Word: albums
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...first solo album, Illmatic (1994), was a rap classic--lean, smart and at times jazzy. His new album, I Am... (Columbia), aims even higher: the songs are grander, more aggressive, more cinematic. Several top pop performers stop by for duets, including Puff Daddy (on the booming Hate Me Now), hip-hop-soul singer Aaliyah (on the ballad You Won't See Me Tonight) and gangsta rapper DMX (on the rough-riding Life Is What You Make...
...best songs on the album is Ghetto Prisoners, a stirring call for the poor and downtrodden to stand up and resist the powers that keep them down. "Get up/ Wake up/ Rise," raps Nas. Another sharply realized song is Undying Love, a violent tale of a man who kills his cheating lover and then himself. Other, less talented rappers might have turned the song into something venomous and exploitative. Nas' rendering of this bloody story reminds one of Bruce Springsteen's spare, misanthropic songs on Nebraska, or even of Raymond Carver's terse short stories. The last line in Undying...
Again and again on this CD, Nas raps about struggle and loss. Originally he recorded--then dropped from the album--a soulful, introspective song about growing up poor called Project Windows; here's hoping he will include it on a future album. Another song (one that made the cut), We Will Survive, mourns the shooting death of superstar rappers Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls. "[Smalls and I] were supposed to meet the night he died," says Nas. "I can't forget Biggie and Pac--they made it possible for rap music to blow...
...label with the right contacts to get their songs out to DJs and industry heads for local and national promotion. Labels who caught up-and-comers could sign them to contracts which bound them to turn over a huge percentage of their profits and subsequently regulate all aspects of album production, touring...
MP3s and the Internet can empower bands to take back control over their music. Countless bigname groups are eager to take advantage of the opportunity; for example the Beastie Boys took it upon themselves to make available live tracks and non-copyrighted music to promote their latest album, Hello Nasty. Garbage and Alanis Morrisette have been known to release special rare cuts exclusively in MP3 format. They Might Be Giants has even made entire albums available online. Smaller, independent bands have also embraced MP3s as a means for building a fan base and getting their music recognized. The London-Based...