Swizz Beatz released his “Poison” album today, dope album. A lot of music came out today so we would like to take the time out to single out a particular song from this album, a song that can easily be one of the best Hip-Hop songs of 2018.
Swizz has his style of production, with that style most people don’t push that to be the best fit for a lyricist like Nas. Swizz’s production is more energy driven. So when you see that Nas appears on the “Poison” album the excitement is different than it would be for say a Premier or Large Professor or even Pete Rock project. But Swizz knocks this one out the park.
To suit one of Hip-Hop’s greatest lyricist ever Swizz taps into the zones that has earned Nas that crown on his song “Echo”. Starting off with the Jazzy bass line from Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers’ 1973 tune “A Chant for Bu” (shoutout to Q-Tip) and carrying on that airy feel throughout Nas reflects back on his upbringing.
“Project nights, no project lights Hopin’ a friend don’t try to rob my mom at night. She work hard to bring it to the table channel U before we had cable. Campbell’s soup before I had sushi Viker shoe before I had the Gucci 40deuce for the karate movie out of sync mouth movin’ movie”
Nas also reminds of that he is the narrator from many of the voiceless with “True story, my youngins, I’m a deadly thuggish Fredly Douglas. Military persona, yeah, I’m livin’ with honor. To my niggas who servin’ 40 while I’m in my 40s I’m a walkin’ observatory, a murder story since a shorty”
Nas even gets philosophical:
“A dollar stay in the hood 18 hours
In white hoods it stays for days, why it never stay up in ours?
I’m talkin’ that black power, talkin’ that white power
I’m talkin’ that Latin power, we gotta go for ours
United, yeah, I’m talking United
States of America now at war with the ISIS
Isis a Goddess out in Egypt, look how they got us
Damn, damn, God, look how they got us
Isis ain’t even the original name of the black Goddess
They all twisted it up, now it’s a name of some group
Deadly motherfuckers”
Take a listen.
