L.D.N State of Mind.

The second joint from my "Premier" project (rapping over my favourite DJ Premier beats) is my take on one of the greatest hiphop songs of all time - N.Y State of mind by Nas. This song is so legendary I did think long and hard about wether I should be rapping on the beat, but I'm super happy with my take, which I think is appropriately respectful while representing my current situation as an inhabitant of the great city that is London.

In a way a visitor to the city (although I've been here 14 years now!) is the right person to extoll its virtues as I think one of the strongest points of London is how multi cultural it is. Ofcourse I needed to detail the dire housing situation and the problems gentrification bring, while taking some shots at our lack lustre contribution to hiphop as a whole.

Even getting hold of an instrumental is no mean feat. The only official version that is floating around has some really obtrusive vinyl hum on it, I think DJ Premier purposefully kept this instrumental under lock and key and for good reason. I had to  fashion a version using some A.I technology to strip away the vocals which is why it's not 100% pristine but I think it does the job. Have a listen to the studio version below. If you coming to this from social media WELCOME! sign up to the mailing list below, and I'll send you a hi fidelity MP3 of the song and if you already on the list but want a copy of the track just email me and I'll email you a copy!

Have a great month!

Chima