Nas and Will i am in the studio talking about making the tracks for hip hop is dead

Fury

W.W.F.D
ill o.g.
i feel what hes sayin fuck wit producers that are at the same level as you...but that album wuz full of half ass beats accept that Will I Am beat ...if u name ur album is hip hop is dead then u better have some hot shyt no bullshyt ass garbage wit 808 claps ..i love nas but that album is a fuckin disapointment..if u say hip hop is dead i better hear some premo or some hi tech pete rock sumthin man this is ridiculous ..his lyrics were pretty good but the production wuz a fuckin disapointed i waited for this album for so long i heard it and i turned that shyt off..
 

manguino

Pressure Makes Diamonds
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 7
definitely wasn't feeling alot of the beats on the album, and i'm STILL wondering why he doesn't work with premo again. imagine another dj premier dominated album from nas, may not necessarily be the most commercially successful, but it'll be damn good.
 

DJ Excellence

ILLIEN
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 229
definitely wasn't feeling alot of the beats on the album, and i'm STILL wondering why he doesn't work with premo again. imagine another dj premier dominated album from nas, may not necessarily be the most commercially successful, but it'll be damn good.

Since he's on a major label, Nas probably doesn't have much power when it comes to choosing beats. Simple as that.

..
..
 
O

open mind

Guest
if nas is saying hiphop is death then he must resurrect it with this PRODUCERS! NEVER CHANGE A WINNING TEAM RIGHT? FUCK ILL WILL

1. The Genesis - conceived by Nas and Faith N.

2. N.Y. State Of Mind
Written by: Nas & DJ Premier
Produced by: DJ Premier
Engineer: Eddie Sancho
Contains sample from "Mind Rain" as performed and written by J. Chambers

3. Life's A Bitch featuring AZ
Written by: Nas, AZ & L.E.S.
Produced by: L.E.S.
Co-produced by: Nas
Engineer: Jason Vogel
Contains sample from "Yearning For Your Love" as performed by The Gap Band and written by R. Wilson and O. Scott

4. The World Is Yours
Written by: Nas & Pete Rock
Produced by: Pete Rock
Engineer: Jamey Staub
Contains sample from "It's Yours" performed by T La Rock

5. Halftime
Written by: Nas, Large Professor & G. Byrd
Produced by: Large Professor
Engineer: Kevin Reynolds
Contains samples from "Dead End", "Soul Travelin'" & "School Boy Crush"

6. Memory Lane
Written by: Nas & DJ Premier
Produced by: DJ Premier
Engineer: Eddie Sancho
Assistant Engineer: Luis Tineo
Contains sample from "We're In Love" as performed by Reuben Wilson and written by R. Wilson & P. Barsella

7. One Love
Written by: Nas & Q-Tip
Produced by: Q-Tip
Engineer: T. Latham
Contains sample from "Smilin' Billy Suite Pt. II" as performed by the Heath Brothers and written by J. Heath

8. One Time 4 Your Mind
Written by: Nas & Large Professor
Produced by: Large Professor
Engineer: Kevin Reynolds
Assistant Engineer: Jack Herscha
Contains sample from "Walter L" as written by G. Burton

9. Represent
Written by: Nas & DJ Premier
Produced by: DJ Premier
Engineer: Eddie Sancho
Assistant Engineer: Luis Tineo

10. It Ain't Hard To Tell
Written by: Nas & Large Professor
Produced by: Large Professor
Engineer: Anton Pushansky & Stan Wallace
Mix engineer: Diego Garrido
Contains samples from "Human Nature" as performed by Michael Jackson and written by J. Bettis and J. Pocaro and "N.T." as performed by Kool & The Gang and written by G. Redd, Sr., G. Redd, Jr., R. Handy, C. Horne, R. Bell, R. Bell, R. Mickens, D. Thomas, G. Brown and C. Smith
 

DJ Excellence

ILLIEN
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 229
winning team indeed, I inserted two songs from ILLMATIC in the digging section, if anyone's interested.

if nas is saying hiphop is death then he must resurrect it with this PRODUCERS! NEVER CHANGE A WINNING TEAM RIGHT? FUCK ILL WILL

1. The Genesis - conceived by Nas and Faith N.

2. N.Y. State Of Mind
Written by: Nas & DJ Premier
Produced by: DJ Premier
Engineer: Eddie Sancho
Contains sample from "Mind Rain" as performed and written by J. Chambers

