DPN$

One Love -Fashawn (Prod. Q-Tip)

Nas crafted the original “One Love,” with a master hand. On each verse he told a story -the first two through the form of letters to friends in prison, and the last about a personal experience of his own. These first two stories were those of desperation and what had gone wrong in his own generation. The last verse deals with his own struggle and finishes in a chance encounter with a boy, who Nas is taken aback by, and in turn advises him on ways to behave in order to make it through the struggle. I think here it should be noted that on the Ode to Illmatic mixtape Fashawn delivers on every track. This tune, however, holds a distinguished place on the record because of that last verse; Fashawn might as well have been boy that Nas talks to in the closing lines. At the point that Nas described it, he had no chance to succeed and to make it out of the hood, with a position and an attitude that (at least from what Fash’ spits on Boy Meets World) would be familiar to Fashawn. It’s a tribute to this story that maybe because of Illmatic, he is here today to grace us with his own rhymes and his own story. More so, It’s a tribute to Fashawn that he can do this song justice. He interjects his own experiences and stories to the song, but sticks to the script. From his impassioned delivery and thoughtful lyrics, you can tell Fash’ has a extraordinary comprehension of what Nas was trying to say. The torch has been passed.