Nazareth Savage/ Black Republican

Out of curiosity, do you (dear reader) prefer Hip-hop is Dead to Streets Disciple? I know a lot of people didn't like all the emo ish on SD, but I feel like it had more dope beats and I liked the introspective ish. To me:

Thief's theme > Hip-hop is dead
Just a moment > Can't forget about u
UBR > Who killed it,

and generally

Salaam Remi > Will.i.am

I wonder because I've noticed people seem to think HHID's a bit of a triumph. Is that just the "controversy" and "debate" sparked with sensitive Southern rappers?

With regards to Esco, I have a different view to most fans/stans as (blasphemy), living in my mud hut in my little African village as I did, I didn't get my hands on a copy of Illmatic until 1st year uni ('04), so right up to Streets Disciple I judged his albums on their own, rather than their relative merits.

I consider Stillmatic (the version after MJB mercifully made Nasir remove BH Party because she didn't want beef-by-association with Hov) and The Lost Tapes classics. To me, God's Son, SD (disc 1, Thief's Theme and that Maxwell track I always boogie to: "Sly's back again, for the laaadies! Doooin' it!"), and to a lesser extent, It Was Written are pretty solid.

My discontent with HHID may come from my finally gaining that chip-on-shoulder, I-want-illmatic-again NF (Nas fan) State of Mind. Also (never mind the once more iffy beats-especially the 1st 3 tracks, what was he thinking?!) he sounds so comfortable (U2, Chili Peppers, Jay-Z comfortable), to the point he's all sentimental and almost smug. He could be at that point where he's verging on becoming irrelevant.

Not that I don't like the album. Great concept and the sequencing of the title track followed by "Who Killed It" and then "Black Republicans" gave me goosebumps. Just that I don't lurv any of it. Gives me the kind of enjoyment I get from Corrinne Bailey-Rae...in a bad way


nas: "thief's theme"
nas: "hip-hop is dead"

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