In 1991, he made his recording debut on Organized Konfusion's "Fudge Pudge",. Nas Koubouras is an athlete for the Hollywood United F.C. Due to music’s unique temporal nature (that is, the fact that what we hear in the present is able to re-interpret what we’ve already heard before while at the same time anticipating what is to come), when we hear this displacement of the phrase again in bar 14, “freaks styles…andre”, it re-characterizes how we heard it the first time around (in bar 13, “my mind spray, my nine spray”). He built a reputation as an expressive chronicler of inner-city street life, notably on his iconic debut album, Illmatic, and the later Stillmatic. Right off the bat, Nas utilizes a certain type of accent that we saw in the Eminem analysis: assonance. The hip-hop community constantly debates about who’s the hottest rapper -- and now Nas weighs in with a current list of his own. For most of his early life, ‘Nasty Nas’ was a nobody. For instance, Nas begins to use a phrase (the notes from “pardon Dre…” to “catchy”) at bar 4, which does not submit to the “tyranny of 4” rule (which, if it were to submit to it, would have the phrase placed at bar 5, which divides the 16 bars structurally by 4.) He has released two EPs, I'm Free (2012), and a self-titled EP in 2014 with Capitol CMG. That is, the repetition of a vowel sound will cause a certain note/word to stick out in the listener’s ear. And also let’s remember that all of this occurs in no more than 16 bars, or about 40 seconds. ), The next level of accent is what I have termed the “poetic” level of accent. This is formerly what I’ve referred to as the accent of the rhyme (or the rhyming accent, etc.) The Now Now, Godïus R.ichard Oasis & Cartier Jones Interview, Pharoahe Monch Interview – Rap Music Analysis, Rap Music Analysis Interview – Paul Edwards, Dr. Dre – “How We Do” Beat Rap Sheet Music, Jay-Z – Empire State of Mind Rap Sheet Music, Rap Music Transcription – Rock, From Heltah Skeltah, Ludacris/Nicki Minaj – My Chick Bad Rap Sheet Music, Dr. Dre/Time Bomb – LA Niggaz – Rap Sheet Music, Fugees – Ready Or Not Rap Musical Transcription Sheet Music, Kurtis Blow – “Rappin’ Blow” Musical Transcription, Kendrick Lamar – Backseat Freestyle Sheet Music, Eminem – Drop The Bomb On ‘Em Sheet Music, MC Mr. Napkins “The Aggressive Bee” Rap Sheet Music, Kendrick Lamar, “For Free? (Accent can of course first be defined as emphasis on a musical note.) Thanks! Let’s look at another element of Nas’ undermining of the tyranny of 4 in his treatment of the first beat of the bar. Also, I’ve reflected the verbal accent of words in the notation below by capitalizing the letters in the syllable that is accented whenever the verbal accent is displaced from the metrical accent.) 1 draft pick, Nas. Also, the verbal accent of “catchy” (CA-tchy) does not line up with the metrical accent. NAS is listed in the World's largest and most authoritative dictionary database of abbreviations and acronyms The Free Dictionary Nas does it again in the next beat, when he says “MAR – tyr.” To align the verbal accent of the word with the metrical accent of the bar he would have had to have said “mar – TYR.” Now, pronounce that to yourself. That's a technical musical term, and basically means that the music has no small repeating elements, like you astutely point out: >it seems like it would be difficult to perform live. The definition of MC is masters of Ceremonies, or as Rakim says, move the crowd. And if you did, you might like this other one I did here, which is all about which rappers are the most repetitive…Yes, you’re right, both Lil Jon and will.i.am ARE on it! 8 years ago Was Nas actually a gang member or did he make that stuff up? U.S. Social Security Administration: Popular Baby Names, Death Master File (public domain). What is NAS? This time we’ll be looking at Nas’ 2nd (and only) verse on one of his most recent collaborations with Dr. Dre, “Don’t Get Carried Away,” although the track comes from a Busta Rhymes album. Next, Nas begins his first extended poetic grouping: harder / smarter / martyr. A NAS system is a storage device connected to a network that allows storage and retrieval of data from a centralized location for authorized network users and heterogeneous clients. Would love to see any write ups on eLZhi, Black Thought, or Aceyalone. His rise to fame came with the release of his first album, Illmatic, which was released in 1994. It depends on what the MC is goin for. Nas was given the name Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones on September 14th, 1973 in Brooklyn. Thank you very much for keep this information. That’s what good music notation will do. He was heavily involved in rapping throughout underground New York but outside of those small circles, no one knew of him. His most notable accomplishments were from 1991 to present. 