My kinda fruitless research last week turned up some info on Nas' record which I now have the perfect excuse to share with you – thanks of course, to Fashawn and Talib Kweli's freestyled tribute to the record, featured this past week in the Booth. Reader reviews of the freestyle (set for inclusion on Fashawn's forthcoming "Ode to Illmatic" mixtape with Green Lantern), were largely positive, but also polarized: some considered it an immensely successful homage, others thought it was downright blasphemous – even going so far as to state that nobody should be messing with such a legendary track. See more...
Fresh off his Fresh Air Tour, Rhymesayers' mainstay Brother Ali is gearing up to kick off his new "Breakin' Dawn Tour", also featuring west coast rising star/XXL Freshman/"Life is a Bi**h"er Fashawn, tonight, and in order to get the crowds warmed up the dynamic duo are releasing their promo cut "Breakin' Dawn Boys". Producer by BK One, "Breakin' Dawn" is a live instrument sounding banger featuring Ali and Fashawn trading off some of the fresher rhymes you're going to hear in a minute. If this doesn't get you hyped for the tour, I don't know what will. Listen and download...
This week in Production Breakdown, our very own musical historian Richard reveals the origin of Cali emcee Fashawn's new cut "Samsonite Man", a soulful and inspired record produced by Exile that has its roots in Bob Dylan. Yeah, that's right, we're going all the way back on this one. See more...
Each week we will send you a recap of our top stories, downloads, and videos.