3. Life's A Bitch featuring AZ
Written by: Nas, AZ & L.E.S.
Produced by: L.E.S.
Co-produced by: Nas
Engineer: Jason Vogel
Contains sample from "Yearning For Your Love" as performed by The Gap Band and written by R. Wilson and O. Scott

4. The World Is Yours
Written by: Nas & Pete Rock
Produced by: Pete Rock
Engineer: Jamey Staub
Contains sample from "It's Yours" performed by T La Rock

5. Halftime
Written by: Nas, Large Professor & G. Byrd
Produced by: Large Professor
Engineer: Kevin Reynolds
Contains samples from "Dead End", "Soul Travelin'" & "School Boy Crush"

6. Memory Lane
Written by: Nas & DJ Premier
Produced by: DJ Premier
Engineer: Eddie Sancho
Assistant Engineer: Luis Tineo
Contains sample from "We're In Love" as performed by Reuben Wilson and written by R. Wilson & P. Barsella

7. One Love
Written by: Nas & Q-Tip
Produced by: Q-Tip
Engineer: T. Latham
Contains sample from "Smilin' Billy Suite Pt. II" as performed by the Heath Brothers and written by J. Heath

8. One Time 4 Your Mind
Written by: Nas & Large Professor
Produced by: Large Professor
Engineer: Kevin Reynolds
Assistant Engineer: Jack Herscha
Contains sample from "Walter L" as written by G. Burton

9. Represent
Written by: Nas & DJ Premier
Produced by: DJ Premier
Engineer: Eddie Sancho
Assistant Engineer: Luis Tineo

10. It Ain't Hard To Tell
Written by: Nas & Large Professor
Produced by: Large Professor
Engineer: Anton Pushansky & Stan Wallace
Mix engineer: Diego Garrido
Contains samples from "Human Nature" as performed by Michael Jackson and written by J. Bettis and J. Pocaro and "N.T." as performed by Kool & The Gang and written by G. Redd, Sr., G. Redd, Jr., R. Handy, C. Horne, R. Bell, R. Bell, R. Mickens, D. Thomas, G. Brown and C. Smith
 

KEV31

ILLIEN
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 4
hmmmm. interesting. i here this alot from people online (about Nas's choice in beats). I think he has a pretty good ear for putting together an album. HHID was a great album to me (minus like two joints) Although i would love to hear him over premo tracks again, i wont go as far as saying that his albums are weak with out Premo,Large Professor,Q tip
 

Manji

ILLIEN
ill o.g.
i feel what hes sayin fuck wit producers that are at the same level as you...but that album wuz full of half ass beats accept that Will I Am beat ...if u name ur album is hip hop is dead then u better have some hot shyt no bullshyt ass garbage wit 808 claps ..i love nas but that album is a fuckin disapointment..if u say hip hop is dead i better hear some premo or some hi tech pete rock sumthin man this is ridiculous ..his lyrics were pretty good but the production wuz a fuckin disapointed i waited for this album for so long i heard it and i turned that shyt off..

man what;s wrong w/ 808's?
 

Fury

W.W.F.D
ill o.g.
man what;s wrong w/ 808's?

there fuckin over used waterdown and played out..i cant put on the fuckin radio witout hearing that in a song..how can every song out have the same damn 808 kit its crazzzzzyyy....i mean i knoe hip hop is lackin originality not even i knoe rap is lackin originality but damn what it hurt to have different sounds every song sounds the same cuz of that shyt its vomit worthy..i hate the 808 sounds but if there used on some joints its one thing u cant like every sound out but on every fuckin industry track cmon its fuckin disgusting
 

Fury

W.W.F.D
ill o.g.
i agree his last 3 albums have been a real dissapointment espically the lateist one

word this one wuz ass and streets Dis. wuz ass and im judging from Nas's standard..the last pretty dope shyt wuz stillmatic and lost tapes Nas went down and hes one of my favorites of all time
 

Vice

9ine 2o 5ive Live
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 71
Nas' last album wasn't that bad to me, I thought it had a lot of dope music...though I wouldn't call it a classic, His last album had at least 4 or 5 songs on it, that I thought were dope stuff....that "let there be light" song, to me, was one of the dopest songs of the year........
But as with most Nas albums, it was kinda hit or miss, cause I went back and listened to it just now, and out of 16 songs I only liked 5.......I guess now a days I get happy when I like more than two songs on anyones cd....
 

dahkter

Ill Muzikoligist
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 4
I was crazy about this record when I first heard it, the lyrics were just bannanas versus 99% of all other rap music of 2006.
To me three was three or four classic songs on that record, I'll need to go back to listen to it in a less hyped frame of mind and get back, I was originally listening to it as a fan first and as a producer second. I see a lot of people on here criticizing the beats, but for real, flow and lyrics will win over beats any day of the week...
Less is more, if you got a dope mc, you can usually get by with kik/snare/hat, maybe a little bit of melody and call it a day...
I think too many people on here's vision is cloudy from listening to too many hip hop instrumentals and not enough hip hop.....
 
