Back in the 90's Hip-Hop was all about mixtapes. Cassette tapes. I've got a whole bunch of cassettes that I'm going to dub for the internet Bloglandonites. The first tape is one labelled "Freestyles". I think most of these are from Stretch and Bobbito's show but some might not be. My fellow NationOfMillions blogger SWINGONDEEZ lent me this tape in 1995. I never gave it back. 

 

The first one is a very VERY young Nasty Nas. I'm assuming before he got signed and maybe before "Live @ The BBQ" was recorded with his homie Akinyele. Nas kicks his "Live @ The BBQ" verse on this and Ak goes in on his intonation dip steez. If my guess of what year this is is accurate then we are listening to a 16-year old Nas. THAT'S why he is who he is today - he was 19 years ahead of his time.

 

Nas & Akinyele