I'm a summer baby, First of July, Middle of the Year, the Height of Summer, therefore Summer belongs to me. Pool parties every year as a kid, epic celebrations since then, Summer is mine! Don't make me get an instrumental or something. LOL, let me stop before I really start writing something.
Either way, rappers seem to love personifying Summer, J.Cole recently did it on his new EP, Truly Yours 2. But it's not his first time doing so. Check out my homeboy's blog for the whole EP (Day2Day: J.Cole - Truly Yours 2 EP). So in honor of J.Cole's new song personifying Summer, "Cole Summer", I decided to do a Throwback post with two of my favorite tracks personifying Summer. Jay-Z's "Dear Summer" and Jim Jones "Summer wit Miami". Jim's title doesn't really personify Summer but his lyrics and shots at Jay-Z do. We all know Jay owns the summer though, he's been consistently putting out summer hits since his debut. I think a few other rappers (Lil Wayne, Young Jeezy) did remixes to "Dear Summer" as well.
As a father I completely agree with what Jay-Z is saying here. The only problem is I'm not a billionaire so I don't have the liberty of staying home and enjoying those moments with my child. So for me its the opposite, its grind time. His statements were very resepectable, I hope he takes all the time he needs to enjoy those moments before he goes back into grind mode. I'm sure the older you are as a first time parent (this is not a shot at Jay) the more you appreciate and the more you can give to that child. If he's dealt with a still born and a miscarrage in his past then I'm sure he appreciates this miracle baby that much more. Hats off to Poppa Carter! So where is Beyonce in all of this? O here she is -> http://beyonce101.tumblr.com/
“I thought that I would after my daughter was born. I thought I would be more inspired with all the new feelings and everything that I’d have to write about, but it really happened the other way. I just really wanna hang out with her. I just wanna enjoy those moments for a bit and I’m sure that feeling of music will come back to me.”
About a month ago I debuted the latest single from Demitri "I'm the One" for your listening, downloading, and sharing pleasures. Its a great upbeat club or radio song and is definitely remix worthy if there are any rappers or female vocalist out there that want to add something to the beginning and/or end of this one. Well either way today I have the final version of the video for the song below for you to view and share. Reshare, ReTweet, ReBlog, and ReWhatever else this video, share it with your friends. Contact Demitri by email DemitriMusik@gmail.com or twitter
@DemitriMusik. Download the song here http://soundcloud.com/lanceriprock/demitri-im-the-one/
My absolute favorite feature of iTunes is the Genius, its a feature that's been around for awhile but I'm not sure that everyone is aware of it. Sure there are a few playlist already created by the Genius and those are cool and well constructed. But my favorite thing is when I right click on a song that goes with my current mood and click "Start Genius" and it gives me a playlist of 25 songs (you can choose more or less, 25 is the default) all song matching with this same mood and all the songs are very well associated with each other. I've noticed similar song topics, music eras, music sub genres (underground, gangsta rap, party songs, etc), similar production, same producers, associated artist, etc. Google Music has something similar called Instant Mixes that you can do on the fly, its ok and nice to have from mobile but its just not as precise as iTunes Genius, yet. I say yet, because Google is Search King, so I'm sure they can come up with an algorithm to compete if they make it their focus.
Below is a Genius Mix that I made starting with Fat Joe "That White" that real Hip-Hop fans can enjoy. I didn't make this mix because I wanted to listen to Fat Joe or listen to a song about Cocaine, I wanted to hear a well crafted beat by DJ Premier. No where in my tags for this song do I have DJ Premier listed, but look at the rest of the songs that the Genius gave me. Perfect blend and a lot of DJ Premier, check his discography. Actually from what I can see 15 out of the 25 songs are produced by DJ Premier, the other 10 got a similar feel to them or are directly associated with Fat Joe.
As a NaS fan it excites me to say that we are on the verge of witnessing the 10th studio album from NaS, entitled "Life Is Good". This number doesn't include any compilations or collaboration albums that he's put out which would include 6 other albums. Not many legit rappers come to mind that have done this and have had consistant success and attention brought to each release. I'm a realist and I won't say every cd is a classic but even the albums that were called flops, duds, rated subpar (subpar for NaS but well over par for most rappers in the game), or misguided albums all had hidden jewels that any Hip-Hop fan can not deny. But we can all say the majority of his albums were great and have added a lot to Hip-Hop.
Other rappers that come to mind who dropped 10 studio albums and remained a legit force in the game, Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg, and LL Cool J, with an Honorable Mentions to Scarface & Ice Cube (I thought both had 10+ but surprisingly they both are currently at #9). Granted others have done it, KRS-One, Too $hort, E-40, Master P, to name a few. But I can't say that there are many other than the first three that I mentioned and the 2 honorable mentions that I can say that every album was a big deal from coast to coast to hiphop fans, to hiphop artist, and to music lovers in general. Tupac would've been on this list if he were alive (I'm not going to count the albums that labels put out after his death). I'm not sure if Biggie would be at 10 by this point just given the fact that he only dropped 2 studio albums from 93 to 97. But who knows he might've switch labels, picked up the pace, and started dropping yearly albums like his protégé, now mentor to many, Jay-Z.
