N.O.R.E.

Featuring: Aziz Ansari Pharrell Williams DJ Khaled

Noreaga
Yeah, N.O.R.E
That was one of the early ones, right?
That must have been a big song in Miami
Oh man, big everywhere
At that time, you know what I'm saying, shout out to Noreaga
Everyone was like what what what
How did that happen? Did he just come in there and was like "I have an idea, can you just can you just start rolling?"
What what what
This is great
As soon as he got in the booth, you know, he already had his verses
As soon as N.O.R.E. got in the booth, he just started saying "what" like that
And I was like "wow"
That's crazy
I hope that's not just an ad lib
So I'm just like "oh man, we just need to keep that going"
That was his idea to keep that going
He's a character
That record fucks the club up, boy
Thank you
Rob Walker called us from New York, we were in Verginia
You know, just working
He was like "listen, they are throwing chairs to the song in clubs"
I was like "what you talking about?"
He was like "they are throwing chairs"
And we were just like "wow"
It's got such an amazing energy
It's an amazing energy to it
Crazy, thank you
Thank you

Queens rapper Noreaga (also known as N.O.R.E.) was one of the most distinctive voices of the late ’90s hardcore hip-hop scene. He found critical and commercial success, both as a member of the duo Capone-N-Noreaga and as a solo artist, well into the 2000s.

Born Victor Santiago, Jr., to a Puerto Rican father and black mother, N.O.R.E. was raised in the Lefrak City housing projects in Queens, New York. In the early ’90s, while serving a sentence for attempted murder at the Green Haven Correctional Facility, he befriended Queensbridge native Capone. Once released, the two began rapping together under the mentorship of Juice Crew veteran Tragedy Khadafi, appearing in The Source Magazine’s “Unsigned Hype” column in 1995.

The duo attracted widespread attention in 1996 with the release of the single “L.A., L.A..” The song—a response to Tha Dogg Pound’s “New York, New York”—is considered a key record in the infamous East Coast/West Coast battle. Only 18 at the time, Noreaga’s unorthodox style of rapping immediately stood out. VIBE Magazine described his flow as “staggered, high-pitched parrot riffs.” The Source called it “word association-style poetics.” Capone-N-Noreaga’s debut The War Report was released by Penalty/Warner in June 1997 to critical acclaim.

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