Tag Archives: Nas

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Song of the Day #3,083: ‘Wrote My Way Out’ – Hamilton Mixtape

hamilton_mixtapeBack in May, I spent two weeks featuring songs from Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton in advance of my family’s trip to see the celebrated musical on Broadway. That was just as the show was transforming from mega-hit to full-on phenomenon, before the Tony and Pulitzer wins, before the (shudder) future president called it overrated.

Now we have the Hamilton Mixtape, a collection of songs from and inspired by the musical performed by popular artists. Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda initially conceived of the project as a mixtape, so in a sense this album is as much a prequel as an accessory. This week I’ll feature five of its songs.

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Song of the Day #1,883: ‘One Mic’ – Nas

nas_stillmaticHere’s my final Nas track of the week (and probably on the blog, period, given how unimpressed I’ve been with his work). Like yesterday’s SOTD, this one comes from his Stillmatic LP.

I haven’t listened to it yet, but I’ve read that it features a sample of Phil Collins’ ‘In the Air Tonight,’ which is promising. Funny how a great sample can make a song work in an entirely new way. Think of the way Dido’s ‘Thank You’ goes from a sweet bauble to something ominous and sad in Eminem’s ‘Stan.’

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Song of the Day #1,882: ‘Ether’ – Nas

nas_stillmaticJumping ahead five years to 2001, we arrive at the Nas album Stillmatic and the song ‘Ether,’ a take-down of our old friend Jay-Z.

Nas’s previous two albums had been poorly received, so Stillmatic was a comeback record, its title calling back to his celebrated debut. This track was a response to a cut on Jay-Z’s album The Blueprint in which he dismissed Nas as an also-ran.

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Song of the Day #1,881: ‘If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)’ – Nas

nas_it_was_writtenNas’s sophomore album, It Was Written, is described by Wikipedia as more “polished” and “mainstream” than its predecessor.

Those might sound like bad words to most indie or rap music fans, but I see it as a sign of hope. Polish is exactly what the first two songs I featured this week were lacking.

Today’s track is a duet with Lauryn Hill, another fact that has me excited. The song was recorded in 1994, when Hill was starting out with The Fugees, three years before her acclaimed Miseducation.

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