Nas - The Lost Tapes 2

Mr Jones sure knows how to make a Hip Hop fan's day/month...hell, even year! Yesterday on twitter, Nas announced that he was planning to release a follow-up to his 2002 classic - The Lost Tapes - to be aptly named, The Lost tapes 2.

God's Son later spoke to MTV saying:

"I’m unloading records I want the streets to hear. Cleaning out my hard drives. Gonna do this, then start fresh. I’m dropping my solo LP before the summer of 2011. I love the energy the world has been giving me over the last two years. But now it’s time to focus on owning the streets again."

via MTV.

A new solo LP and a follow-up to what has to be one of my favourite Nas albums...what more could a girl ask for?

NaS - Power, Paper, Pussy

New NaS... you know this has got to hit the blog. Note the Dizzy beat at the beginning. NaS goes iiiinnnnnnnnn!

Fashawn - Ode To Illmatic [MIXTAPE]

I mentioned this mixtape in a previous post back in March, and it's safe to say I had my reservations. None-the-less I'm excited to see what Fashawn has to offer when spitting over the instrumentals that graced one of the greatest albums of all time. Head to the download and let me know what you think...

Download

Via 2dopeboyz

NaS does 'Hey Young World' for Levi

When Levi decided to invite artists they consider "pioneering" to take part in their new marketing campaign, it may come as no suprise that for the Hip Hop genre this came in the form of Nasir Jones. It's no more of a surprise, that when asked to "re-craft the classic songs that inspired their sound", Nas chose Hey Young World by champion story-teller Slick Rick. There is little doubt that, as a 15 year old at the height of a hip-hop obssesion, Esco would have been highly influenced when the English born rapper released his debut disk, The Great Adventures Of Slick Rick.



You can download the song at http://www.levispioneersessions.com/.

How many of you would kill to see Nas in the studio for real? The video is a nice imsight though.

AZ speaks...

As someone who rates pretty highly in my 'top lyricists of all time' list, it's refreshing to hear something from former 'The Firm' group member AZ. As Nas's long time rap-partner, AZ has always been in somewhat of an Esco-sized shadow, but none-the-less his contributions to rap cannot be ignored.

This is an interview he did recently with Canadian-based Montreality, in which he speaks on several areas including; Do Or Die II, the possibility of a reunion with The Firm and his views on Nas and Damian Marley's collaboration, Distant Relatives (released tomorrow).



He really seems quite nonchalant when it comes to the question of Nas and Damian Marley, but then again, the sound track to this interview really reminds you of the chemistry that NaS and AZ have on a track; maybe it's hard for him to see Esco with a new rhyme-partner?

So, I guess, it's a case of watch-this-space for any new releases from Mr. Cruz...

Nas & Damian - AS WE ENTER [Video]

Sorry, to excited to say anything remotely sensible about this. Just enjoy...

NaS and Damian Marley - As We Enter [Stills]

NaS and Jr. Gong have been hard at work, filming the video for As We Enter of off the upcoming, and highly anticipated, Distant Relatives album.

The video is directed by Nabil - who has also directed videos for the likes of Common and Kanye - and was shot in down town LA.

Needless to say I am very hyped to see the final outcome. Everything about this combo is just so exciting, album; videos; tour...I hope I'm not getting my hopes too high.

via Honey

MUSIC: NaS & Damian Marley

A new track from my current favourite duo. This is The Promise Land produced by Damian himself. That's a good look!

 

via Underground Charizma

Distant Relatives: London tickets OUT NOW

You can finally get tickets for the Nas & Damian Marley Distant Relatives tour date in London. Go to ticketmaster and get them now; I'm sure they won't be around for long and this is a show you don't want to miss.

The duo play London on the 20th July at HMV Hammersmith Apollo.

Distant Relatives: Tour dates

It's been long awaited, but finally the tour dates for the Distant relatives tour have been announced.

Nas AND Damian Marley on stage at the same time; what more could you ask for? Well, support from Nneka doesn't sound bad either!

Check out the dates below:
I have kindly put UK dates in bold. See you at Hammersmith!

