Thirty Three Jones | Desktop Site
By now, you should all know the drill for Feed the Beast. To promote his debut album, No Beast So Fierce, Philly emcee Nico the Beast has been selecting two user-submitted beats each week and dropping an original verse over each of them. So far, Nico's batted 1.000, lyrically knocking all sixteen beats out of the park like a rap version of Chase Utley (can you tell that I have the All Star game on while I'm writing this?).
Nico tells me that this week's entries have been his favorite set of songs for Feed the Beast, and after listening to them, it's easy to see why. What he's put together for week nine goes well beyond the original freestyle concept, with two entries that are complete songs in their own right.
The first song, with a beat (Lil Wayne's Hustler's Music) selected by Nico's little brother Nooch, features Nico at his best as an emcee. Showcasing his proficiency at the (lost) art of storytelling, Nico drops a verse that manages to be both "street" and sincere. A lot of the songs on No Beast So Fierce have a similar feel to them, so if you like this one you should definitely be into the album:
Nico the Beast - Hustler's Music
The beat on the second track (submitted by Jimmy Giambrone, who also took the above photo), caught me off guard, as I didn't expect to hear Nico rap over an R&B joint. I wouldn't have expected someone to submit an Ashanti beat, either, but it worked out surprisingly well. Flipping the concept behind Ashanti's love song, Nico turns the whole thing into something significantly more hip hop:
Nico the Beast - Only You
He should already be in your Top 10 by now, but if you want to hear more music from Nico, hit up his MySpace page. And go pick up a copy of No Beast So Fierce!
7/15/2007 08:35:01 PM posted by Fresh