O

open mind

Guest
i liked only 2 joints of dat new cd.
if nas would hear his own cd "ILLMATIC" right before he turn his new cd "HIP HIP IS DEAD" in the cd player then he would throw his new album outside the window.

the last chance i give him is his speculated album that has only productions from dj premier but i doubt it defjam would allow that.if he cant bring it on this cd its over with him.

tough i still like him he did so much for hiphop especialy on his first 2 solo albums and on dat THE FIRM album.
 

Fury

W.W.F.D
ill o.g.
I was crazy about this record when I first heard it, the lyrics were just bannanas versus 99% of all other rap music of 2006.
To me three was three or four classic songs on that record, I'll need to go back to listen to it in a less hyped frame of mind and get back, I was originally listening to it as a fan first and as a producer second. I see a lot of people on here criticizing the beats, but for real, flow and lyrics will win over beats any day of the week...
Less is more, if you got a dope mc, you can usually get by with kik/snare/hat, maybe a little bit of melody and call it a day...
I think too many people on here's vision is cloudy from listening to too many hip hop instrumentals and not enough hip hop.....

naaahhh thas where u wrong....there wuz a time when the beats were just as good as the MC and the makes for better music why shud it be cool for the dope mc to spit on a wack beat that makes for a half ass song
 

dahkter

Ill Muzikoligist
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 4
Yeah, the beats should be great, I'm not denying that, however so many of the best rap songs of all time have simple as fuck beats.
Hip hop started out with loops, hip hop started out with kids bangin out beats on a lunch table. Beatboxin, SP12 kik snare hat, all simple shit that sounds dope when you have a talented MC over it.
As a producer, if you wanna have a hot ass record, the MC comes first, the beats come second.
Hot MC over simple catchy beats will get you far as a producer.
Mediocre/average/bad mc over dope, complex beats will not get you too far.
All my opinion of course, and yeah, there are exceptions (Premier/PrincePaul/RJD2/Shadow/Krush/etc).

Most of the famous pieces of music (beethoven/beatles/etc) have really simple juvenille type melodies. Don't think that having some super weird abstract multilayered masterpiece is gonna be the do all end all. What you consider to be dope most of your audience may not be feelin. Just lookin at the big picture...
 

classic

I am proud to be southern
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 90
^^^^^^^^^^^'

Not really man, beats are just as important for a good artist..

Where would Gangstar be without preimo
where would tribe be without there orginal production
Or outkast without DF and orginized noise

Beats are just as important as rhymes to make a lasting song or album that can STAND the test of time...

Sure a dope MC can spit over a hand clap and u can appericate the lyricism.. but it will feel like something is missing and i doubt u will come back to that song after 3 listens.. Beats&lyricam are what make you keep coming back.. all the great albums/artist's have both...

My problem with nas is not his lyric's , he always has had that, there is no question.. but there is a difference between having talent and actually realiszing your talent.. I feel nas is basically being lazy.. and im tired of the shit... every album i wait to here some new different shit and he always lets me down,..,
 

dahkter

Ill Muzikoligist
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 4
Alright...

On the one hand I agree with you. I'm a beat junkie, DJing for seventeen years, 4000 records, making beats for 14 years. I could listen to Pete Rock instumentals all day, I'm down.

However, you gotta look at your audience, and for them it's not necessarily the case. Look at the radio charts, in the past and in the present, it's not the jazziest/funkiest/deepest/soulful beats that make an impact, it's the simple/catchy/straightforward joints that resonate on the largest scale. Just being truthful here.

I would take any deep intelligent soulful music over mainstream music any day.
My one exception is that old school hip hop, I can and have listened to Top Billin about 1000 times and will never ever tire of that, just a kik snare and a hat...Same thing with that freestyle acapella at the end of Hip Hop is Dead, that was better than any other hip hop song I had heard all year, even though there was no beat at all...

I just think that as beatmakers, yes, Ok to be disappointed with that album. As producers, you can't deny that project came off like a Tsunami, it hit hard...
 
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