Last Emperor- Palace Of The Pretender

If There was ever an artist that the public wasn't familiar enough with it would be Last Emperor. The ultimate in honesty and creativity Last Emp is the quintesential underground artist. He always points out the little things, reminds us of the big things and shows us his version of things. When I first heard last emp I was watching the second or third installment of the And 1 Mixtape (back when they were actually good, and shot footage of playground games) and all of a sudden there was this segment that was playing in slow motion and this slow, melancholy song started playing. It complimented the images so nicely. The MC had a really different kind of delivery, he sounded smart, pronounced all his words correctly and was perfectly comprehendable. He was different. He was ill though, truly a poet; describing past moments and times in his life with great modishness and detail. It was literally a thing of beauty. The song was a perfect backdrop for slow mo images of street ball players hoopin on concrete courts. The song I would later rewind and find out was called "Do You Remember" by a guy named Last Emperor. I hadn't heard of him before, but I knew that catching tune had made me a fan, and I sought out his music. I looked everywhere for awhile but never had much luck finding an album or mixtape. There was just loose features on other artist's songs and a few 12 inch singles here and there. I did find out more about him though. I came to know that he was from Philly, a college grad and had moved to NYC, other than that however, I didn't know much. I always kept an ear out for him though and soon came to find that he had signed to Dr. Dre's Aftermath label. Time pressed forward and still no major release. Later I would hear whispers that he was dropped from Aftermath along with a slew of other artists and had signed with Rawkus records but, we never got any major release from him. It wasn't until I grabbed a mixtape called "Hidden Treasures" that I truly got my hands on a good amount of his material. Then in 2003, the year I graduated from high school, he dropped his debut LP "Music, Magic, Myth". I picked that up and felt a little more complete. Last Emp is a very popular artist overseas as well as in the states and "Music, Magic, Myth" was actually released in Europe too in 03' but, like most european versions, it's not much like the American release, rather a slightly different adaptation. The name was changed to "Palace Of The Pretender", and it didn't include 7 songs that were on the american joint. It also had three tracks that were previously unreleased ("Drifter," "Clear Day," and "Echo Leader") and very ill. "Palace Of the Pretender" is a great hip-hop album that goes down as one of my all time favorites. Complete with production from Ayatollah, Da Beatminerz and Prince Paul the beats simply just don't get any better. A creative story teller, Emp's skills are on full display and in full swing for this engaging and intriguing venture into his own world, where he is a crusader for good, a master of truth and a protector of integrity. I bring you Palace of the pretender because I like it a little better than "Music, Magic, Myth" and because it's currently out of print in America. Please take the time to explore this immensly innovative and resourceful project! Standout tracks are "Secret Wars" and "Secret Wars 2"

-BIG D O

01. Tiger Trail
02. Karma
03. One Life (feat.Poetic & Esthero)
04. Meditation
05. Do You Care?
06. Shine
07. The Incredible Man
08. Let's Ride
09. Hold On
10. Single Mother
11. The Great Pretender
12. Here We Are
13. The Drifter
14. Clear Day (feat.Masta Ace & Trugoy)
15. Echo Leader
16. Secret Wars
17. Secret Wars 2

pt. 1
http://rapidshare.com/files/44591447/the_last_emperor-palace_of_the_pretender-2004-cms_part1.rar

PT.2
http://rapidshare.com/files/47837678/the_last_emperor-palace_of_the_pretender-2004-cms_part2.rar