Nas & Will.I.Am (more songs coming)

[complexity]

"Somebody is brilliant behind Black Eyed Peas, but you don't know who it is", Nas says, recalling his impressions of the pop powerhouse. "I had an idea it was will, but I didn't know him on a personal level." The two connected in 2006, as the 33-year old Queens MC was tracking his Def Jam debut, a pivotal album in his career. While Nas had planned on building more with tested collaborators like DJ Premier, he found wills creative process refreshing. "There's no politics involved, no talking, no ego, no bullsh*t. He just wants to make music and he does it so fast. If I was a producer, that's the way I would want to produce," he says, adding "When I start to program and do the whole thing, that's the way I want to produce."

To jumpstart their collaboration, will was inspired by 70s funk rock crew The Incredible Bong Band while on tour in Mexico. "This Mexican dude was playing this song called 'In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida.' I was like, Who's That? I Love that loop." Upon returning to his hotel, will made the Iron Butterfly cover into a beat on his M-Box. "I went back to the States and put the hook on it---'Hip-Hop is dead/It died this morning.' I said, I'm gonna play this for Nas." The lead single and concept behind God Son's latest album, Hip-Hop Is Dead, was born.


While the Incredible Bongo Band sample had been used before (on the Salaam Remi produced first single from Nas' previous album Street's Disciple), both agreed it still felt right. "First I was like, 'Damn, that's dope, but I used that before," Nas says. "I was thinking about what Salaam was going to think. I thought it was kinda showing love to Thief's Theme', but will was like 'Naah, I haven't heard 'Thiefs Theme.' This is what I felt at that moment."


For will, the sudden re-use of "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" by the same artist only enhances the overall point. "The fact Nas recycled his own joint is metaphorically what Hip-Hop is Dead' means. Nobody is re-inventing things," he bemoans. "Whenever somebody tries to push the boundary on what hip-hop can mean to the whole world, you got somebody like, "That aint hip-hop n*gga. Where the n*ggas gold fronts?"


While working with Nas, will kept the studio setup simple. "Pro Tools, that's it," he says. "Pro Tools and a piano and Moog and a real drum kit." While Nas wrote and laid vocals in one room, will would be making the beat and hook for a different song in another. The chemistry resulted in two other tracks for the album; "Who Killed It?" and the second single, "Can't Forget About You." "I always wanted to work with Nas, you know," says will. "That's one that I'm holding real dear to me." In all, he and Mr. Jones made 11 songs together, five of which Nas is saving for the follow-up to Hip-Hop Is Dead. In fact, Nas says he's seriously considering tapping will to produce the entire album, which could be released this year.


"The other day, I was listening to the songs that didn't make the record," will reveals. "I was like, 'Nas, these five songs that didn't make the record, after you listen to them, they're squashing the ones you put out. He says, 'I know, my n*gga, I did that on purpose because I want to put out another album right away. I want to already have joints that are hot.' There's one we have called "The Whole World Is Ghetto.' I sampled real fire engines, police cars and made the beat out of it. The horns aint real horns---I used two different fire engines."

-new scratch wit william, game & nas on the cover

[drunken jesus]

can't forget about you was dope all the other joints were ass though, will i am is about as good at producing as he is at rapping