Nas & Jay, Ghostface, and Jeezy bring December heat
By JESS MCCONNELL | January 28, 2010
Ghostface Killah |
It’s become one of those odd traditions without rhyme or reason (or at least without reason) that December, a month that never used to be a big time for big releases, is now a hip-hop time of year almost every year. It’s as if big rappers on big labels were waiting to drop discs just in time for New Year’s Eve. Maybe it has something to do with taxes? In any case, here’s a sampling of singles from three of the month’s more notable releases on the rap powerhouse Def Jam, all easily accessible at www.itunes.com.
Nas feat. Jay-Z, “Black Republicans”
Not long ago some kind of war between Nas and Jay-Z seemed a foregone conclusion. But there have since been vague reconciliations, mumblings of mutual respect, and guest appearances, and the two East Coast stars have managed to get together “Black Republican,” a politicized track from Nas’s new Hip Hop Is Dead (Def Jam). The track is jiggly and stately and overflowing with urgent rhymes. Nas isn’t afraid to paint himself as the fighting radical; the more diplomatic Jay raps in hypotheticals, merely alluding to the issues.
Ghostface Killah feat. Redman and Shawn Wigs, “Greedy Bitches”
From his second disc in a year, More Fish (Def Jam), the most active Wu-Tang member has food and fanny on the brain. This is a guy who can rap about anything — “Yo the ’hos at all the oreos.” Don’t question it, just love it — and picture the video-game spinoff where Ghostface has to walk the streets collecting cookies as greedy bitches attack from all sides.
Young Jeezy, “I Luv It”
Atlanta rapper Young Jeezy’s in the business of promoting Red Bull — “Can’t sleep on life,” he points out — and focusing on the big things like “My P.O. telling me I need a 9 to 5/But I already got a job, and that's stayin’ alive” on his new Def Jam disc The Inspiration . This feel-good track (produced by DJ Toomp, who creates a synth-heavy, spaced-out backdrop), offers a nice contrast to Jeezy’s raspy delivery and his flowery appreciation of the good things in life.
Related:
Young Jeezy | The Recession, The street scene, 2008 Listravaganza!, More
- Young Jeezy | The Recession
Remember, Jeezy disdains rappers, just like the teen movie anti-hero who decries the phoniness of movie stars.
- The street scene
Without getting into the history and the morality of mixtapes, it’s worth mentioning that Pharrell isn’t the first rapper who’s scored more artistic points with a mixtape than with a sanctioned label release. Pop goes a Neptune: Pharrell Williams raps his way into a corner. By Nick Sylvester
- 2008 Listravaganza!
We are not at all sick of bands with animal names yet and seem to have a soft spot for Erykah Badu that we kept very hush about all year.
- The Big Hurt: Winners and losers
Jay-Z's headlining slot at the Glastonbury Festival June 28 has been the stuff of much controversy, with various artists weighing in on his suitability to the event.
- 2008 Listravaganza Part 2
Everything you wanted to know about the year in music, in tidy lists of 10.
- From ’Ye to mixtapes
To get the full taste of where hip-hop is at, you also have to seek out the unofficial releases, the mixtapes, which often have a bigger impact than the official albums.
- Dead, or immortal?
When Chuck D challenges the status quo, a bunch of fortysomethings nod their heads, but Nas can put the young rappers on the defensive.
- Review: Akon | Freedom
Back in April 2007, R&B singer and rapper Akon dry-humped a 15-year-old girl on stage, an incident that led to some overblown criticism in the conservative media.
- B. Dolan | Fallen House, Sunken City
Although I've always found B. Dolan to be one of hip-hop's mightiest politically charged performers, his disc-length poetic pieces have confused (and even bored) the piss out of me.
- The bulletproof cred of M.O.P.
In their decade and a half as thug-rap ambassadors, Brooklyn's Mash Out Posse have made some moves that lesser outfits might have caught shit for.
- After-party
Don’t be surprised if you hear yourself shouting, “Rewind Selektah!”
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