Nas is better served when he sticks to his street instincts: Collaborating with Mobb Deep on the clever “The Set Up” and the pulsating “Live Nigga Rap,” establishing his clique, The Firm (AZ, Cormega and the maligned Foxy Brown), on the Godfather bob of “Affirmative Action” and exhibiting exhilarating storytelling skills on “Shootouts.” These moments all hint that somewhere within the gold-plated body of Nas beats a heart that still feels a part of the troubled streets of his hometown of Queensbridge.Įqually proud of his roots and status as a product of his environment is Brooklyn’s Jay-Z, who was first introduced to rap fans as the sidekick of fellow Marcy Projects MC Big Jaz on tongue-twisting tracks like “The Originators”. An underwhelming, over-produced shot at bi-coastal unity that Dre should be ashamed to have his name credited on. Dre-Nas marquee match-up, “Nas Is Coming,” winds being its ultimate low-light. The extra-cheesy, disco groove of the Eurythmics-inspired “Street Dreams,” the N.O Joe-like synthesized laziness of “Watch Dem Niggas” and the lyrically enchanting, but superficial and bubbly “Black Girl Lost,” are representative of the more “mature” Nas sound. Unfortunately, he is subverted by the record’s attempts at providing a universal vibe. Returning on It Was Written with the commercially-proven production team the Trackmasters-with whole he shares management-Nas does his best to make their collaboration effective. On this date, you laid a foundation - artistic and audacious - for yourself, definitely, but for hip-hop overall. It’s crazy that he has never really stepped down. Shawn Carter forcefully stepped up as one. The two were released within a week of the other.Īs you’ll soon read: I was Team Jigga. Later that year I became music editor of The Source.īut that summer, with a Jansport probably strapped tightly to my back, I sat down at an iMac to compare and contrast the works of two of hip-hop’s biggest albums at the time: Nas’ It Was Written and Jay-Z’s Reasonable Doubt. I believe it was Mao who coaxed me, during the summer of ‘96 to write a “double review.” At the time I was the hip hop editor at College Music Journal aka CMJ. ego trip is a New York-based underground periodical that I co-founded with Sacha Jenkins and three other partners, Jeff “Chairman” Mao, Gabriel Alvarez and Brent Rollins. In fact, plenty of it was in my own magazine, ego trip.
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25 years ago, I was writing about hip-hop. The rapper was born and bred there, and the artist has had his studio there for the past 25 years.Yes. Not coincidentally, the main theme running through Adams’ decades-long career revolves around the way in which the self-actualization of black individuals is shaped by their environment.Īdams and Jay-Z met several years ago and established an artistic connection upon their shared environmental muse: Brooklyn.
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Part of the proceeds from the sale will support The Shawn Carter Foundation in its endeavors to help socially excluded individuals to further their post-secondary studies. Heir to the Throne is the first NFT from either Jay-Z or Adams. He then photographed and digitally animated the image to create the NFT.Īdams recalls being struck by Jay-Z’s attire when seeing the 1996 album cover for the first time: “He was dressed to go to the opera as if it were 1940, while his peers were in streetwear.” To create the artwork, Adams painted the image as a 36 x 36-inch acrylic on a wood panel first. Related | Beeple And Pitchfork Founder Launch NFT Platform Selling ‘Iconic’ MomentsĪdams rendered the original image of the album cover and animated it with glowing bling and waving wisps of cigar smoke that turn into the number 25 on the tipped hat of a leaning Jay-Z cartoon. The artwork was inspired by the 1996 album cover, its original title, as well as Jay-Z and Adams’ shared love for Brooklyn.
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To commemorate the 25th anniversary of Jay-Z’s debut album Reasonable Doubt, Sotheby’s and Roc Nation are listing “Heir to the Throne,” an artwork NFT commissioned by the rapper and created by artist Derrick Adams. Jay-Z commissioned Derrick Adams to create a digital artwork of his 1996 Reasonable Doubt album cover, to auction it off as an NFT.