Monday, April 02, 2007

Free EP: Prince Ali - I Miss 1994

Many are surprised at the degree of spirituality found in hip-hop. Islam, for the most part, swelled with devoted rappers. But it really shouldn't be too surprising considering Minister Louis Farrakhan is the leader of the Nation of Islam, and artists like Rakim and Public Enemy have been preaching loyalty since the '80s. The Islamic sect known as the 5% Nation is another popular belief system, with the Wu-Tang Clan, Poor Righteous Teachers, Brand Nubian, etc. being committed followers. It's not all about gatts and glocks, y'know?

But more to the point. I wrote a paper on spirituality in hip-hop a few months ago, and when I stumbled upon local rapper Prince Ali, I was all ears. Names are important to the 20 year old. First off, he named himself after a historic sultan, bringing in that Eastern influence. His debut EP is titled I Miss 1994, an ode to one of hip-hop's most celebrated years, a year which saw Nas release Illmatic, Jeru's The Sun Rises in the East, and Black Moon's Enta Da Stage. There's nothing that irks me more than an artist that doesn't know his history, but maybe that's just a remnant of my previous history major self. Nonetheless, Ali does know his influences, making allusions to several important rappers, including MC Shan and Toronto-DJ'ed Main Source.

Teaming up with Incise, the production is very down-tempo and poignant, perfectly matching Ali's equally heart-felt MCing. I could certainly do with some more 90s hip-hop revival (in place of post-punk revival, which I'd prefer died). Contributions from Craig G. and Kev Brown are also appreciated. It's no Guru and Premier combo, but for an obviously low-budget EP, this is a great achievement. According to his myspace, his debut LP will be released later this year, and will be titled I Miss 1993 (don't even get me started on how great 93 was!). I'll definitely be posting my thoughts on it when I manage to track down a copy, so check back then.

As mentioned, the EP is available for free download from Ali, so it's definitely worth a listen.

Free Download: Prince Ali - I Miss 1994

And if you're too lazy to download the .zip, here's my favourite from the duo:

MP3: Prince Ali & Incise - Drift (ft. Thieven & Blue)

By the way, if you're at all interested in the 5% Nation (I find it extremely interesting), give the following a skim-over, it was the main source (haw!) of my essay: Islam in the Mix: Lessons of the 5 Percent.

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hmm, very interesting

Anonymous said...

health
South Korea
psychological defense
Tomica
pregnancy
Love and marriage
keep thin
house
Twilight
Anecdote
baby
economy depression
auto
Yao Restaurant
DIY
travel
career
baby
love
wedding
health
lose weight
beauty
gardening
movie
baby
Computer
poisonous animal
baby smarter
excitation method
LAND CRUISER
Psychologist
stealth killer
kitten entertainment
hybrid dog
Marriage album
real talent
hair loss
Heidelberg
decorative fabrics
Gemini
obesity

Anonymous said...

Men's polo shirts was the shirt of choice for diverse groups of teenagers
Brightly coloured polo shirts can make you look like a Day-glo dirigible.
Wonderful!You can find the father who desire fashionable eg,uggs fashion,you can enjoy uggs online here, intellectual polo shirt simultaneouslyuggs fashionuggs online

pedro velasquez said...

Prince Ali is an Indian rapper from Toronto, sportsbook Canada. His music and rapping tends to be of an autobiographical nature.Surrounding the smooth down-tempo beat is a poetic litany of longing, anger, and urban angst. bet nfl
His EP I Miss 1994 is a nice online listening experience from a genre that has few free and legal album offerings on the internet. Thanks http://www.enterbet.com to Prince Ali for putting his music and emotions on the line.

Anonymous said...

mobile phones price and performance are a pair of contradiction.
The word "shanzhai" is very popular in China. It is industry phenomenon of imitation, high quality and low price. Moreover, cell phones are the representative of them.The global financial crisis led to a significant shrinkage of assets for people. "china wholesale" demonstrate the might. most of them would like buy the cheap cell phones now .

Unknown said...

