ETHER

Today In Hip Hop History: Nas Released His Fifth LP ‘Stillmatic’ 22 Years Ago

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On this day in 2001, the self-crowned “King of New York” released his fifth studio LP, Stillmatic. During Nas’s musical absence the power in New York had shifted and Jay-Z had stepped up and eclipsed Nas as the best MC in New York. The title itself shows that Nas had a chip on his shoulder and used this album to show the world who was STILL the best rapper alive out of the five boroughs.

Nas and Jay-Z were in the midst of one of the biggest feuds in rap. With this being the theme of the time, the lyrics of this album carried a malicious flavor. This new side to Nas’ sound is most prominent on the track Ether that is one of the most straightforward diss tracks in rap. The disrespect that was put on on this record makes the Drake/Meek Mill conflict look like a childhood dispute. Throughout the album Nas continues to showcase his no-holds-barred style of lyricism, dropping names of those he feels have disrespected him left and right and setting records straight about his spot in Hip Hop. With every bar, you can feel Nas attacking the game and making sure his place is felt by everyone listening. This album is also a lot less openly righteous than his previous work. Nas is a righteous individual so there will always be undertones of positivity in his work, but on this album, the focus was on the cold and darker side to Hip Hop and New York City in general.

Released on Columbia Records, the album debuted at #8 on the Billboard 200 chart and sold 342,600 albums in its first week. Within a month, the album claimed the #5 spot and was certified platinum on January 16, 2002. By July 2008, the album had sold 2,026,000 copies. This “comeback” album received majority positive reviews from critics. Nas was praised by critics from Rolling Stone, AllMusic and The Source, who gave this album the coveted 5 Mics.

The post Today In Hip Hop History: Nas Released His Fifth LP ‘Stillmatic’ 22 Years Ago first appeared on The Source.

The post Today In Hip Hop History: Nas Released His Fifth LP ‘Stillmatic’ 22 Years Ago appeared first on The Source.

Chloe Bailey Had To Ether A Guy Who Claimed She Came On To Him In High School

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Chloe Bailey VMAS
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Since the release of her debut solo single, “Have Mercy,” the world has been falling in love with Chloe Bailey. Well, that’s not entirely true, she was already beloved as one half of Chloe x Halle, and her “Buss It” challenge turned quite a few heads as well. But now that she’s clearly gaining confidence in her own sexuality, and finding her voice, it’s been a joy to watch Chloe come into her own. Everyone from random internet commentators to Cardi B herself is repeatedly floored when the elder Bailey sister drops a new photo series, and even rising rapper Gunna seems intent on getting to know her better.

So look, can we really blame a man on the internet for pretending that he was once sought after by the young diva? It’s pretty understandable that someone would want to claim that they’d known her in the past, and even embellish a little bit by claiming she was interested. That’s likely what was motivating a guy who decided to share his own version of events — that Chloe tried to talk to him in high school, but that he saw her star power, and he encouraged her to work on her career instead of focusing on a humble man such as himself. Except, our girl had to crush his dreams hard by quote tweeting his fantasy and setting the record straight: She was homeschooled in high school. When you’re learning at home, there’s very little room for flirting. Like zero. As Keke Palmer would say, sorry to this man! Chloe had to ether him. Nas would be proud.

For his part, the man in question seems to be doing just fine with his fantasy world.