Nas, Jack White Perform In 1920s Style
The hip-hop artist Nas revisited his “One Mic” single with a scrappy unplugged trio, including Jack White on piano, for the recently aired PBS documentary “The American Epic Sessions.” “One Mic” appeared on Nas’ 2001 Stillmatic album. The conceit of “The American Epic Sessions” is to tackle songs like this with recording technology from the 1920s – a single microphone (perhaps this played into the decision to take on “One Mic”) along with a “recording device timed by a weight-driven system of clockwork gears” that presses the results of the session to vinyl as soon as it comes to a close. Jack White recruited stars from a variety of genres, including the Alabama Shakes and Elton John, to join him in the studio for this historically faithful exercise. A two-disc set culled from these sessions – including Nas performing “On the Road Again” – came out last Friday.