4. It is also recommended that you read food labels and do not consume any foods that contain more than 250 to 300 milligrams of sodium per serving. People with the last name Nas are most frequently White, Asian, Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander, or Hispanic or Latino. Lucid and thoroughly enjoyable. Rap Music Analysis #8 – Common, “I Used To Love H.E.R.”, Rap Music Analysis – Eminem, “The Rap God”, #12 Rap Music Analysis – Big Sean’s Signature Flow, Rapper’s Flow Encyclopedia – Ludacris And Old School Rap, Rap Analysis #13 – How To Make a Pitbull Song, Gorillaz Analysis: Humanz vs. Sometimes I write to the notes, sometimes I ignore them. For instance, how many beats does Game’s phrase last? Looking for online definition of NAS or what NAS stands for? Rapper’s Advice To New Rappers, #19: “Worldwide Family All Over The Earth” (w/ Rakaa Iriscience), #18: “Stay Rich Within My Cipher” (w/ Shawn Setaro), #17: “No Quantize” (w/ Sarah, The !llstrumentalist), #16: “It Takes a Nation of Millions” (Black Panther Soundtrack and Movie Review), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXNWNMxAKLk. This metrical level of accent is the accent that the music’s time signature gives to the bar. Observe: end of bar 4, “to wakin UP my throat scratchy”- he doesn’t start a new idea on beat 1. Thanks man! Each 2/8, 3/8, 6/16 time signature grouping (there are 2) really just adds up to one bar of 4/4 (2 8th notes = 4 sixteenth notes, 3 8th notes = 6 sixteenth notes, add those 10 to the 6 sixteenth notes of the 6/16 bar and you get… 16 sixteenth notes, exactly equal to one bar of 4/4.) If you email me at [email protected] I'll get back to you with a reply for sure. Observe even how Eminem’s 1 bar phrase in “Business” is constructed: half a bar of strong syncopation matched only by a half bar of strong, on-beat, motor-like rhythm. A note should also be mentioned here as to some of the reasons for why I’ve chosen to accent certain notes in the verse that aren’t yet accurately reflected in my notation of the verse. ANTHM is very good too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXNWNMxAKLk. (And during all of this, at the poetic level of accent – rhymes, assonance, and other types that we will identify – all of the words are rhyming: harder, smarter, martyr.) In bars 10 and 11, he fits one poetic grouping inside another poetic grouping – “tyrant” matches up with “climbed it” on each bars beat 4, but while that occurs, Nas fits the poetic accent grouping of “terrorist, everest” inside it. sham idrees nayab, You're wlecome! I’ve taken multiple years of music theory analysis classes and I’m still grasping to get at some of the things he’s doing. And that’s what Nas does. 2 (which is half of the 4 beats in a musical bar). (Interlude)” Sheet Music Transcription & Notation, Kendrick Lamar – good kid, m.A.A.d. When following a no-added-salt diet, most of your diet should consist of whole, fresh foods, like fruits and vegetables. Meaning of NÁŠ. 1. One of the greatest of our time. So, in order, above, there are 2 8th notes, and then 3 8th notes, and now we get to 6/16, and why I’ve notated it as 6/16 and not 3/8. Survey: Which of the following lists would you find most interesting? Wouldn’t it be refreshing if a rapper didn’t abide by these rules? “Just to get to” is an example of a full beat of pick-up notes in the Eminem analysis we just saw; they’re the very first words he says.) Mehmet was born on November 20th, 1979 in Kelkit. So although Eminem varies the accent in his phrase, every time (except two of them) does he place the rhyme any