It's hard to find a better geographically-limited record label than Sweden's Labrador. Scratch that, sportsbooklimited should never be used in the same sentence as that wonderful nation. From the Mary Onettes, to Acid House Kings, to tomorrow's best band, it's truly a wonderful music scene populated with copious amounts of twee-pop, shoegaze, and everything in between. And while those musical styles have historically belonged to the British, Sweden's done a great job of reviving an overlooked genre.http://www.enterbet.com Despite not being signed to Labrador, the best recent example of this is Gothenburg's Peter Bjorn and John, who've made great strides towards North American success.

aai333 said...

Nice article written by you
Nice cheap Nike dunk
articlediscount nike dunk
written nike dunk
bydiscount nike shoes
youcheap nike shoes
Christian Louboutin boots
Chloe outlet
cheap Chloe
discount Chloe
newest Chloe
Chloe bags 2010
Chloe totes
bape shoes
bape clothing
discount bape shoes
cheap bape shoes
bape jackets
wholesale ed hardy
ed hardy wholesale
discount ed hardy
Babyliss
Benefit GHD
MBT boots
MBT shoes in fashion
cheap mbt shoes sale
discount mbt outlet 2010
MBT Walking Shoes

ai said...

moncler
discout moncler jackets
moncler coats
moncler vest
moncler outlet
moncler Polo t shirt
cheap five finger shoes

combattery84 said...

Laptop Battery
ACER Laptop Battery APPLE Laptop Battery
DELL Laptop BatteryHP Laptop Battery
LG Laptop Battery LENOVO Laptop Battery
IBM Laptop Battery SONY Laptop Battery
TOSHIBA Laptop Battery
CANON Camcorder Battery
JVC Camcorder Battery
HITACHI Camcorder Battery
PANASONIC Camcorder Battery
SAMSUNG Camcorder Battery
SHARP Camcorder Battery
SONY Camcorder Battery
TOSHIBA Camcorder Battery
HITACHI Camera Battery
JVC Camera Battery
EPSON Camera Battery
NIKON Camera Battery

Anonymous said...

Dell Inspiron 9200 battery
Dell Latitude C500 battery
Dell HD438 Battery
Dell GK479 battery
Dell PC764 battery
Dell KD476 Battery
Dell Inspiron 1150 battery
Dell inspiron 8500 battery
Dell Inspiron 4100 battery
Dell Inspiron 4000 battery
Dell Inspiron 8200 battery
Dell FK890 battery
Dell Inspiron 1721 battery
Dell Inspiron 1300 Battery
Dell Inspiron 1520 Battery
Dell Latitude D600 Battery
Dell XPS M1330 battery
Dell Latitude D531N Battery
Dell INSPIRON 6000 battery
Dell INSPIRON 6400 Battery
Dell Inspiron 9300 battery
Dell INSPIRON 9400 Battery
Dell INSPIRON e1505 battery
Dell INSPIRON 2500 battery
Dell INSPIRON 630m battery
Dell Latitude D820 battery
Dell Latitude D610 Battery
Dell Latitude D620 battery
Dell Latitude D630 battery
Dell xps m1210 battery
Dell e1705 battery
Dell d830 battery
Dell inspiron 2200 battery
Dell inspiron 640m battery

moncler said...

Ladies,Christian Louboutin Pumpswanna own a pair of sexy shoes as the celebrities?herve leger Guys, Monclerare you still drain your brains for what presents to choose for your girls?
christian louboutin heels
Here comes the best Christian Louboutin high heels with the most competitive prices.Christian Louboutin Sandals Christian Louboutin high heels are your best choicechristian louboutin black. A good amount of fashionable styles are here for you to choose from,Hermes Birkin come and find the on es thatbelongt oyou. Christian Louboutin Boots You will find it is absolutely worth purchasing! christian louboutin discount

Anonymous said...

Spurs, which in Ecco Casual Shoes2001 swept the Spurs in the Western Conference winter boots,finals, in the 2002

Anonymous said...

Order the pillow pets nutty elephant from the link on the right. Choose between the 11" and 18" versions.So it is best to get one early this year if one of your children is looking for one at Christmas time, since there is no guarantee that it won’t happen again! Hopefully the Pillow Pets company has taken steps to make sure that supply meets demand, and everyone that wants one will be able to get one this year.

