Nas News

Posted on July 1st, 2009 8:25 AM By Chris Riemenschneider This one could very well end up on my list of favorite shows at the end of theA year, and three-fourths of theA fans acted like it was the bestA concert they'd ever seen.A Nas unfortunately cut most of his songs short , but that seemed to heighten his delivery of them.

Tech N9ne, Slum Village, Big Boi and Common get their rap on at Rock The Bells. ROCK THE BELLS with NAS & DAMIAN MARLEY, COMMON, BIG BOI, RZA, EPMD, REFLECTION ETERNAL, SLAUGHTERHOUSE, SLUM VILLAGE, M.O.P., TECH N9NE, Ka NAAN, CHALI 2NA and the KNUX at Molson Amphitheatre , Sunday , 2 pm.

A few months back --that's years in fabulous age, boo, FYI -- we lamented that the summer concert schedule was woefully lacking in the hip-hop department.

Nas - "Film" Nas sits comfortably in his rap chair and tells another stellar story, setting scenes like a Hollywood director with this contemplative gem.

Nas, with Damien Marley. Friday, June 26, at the Uptown Theater. In 2006, Jay-Z signed Nasir Jones to Def Jam Records after the two New York rappers had been embroiled in an epic public battle that many thought Jones - or, rather, Nas - had won.

On a scene that's too often about poses and posturing, the Roots have spent two decades focusing on the music, and they've never had much competition for the title of the best live band in hip-hop. Jimmy Fallon with the Roots, the house band on his "Late Night" show on NBC.

The result is a brooding, yet hopeful and intense but not melodramatic hip-hop extravaganza.

The '70s soul band 24-Carat Black , a creation of Stax Records ' in-house strings arranger Dale Warren, is one of rap music's most sampled bands.

One is self-made hip hop royalty and the other was born into the first family of reggae.

Expectant dad 'shouts out to pops' Novelty Christmas singles might be par for the course in pop, but artists' father's day tributes are few and far between.

Growing up in the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago's South Side, Liz Toussaint straddled a musical divide.

The Beastie Boys played Bonnaroo this weekend, bringing out Nas --of all people to show up randomly in the middle of the Tennessee countryside--for a new song that is reportedly destined for the upcoming Hot Sauce Committee .

While virtually all of Hip Hop's stars are critiqued for not recreating their memorable introductions , Mos Def has two classics to constantly live up to: his seminal Black Star album with partner-in-rhyme Talib Kweli [ click to read ], and his flawless solo debut Black On Both Sides .

Undoubtedly one of the best emcees of all time, Nas has released an abundance career over the course of his fifteen year plus career.

In the short two years since up-and-coming R&B sensation Chrisette Michele launched her career as the veritable first lady of Def Jam, with a timeless voice and futuristic beats, she's earned some of the music industry's top honors.

"How the piano sound so funny? Read More... Bonafide wants Jamaican recognition Western Bureau: Thirteen years after migrating to the United States, the Bonafide band, which originally started out with four brothers in Mount Salem, St James, in 1990, has all but conquered the world with their unique brand of reggae music.

Music lovers will be treated to a special performance come Saturday, July 25, when both reggae royalty Damian 'Jnr Gong' Marley and rap luminary Nas take the stage together for International Night II at Reggae Sumfest.

Straight up, I like ill MC's The rappers that I have always gravitated to were the dudes that made me think, "I wish I thought that" of "How the hell did he think of that?" When I crafted my list, that is what I had in mind, my favorite ill MC's. Certainly there are the standard greats from every era , but these are the illest that I like.

Welcome back to Turning the Screw, Rocks Off's weekly rap post. It probably won't rhyme, at least most of the time.

Beginning with his classic debut, Illmatic , Nas stood tall for years as one of New York City's leading rap voices, outspokenly expressing a righteous, self-empowered swagger that endeared him to critics and hip-hop purists.