COMING JANUARY 24, 2006 ON
MOIST MUSIC
Detroit, MI —
What would happen if a lyrical genius disguised himself as a musical
madman? He’d be an acid-rapper, of course. Esham, widely
considered the granddaddy of the Rock-Rap genre, and his group
Natas release their highly anticipated original album, N
Of Tha World (Moist Music) on January 24, 2006, four years after
their last recording together. Often thought of as a sage Rap
prodigy by Hip Hop’s cognoscenti, Esham’s fork-tongued lyrics and acerbic wit
form the basis of his rhymes, many of which are critical of the country’s
current political and social climate.
For a rap
artist frequently credited for influencing death-metal acts like
Slipknot and Marilyn Manson, as well as
Rap-Rockers like Kid Rock and Eminem, the most
unexpected aspect of Esham may be his love for classic Philadelphia Soul and
contemporary Blues. Esham’s sound has been borrowed and appropriated
by many of today’s bigger Rap stars, though they may not always pay him homage.
Nevertheless, Esham is ecstatic about the new album. He says, “N Of Tha
World is different from previous Natas albums ’cause it talks about all the
sh*t that’s going on in the world today, all the social and political issues. We
are the voice for the voiceless. This album, it’s the wicket shit. It’s
modern-day Blues. We don’t call it ‘heavy metal,’ we call it ‘Heavy
Mental‘.”
Natas – an acronym for “Nation Ahead of Time And Space” –
consists of Esham, TNT (Tony Montana) and
Mastamind (Gary Reed), a fiery and
eclectic trio of creative minds with Esham as the producer and MC. He says of
the team, “TNT really stepped-up on this album, as a lyricist. You know, I like
to take it back to the old Metallica style.” Natas is part Hip
Hop, part death-metal, part social commentary. When on “Why You Gotta Lie” he rails, “You
lyin’-ass politicians! / You lyin’, b*tch-ass President / All you mothaf*ckas
lyin’!”, we must admit: we feel the same way.
N Of Tha World
is extremely
catchy. Like some hard dope, listeners will be hooked. The album is awash in
contrasts: heavy rock guitars and acidic rhymes dominate the blistering
“Natas,” the
enraged “Worlds
Apart” and the commercially viable “Ni**az Alwayz Talking Alotta Shit,” while soulful
instrumentals and pensive reflection characterize the sentimental “Long As I Live” and “Pancakes And
Syrup,” and the funk-a-delic “?.” The music rumbles your gut, the
beats rattle your teeth, and the rhymes blow your mind. The verses on N
Of Tha World are as cutting as they are poignant. The beats are as
irresistible as they are thrilling. On “Long As I Live,” Esham raps gently,
“I’m not talking ‘gansta’ / I’m talking ‘God’.” (A sampling of verses from N
Of Tha World, below.)
Born in
Copaige, New York, in 1977 and raised in Detroit, Michigan, Esham (born:
Rashaam Smith) spent his youth living amongst the Motor City’s
urban decay and street-violence, searching for an outlet for his burning desire
to express himself. Esham would spend his summers living with relatives in
Amityville, Long Island, the town made infamous
by Jay Anson‘s best-seller, “The Amityville
Horror.” It was perhaps during the long, listless summer afternoons loitering on
the street corner near this haunted house that the young Esham developed an
early idea for what would later blossom into a genre of music known as
“Horrorcore”.
At the tender age of 11, Esham launched his own record
label — Reel Life Productions — a label that still exists today. Esham
released his first album, the seminal Boomin’ Words From Hell, a
self-produced album he released when he was just 13-years-old. Every year since
1990, Esham has released a new album either solo or with Natas. To call this
prolific artist an over-achiever is no exaggeration, but Esham would rather be
known simply for speaking the truth. Esham has continued to expose the
hypocrisy in society and has not backed-down.
In his early-twenties, Esham attended the
respected Specs Howard School of Broadcast Arts in Michigan and continued
honing his production skills. As for musical instruments, Esham has for years
played a variety of drums, bass, wind instruments, guitar and keyboards, and he
continues to do so to this day.
To record N Of Tha World, Esham used Pro Tools,
a Roland sampler, an Akai MPC-4000 drum
machine, a Yamaha Motif 8 synthesizer, a Moog analog synth, a Rhodes guitar, BBE Sound signal processors, plus real
drums and real bass. Watch for Esham
and Natas as they come to a city near you in early 2006.
For more information, visit www.MoistMusic.com and www.acidrap.com.
Natas, N Of Tha
World tracklisting
1. Intro
2. Natas
3. Dead Men Don’t
Sing
4. Worlds
Apart
5. Long As
I Live
6. Pancakes And
Syrup
7. Full of
Hate
8.
Nightmares
9. On My Own
10. Trouble and Pain
11. N Of Tha
World
12. See You In
Hell
13. ?
14.
Crazytown
15. Ni**az Alwayz Talking Alotta
Shit
16. Why You Gotta
Lie
Sample verses from Natas’ N Of Tha
World
“Full Of
Hate”
It started
when I was 5-years-old
I was in my
room all alone
I used to be
so cold
I would have
conversations
Visions of
devastations
One day I’ll
rule the nation
They’ll call
me an abomination
They did me
wrong
Considered me
an outcast
Was never
first
But I’ll have
the last laugh
I dreamed of
blood baths
While I slept
in math class
Woke-up and
robbed my teachers
Without a ski
mask
It must be an
error with the war on terror
Can’t hang
around my mama ‘cos she says I scare her
It seems like
the picture gets a little bit clearer
Every time I
argue with the man in the mirror
Nightmares
I’m falling
through this lifetime of bawlin’
My whole body
covered in roaches and they crawlin’
Grow-up in
the ghetto
Only way to
survive
Livin’ in the
shadow of death
Buried
alive
I had a
nightmare
The devil
made me part of his plan
Put me in The
Constitution
I’m
three-fifths of a man
Put a gun in
my hand
Brought the
dope to this land
But, is this
genocide the way America’s
ran?
“On My Own”
Hey, nobody
said we’d have to shoot ’em in the face
He had a
gun
But he just a
baby, though
I’m in this
crazy war
This is what
they pay me for
American
genocide
Generals how
they raise me
Humvee
convoy, Al Quaeda can spray y’all
No weapons of
mass destruction
Bush was way
off
So I murdered
the innocent
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