Cocaine 80s – Queen To Be
The Cocaine 80′s collective returns with a quick fix for the masses. No, it does not sample the memorable scene from Coming To America but Faunterloy kills it.
Hopefully, we’ll hear more new music from the 80′s soon.
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Nas – Daughters [Prod. by No I.D.]
No I.D. on the track, let the story begin.
Power 105.’s DJ Prostyle just debuted Nas’ latest single, featuring production from the Windy’s own Dion. This is too nice.
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RR.
Pic: No I.D. x Big Sean x Common x Young Chop In The Studio
The all-star, high-powered Easter weekend studio sessions continue. This one happened to take place on the left coast, as the youngest in charge, Young Chop, joined Beats by Dion, Com Sense and Big Sean in the studio. My guess is that they’re working on the new Big Sean album. The good news continues for the rising producer, as these cosigns are about as good as it gets. Looking forward to hearing the outcome.
Video: No I.D. & The Legendary Traxster To Produce Entire Mikkey Halsted Album
Well, it looks like the cat is out of the bag. Mikkey Halsted has uprooted and moved out to LA to finish his upcoming album, The Force, which is entirely produced by No I.D. and The Legendary Traxster. Monumental to say the least.
If you know No I.D. and Traxster’s history, then you know these two are highly regarded as the Godfather’s of Chicago hip-hop. No I.D. repping the Southside, with Trax crafting the sound of the Westside. Over the past few years, the production duo has come together to craft smashes for Big Sean and Twista; and now it’s time join forces to produce for one artist–and luckily that artist is Chicago’s own Mikkey Halsted.
Here, No I.D., Traxster and Mikkey discuss the project, and give us some insight as to how it all came together. No word on what label this project will be released on, but best believe there will be a big announcement soon.
The stuff you hear playing in the background? Forget about it. Serious. Most anticipated album of 2012?
No I.D. Tells All: The Stories Behind His Classic Records
I recently penned this piece for Complex, and it was absolutely one of my favorite and most memorable of my career. I spoke with No I.D. for close to two hours about the highlights of his catalog, and he gave me the skinny on everything. It was a great experience and a must read for any hip-hop head. He goes deep.
Regarding Jay-Z’s “D.O.A.”
No I.D.: “That’s a pretty known story. We were working in Hawaii and we got into a big argument about the direction of Jay’s album. I wanted it to sound one way, and Jay another. So we started arguing back and forth, and then a Soulja Boy song came on where he was using Auto-Tune and Jay’s facial expression just turned to ‘What?’
We got into a big argument about the direction of Jay’s album. I wanted it to sound one way, and Jay another. Then a Soulja Boy song came on where he was using Auto-Tune and Jay’s facial expression just turned to ‘What?’
“I had that idea, and I pulled up the track. Jay liked it and knew exactly what to do, I could tell something serious was going through his head.
“So early the next morning Young Guru calls me super early and is like ‘Yo, get over here right now, you’ve gotta hear this.’ And I’m like ‘Cool. I’m about to go play basketball and then I’ll be through. I know it’s crazy, it’s Jay, but I’ll be there later.’ and Guru was like ‘No, you don’t understand. Come right now.’ So I went right over there and I heard just how crazy it was. But my first reaction was ‘I hope Kanye don’t get mad.’ [Laughs].
“So Jay looks at me and says ‘You’re overreacting. You don’t know what this is?’ I was like ‘Yeah, but…’ and then he says ‘Ye told me to do it.’ Then Kanye came in and said ‘Damn Jay, you went too far!’ and I stopped him and said ‘You’ve gotta put that on the record!’ And that’s how it all came together.
“I hopped on a plane to leave Hawaii and while I was in the air, Funkmaster Flex premiered it on Hot 97—ran it back, dropped bombs on it and everything. I came off the plane to so many texts and emails. That was one of my favorite hip-hop moments I’ve been involved in in my life. It was priceless.
I heard just how crazy it was. But my first reaction was ‘I hope Kanye don’t get mad.’
