Today in Hip-Hop History: Slick Rick Dropped His Last Album ‘The Art Of Storytelling’ 23 Years Ago

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On this day in Hip Hop history, Slick Rick released his final studio LP, The Art of Story Telling.

Mostly produced by DJ Clark Kent and Kid Capri, this album featured guest verses from the likes of Redman, Rev Run, Outkast, Nas, Raekwon, and Snoop Dogg.

Critically the album has been hailed as the only proper sequel to his breakthrough debut album, The Great Adventures Of Slick Rick. Due to continuous run-ins with the law, the public was never really able to fully experience Slick Rick as an artist. For the same reason, the world will never know what his outstanding ability and outspoken persona could have done for Hip Hop culture. What is apparent is that when the master storyteller has the time, he can pen and deliver a masterpiece.

The Art of Storytelling was Slick Rick’s most commercially successful album, peaking at #8 on the Billboard 200 chart and #1 on the Top R&B/Hip Hop charts. The album even went gold during its first week of sales. True to the title, the album is full of narratives that could only be crafted by the pen that scribed the famous “Children’s Story.” And although he has not strayed away from his signature rhetoric, The Art of Storytelling shows improvement and Slick Rick’s ability to stay relevant as far as his own style blending with the popular sound of the time. As a whole, this album is deserving of all accolades and is a proper farewell to Slick Rick as an album rapper.

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LeBron James Names His Top 5 Hip-Hop Albums Of All Time And Doesn’t Really Go Out On A Limb

In case you didn’t know, LeBron James is a huge fan of hip-hop and he wants you to know it. Perhaps you watched LeBron showing off his dance moves while blasting the new Kendrick Lamar album in his backyard this past weekend? It was hypnotic, in a real dad sort of way. To his credit, he’s leveraged his relationships in hip-hop for good causes, like when Drake recently donated $1 million to LeBron’s I Promise School. But did a Drake album happen to make it’s way into the King’s top 5 hip-hop albums of all-time?

Yesterday, seemingly on a whim, LeBron decided to host an informal Q&A session on Twitter. “Q&A folks???,” he tweeted before adding, “Aight fire off.” He was pretty candid in his responses, saying that his favorite Lakers moment of all-time was Anthony Davis’ buzzer beater against Denver in the 2020 Western Conference Finals, saying that Luka Doncic is his favorite player, and clapping back at Tom Brady’s question about who would win in an ice hockey shootout.

Then, journalist Sierra Potter asked him to reel off his “Top 5 hip-hop albums.” LeBron, who has typically been a safe interviewee throughout his career, kinda kept with that tradition and didn’t really light the world on fire with his choices, instead, reeling off a handful of undisputed classics: Dr. Dre’s The Chronic, Snoop Dogg’s Doggystyle, Jay-Z’s The Black Album, Notorious B.I.G.’s Life After Death, and Nas’ It Was Written.

Perhaps the only gripe people could make is that Illmatic is the better choice of Nas albums instead of It Was Written, but we can hardly fault the man’s personal taste here. So if you were hoping to see LeBron namecheck an obscure rapper’s joint as one of his go-to’s, well, then you’ve come to the wrong basketball star for that. He did however, end his reply with, “But I have so many more to name for real!” So if he made anybody mad with his answers, he left the door open to save some face. Classic Lebron.

Machine Gun Kelly, Haim, Nas, And More Will Offer $25 Tickets During Live Nation Concert Week

If festival season is breaking your bank, you can still see your favorite artists on the cheap. Live Nation Concert Week is returning next week, offering $25 concert tickets to see bands and musicians across all genres.

The $25 “all-in” tickets include taxes and fees, so fans won’t have to worry about annoying extra costs. This year’s Concert Week will offer tickets to over 3,700 shows across North America.

Among this year’s artists participating in Live Nation Concert Week are Haim, Machine Gun Kelly, Nas, 070 Shake, Omar Apollo, Russ, H.E.R., Courtney Barnett, and more.

Non-music acts participating in Concert Week are Chelsea Handler, Dave Chappelle, Gabriel Iglesias, Tina Fey, George Lopez, Margaret Cho, Anjelah Johnson-Reyes, Chris Rock and the queens of Season 14 of RuPaul’s Drag Race.

