N.O.R.E.‘s new album Student of the Game is a wide-ranging mix of hip-hop’s many facets and eras. The Queens, N.Y., native embraces a variety of regional sounds with the help of super producers like Large Professor, Pharrell and DJ Premier. So it’s fitting that the former C-N-N rapper celebrated the release of the album with a couple of hip-hop’s biggest stars — albeit from different regions and eras.
Hip-hop fans and media descended upon Lil Charlie’s to celebrate the man formerly known as Noreaga and his latest work, and from the moment he entered the building, “P.A.P.I.” felt the love.
With the DJ spinning classic cuts from throughout his 17-year career, N.O.R.E. was in high spirits and was happy to rep for his hometown. As the night was underway, a couple of hip-hop superstars decided to drop by and show support.
The rapper was all over the city this week, promoting his latest opus. Earlier in the day, N.O.R.E. revealed to MTV his lifelong battle with dyslexia was the reason for his distinctive way with words.
“I am dyslexic. A lot of people don’t know that,” N.O.R.E. shared. “A lot of people think that I pronounce words funny … people think that it’s part of my character but, actually, it’s me in real life.”
“It doesn’t mean that I’m stupid, it doesn’t mean that I’m ignorant, it just means that I learn different from you. And that’s the reason [the album is titled] Student of the Game, because I learn different from the average individual,” he explained. “I just figured, you know what, that’s the ‘part two’ to it.”
