working class hero

Rhymefest is from Chicago, likes to quote his own lyrics during interviews, and co-wrote the Grammy Award winning “Jesus Walks.” Yup, him and Kanye West do have a couple of things in common even though ’Fest probably wouldn’t be caught dead wearing a Louis Vuitton scarf. Luckily, he’s filled his debut album, Blue Collar, with some more traits he shares with Kanye—middle class values, self-deprecating humor, and clever wordplay. “This album is hip-hop,” says the proven battle rapper who emerged victorious from a lyrical scrap with Eminem at the 1997 Scribble Jam. “This is an album where you listen to it and get a lot of entertainment value but will always come back years later and get something new out of, kind of like the Bible.”

more f/ kanye west
Produced by Cool & Dre Anything you hear Kanye West on, 99.998 percent of the time, he has something to do with the beat. This beat, he had nothing to do with. Yet, when he heard it, he liked it so much that he hopped on it. The only problem was, he hopped on it before we paid Cool & Dre. Once they found out Kanye was on it, they charged me up the ass for the beat. And that’s when I made my producer dis song. I made my own beat and dissed every producer that tried to gouge me.

Get Down
Produced by No ID “Get Down” was the first track I got from No ID. It made me realize I wanted No ID to executive produce my album. This track is sexy. It’s not the average club song. It allowed me to spit ferocious lyrics. It reminded me of something that Mark Ronson would play in a club. I could spit anything over it and people would still dance. “Get Down” shows you don’t have to be dumb to have a club record.

Brand New f/ Kanye West
Produced by Kanye West I told Kanye, ‘I want you to give me a song like [nothing] you’ve given anybody. I want something fresh.’ I didn’t want a recycled “Get By” or “Slow Jamz.” He said, ‘You want something brand new? Oh, I got something brand new.’ And he turned on the console, hit the button and it went ‘Brand new, brand new, brand new.’ “Brand New” isn’t a Kanye type beat, it is very backpackerish.

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