The sale of $25 tickets begins Wednesday, May 4 and runs until Tuesday, May 10. Citi cardmembers will have access to presale tickets beginning Tuesday, May 3. Rakuten members will also have access to this presale, and will receive a special access code in their emails if they sign up for an account by May 1.

The full list of performers is available to view here.

Some of the artists mentioned are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Killer Mike Discusses Nas In A Clip From His ‘Ozark’ Cameo

Last summer, it was reported that Killer Mike would be making a cameo in the fourth (and final) season of Netflix’s Ozark, with Mike saying at the time, “I went from waiting to find out what happens next to being part of it… I’m excited.” Well, that fourth season is currently underway and now Netflix has shared a clip of the Run The Jewels rapper’s appearance.

(Warning: There are potential spoilers below.)

In the scene, Mike (playing himself) is approached by Ruth (Julia Garner) in a diner, who tells the rapper, “I just want to say I really love your sh*t.” After showing gratitude for the compliment, Mike asks what Ruth is playing in the one earbud in her ear. Mike grabs the headphones to listen to a few seconds of the song, Nas’ “NY State Of Mind.”

Ruth offers her interpretation of the 1994 track, saying, “It always feels to me like he hates it and misses it all at once, and he’s only f*cking 20.” Mike offers, “You know, when I listen to that record, his projects are in Queens, and you can kinda see Manhattan. And I’ve always thought it was so hopeful and f*cking cruel at the same time.”

Check out the Ozark clip above and revisit “NY State Of Mind” below.

Pusha T Updates Fans On Collaborations With Nas, The Weeknd, And Tyler The Creator

AMA (ask me anything) sessions aren’t just a great way for fans to get to know artists better or for artists to promote their new work, they’re also useful in manifesting interesting collaborations — both for artists and fans who want to see their favorites working together. Pusha T, who just put out his new album, It’s Almost Dry, logged onto Twitter for a curated #AskPusha session via Twitter Music, and among the usual silly questions (Push had a particularly aggressive response to “is a hot dog a sandwich?”), he also gave status updates on collaborations with a number of fan-favorite artists.

After revealing that his Nigo collaboration “Hear Me Clearly” originally featured rap OG Nas, fans naturally wondered whether Pusha would drop a remix. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like that’s in the cards for now. “No we probably will not hear that remix,” he replied before offering some hope. “Maybe another song in the future tho…”

Another rapper fans wanted to know about was Tyler The Creator, with whom Pusha previously worked on the single “Trouble On My Mind.” However, it doesn’t look like that one’s coming anytime soon either, as Pusha wisecracked, “Absolutely I would but this nutcase only asks me to go Miami house hunting with him…”

Push posited his own dream collab when another fan asked if there were any Toronto artists he’d work with — probably trying to bait him into a Drake-related response. While he avoided the low-hanging fruit, he offered a surprisingly sincere reply that wasn’t too many degrees from the 6 God himself: The Weeknd.

And among other questions, Pusha answered how he felt about those fans of his music who wouldn’t appear to be his “target audience.”

All in all, #AskPusha turned out to be insightful and possibly even fruitful if it means Tyler The Creator and Push coming together — or maybe even a cokestravaganza featuring the powder’s two biggest promoters.

PJ Morton, Stevie Wonder, And Nas Connect For The Evocative ‘Be Like Water’

There’s a lot of star power on one song and then there’s this. 4-time Grammy-winning R&B maestro PJ Morton has a new album coming out on April 29th, entitled Watch The Sun and he’s just enlisted two unquestionable legends for his latest single. On “Be Like Water,” both Nas and Stevie Wonder connect with Morton on a song that’s about going with the flow of life’s curveballs and remain adaptable.

It’s a joy to hear Morton and Wonder harmonizing as they sing, “Be like water, let it flow. Be like water, just let go,” over cinematic strings. Then Nas drops in for a verse on a song that shifts from R&B to hip-hop with orchestral instrumentation and, yes, Wonder on the harmonica.

“‘Be Like Water’ was definitely a phrase I had heard before,” Morton said in a statement. “Bruce Lee made it famous of course, but it didn’t fully connect with me until we were all shut down and I had to pivot in my life like we all had to. After I finished writing it I could only hear Nas’ voice on it. For him to actually get on it blew my mind. Then when Stevie Wonder agreed to be on it and to learn that Nas had always wanted to work with Stevie, it was beyond my wildest dreams!”

