Nas - Hip Hop Is Dead
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NasHip Hop Is Dead (Def Jam)
For a rapper who's spent the past dozen years failing to meet the lofty standard of his 1994 debut, Illmatic, Nas declaring Hip Hop Is Dead evades all conceivability short of a flaming Napoleon complex. "Afraid not of none of you cowards but of my own strength," the Queensbridge icon postures himself as a lyrical demigod who pities the fool out of touch with old-school paradigms. As "Where Are They Now" takes it all the way back to MC Shan, the title track revisits "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" as an Incredible Bongo Band sure shot. Freaking Eric B and Rakim's "I Ain't No Joke" into the cinematic noir of "Who Killed It," Nas joins an invigorated Snoop Dogg on "Play on Playa," a twisted,...
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