place other than in the metrical places in the notes of the prototype phrase we identified above. And the fact that he’s able to do this makes him an unqualified musical genius, no matter the arena of music (popular, classical, etc.) There are TONS of words that have an “ee” sound. Curious about what you think! (You can check for yourself the rest of the accents of these words at dictionary.com if you so desire. Rap Music Analysis #7 – The Jeanius of Ms. Jean Grae. It contains two of my all-time favorite moments in rap music. If you’re still a little lost, I suggest wiki’ing time signatures. Sorry so much for the late reply; don't know how I missed this. A new idea always begins on beat 1 when the phrase is repeated. It might be difficult for you or me, but not for Nas, haha. There is no repeating of a musical idea lasting a multiple of 4 beats in a phrase repeated another multiple-of-4 number of times. Notice that this displacement of the phrase by a single sixteenth note radically transforms the rhythmic function of each note in the phrase. Bars 10 through 12 are united in the repetition of a bar long phrase, unified by the poetic groupings on 2 eighth notes taking up beat 4 (I feel like there is not enough information here to make a prototype phrase.) 2. How many bars are structures of a pop music almost always (99% of the time probably)? https://www.rapanalysis.com/2015/04/how-to-appreciate-rap-music-3-is-nas That is why I couldn’t notate the 6/16 bar in 3/8: I would have had to break up the beat when notating it in 3/8, like so: This notation is awkward because half of our main rhythmic information (the note of “spray”, as the “it” is really just a pick-up note to the next bar) doesn’t land on the beat, and a full beat is awkwardly tied over. Your email address will not be published. This greatly separates each bar from the next. Find out below. Fuck rappers who get on stage with 15 of their homeboys, stand in one spot for the whole and rap … Finally, we should add that Nas doesn’t end the verse anticlimactically or anything either. And, of course, there is the contrast between Game’s 2nd sixteenth note hit and his on the beat hit. Again, we never saw this kind of thing from Eminem and Game, who would have changed the verbal accent of the word to align with the metrical verbal accent: smar – TER, mar – TYR, which would have been very awkward. That is the accent of how people say certain words. Hope you enjoyed this rap music analysis! Nas, American rapper and songwriter who became a dominant voice in 1990s East Coast hip-hop. It … Now, all of Game’s and Eminem’s adherence to the number 4 when creating structure in their verses puts a ton of emphasis on beat one. But I promise, if you stick with it and work through it all (I explain it in pretty painstaking detail), it will be very, very worth it. Those different time signatures just more accurately reflect how the beat of the music is being felt. But Nas doesn’t always use phrases. It originated as a way for local talent from Queens, NY. (If you like Dr. Dre’s production style, maybe think about reading my article on his choice of instruments after his Chronic: 2001 album here.) Nas’ rhythm, however, is different. But with Nas, you don’t know where the accent is coming next and you have no idea where to expect it. Eminem and Game create the forward motion of their verse through rhythmic syncopation: they thrive on avoiding the strong downbeat, and then hitting it later on. Rhoyale’s new single Tonight is now available on Apple Music and Google Play. Exactly. Your email address will not be published. Here are Nas' greatest songs: **A quick note: towards the end of this, things get pretty complicated. A huge level of contrast is created by a strong verbal accent (SMAR – ter, MAR – tyr) being displaced from a strong metrical accent (remember, that 4th sixteenth note of a bar feels very syncopated metrically), and is so unexpected but also awesome-sounding that we finally have arrived at one of my favorite moments of rap music. For instance, the word “harder” has its accent on the first syllable: “harder” . I do my best to catch you up on it as we go along, but I explain these things more in-depth in the other articles.) I’ve