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Audio: Amy Winehouse - “Like Smoke” feat. Nas (Produced by Salaam Remi)…

The first single from Ms. Winehouse’s posthumous offering. It also happens to be her first (and regrettably, only) collaboration with her friend, Nas. As always, she knocks it out of the park over some retro-soul production from a common producer for both artists, Salaam Remi. 

I don’t mean to be rude, but y’all know I’m really writing this shit so I can talk about Nas. He really went in on this shit. I’m not surprised that Nas ripped the track, I’m just a little perplexed at the fact that he chose to employ such a dense flow on a guest spot. #NasGawd really needs to think of all the white girls that’ll want to learn the words to this beautiful song. They’ll never be able to rap along to those verses (they’re that intricate to me) and that’s a tragedy. Then again, dumbing it down wouldn’t be the best compliment to Amy’s talent - regardless of the circumstances in which the song was recorded (apparently, this was done back in 2008 - Nas even makes a reference to his divorce). I suspect that Nas’ 2 intense verses - uncommon for a guest rapper - might be some sort of compensation for the slightly skeletal nature of Amy’s work on the track. Or maybe Salaam’s beat just spoke to Nas that much. We’ll never know.

Nonetheless, ‘Like Smoke’ is a track befitting of both artists’ immense talent. Some good soulful shit coupled with a chuckle-worthy story or two.

She’ll be missed.

R.I.P. Amy…