Face faded a little and, personally, I don't think it's going to come out until after Carter III in February.

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Speaking of the February, Nas recently told MTV that he's moving the release date for Nigger back two months, dropping it conveniently during Black History Month. Also, the snippet circulating the 'Net titled "What It Is" apparently won't be on the album and Nas claims to never have rhymed over that beat.

Now, I've commented before that Nas is trying to build hype for his album but I'm beginning to understand he might have some genuine intentions. I mean, I never use the word but I've been forced to use it and it's not in a malicious manner. Plus, why not push it back and make it a quality album, right? We'll see, I gotta get to class so I'm ghost.


[money over honey, the only motto i know]