One Mic
"One Mic" | ||||
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conscious hip hop | ||||
Length | 4:28 | |||
Label | Ill Will, Columbia | |||
Songwriter(s) | Nasir Jones, Chucky Thompson | |||
Producer(s) | Nasir Jones, Chucky Thompson | |||
Nas singles chronology | ||||
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"One Mic" is a song by American rapper Nas, released April 16, 2002 on Columbia Records and distributed through Ill Will Records in the United States. It was issued as the third single from his fifth studio album, Stillmatic (2001). The single peaked at number 43 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it Nas's third top-fifty hit on the chart.
Music and production
Production for "One Mic" was handled by Nas and hip hop producer Chucky Thompson.[1] Talking about the inspiration for the song, Nas stated: "I'm a huge fan of Phil Collins and I just wanted to take the vibe from 'In the Air Tonight'."[2] Steve Juon of RapReviews wrote that the song features a production technique previously implemented by such hip hop artists as Outkast and the Roots, which he described as "a quiet groove that steadily increases in energy and intensity until an increasingly amped Nas lets his lyrical rage boil over like a Final Fantasy fighter smacked ONCE too often."[1] According to Nick Butler, the song's structure "slowly build[s] up from a simple 'In the Air Tonight' sample toward the full production ... like hearing two mini hip-hop versions of 'Stairway to Heaven', before Nas flips the script for the third verse and does the same thing in reverse."[3]
According to Juon, the final verse has a reversal of this formula, in which Nas "goes from amped up to soft-spoken, drawing you even closer into his rap."
Lyrics and themes
The lyrics of "One Mic" discuss Nas's desire for a simple life ("Only if I had one gun, one girl, and one crib/One God to show me how to do things his son did") and obstacles that prevent it ("[if] One ni**ga front, my face on the front page"),
In an interview for
'One Mic' just gives me the ability, no matter how much ignorant people are mad that I'm exposing or talking about our country, no matter what the language is, I'm talking in a language that the people can hear, I'm not sugar-coating it. So if it scares people and people feel guilty, people feel like they've got to make up excuses to why the world's this way, no matter what they say, like they've got their mic, I've got mine, and that's what that song's about.[2]
In the song, Nas also asks God to forgive him for his sins.[10] In the hip hop book Beats, Rhymes & Life (2007), music writer Ytasha Womack compared Nas's lyrics on "One Mic" to the work of rapper Tupac Shakur, analyzing it as a song with strong religious, Christian overtones and lyrical themes.[11] Womack wrote that "Nas's references ultimately humanized Jesus, with attempts to show direct parallels between our quest and that of the Wayshower."[11] Womack concluded with analyzing the incorporation of religious themes by Nas in his composition, stating "Nas clung to spiritual questioning, expressing a desire to be like the early mystics, in order to possess their knowledge and powers. While he expresses that he has the potential of the greats, in 'One Mic' he asks God to show him how to do things his son did. Nas intertwined his day–to–day life and decisions with the pressures felt by Jesus and others, doing so almost as a means to somehow transfer their spiritual gifts to himself."[11]
Release and reception
When "One Mic" was released as a single, it entered the
"One Mic" was well received by critics, some of whom hailed it as a "classic".[11] Marc L. Hill from PopMatters cited it as Stillmatic's "standout track", calling Nas "our magnificently human rap god."[4] Exclaim! magazine's Del F. Cowie described "One Mic" as the album's "centrepiece epic",[6] while Butler cited "One Mic" as "the best rap song of this decade". Writing for Sputnikmusic, he said the song "blew me away on first listen, and it's still having the same effect now. Not many rap songs can send chills up my spine. This is one of them."[3] Brett Berliner from Stylus Magazine was particularly favorable of the song's use of a siren, as he called the concept "truly incredible, and one of the best ideas for a song I’ve ever heard in my life."[5] Steven Potter of the Journal Sentinel called the song a "testament to the lyrical skill only the best emcees possess."[17] Yahoo! Music's James Poletti felt it was "some of the best hip-hop recorded" in 2002.[18] Kathryn McGuire from Rolling Stone was more critical, writing that "the hyperbolic urgency of 'One Mic' feels staged."[19]
In retrospect,
Music video
A music video for "One Mic" was directed by
The video begins with a montage of scenes from inner-city areas of New York City, followed by a camera shot of an apartment window in which a light has just been turned on.[25] The video then centralizes upon a view of Nas reflectively rapping with a single microphone in a bare apartment room. While Nas is rapping, the video switches to a scene of a routine police stop of four suspects which quickly escalates to an on-foot chase of the suspects by police as a surprised elder bystander "fiend drops his Heineken" onto the asphalt.[25] The suspects and the police dramatically part around Nas, who is rapping in the middle of the street, as they continue the chase around a corner. As Nas shouts "The Time is Now!", the scene cuts back to Nas rapping in the barren apartment room with the microphone.[25]
The video transitions to a scene in Soweto at the beginning of the 1976 uprising, in which a protester rallies a crowd of residents against the government while baton-wielding black and white soldiers of the SADF prepare for the impending crackdown on the protesters.[25] Gradually, the scene escalates to violence, with the impetus being a rock thrown in the direction of the camera.[25] Soon, the two sides clash on the dirt road, and Nas pauses to a steady iteration of "One Mic" while standing contrastedly in the middle of the ongoing violence, the scene ending with the silent scream (symbolized by a descending piano) of a little bystanding Soweto girl as the scene cuts back to Nas, in the apartment room, kicking the chair and launching headfirst into a full-blown litany.[25] The Soweto scene is interpolated with various scenes of young people listening and lip-syncing the lyrics, including a teenager wearing headphones in an apartment bedroom beside her younger sister, a group of Latino men sitting in a car and a young, angry Los Angeles County prisoner behind bars.[25] Gradually, as the camera overlays a view of Nas upon the forward-moving shot of a street, the video then calms down alongside the descending tone of the song, the facial determination of Nas and other participants in the video remaining visible as the video draws to a close with the light in the apartment window turning off.[25]
Track listing
- A-Side
- "One Mic" (Explicit) (4:28)
- "One Mic" (Clean) (4:32)
- B-Side
- "One Mic" (Instrumental) (4:36)
- "2nd Childhood" (Explicit) (3:51)
- Produced by DJ Premier
Charts
Weekly charts
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Year-end charts
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Notes
- ^ a b c d e Juon, Steve 'Flash'. RapReview of the Week: Stillmatic. RapReviews. Retrieved on 2009-03-16.
