Whenever Jay Electronica (@JayElectronica) tweets a link, I usually click it. This one particular day last week he posted a link to this bugged out bizzaro world version of YouTube that takes a regular YouTube URL and makes it artsy by freeze framing the video. It lays it out in a film reel style.At first you think it’s a spam site or something, but like his lyrics Jay E does things differently. He liberated a rare Nas track I hadn’t heard before. I consider myself one of the foremost authorities on Nas’ recording career, and to have never heard this song before kind of pissed me off.To make matters worse a rapper put me on to it, through Twitter no less! Anyway, getting past that I realized how dope the beat is and I had to find out who produced it. A quick Google search later and I learn that the song has been out for at least a year. I’m trying to figure out if in that time did I skim the track and not like it or something. A full freaking year? You gotta be kidding me.
So the year old post from the site I find the mp3 from states that none other than Kanye West touched up the melodic tunes. With the ego icon on the beat it solidifies my ear’s training in good music. Since adding Nas’ ‘The World’ to my iTouch I’ve had it on repeat for days. There is something special about the sounds that blend so well together. Nas stays in the pocket of the groove like never before. The muffled baseline drifts in and out so your audio focus changes lanes from Nas’ horse gruff vocals to the wailing of the crooner repeating ‘now girl you mean the world to me’ as the backdrop rises and falls during the hook. Theme wise, it’s a rather quickly spun tale (only two verses) about how Nas sweeps a well-bottomed hood chick off the streets and from the clutches of a non-attentive boyfriend. Nas saw an opening to kick it with shorty and the story is laid, but it’s the lesson learned at the end that we all know to well. Short sweet and colorful in presentation and storytelling prose. I love when Nas gets on his Slick Rick shit. Everyone I’ve sent this to loves it, hope you do as well.
See it how I saw it, click the link below.
(And here is a bonus joint I just found)
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