Over a serene "The New Birth - Echoes on My Mind" sample-base, Nas & Swizz Beatz usher a toast to the grittier New York City they grew up in, back before Rudy ran his street sweep from dusk 'til dawn in the 90s. Nas was running game in the Queensbridge housing projects overlooking the East River while Swizz Beatz was coming up in the Boogie Bronx, on the other side of town. Only a native New Yorker can spot the difference between the two boroughs, on a level of human behavior. And yet, Nas & Swizz Beatz' depictions of rough-and-tumble New York are remarkably similar.
"Echo" foreshadows Swizz Beatz' future endeavors with Nas, works that are said to be well past the production phase. When POISON dropped this past week, Nasir was among the first of Swizz' peers to congratulate him for his effort, calling him a "genius" and POISON "a (complete) masterpiece." How does a Swizz Beatz-produced Nas album sound to you, comment below?
Quotable Lyrics:
Throwin' piss out the window at police
Chasin' n****s with warrants
There was never no peace
Judy's ass was enormous
I was fresh indeed, think about her sexually
Knew a bunch of Radio Raheems, rest in peace.
-Nas