Nas
DJ Premier Kicks Off Hip-Hop’s 50-Year Anniversary With An EP Featuring Lil Wayne, Nas, And Slick Rick
It’s widely acknowledged that the cultural phenomenon known as hip-hop officially began at a house party in The Bronx, New York on August 11, 1973. That means hip-hop is nearly 50 years old, and to celebrate its impending golden jubilee, Mass Appeal has announced the Hip-Hop 50: The Soundtrack project, 10 EPs produced by some of the culture’s biggest names to commemorate hip-hop’s longevity (the ha, the ha). The first will be DJ Premier: Hip-Hop 50 Volume 1, produced by… I mean, it’s right there in the title… dropping on July 15 via Mass Appeal and The Orchard.
The project’s five tracks will feature appearances from old-school legends like Nas and Slick Rick, contemporary craft masters like Joey Badass, Rapsody, and Run The Jewels, and cross-generational all-timer Lil Wayne. In a statement, DJ Premier said, “It’s an honor to kick off this iconic Hip Hop 50 music program. Hip Hop continues to inspire fans across the globe and it’s incredible to think of what the next 50 years will bring.” It seems likely that the new track Premier and Nas previewed last week is actually “Beat Breaks,” their collaboration from this project.
Future EPs in the Hip-Hop 50: The Soundtrack will include entries produced by Hit-Boy, Mike Will Made-It, Mustard, No I.D., Swizz Beatz, The-Dream, and more. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Universal Hip-Hop Museum, as well as other charitable organizations. Other arms of the Hip-Hop 50 initiative include live event programming and a slate of documentaries with Paramount + and Showtime, including the Supreme Team documentary that premiered on Friday, July 10, as well as the Spotify Original podcast, The Bridge: 50 Years of Hip-Hop, hosted by Miss Info and Nas.
DJ Premier: Hip Hop 50 Volume 1 is out 7/15 via Mass Appeal Records and The Orchard. You can pre-save it here. You can see the tracklist below.
01. “Lettin’ Off Steam” Feat. Joey Bada$$
02. “Remy Rap” Feat. Remy Ma & Rapsody
03. “Beat Breaks” Feat. Nas
04. “Terrible 2’s” Feat. Run The Jewels
05. “The Root Of All” Feat. Lil Wayne & Slick Rick
DJ Premier Teases Forthcoming Nas Collaboration
Nas And DJ Premier Will Be Dropping New Heat Soon
It looks like fans won’t wait long to hear Nas and DJ Premier work together on new music as a new song with the two will drop next Friday. DJ Premier posted a video on his Instagram of new music by Nas, which will drop next Friday. The video hinted that Nas could drop another […]
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Nas And DJ Premier Tease A New Track That’s Dropping This Month
While Nas’ collaborations with Hit-Boy have been the primary driver of his successful career Renaissance of late, there remains one producer that fans still want to work with the Queens rap icon. Ever since he heavily contributed to Nas’ groundbreaking 1994 debut Illmatic, fans have clamored for a full Nas project produced by DJ Premier. The two hip-hop pioneers have acknowledged those requests in the past, promising to make rap fans’ dreams come true, but aside from a handful of singles, little has ever come of those assurances.
However, come July 15, that could very well be changing. That’s the date DJ Premier put in a tweet earlier today along with a video from outside a studio control room with what very much sounds like a new Nas song produced by Premo blasting through the doorway. And what else do you see hanging on the wall but the gold sales plaque for Illmatic? The suggestion is clear: that Nas and Premier have joined forces at the successor to the legendary D&D Studios, Kaufman Astoria Studios in Long Island City, Queens.
7/15 @Nas pic.twitter.com/sC3Z0L3dPH
— DJ Premier (@REALDJPREMIER) July 7, 2022
Of course, the duo could just be releasing one standalone single and using the joint album speculation to generate the necessary buzz for it — after all, they’ve done it before. But with Nas’ collaborations with Hit-Boy prompting his career revival (and another on the way), he could have found the necessary creative spark to try out similar experiments with other producers, getting over his former reticence toward working with one beatmaker for a full project. I guess we’ll all find out next Friday, when whatever they’re working on officially hits DSPs — hopefully, with more news about whatever comes next.
[WATCH] Method Man Says He Stole Nas’ Flow on “The What” With Biggie
Wu Tang Clan member and actor Method man opened up on Math Hoffa’s podcast My Expert Opinion about his appearance on “The What” from Notorious B.I.G.’s debut album Ready To Die.
Meth explains that when he entered the studio to record the song in 1994, “By the time I got [to the studio], Biggie’s verse was written and he told me that he wanted to end it with, ‘You can’t mess with M-E’ and I was supposed to go, ‘T-H-O-D.’ But I overlapped him because it didn’t fall on beat doing it that way. That’s where the ‘T-H-O-D Man, here I am/I’ll be damned if this ain’t some sh*t.’”
Meth added, “I wrote that shit quick as f**k. Who was I biting there? Whose flow was I [biting]? Nas. That’s biting Nas’ flow. ‘I’ll be damned if this ain’t some sh*t/Come to spread the butter lyrics over hominy grits… Coming where you rest at, surrender/Step inside the ring, you’s the number one contender/Looking cold-booty like your p***y in December.’”
See the interview below.
