My favorite song at the moment, hip-hop or otherwise, is "Reach for the Stars," by 3 the Hardway. Everything about the track, from the hook -- which is built around a sample of "I Just Wanna Be the One in Your Life," a cover by the Manhattans of a song first recorded by Barry Manilow, of all people, set against excerpts of "Juicy" by Notorious B.I.G. -- to the content (grinding in pursuit of dreams, natch), to A.V.I.U.S.'s earnest delivery, grabbed me instantly the first time I heard it earlier this week. The cut appears on 3 the Hardway's forthcoming full-length, Set In Stone, set to be released on Saturday, February 28 at the Marquis Theater, where the crew will be joined by Ft. Likwit Junkies (Defari & DJ Babu), ManeLine and special guest host-Rakaa Iriscience (of Dilated Peoples). In the meantime, you can download "Reach for the Stars" after the jump and later today, we'll be posting you can now hear snippets of the entire album. Also after the jump, we've embedded the act's promo video, which was created by an avid local fan who also happens to animate for Nickelodeon.
Click arrow to left to stream 3 the Hardway's Set In Stone sampler.
