Echo
Chronicle #4
“Your generation may appear hard but really a cake walk in comparison to the nasty 80’s that I wouldn’t want my seeds to have to experience.” @albeesquare87
First of all, shoutout to Swizz Beatz for delivering such a good project with his latest offering “Poison”. Now, what we should really salute him for is the “Echo” track featuring Nas. Produced by the legendary DJ Scratch, the track’s soulful sample from the song “Echoes Of My Mind” by 70’s funk and soul group The New Birth already takes you somewhere else... But boy did Nas sound like his 19 year old self from the “Illmatic” days. The storytelling is so on point, we wouldn’t be mad if he named this joint “Memory Lane part 2”. He didn’t even sound that hungry and prolific on his own album “Nasir” which was released earlier this year. “Echo” has Esco reminiscing about New York City and his own neighbourhood of Queensbridge Housing Projects during the rough days of the 1980’s.
The lyrics are so vivid, it’s like he’s painting a picture, or better yet, it’s like he sent each one of us a videotape with footage from that era. Take these bars: “ *We was Times Square pioneers, 40 deuce, 40-below boots
40 ounce brew, the true Bishop from Juice
Runnin' wild, loose, me and my 40 troops were stupid
Style, it was snorkel coats, Polo gooses, ruthless
Goons and wolves, bail-jumpers
Everybody from everywhere
They was tryin' to jump us for pumpin* “ . In case you don’t know, 40 deuce is New York slang for the world famous 42nd Street on Times Square. What is now known as one of the most attractive places for tourists was once a concrete jungle battlefield, where you had to defend yours and pray that you don’t cross paths with street crews like The Lo Lifes or The Decepticons dripped in Polo Ralph Lauren attire and Timberland boots unless you were bout it bout it! For guys from my generation who never experienced that feeling (thank God) it’s amazing how such form of art can teach you so much about places and situations you ain’t ever seen. A good MC can make you understand what he’s saying. A great MC can take your imagination to wherever or whatever he’s describing in his or her lyrics. And that’s what Nas did with this song. “ *Project nights, no project lights
Hopin' a friend don't try to rob my mom at night* “ When he said that, I felt like I was sitting by his window with him waiting on his mom to come back home safe (rest in peace Ms Ann Jones). That’s the power of music made from the soul. It’s important that I also acknowledge guys that run Instagram pages like @albeesquare87 (that “Echo” sample really sounds like the ghosts of Nueva York that he mentions on some of his posts) and @meccapolis who through their thorough photography archives of the Rotten Apple in the 80’s and without glorifying street activities let us know who was who and what was what back in the days. They make an incredible job on helping us understand who were some of these important street personalities that most of our favourite rappers talk about in their songs since the beginning of their careers, guys that had real power behind the scenes, some are locked away for life, some are deceased, others are still out here holding it down but they all played a major role on shaping this culture of ours. Nasir is in his 40’s, but if he still managed to write a heartfelt ode to those days, there is no doubt about how intense New York was during that decade.
If @albeesquare87 and @meccapolis had a soundtrack, “Echo” should definitely make the cut.
Peace god, catch y’all next week.
“'Cause I'm livin' my dream
Shout out to all my niggas out there livin' your dream
Word up, go live” Nasir “Nas” Jones