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Today in Hip-Hop History: Nas Dropped His Sophomore Album ‘It Was Written’ 26 Years Ago
On July 2, 1996, Nas unleashed the follow-up to his critically acclaimed debut, 1994’s Illmatic entitled It Was Written, the album featured production from DJ Premier, Dr. Dre, and Havoc.
This time around, the fresh-faced, 22-year-old Brooklyn-born emcee consciously pushed the album in a more mainstream direction, hoping to secure a wider fan base. It worked.
The album proved to be Nas’ most commercially successful release, debuting at #1 on the US Billboard 200 chart. It’s viewed by music critics as one of Nas’ strongest records and remains his best-selling release, with over four million copies sold in the U.S. alone.
One of the album’s standout singles, “If I Ruled the World,” featured Lauryn Hill, who (at the time) was riding the wave of her recent success with The Fugees. Other guests included Foxy Brown, Dr. Dre, and Mobb Deep.
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Mass Appeal & Live Nation Urban Announces “Hip Hop 50 Live”
Today, entertainment company Mass Appeal announces its joining forces with Live Nation Urban to produce live event programming in celebration of Hip Hop’s 50th birthday.
Over the next few years, Hip Hop 50 Live will bring fans experiences that touch on all facets of the globally recognized culture. From Park Jams to Festival stages this partnership will create moments that will bring together the voices that turned this genre into a way of life.
Starting this summer, these events will kick off at parks across the country to take it back to the essence with a multi-sensory experience consisting of; live DJ sessions, interactive experiences, pop-up merch, educational activations and amazing food & drink. These Park Jams will be followed by a dynamic series of events focused around Hip Hop History Month in November. In addition to these events, Mass Appeal and Live Nation Urban are teaming up to create original content, product collaborations, Web3 launches and more to celebrate #HipHop50. Fans can expect additional announcements in the coming months for the 2022 events calendar and the plans for 2023 and beyond.
“We are thrilled to partner with the world’s leading live entertainment company to bring fans one-of-a-kind experiences in celebration of Hip Hop’s 50th birthday. We are planning to celebrate all facets of the culture and globe via this dynamic partnership” says Peter Bittenbender, Mass Appeal CEO.
Brandon Pankey, Vice President of Business Development and Operations for Live Nation Urban, said “ Live Nation Urban was founded to REDEFINE culture. To celebrate 50 years of Hip Hop with Nas, Peter and the Mass Appeal team is absolutely the type of partnership that our company is excited to form to continue to tell the stories about our culture globally.”
The partnership is the latest announcement surrounding Mass Appeal’s #HipHop50 initiative – a massive cross-platform campaign aimed at celebrating Hip Hop’s momentous anniversary in the most authentic and globally impactful way possible. Mass Appeal kicked off its #HipHop50 premium content partnership with Paramount & Showtime and to date has aired the following documentaries, such as: YOU’RE WATCHING VIDEO MUSIC BOX, RICKY POWELL: THE INDIVIDUALIST and CYPRESS HILL: INSANE IN THE BRAIN.
To further celebrate Hip Hop’s longevity, Mass Appeal also announced Hip Hop 50 The Soundtrack. Teaming up with some of the industry’s most highly regarded producers including DJ Premier, Swizz Beatz, Mustard, The-Dream, Mike Will Made It, No I.D, Hit-Boy, Take A Daytrip and Tainy, Mass Appeal will drop The Soundtrack in a series of 10 EPs of all newly released music that will bring together these creative minds who are defining the landscape of music and culture in celebration of 50 years of Hip Hop. Fans can stay tuned for the first EP in the Summer of 2022. Last year, Mass Appeal also launched its Spotify Original podcast – The Bridge: 50 Years of Hip Hop – hosted by Grammy Award-winning artist Nas and radio personality Minya “Miss Info” Oh and featuring lively conversations with a plethora of guests ranging from iconic rappers, producers, to today’s popular artists. A portion of all #HipHop50 proceeds will be donated to the various charitable organizations, including, the Universal Hip Hop Museum set to open its doors in 2024.
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The Top Celebrity Girl Dads In Hip-Hop
There’s nothing and no one sweeter than a girl dad. Being a girl dad doesn’t necessarily come as naturally to a father as being the parent of a boy. It requires a little more effort from the dad, hair, nails, dating, and hormones are just a few of the issues he will have to learn and tackle but what we realize is that there is power in being a girl dad. to put mildly they empower a community of girls and are a constant reminder to us all that that their daughters will always have daddy by their side. Check out these star fathers (with their favorite girls) who are raising the bar for girl dads everywhere.
Nas and Destiny
JayZ and Blue
Fat Joe & Azariah
Iman Shumpert with Daughters Junie and Rue Rose
Papoose and Reminisce
Chance The Rapper with Daughters Kensli & Marli
Common and Daughter Omoye Lynn
Lil Wayne Reginae Carter
Offset With Kulture and Kalea (and son Kodi)
Ludacris with his 4 daughters Karma, Cai, Cadence; and Chance
Romeo and Baby R.
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Nas To Direct Upcoming “Supreme Team” Docuseries
If anyone from hip-hop can give a history lesson on all things Queens, it’s Nas. The Queens-born rapper is set to direct “Supreme Team”, a three-part documentary on New York crime conglomerate, and will be directing under his legal name, Nasir Jones. Besides his music, Nas is widely known for his role in “Belly”. Now, […]
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