Anonymous said...

When floods do occur, The North Face Sale the water, though turbid for the time, subsides rapidly and soon becomes clear again. Below Hertford, floods are liable to act injuriously, the water remaining longer on the adjoining marsh lands. Mr. Beardmore stated that heavy floodings had taken place in May 1824, in November 1852, and in October 1857, and that at such times large areas of land were, laid under water for several days. Skechers Shoes The marsh-lands on both sides of the lower Thames are not subject to such flooding, as the embankments are found to be sufficient to shut out the tides, and the primitive sewers, marsh-ditches, and tidal outlet-sluices regulate the delivery of flood waters so as to prevent injury to land. The marsh districts on both sides of the lower Lee are now subject to the double evil of flooding and droughts; during long continued dry weather the surface cracks until there are fissures several feet in depth. Flood water is passed much more rapidly down the valley of the Lee in consequence The North Face Sale of the improvements made of late years in the navigation by dredging the channels. Much, however, remains to be done which would improve the conditions of the marsh-land and the health of the people.The evidence as to the water-mills proves that in many instances the dams and ponds act injuriously by preventing land drainage and impeding floods. However useful Discount G Star Sale water-power may have been in former times, when these mills were first established, that use has now been greatly reduced in relative value, and, wherever there is sufficient trade to The North Face Sale make grinding corn a profitable occupation, steam-power has to be brought in as an auxiliary, the improved navigation and railway accommodation facilitating the delivery of coals so as to give an advantage to steam over the constantly alternating and uncertain flow of water. Water-power having diminished in commercial value, and land for agricultural purposes having greatly increased in value, injury to the adjoining lands may be shown to cause an annual money loss to the district Shape Ups Boots. To this money loss must be added injury to health by the retention of large areas of undrained land. Water-mills and mill-dams are proved to be injurious to local properties, but we have no evidence as to any serious pollutions being caused by these mills, other than so far as they cause a partial stagnation in the water and accumulations of mud by ponding.

skin tag removal said...

Thanks so much for shedding light on this tape. Now, step 2. Anyone know anything about the context or music scene/movement from which this tapes comes? also, anyone know how I can prevent all this robo-spam from hitting each post on this blog? It's getting rather cumbersome.

stretch mark removal cream said...

New talented people especially in rap maybe come from different raise. Thanks a lot for sharing this article with an interested topic.

skin tag removal said...

Now I'm back to see more updates. I am quite disappointed. It seems this page is already stagnant. I hope updates will be available here soon.

2011bagnews said...

The much sought-after Chanel Logo Earrings, Cheap replica coach purses as with other Chanel ertqcxy0kmn brand fashion and perfume products, replica Coach wallets for example earrings and jewelry, these particular Chanel accessories are displayed as the epitome of fashion replica Coach handbags is one of the biggest names in the fashion industry , The replica Chanel handbags logo is itself a work of art, replica Gucci purses are designed to be used, not merely displayed , gorgeous silver hardware and, of course
replica Gucci handbags the Chanel logo ,take great care to ensure that the replica they create is durable cheap replica coach bags are one of the most popular designer handbags.

London Escort Agency said...

Your Escort Agency offers exclusive and most beautiful London escort girls of various nationalities.

London escorts said...

Bestescort4U agency provids best London escorts companionship in the UK.

Unknown said...

Toshiba PA3534U-1BRS Battery
acer laptop adapter
dell inspiron 1545 ac adapter
dell inspiron 1525 power adapter
hp dv6000 adapter

Unknown said...

hp 4510s battery
dell inspiron 1764 battery
Dell inspiron E1505 adapter
Dell JKVC5 Battery
dell d620 Battery
dell d610 Battery
Dell F144M Battery
Dell Latitude E6400 Battery
Dell Inspiron 17R Battery
Dell Inspiron 14R Battery
Dell M5701 Battery
Dell Inspiron 1464 Battery
Dell Inspiron 1564 Battery
Dell Inspiron 1300 battery