changed to the term “poetic” because it is more all-inclusive for our purposes here of determining what notes are accented and which aren’t. He welcomes all comments, compliments, insults, and restaurant suggestions at [email protected]. NAS is like having a private cloud in the office. What Makes a Great Rapper – Live Shows. Javotti Media – The Cathedral Album Review, Rap Music Analysis – Prodigy and Mobb Deep, Rap Music Analysis #11 – Mos Def’s Block Rhyming, Rapper’s Flow Encyclopedia – Heltah Skeltah, Rock Rap Music Analysis. Others I balance between matching the music elements and just goin off the feel the music gives me. Lil Nas X’s name is everywhere lately, but he may be looking for a new one. Interesting to note that as a result of this, Nas has broken us out of our strict duple meter time signatures in 4/4 and 2/8 (duple means that there are 2 or some multiple thereof number of beats in a bar), into triple meter time signatures (which means that there three beats or a multiple thereof number of beats to a bar) with the 3/8. First, there is the “metrical” level of accent. This is endemic of a general different treatment of strong metrical accents by Nas throughout this whole verse. U.S. Census Bureau: Frequently Occurring Surnames from the Census 2000 (public domain). The “my” sounds like a pick-up note to the “nine”, because although “mind” (by virtue of its falling on an eighth note in between the beats of the bar) is still technically syncopated, it is much less syncopated then the sixteenth note that the “my” that comes before falls on; as a result, you have the pick-up feel from “my” to “nine.” But this is only the set-up for what is my 2nd all-time favorite moment in rap in this song. Sure! Nas Bashir is a soccer player for the Beaconsfield Town F.C., Reading F.C., Slough Town F.C., and Aylesbury United F.C. NAS devices are flexible and scale out, meaning that as you need additional storage, you can add to what you have. After this amazing moment, he continues with his through-composed style of writing, with no clear phrase structure repeated over and over. – I teach people how to rap, so if you want to learn, hit me up. city Sheet Music, Cold Crush Brothers – Fresh, Fly, Wild and Bold – Rap Music Transcription, Nas – Don’t Get Carried Away Rap Sheet Music. It’s almost as if Nas is just talking and consistently going (although Nas also does at points like Game and Eminem contrast syncopation and on-the-beat accent, see bar 4: “open windows that’s drafty to wakin’”, all of which avoids being on the beat and propels the music forward strongly). Following the competitive nature of east coast rap, one of Brooklyn's most prolific rhyme-slingers, Jay-Z, found himself in a wax war with QB's No. But what if a rapper were to purposefully displace the real verbal accent of the word (im – PA – la) so that it WASN’T right on the beat? He is one rapper who seems to have a really great live performance; he was good enough to hang with The Roots at the summer concert they do in Philly every year, when they remade the entire Illmatic album live. Some of Nas'a earlier songs like "Street Dreams" and "NY State of Mind" has him talk about carrying weapons to defend himself, dealing drugs and being chased through his apartment building by someone trying to kill him. He runs over beat 1s when he extends his phrase from the previous bar. Now, almost all of the time a rapper will always abide first by the verbal accent of the word when placing the notes in their respective places in the musical bar (from Game, 2nd bar: “chrome hy-DRAU-lics”: the capitalized syllable is on the beat and thus, it’s verbal accent matches up with the bar’s metrical accent.) Take a look at the As. Nas was born on September 12th, 1969 in Amersham, England. After the full A b b, A b b phrase grouping is done, Nas goes back to the through-composed writing style. (I strongly encourage you, if you haven’t read the Game or Eminem articles yet, to go back and read them now. Nas is a rapping, songwriter, record producer, actor, entrepreneurship, rapper, and entrepreneur. Most rap fans will tell you that Nas won the battle with "Ether," his esoteric, yet wittily ferocious response to Jay-Z's "Takeover."