BILLY X. SUNDAY reviews the album release party from the sidewalk outside of the club.
The album release party for NaS’ latest CD reminded me of NYC years past, when spots like NV, The Tunnel and the Red Zone were packed to capacity. Chicks would be wearing their highest heels and dudes would be rocking their crispiest I.T.’s. NaS’ parties were always some ghetto fabulous shit. Just like Biggie’s and Jay’s and Puffy’s events, but NaS’ joints would be more filled with regular people looking their best, not just dressed up entertainment industry people.
Last night was one of those events where a chickenhead becomes cordon bleu and a duckmouth turns into foie gras, but only for a night. Tomorrow everyone becomes themselves again. I love sidewalk pimping at these events. Frankly, I think you are losing by going inside the club unless there is an open bar, and even then who needs that if you brought your own booze, which I did. I’ve spent the last twenty five years of my life getting into some ridiculous parties and standing outside of some banana head joints. At the end of the day I have a good time since I bring my own fun.
Women are getting sluttier now that I am getting older. Even though we are in a recession there seems to be no shortage of groupies at the high profile events. At the live rap show I went to the other night there were ladies all around but they weren’t heavily made up and most of them had on sneakers. At the NaS party I thought I was peeping Kelis clones all around me. The difference between NaS and Kelis, and say Jay and BeYonce, or even J.D. and Janet is that NaS and Kelis are accessible. That and the fact that NaS actually HAS sex with Kelis as opposed to simply being photographed in her vicinity.
The question of whether NaS album is any good has already been answered. He won’t outsell Wayne but he will have a modest sales total by the end of the summer. At the end of the day one good NaS track pwns Lil’ Wayne’s entire catalog. Most other rapper’s catalog for that matter. I haven’t been that impressed with the album tracks that I have heard while the Nigger mixtape was exciting and filled with potential. NaS is such an enigma as a recoding artist. He is clearly a genius on several levels, but then he becomes an idiot savant during interviews.
If Tupac were concerned more about being a provacative lyricist than simply being provacative he would have been NaS. There aren’t too many rappers left that can express all the facets of the ghetto experience. Not just our desire to have luxury, but the humanity that the most enlightened ghetto dwellers seek to achieve. How to be one with the planet and one with yourself was stripped from the Native Americans via systemic genocide and it was removed from the Africans that arrived in the Americas via the whip and those who cracked it, white and Black. My father told me that there were some Blacks that couldn’t wait to get their hands on the whip. They would be the most forceful crackers of all time.
We still have Blacks that can’t wait to get their hands on the whip. Testify to the killers of Sean Bell. We still have Blacks that can’t wait to get their hands on a new whip, because the ’07 joints are a year old now. I know I was talking about that NaS album release party that I couldn’t get into and I know I should be talking about his new album, but I am still drunk from all the rum that I snuck into the premiere of The Dark Knight. Yooooooooo, that was some hardbody shit. Definitely go see that shit like right now. It’s 3am party people, do you know where your children are?
Something told me to call you last night to see what was on the radar…
I think you nailed it about Nas (and Kelis) being very accessible people. I got to chop it up with Nasty Nasir this past weekend, and not for nothing what I was so impressed about him other than being one of the coolest dudes I’ve ever met, he was there DOLO. No entourage, no weedcarriers, just Mr. Jones. When Fisty wants Starbucks he makes his million dollar security detail clear out the place just to get an effin’ latte. (This is a true story, from a gal I work with who’s from Farmington – they hate his nigger ass, when Tyson is considered the better resident you got problems!). Anyway props to Nas, thanks for another album and Dallas we need to hit the social circuit again soon… I’ll even spot you the LIRR ticket home if need be.
http://mightyhealthynyc.com/images/events/NJ.jpg
That track that Jay Electronica produced (Queens Get The Money) was great. Overall, I like it. The content is really good, but some of the beats are just so-so. It’s like a Thanksgiving where the turkey is banging but the sides are kinda meh.
D-
Get at when you can! We need to get up…and bring out the Ambush!
Damn, at least he can still bring out the women, with his married ass. I’m guessing that they had free drinks for females. That always works.
I’m going to go ahead and predict that the album is going to be dope.
Co-sign on The Dark Knight and a big THANK YOU for the hook up. Combat Jack Dark Knight review soon dropping!
@40
Speaking of Nas being a down to earth dude, I can say the same for the Mighty Midgety Mos Def, this happened at the Rock The Bells concert in Atlanta, during ironically Nas’ set.
Mos was standing solo in the aisle-type pathway behind the front main section of seating & the back main section of seating, trying to watch the Nas. That happened to be a few meters away from my seat, and the girl 2 seats over noticed it randomly “yo is that Mos”. It seems like stans kept interrupting Mos constantly, so dude prali didn’t really get to actually see much of the Nas set.
BTW Nas forgot his verse twice, *smh*. Too bad the GOAT rapper Black Thought wasn’t there to help him out, BT = biological OHHLA/Wikipedia of rap lyrics.
Daaaaamn! I was supposed to go but I stayed home instead. My whole day was “fun” filled… My boys went and said the line was bananas and he wasn’t even there if he was it was for 2 seconds.
Chicks were wack, dudes were wack… And I’m glad I stayed home. This was my fault. I had access to tix to see his show too but again… The “fun” filled hoopla
My bad dallas lmao… Nas was @ goldbar with kelis anyway. You shoulda went there. Heard it was poppin.
Yo, I predicted 200k sales on the BXS XXL blog.
And I’ll be damned if I’m not looking smart…
http://www.sohh.com/2008/07/nas-set-to-stea.html#more
Marvelous,
I know you only come out when your man Young Lip Gloss is buying the drinks. I ain’t mad at’cha, and yes I am old as shit. You could be my daughter, and that makes me very wrong for the things I do when I look at your MySpace albums
Underwriter,
I see you on the X blog cousin. I will holler at the kid when I am in the A at the end of the month. On NaS… I think his albums sales were bolstered by the mixtape that was released. It certainly buzzed me to hear some real rap music.
40,
The reason I don’t try to hang with you too hard is because you are my barometer for when I know shit is madd exclusy. If I see you at the spot I know it’s on some mega-star shiite. I been reppin’ my Mighty Healthy tees lately too.
Combat Jack,
It was nothing homey, happy belated born day. You remind me that I need to get my ass to Forbidden Planet and step my trades game way up.
Oh shit y’all, that is my nigga Polotron in the mix! Hail Meg all day every day.
Eff you Dallas!
BTW I got a fitted for you.
lmao dallas i hate you for that comment. im mad you still call him young lip gloss (CJ you too, right?). he’s cool man, but thats not the only time i step out the door! but he does feed my alocholism though.
anywho, D you don’t holla at ya “dark butts” anyway. i thought we were here [*doing the martin*] since the roots event!
off topic:
Oh shit, shorty in the red military top is my homegirl too. aka “young booty clap” aka “young buffy.”
Ooooooh shiit..It’s that dude Polotron!
Whats good, its that kid L! (Lloyd)
lyrics on Queens Get The Money > everything that came out in 2008