Listen to “Be Like Water” above.

PJ Morton’s Watch The Sun is out 4/29 via Morton Records.

PJ Morton Releases New “Be Like Water” Single With Nas and Stevie Wonder

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On his new track, “Be Like Water,” PJ Morton brings together two of his biggest musical heroes: Stevie Wonder and Nas. The new track will be featured on his upcoming album, Watch The Sun, released on April 29.

The song, which blends strings, synths, and shifting tempos to wash away the worries, is a message to remain fluid and adaptive to life’s trials and changes.

“‘Be Like Water’ was definitely a phrase I had heard before,” says PJ Morton. “Bruce Lee made it famous of course, but it didn’t fully connect with me until we were all shut down and I had to pivot in my life like we all had to. After I finished writing it I could only hear Nas’ voice on it. For him to actually get on it blew my mind. Then when Stevie Wonder agreed to be on it and to learn that Nas had always wanted to work with Stevie, it was beyond my wildest dreams!”

Watch The Sun will also feature Alex Isley, Chronixx, El DeBarge, Jill Scott, JoJo, and Wale.

You can hear the new single below.

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Nas-Narrated “Story Of Hip Hop” Documentary To Air On A&E

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A&E Network will air an 8-part docuseries called “Origins Of Hip Hop” focusing on some of hip-hop’s favorite artists. Hip Hop On A&E The Origins of Hip Hop, an 8-part docu-series, will air on A&E Network in the coming weeks. The series is produced by iconic hip-hop music brand, Mass Appeal, and is narrated by […]

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Things Get ‘Ugly’ In Nas And Hit-Boy’s Latest Video From Their Joint Project, ‘Magic’

Nas isn’t resting on his laurels after achieving new successes in his career. After winning Best Rap Album at the 2021 Grammy Awards, he performed at the ceremony for the first time at this year’s awards, delivering a career retrospective via a medley of hits spanning the past 25 years. Despite reaching these new plateaus, he’s not taking any time off to celebrate, dropping a new video for the song “Ugly” from his and Hit-Boy’s third joint project, Magic.

Produced by ASAP Rocky’s media company AWGE, the abstract, black-and-white video is pieced together from archival footage taken around the city of New York, spliced in with shots of Nas rapping the lyrics of the song in the back of a limo with a female companion. The video ends with a quote from Martin Luther King, Jr.: “Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”

Despite Magic being less than five months old, Nas and Hit-Boy are already hard at work on their third installment of the King’s Disease series, which has been credited by fans as rejuvenating Nas’ public perception. Nas is also preparing to embark on the NY State Of Mind Tour with Wu-Tang Clan beginning late this summer.

Watch Nas and Hit-Boy’s “Ugly” video above.

[WATCH] Nas’ “Ugly” Video Exposes Universal Hood Struggles

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Nas has always used his craft to raise the consciousness of his fans. Whether it’s inspiring the youth with songs like “I Can” or waking the world up to what goes on in the ghetto with “N.Y. State of Mind,” the Queens native always spoke truths in his raps.

His new video, “Ugly,” is no different. Nas and Hit-Boy, get chauffeured around New York, revealing the ugly things that plague low-income communities. He speaks about poverty, jealousy, and hatred. It even exposes the problems people face who are aiming to escape the struggle. The “Ugly” video is shot in black and white because Nasir’s message is pretty simple; the struggle is still real for people apart of the ghetto.

“Damn, big dog
Dove in that water and got hit with a cannonball
Ugly Christmas sweater party with no Santa Claus
Companies profit off of black trauma
That’s ugly, mad ugly just like Sheneneh and Wanda,” raps Nas.

“Ugly” is a single released from Nas’ Magic project. Magic, which dropped in December of 2021, is the fifteenth studio album from the New York story-telling hot-spitter. It was also the second album that Nas dropped in 2021, along with King’s Disease II, nominated for a GRAMMY. Magic is a nine-track project produced by Hit-Boy, and it adds to the historical Hip-Hop catalog of Nas.

Check out his video for “Ugly” below.

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