This week has absolutely flown by and as you've probably realised by now it's Thursday, and that means one thing - there's one more day until the weekend? No, it's time for another installment of "Throwback Thursday". This week it's actually on time, just which is always a good thing as I know you all expect it as soon as it hits Thursday. Last week I left you with a little clue as to who would be featured in this weeks edition and it seems none of you readers listen to early 90's hip-hop as no one was able to guess the artist or song. Well the mystery is now solved because the song I was speaking of was none other than "Memory Lane (Sittin' in da Park) by my main man Nas AKA "Nasty Nas". Memory Lane appeared on his debut album Illmatic in 1994 and this without a doubt is one of my favourite songs on the album. If you know Illmatic well you might be wondering why I chose this song when there are so many other good songs on the album. I know it was never released as a single and pretty much every song on Illmatic is a bona-fide classic, but when I first listened to this song it was the one that resonated the most with me and Nas' lyricism was and still is next level on this track. The track was produced by the legendary DJ Premier and in is a real introspective song. The low key production style and the almost organ-like keyboard riff suits Nas' nasally delivery to a tee. Nas truly paints a vivid picture with his lyrics reminiscing on the everyday struggles of living in the ghetto and this subject smart lyricism and classic production is what makes this song such a classic.
"I rap divine Gods check the prognosis, is it real or showbiz? My window faces shootouts, drug overdoses. Live amongst no roses, only the drama, for real, a nickel-plate is my fate, my medicine is the ganja." - exerpt from Memory Lane (Sittin' in da Park) by Nasir JonesCheck out Memory Lane (Sittin' in da Park) below with stream/download, and a heap of other cool content after the jump.
DOWNLOAD: Nas - Memory Lane (Sittin' in da Park)
I was pretty damn young when Illmatic dropped but I must admit that I slept on it during my teenage years. A lot of hip-hop heads were always asking me if I had heard Illmatic, but I was too busy listening to any and as much Talib Kweli & Mos Def I could get my hands on. Needless to say when I gave Illmatic a listen, I was blown away and it has remained one of my absolute favourites to this day.
Now if you you know anything about golden era hip-hop you'll know that this album is seen by many as one of the greatest albums to ever be released. It featured a who's who of production with the likes of Large Professor, Pete Rock, Q-Tip, L.E.S. and DJ Premier on the boards and features from AZ and Nas's father, Olu Dara. On it's initial release the album was not a strong performer commercially (Isn't that the case with most classic albums?) but the album gain widespread critical acclaim even achieving the coveted five mic rating (classic status) from The Source magazine. This is pretty crazy to think about considering this was Nas' first album and he was only 19 when Illmatic was recorded. Now I know that I recommend a lot of music around here, but I truly urge you if you've never heard it before to give Illmatic a listen. This is one of the trruly great hip-hop albums of the 90's and this is album shows Nas as his absoluute best. Click on the image or link below to go to iTunes and purchase this classic hip-hop albums.
BUY: Nas - Illmatic
As I was compiling this weeks edition of Throwback Thursday I came across this little gem, a remix of Memory Lane (Sittin' in da Park) by producer Cookin' Soul. I thought it was pretty good and he even put together a little video for it so check out out below.
Each Throwbak I always try and give you readers out there an extra special little treat. So I went digging through the archives and dusted off this little ditty from 1996 which you may or may not remember. The song I speak of is "If I Ruled The World (Imagine That)" by Nas featuring Lauryn Hill. I remember when I was 10 and my sister brought this CD single back from France and I listened to it over and over again. It was my first exposure to both Nas and Lauryn Hill, and at the time I had little to no idea who they were, I just knew I liked the rap and the beat was good. You may be wondering why this song sounds so familiar well it samples the 1983 Whodini single Friends, interpolates the song If I Ruled The World by Kurtis Blow into its chorus and Lauryn Hill's verse interpolates the song Walk Right Up To The Sun by The Delfonics. So there's a few classic songs in there, check out the track and video below -
Sadly we've reached that time again, yes we have come to the end of another edition of Throwback Thursday. However I will return next week with an absolute thigh slapper of a song. Now I suppose I've gotten into the habit of given some kind of hint on who will be featured in next weeks Throwback, but I'm saying right now no matter what clue I give you you'll never get this song. So I'll give a clue relating to the artist rather than the song. They are a group, a British funk band if you will, they were prominent in the 1970's, their name starts with the letter "C" and a couple of cryptic clues - "Calypso" and "Dove". See if you can work that one out. Again if you think you know who the artist or somehow even the song, post it in the comments section below. Otherwise I'll see you next Thursday for another Throwback!
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