“Jay later called me to congratulate me on my Grammy. What a lot of people don’t know is that even if you win certain categories, you don’t get a physical Grammy. Only ‘Run This Town’ won me a physical Grammy even though both records won. But Jay said this one was more important because it wasn’t a real single—it wasn’t commercial record with a hook. It was a hard record. It was an accomplishment.”
Check out the full piece here.
Common – The Dreamer, The Believer: The Samples
You knew it was coming.
Com’s The Dreamer, The Believer hits stores December 20th, so make sure you pick up a few copies. It’s definitely worth it. Hit the jump to stream some of the tracks No I.D. used to craft Com’s latest joints.
Kanye West, No I.D., The Lengendary Traxster Make Billboard Top Producers Chart
Congrats to Traxster, Kanye West and No I.D., who’ve all made the Billboard Top Producer list for the second year in a row. Billboard just released their list with all three Chicago producers falling in the top 25. Here’s to 2012.
Common – The Dreamer, The Believer [Tracklist]
Courtesy of the man behind the boards, No I.D.
The Dreamer, The Believer hits stores December 20th.
Common – Sweet
Ain’t nothin’ sweet about this here–this one is mean and vicious. Com’s got the gloves off.
Dion and Rashid get back to that 87th Street essence. This is the one we’ve all been waiting for. Rudy poo candy asses need not apply.
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Update: No tags, but clean.
Feature: The Making Of Common’s Resurrection
I penned this piece alongside Insanul Ahmed and Keenan Higgins. for Complex. Collectively, we spoke with Common, No I.D., The Twilite Tone, Derek Dudley, Peter Kang and Lonnie “Pops” Lynn about the classic that is Common’s Resurrection.
Com’s seminal sophomore set dropped 17 years ago this past Tuesday (10/25/11), so it’s only right that we spoke to the major players, no?
In 1994, the artist formerly known as Common Sense was at a crossroads in his career. He was fighting for a spot in the unforgiving hip-hop industry, and it was hardly an ideal time to be a rapper from the Midwest.
Two years had passed since his overlooked debut, Can I Borrow A Dollar?, which largely fell on deaf ears. While the album spawned three solid singles (and garnered significant airplay on BET and MTV), it failed to catapult Lonnie Rashid Lynn, Jr. onto hip-hop’s A-List.
It wasn’t easy to make a splash in a flooded market that now reads like who’s who of hip-hop history. The 1994 freshman class included classic debuts from Nas, The Notorious B.I.G., Outkast, and Method Man.
So Common went back to the drawing board and returned with Chicago’s answer to Nas’s Illmatic, the soulful and lyrically advanced Resurrection. Instead of high-profile producers like Pete Rock, DJ Premier, or Q-Tip, Resurrection featured beats (and rhymes) from two relatively unknown Windy City upstarts: No I.D. and Ynot. Their goal: to put Chicago—a city better known for house than hip-hop—on the map.
Common, No I.D. and Ynot refined the sound they’d created on Can I Borrow A Dollar? (back when No I.D. was known as Immenslope, and Ynot was Twilite Tone), taking tricks they’d learned from their Relativity labelmates The Beatnuts and giving them their own Chicago flair.
Common’s sound matured, at age 22 he returned with a deeper voice, and moved away from the TV jingles and pop-culture references on which he’d relied so much before. Resurrection found Common Sense tackling complex concepts and addressing socially conscious issues. He came of age with a new look on life, Chicago, and the music business.
Although Resurrection didn’t sell big—it moved 2,000 copies in its first week, and debuted at No. 179 on the Billboard 200—it did spawn the seminal single “I Used To Love H.E.R.,” which remains one of hip-hop’s most revered and oft-duplicated records. The album was lauded by critics, and considered a classic among hip-hop aficionados and fans alike, some even considering this to be Common’s best work.
Common’s ascension to hip-hop’s elite class now finds him not only a rapper but also a best-selling author and a leading man in Hollywood. The same can be said for No I.D. who has produced hits for the likes of Kanye West, Jay-Z, and Drake, and now sits behind the desk as Executive Vice President of Def Jam.
With this week marking the 17th anniversary of this classic album dropping, we decided to stage a resurrection of our own and talk to those who contributed to Common’s seminal sophomore set. As you can see, we still love H.E.R….
