"Systematic" by DJ Shadow ft. Nas

"I wish I was an arms dealer, and sell legal guns in the hood/
No backup cheques, put cash in my palms and we good/

Lack of respect, get you to fall where you stood/

Mathematics is God language, it's in my blood/"

Download now: MassAppeal.lnk.to/ShadowNas
Preorder the soundtrack: itunes.apple.com/us/album/silicon…?ls=1&app=itunes

"9 Minute Freestyle" + "Alphabetical Slaughter Pt. 2" by Papoose

"Cheap shots, they sendin' harpoons after us/
Tryna put my name on a courtroom calendar/
You challenging the best, that's a smart move, challenger/
But I gain momentum when y'all lose stamina/
Searchin' for stardom, y'all dudes scavengers/"

The Nacirema Dream is coming! Seems like Papoose has been making an effort to make public appearances lately. That's fine with me. Papoose is a fuckin beast, and you're fucked if you think different lol. This video right here presents 7 different beats for him to spit over, and he pretty much obliterated each and every one of them. Then at the end, he makes an addition to his popular track, "Alphabetical Slaughter" over Nas' "One Mic" instrumental. Based on the past few freestyle videos that I've heard from Pap, I think his upcoming album, "The Nacirema Dream" will join my solid collection of hip-hop albums. Check it.

"Rage is Back" [NY State of Mind Freestyle] by Black Thought ft. J. Period

"Righteous hustlin', trife corruption/ Look how these OG's with the mics is musclin'/
I fight for justice but minus the red cape/ Dollar short, year late, suckers is scared straight/
They know I'm hotter than the box where the bread's baked/
And brought J Period to cut through the red tape/"

Damn. This track is crazy. If there were ever a rapper that could embody our title, "Eternal Cadence"... it'd probably be Black Thought. This guy's been rapping for a long time, and he's isn't slowing down by any means. I own a Roots album from 1996. Even on that album he was spittin' some pretty crazy shit for that time. Now in 2013, (the year of the Roots' debut album's 20th anniversary) he's still killin shit. Borrowing the classic instrumental from Nas, Black Thought blesses the mic with almost 3 minutes of raw lyricism and delivery. The verse itself can't really be described.. you're just gonna have to listen. Enjoy.

"Cherry Wine" by Nas ft. Amy Winehouse

"She done been there and heard all the rumours before/

She love art, she ride out with me on my music tour/

She like the herbs, natural medicine, she cookin' good/

She tell me everything is cool when it ain't lookin' good/"

Once again, Nas proves why he's legendary. I haven't heard many songs off his new album, but the two or three that I have heard are fucking sick. I really like this track, and the Amy Winehouse chorus made the vibe of it feel so sick. Reminds me of some shit The Roots would've made. But Nas describes his dream woman with perfect rhythm and rhyme. The classy video also adds to the effect of the song. Dope shit!

"Daughters" by Nas

"This morning I gotta call that nearly split my wig/

The social network said "Nas, go and get your kid"/

She's on Twitter, I know she ain't gon' post no pic/

Of herself underdressed, no inappropriate shit/"

Nas is one of those old school emcees that managed to stay fresh throughout a great portion of his career. He's definitely one of the best emcees to ever touch the mic. I can't relate to this track, because I don't have a daughter, or any kids, and probably won't for a long time. If I even have any. But I thought that this song was a cool idea and a sincere piece of music. Can't recall any other song dedicated to daughters at all, so it's a first for me to hear a song regarding this topic. It's unique and has a cool video to go along with it. Open ya Earz!

"Regeneration Remix" by Apathy & Nas

"I'm an abomination, an atom bomb, my verse is atomic/

Approaching the planet with power of a hurdling comet/

My words are demonic, I'll make the pope convert to Islamic/

Converse with the prophet, and tell the planet Earth that I'll drop it/"

Lately I've been starting to tune into the AOTP movement and a bunch of the affiliates. So today I was looking at Apathy's official YouTube page and I found this track. I think it's from an album that DJ Premier is featured in, but I'm not completely sure. It's an odd, but interesting collaboration of artists for one track, but it's sick. I really like the beat and both Nas and Apathy kill their verses. Check this shit out!

Video Trailer: Something From Nothing

  It's been a while since I've seen a movie preview that made me wanna go to the theatre. That's until this morning when I found a preview for a hip-hop documentary directed and hosted by Ice-T. The film is called "Something From Nothing: The Art of Rap" and seems to have many different guest speakers who have made an impact on hip-hop. Check out this trailer, it seems like a pretty cool film!

Also featured @ Future of Rap Music

NY State of Mind by Nas (SXSW2012 Performance)

 Now this is what hip hop's all about. You don't need all your homies up on the stage to make yourself feel important. All you need is a mic, a beat and one good hypeman to help you get some oxygen into your lungs. If that hypeman happens to be legendary DJ Premier, you got one hell of a performance. I was actually really impressed by his hypeman skills haha. Not just that, but the whole performance was pretty dope. This song is still as fresh as it was when Illmatic was released in 1994. Open Ya Earz!