TOUR DATES:

May 2nd West Palm Beach, Fl Sunfest
May 21st Arcata, CA Arcata Community Center
May 22nd Eugene, OR Cuthbert Amphitheater
May 23rd Seattle, WA Showbox Sodo
May 25th Oakland, CA Fox Theater
May 26th Santa Barbara, CA University of California, Santa Barbara
May 28th Los Angeles, CA The Wiltern
May 29th Las Vegas, NV The Joint
May 30th Valley Center, CA Harrah’s Rincon – Open Sky Theater
May 31st Los Angeles, CA UCLA Jazz Reggae Festival
June 2nd Santa Fe, NM Paolo Soleri Amphitheater
June 8th Houston, TX House of Blues
June 9th Austin, TX Stubb’s Waller Creek Outdoor Amphitheater
June 11th Manchester, TN Bonnaroo Music Festival
June 12th Atlanta, GA Tabernacle
June 13th Lake Buena Vista, FL House of Blues – Lake Buena Vista, FL
June 27th Brussels, BE Couleur Cafe Festival
June 28th Paris, FR Paris Hip Hop Festival
July 1st Arendal, NO Hovefestival
July 3rd Cologne, DE Summerjam
July 4th Gdynia, PL Heineken Opener Festival
July 6th Copenhagen, DK Vega
July 7th Hultsfred, SE Hultsfred Festival
July 9th Frauenfeld, CH Openair Frauenfeld
July 10th Montreux Vaud, CH Montreux Jazz Festival – Miles
July 11th Rotterdam Holland North Sea Jazz
July 13th Hamburg, DE Stadtpark
July 14th Munich, DE Tollwood Festival
July 16th Manchester, UK Manchester Academy
July 17th Dublin, IE Tripod
July 20th Hammersmith, UK Hammersmith Apollo
July 23rd Gräfenhainichen, DE Splash Festival
July 31st Brooklyn, NY Williamsburg Waterfront
August 1st Bridgeport, CT Gathering of The Vibes Festival

(Taken from urb.com)

Tickets don't seem to be up for ticketmaster.co.uk yet, but i'll keep checking.

Fashawn: Ode To Illmatic

If nothing else, you have to admit Fashawn has guts; given that with his next mixtape Ode To Illmatic he is attempting to spit over every one of the instrumentals off of Nasir Jones's 1994 debut classic llmatic. Or, is this more a case of foolish arrogance? 

Don't get me wrong, in my books, Fash' deserved his place as an XXL freshman of 2010: but as I'm sure Illmatic graces many of your "Top 5 albums of all time" lists, has the Cali. native bitten off more than he can chew?

 

“What took Nas 20 years to make took me like a week” he recently declared in an interview with xxlmag.com, perhaps sensing how this will sound to fans of Esco, he swiftly rebukes “No bragging or nothing like that, but I’m a student of [Illmatic]..." 

Although it may not sound like it, I'm willing to reserve judgement on the DJ Green Lantern hosted mixtape. After all it was Green Lantern who hosted NaS's controversial The N****r tape. But for an album that taught us all so much about NaS and hip hop culture in general, let's hope Fashawn treats Illmatic with the respect it deserves; it's pretty hard to match perfection!

Due for release: Late April/early May (according to xxlmag.com)

Conflict of interests: Illmatic is definitely on my list.

NaS & Damian Interview

"When we get together, it's gonna be real". More impotantly, when NaS and Damian Marley get together it's gonna be KNOWLEDGE!

This interview was conducted at the recent SxSW festival; check NaS dropping knowledge on the Jazz tip: always remembering his origins. Papa would be proud! Props to Olu dara.



The anticipation just grows and grows...

Distant Relatives album cover...

Words can't really describe how excited I am about this album.

Could it be one of the greatest pairing of minds we've ever seen in music?

Well, here's the official album cover...

But let's face it; it's all about what's on the inside that counts.

A friend told me they are scheduled to perform in Germany...umm, UK please!!

Release May 18th
Props to rapradar.com

NaS & Damian Marley: Distant Relatives.

I put this up on my twitter the other day but, as I'm giddy with excitement over this album, I thought I'd put it up here too.

So, in case you missed it here's the official track listing for 'Distant Relatives', as previewed by xxlmag.com

1. As We Enter

2. Tribal War (feat. K'NAAN)

3. Strong Will Continue

4. Leaders

5. Wisdom (Sabali)

6. Count Your Blessings

7. Disappear

8. The Promised Land (feat. Dennis Brown)

9. Nah Mean

10. Angola (Friends)

11. My Generation (feat. Lil Wayne and Joss Stone)

12. Africa Must Wake Up (Feat. K'NAAN)

13. BONUS TRACK Ancient People (feat. Junior Reid)

[Editor's note: XXL has learned that one more song,"In His Own Word," will also be included on the album]

I can't deny, I'm more than a little intrigued by the Weezy/Joss Stone combination! Can't even imagine how that will sound?