Tag Archives: 1973 in Long Island

You start with his basic debut, Illmatic (1994), Nas stood tall for a long time as you of NY City’s leading rap voices, outspokenly expressing a righteous, self-empowered swagger that endeared him to critics and hip-hop purists. Whether proclaiming himself “Nasty Nas” or “Nas Escobar” or “Nastradamus” or “God’s Child,” …

As an underappreciated cult artist, Esham’s harsh hardcore rap thrived within this hometown of Detroit, Michigan, for a long time before an ensemble of artists with an identical design began crossing over in to the mainstream in the later ’90s. A long time before rock and roll serves such as …