“Live at the Barbeque”, a Main Source posse cut, featured the first verse by Nas on record, among with those of Akinyele and Joe Fatal. The song was released as a B-side to “Just Hangin' Out”, of which – together with “Live at the Barbeque” – a write-up can be found from The Source here.

This issue of The Source also featured an article on Akinyele’s single “Ak Ha Ha! Ak Hoo Hoo?”, which you can read here.

In an interview with Complex Large Professor said that Nas was not the only MC who wanted the “Halftime” beat, because Busta Rhymes felt like ripping it up too:

That’s funny, because when I made that beat, Busta Rhymes wanted that beat, right after I made it. My house after a while became like a little hangout for dudes. Busta Rhymes, coming from Long Island, he would always pass through Queens and come to the crib. And that beat right there, he was writing to it and everything. But he was in between deals though—this was after the Leaders [of the New School] shit, and before his Elektra deal.

But Nas was right there, ready to go with [MC] Serch and Ruffhouse. It was always a toss up, kind of like Jamaican reggae style, where I would play it for everybody, and whoever gets ill on it can get busy. And Nas was like, ‘Yeah, I can get busy on that.’ And he was like, ‘I’m gonna say this rhyme with that [and put it down]

- Source.

Actually, Nas didn’t release or feature on anything in 1993. 1994 is when he appeared once again on the scene, with singles like “It Ain’t Hard to Tell” and “The World Is Yours”, not to forget his classic debut album Illmatic.

For annotations on these lyrics, check the “Halftime” lyrics, of course. And while you look up these lines, don’t forget to check out Nas' verified annotation on the same song!

This line plays on the incredibly big hit single “Jump Around” by Everlast’s group House Of Pain, using a beat produced by Muggs, who stated that Ice Cube, B-Real (of Cypress Hill) and Special Ed passed on it.

#George Clinton

The 1944 standard by Thelonious Monk has been crowned the most-recorded jazz standard by any jazz musician. Artists who have recorded it on album include Herbie Hancock, and Miles Davis with Comfortable as performer, who based theirs on the interpretation of Dizzy Gillespie.

When the song actually was written, is still a mystery, but there are various speculations. Thomas Fitterling for example, wrote in his book Thelonious Monk: His Life and Music that Monk wrote the piece while he was 18. While Harry Colomby believes that it was written when Monk was 19. Nonetheless, they both believe it was composed in 1936.

The composition itself was originally fully played in Eb minor, while other musicians added a picardy third, in the form of A1 -A2 -B -A2.

The title “Round Midnight” also became the title of a movie) about a jazz musician in Paris, who was played by saxophonist Dexter Gordon. Gordon was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. The two-parted sidetrack also won two awards. A Grammy for Best Instrumental Jazz Performance, Soloist was given to Gordon for The Other Side of Round Midnight, while Herbie Hancock won the Academy Award for Best Music, Original Score for Round Midnight.

Huf cleverly plays with these three great references, while simultaneously staying humble. The infamous jungle man Tarzan most likely shows more buttcrack at times than most doctors would advice to, making him a well-chosen partner to sell the drug crack with.

Starsky & Hutch refers to the movie of the same name, and not the TV show, considering these lines are about selling drugs in crack, which is exactly what’s the plot of the movie. Naturally, this is where the Batman vehicle the Batmobile comes in.

Have you ever really seen anybody, just any-single-body, who is able to connect a jungle inhabitant, the most technical car ever built after Nightrider, AND Owen Wilson?