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They say that time is a healer. However, for Brooklyn rhymer
Papoose time hasn’t been the kindest of souls. His official arrival on the scene back in 2004 came at a time when records were selling and rap was the toast of the commercial market. With
50 Cent then the hottest thing out, Papoose’s buzz trumped that of the
G-Unit General’s with ease. Appearing on every hot record at the time - notably the all star remix to
Busta Rhymes’ “Touch It” - there was no stopping the kid. With a reported $1.5 million deal on the table too, all that was left to do was drop the album.
Having always been titled
The Nacirema Dream (Nacirema being the word American backwards), problems arose for the young upstart when he and mentor
DJ Kayslay decided to remake the album due to his unexpected commercial popularity. Instead of releasing the album as it was, which tailored more towards his mixtape roots - he won a Justo Mixtape Award for Best Underground Artist in 2005 - he succumbed to the requests of collaborations with the likes of
Pharrell Williams and
Kanye West. Time went on, perfection began to take over, and then Papoose in 2007 packed his bags and left
Jive Records citing A&R issues.
Today finally seeing the light of day,
The Nacirema Dream is a surprisingly good body of work with momentary dents.
“I’m going to go out on a limb and say it’s probably going to be the best album of 2012...” Detroit producer Apollo Brown boasted at SXSW about his new collaborative album Trophies, with legendary emcee OC. “I’m not being cocky," he continued," but from a fan standpoint and stepping out of myself and not being biased it’s a great album—quality music." Brown also went to say that the project took the two four months to create and it’s an instant classic. Typically, when people say boastful things like this about their albums, the pedestal they placed the album on doesn’t always correlate with reality... In the case of Trophies, calling the album a classic is fitting. 
The skyscrapers and lights of New York City have a way of taking people from their hometowns to the beauty of the fast paced culture. If you want to be an actor, model, fashion designer, or in SiairaShawn’s case a singer, the city is the place for you.