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One Mic

"One Mic"
One mic.jpg
Single by Nas
from the album Stillmatic
Released April 16, 2002
Format Maxi-single, 12" vinyl
Recorded 2001
Genre Hip hop
Length 4:28
Label Ill Will, Columbia
Writer(s) Nasir Jones, Chucky Thompson
Producer(s) Nasir Jones, Chucky Thompson
Nas singles chronology
"Got Ur Self A..."
(2001)
"One Mic"
(2002)
"Made You Look"
(2002)

"One Mic" is a song by American rapper Nas, released April 16, 2002 on Columbia Records and distributed through Ill Will Records in the United States. It was issued as the third single from his fifth studio album, Stillmatic (2001). The song samples a portion of Phil Collins's "In The Air Tonight". The single peaked at number 43 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it Nas's third top-fifty hit on the chart.

Production for "One Mic" was handled by Nas and hip hop producer Chucky Thompson. The song samples English musician Phil Collins's "In the Air Tonight" (1981). On selecting the sample for "One Mic", Nas stated "I'm a huge fan of Phil Collins and I just wanted to take the vibe from 'In the Air Tonight'." Steve Juon of RapReviews wrote that the song features a production technique previously implemented by such hip hop artists as Outkast and The Roots, which he described as "a quiet groove that steadily increases in energy and intensity until an increasingly amped Nas lets his lyrical rage boil over like a Final Fantasy fighter smacked ONCE too often." According to Nick Butler, the song's structure "slowly build[s] up from a simple 'In the Air Tonight' sample toward the full production ... like hearing two mini hip-hop versions of 'Stairway to Heaven', before Nas flips the script for the third verse and does the same thing in reverse."

According to Juon, the final verse has a reversal of this formula, in which Nas "goes from amped up to soft-spoken, drawing you even closer into his rap." "One Mic" begins with a slow, deliberate flow and beat. Music critic Brett Berliner wrote "'One Mic' starts out with a slow beat reminiscent of a crappy R&B song. Throughout the song, Nas' lazy flow turns into an angry rant over a fast paced beat, and finally a siren."


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