"Yeah, niggaz smoke, laugh, party, and die in the same corner Get cash, live fast, body their man's mama Rich ass niggaz is ridin' with three llamas Revenge in their eyes, Hennesy and the ganja Word to the wise with villain state of minds Grindin', hittin' Brazilian dimes from behind..."
Hip Hop Is Dead is the eighth studio album by American rapper Nas, released December 15, 2006 on Def Jam Recordings. His first album for the label, it was co-financed by Nas's previous label, Columbia Records, which once distributed for Def Jam. The album's title was inspired by Nas's view of the music industry and the state of hip hop music at the time. The album debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, selling 355,880 copies in its first week. His third U.S. number-one album, it had sold 764,000 copies by November 2008. Upon its release, Hip Hop Is Dead received generally positive reviews from most music critics. Hip Hop Is Dead was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Album, ultimately losing to Kanye West's Graduation at the 50th Grammy Awards.
"Watch, as I combine all the juice from the mind Heel up, wheel up, bring it back, come rewind Powerful impact BOOM! from the cannon Not braggin, try to read my mind just imagine Vo-cab-u-lary's necessary When diggin into my library..."
"Scenario" is the third single from A Tribe Called Quest's second album The Low End Theory. The song features members of Leaders of the New School. Matt Cibula of PopMatters called the track hip hop's greatest posse cut. The music video features cameo appearances by Spike Lee, De La Soul, Brand Nubian, Fab 5 Freddy and Redman. A Tribe Called Quest is an American hip hop group, formed in 1985. It was composed of rapper/producer Q-Tip (Kamaal Ibn John Fareed, formerly Jonathan Davis), rapper Phife Dawg (Malik Taylor), and DJ/producer Ali Shaheed Muhammad. A fourth member, rapper Jarobi White, left the group after their first album but appears to have rejoined the group since 2006. Along with De La Soul, the group was a central part of the Native Tongues Posse, and enjoyed the most commercial success out of all the groups to emerge from that collective. Their innovative fusing of hip hop and jazz has had a lasting impact on hip hop music, helping to expand the art of hip hop production.