But back to NaS, congrats on this great staple in your career. So far what I have heard about this album and the one single from this album sound very promising. His 1st and his 5th album are certified (by the Source Magazine) as Classics, and from what I've heard the 10th album has the groudwork laid out to follow suit.
Below you will find a paragraph come wikipedia talking about "Life Is Good" and "Lost Tapes 2", followed by the new Single "Nasty", a link to download, and the lyrics.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nas 2010-Present: The Lost Tapes Pt. 2 and Life is Good
On September 15, 2010 Nas announced on his Twitter "It's coming... LOST TAPES VOLUME TWO!!!". However, The Lost Tapes Vol. 2 wasn't released by the end of the year, and regarding the release of the compilation album Nas stated in an interview with MTV: "Because I kind of lost time, I really wanted to release [the album] in December, But I'm starting my next album. So I feel like I'll probably give 'The Lost Tapes' as a deluxe, maybe, on the next album for free. I'm trying to figure that out now". Nas has now scrapped "The Lost Tapes Vol. 2", due to miscommunication with Def Jam
Speaking about his upcoming tenth studio album, Nas called the album a "magic moment" in his rap career while mentioning that Swizz Beatz, DJ Premier, The Alchemist, Dr. Dre, Kanye West and RZA are possible producers on the LP. "A Milli" producer Bangladesh revealed that he produced some tracks for the album. Kane Beatz revealed he had recently worked with Nas. OFWGKTA member Frank Ocean has been confirmed to feature on Nas' tenth album.[citation needed] It was confirmed in May 2011 that his new album would be titled "Life Is Good" collaborating with Mobb Deep.
Word
Got some Remy Martin, some good-ass cigars
Check it out
Ayo, late night, candlelight, fiend wit’ diesel in his needle
Queensbridge leader, no equal, I come from the Wheel of Ezekiel
To pop thousand-dollar bottles of scotch, smoke pot, and heal the people
Any rebuttal to what I utter get box-cuttered
Count how many bad honeys I slut, it’s a high number
Name a nigga under the same sky that I’m under
Who gets money, remain fly, yeah, I wonder
Eyes flutter as love when Nas pops up
Stars get starstruck, panties start drippin’
The ways of Carlito, blaze, torpedo cigars
Drop moves, hoes drop clothes
Louis the XIII freaks, women nice size
I ride like Porsches, thick, brown and gorgeous
It ain’t my fault, semiautomatic weapons
I brought the world “Crazy,” I’m rich and I’m girl-crazy
Dick ‘em, convince ‘em all to praise me
They ideology is confusion, I lose ‘em
Fellates me, who hate me? My gun off safety
Since a Tunnel escape key, my jewelry in HD
Silent rage, pristine in my vintage shades
I’m not in the winters of my life or the beginner stage, I am the dragon
Maserati, pumpin’ Biggie, the great legend
Blastin’, I’m after the actress who played Faith Evans
My little Jackie Onassis, dig?
I’m so high, I never land like Mike Jackson’s crib
Best on .45, still crack ya rib sacrilege
When lids talk trash about the nasty kid
Past nasty now, I’m gross and repulsive
Talk money, is you jokin’? Cash everywhere, in my bank, in the sofa
In the walls, in the cars, in my wallet, in my pocket
On the floors, ceiling, the safe, bitch
I got all you envy, but don’t offend
I’m skinny, but still I’m too big for a Bentley
You are your car, what could represent?
Too Godly to be a Bugatti, you honestly
Must design me somethin’ Tommy Mottonic from Queens had before the ’90s
Drug dealer call, rush to the bar
Move, niggas, we don’t give a fuck who you are
Black card heavy like a magnet, in my stitched denims
Pretty women see them them saggin’
Bet a hundred stacks, niggas’ll run it back
Just havin’ fun, I ain’t even begun to black
Light another blunt in fact
For the hustlers, thick as yellow bitches for the suck of it
Got a bunch of niggas in prison braggin’, sayin’ “It was Nas I used to hustle wit’”
I display fashions while my lungs engage hashes, guns on my waist past his
Since I’m cakin’ up, put funds in my safe, laughin’
And joining the niggas passin’ you niggas was straight assin’
Excuse the vulgarity, I’m still not fully adjusted
Or used to the new fans hearin’ me spit rapidly
I never see the whips niggas be claimin’ they drivin’
I guess entertainment means blatantly lyin’
Fake it ’til you make it, I’ve driven those toys
Been in the wars, in the streets, cops kickin’ in doors
For my deen niggas, your flow cheap as limousine liquor
I’m no fake rap CD listener, sit back and roll a mean swisher
For my Gs, tell these clowns make room for the king, nigga