- ^ a b c d Serpick, Evan. Nas' "Greatest Hits": A Track-By-Track Journey With the Pride of Queens. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2009-03-16.
- ^ a b Butler, Nick. Nas: Greatest Hits Review. Sputnikmusic. Retrieved on 2009-03-17.
- ^ a b c Hill, Marc L. Stillmatic Review. PopMatters. Retrieved on 2009-03-16.
- ^ a b Berliner, Brett. Stillmatic Review. Stylus Magazine. Retrieved on 2009-03-16.
- ^ a b Cowie, Del F. Nas: Battle Ready. Exclaim!. Retrieved on 2007-01-20.
- ^ Newlin, Jimmy. Music Review: Untitled. Slant Magazine. Retrieved on 2009-03-17.
- ^ Harris, Keith. License to Ill--Revoked Archived 2011-06-06 at the Wayback Machine. City Pages. Retrieved on 2009-03-20.
- ^ a b Fuchs, Cynthia. Music Video Review: One Mic. PopMatters. Retrieved on 2009-03-20.
- ^ Fenaxiz. Album Reviews: Stillmatic. MVRemix. Retrieved on 2009-03-16.
- ^ a b c d Womack (2007), p. 144.
- ^ One Mic: Singles Charts. Billboard. Retrieved on 2009-03-27.
- ^ a b c Stillmatic: Charts & Awards - Billboard Singles. AllMusic. Retrieved on 2009-03-27.
- ^ One Mic: Hot Rap Tracks. Billboard. Retrieved on 2009-03-27.
- ^ One Mic: Hot Rap Singles. Billboard. Retrieved on 2009-03-27.
- ^ Juon, Steve 'Flash'. From Illmatic to Stillmatic - The Remixes. RapReviews. Retrieved on 2009-03-20.
- ^ Potter, Steven. Nas blends new tunes, mastered skill at The Rave. Journal Sentinel. Retrieved on 2009-03-17.
- ^ Poletti, James. Stillmatic Review. Yahoo! Music. Retrieved on 2009-03-20.
- ^ McGuire. Kathryn. Stillmatic Review. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2009-03-20.
- ^ Robinson, Jon. God's Son Review Archived 2007-10-15 at the Wayback Machine. IGN. Retrieved on 2009-03-17.
- About.com. Retrieved on 2009-03-20.
- ^ Birchmeier, Jason. Nas: Biography. AllMusic. Retrieved on 2009-03-20.
- ^ "2002 MTV Video Music Award nominees". Billboard. June 25, 2002. Retrieved June 4, 2014.
- ^ a b c d Corey Moss, with additional reporting by Shaheem Reid (Aug 19, 2002). "VMA Lens Recap: The Story Behind Nas' 'One Mic'". MTV.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Nas (actor), Chris Robinson (director) (December 17, 2001). One Mic (flv) (music video). New York City, New York, USA: Sony BMG Music Entertainment. Retrieved 2011-03-27.
- ^ "Nas Chart History (Bubbling Under Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
- ^ "Nas Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved August 16, 2019.
- ^ "Nas Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved August 16, 2019.
- ^ "Nas Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
- ^ "Nas Chart History (Hot Rap Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved August 16, 2019.
- ^ "Nas Chart History (Rhythmic)". Billboard. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
- ^ "Nas feat. Brainpower – One Mic (Remix)" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved May 29, 2022.
- ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 1, 2003" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
- ^ "Nas feat. Brainpower – One Mic (Remix)" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved May 29, 2022.
- ^ "Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs – Year-End 2002". Billboard. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
References
- Kenji Jasper; Ytasha Womack; Robert Johnson; Mark Allwood (2007). Beats, Rhymes & Life: What We Love and Hate about Hip-Hop. Random House. ISBN 978-0-7679-1977-7.