Illmatic
Encyclopedia
Illmatic is the debut album
of American rapper Nas
, released April 19, 1994, on Columbia Records
. Following his signing to Columbia with the help of MC Serch
, recording sessions for the album took place during 1992 to 1993 at Chung King Studios
, D&D Recording
, Battery Studios, and Unique Recording Studios
in New York City
. Its production was handled by Nas, Large Professor
, Pete Rock
, Q-Tip
, L.E.S.
, and DJ Premier
. Stylistically a hardcore hip hop
album, Illmatic features Nas's multi-syllabic internal rhyme
patterns
expressing inner city
lyrical themes and narratives based on his native Queensbridge, New York
.
Upon its release, the album debuted at number 12 on the U.S. Billboard 200
chart, selling 59,000 copies in its first week. However, its initial sales fell below expectations and its five singles failed to achieve significant chart success. While it experienced initial low sales, Illmatic received positive reviews from most music critics upon its release and earned praise for its lyrical content, production, and Nas's lyricism. On January 17, 1996, the album was certified gold
by the Recording Industry Association of America
, and in 2001, it earned platinum certification after shipments of one million copies in the United States.
Since its initial reception, the album has been recognized by writers and music critics as a landmark album in East Coast hip hop
. It contributed to the regional scene's artistic renaissance in New York, while marking an influential, stylistic change in hip hop at the time. Its influence on subsequent hip hop artists has been attributed to the album's production and Nas's rapping. Several writers have cited Illmatic as one of the quintessential hip hop recordings and one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time. In 2003, the album was ranked number 400 on Rolling Stone
s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time
.
As a teenager, Nas chose to pursue a career in rapping
and enlisted his best friend and neighbor, Queensbridge, Queens
-native Willy "Ill Will
" Graham, as his DJ
. Nas first went by the nickname "Kid Wave" before adopting his more commonly known alias of "Nasty Nas". At fifteen, he met producer Large Professor
from Flushing, Queens
, and was introduced to Main Source
, a hip hop group of which Large Professor was a member. Nas made his recorded debut with them, recording the opening verse on "Live at the Barbeque", from Main Source's 1991 debut album Breaking Atoms
, which gained a cult following
after its release. Nas subsequently made his solo debut on his 1992 single "Halftime" for the soundtrack to the 1992 film Zebrahead
. The single added to the buzz surrounding Nas, earning him comparisons to influential golden age rapper Rakim
. Despite the substantial buzz for Nas in the underground scene, he struggled to obtain an offer for a recording contract, and was rejected by major rap labels such as Cold Chillin'
and Def Jam Recordings
. Nas and DJ "Ill Will" Graham continued to work together, but their partnership was cut short when Graham was murdered by a gunman in Queensbridge on May 23, 1992, while his brother had also been shot, and survived, that night. Nas has cited that moment as a "wake-up call" for him.
In mid 1992, MC Serch
, whose group 3rd Bass
had dissolved, began working on a solo project and approached Nas. At the suggestion of producer T-Ray, Serch collaborated with Nas for "Back to the Grill", the lead single for Serch's 1992 solo debut album Return of the Product
. At the recording session for the song, Serch discovered that Nas did not have a recording contract and subsequently contacted Faith Newman, an A&R
executive at Sony Music Entertainment
. As Serch recounted, "Nas was in a position where his demo had been sittin' around, 'Live at the Barbeque' was already a classic, and he was just tryin' to find a decent deal ... So when he gave me his demo, I shopped it around. I took it to Russell
first, Russell said it sounded like G Rap
, he wasn't wit' it. So I took it to Faith. Faith loved it, she said she'd been looking for Nas for a year and a half. They wouldn't let me leave the office without a deal on the table." Once MC Serch assumed the role of executive producer for Nas' debut project, he attempted to connect Nas with various producers. Based on his buzz at the time, numerous New York-based producers were eager to work with him and went to Power House Studios with Nas. Among those producers was DJ Premier
, recognized at the time for his raw, aggressive production
with jazz-based samples and heavy scratching
, and for his work with rapper Guru
as a part of hip hop duo Gang Starr
. After his production on Lord Finesse
& DJ Mike Smooth's Funky Technician
(1990) and Jeru the Damaja
's The Sun Rises in the East
(1994), Premier began recording exclusively at D&D Studios
in New York City before working with Nas on Illmatic.
' and 'The Bridge
'. It just had that type of effect. As simple as it is, all of the elements are there. So from that point, after Serch approached me about doing some cuts, it was automatic. You'd be stupid to pass that up even if it wasn't payin' no money." Serch later noted the chemistry between Nas and DJ Premier, recounting that "Primo and Nas, they could have been separated at birth. It wasn't a situation where his beats fit their rhymes, they fit each other." While Serch contacted DJ Premier, Large Professor contacted Pete Rock
to collaborate with Nas on a song that would ultimately be entitled "The World Is Yours". Shortly afterwards, New York producers Q-Tip
and L.E.S. also gained the opportunity to work with Nas. Nas's father, Olu Dara
, also contributed to the album. His cornet solo and rapper AZ
's vocals were mixed with Nas's rapping in "Life's a Bitch". Throughout the recording, expectations for Illmatic were high, as AZ later stated "I got on Nas' album and did the 'Life's a Bitch' song, but even then I thought I was terrible on it, to be honest. But once people started hearing that and liking it, that's what built my confidence. I thought, 'OK, I can probably do this.' That record was everything. To be the only person featured on Illmatic when Nas is considered one of the top men in New York at that time, one of the freshest new artists, that was big." During the sessions for Illmatic, Nas composed the song "Nas Is Like
", which would later appear as a single from his third studio album I Am… (1999).
Concerning the recording of the album's opening song "N.Y. State of Mind", producer DJ Premier later stated "Nas — he’s one of our saviors now. When we did ‘N.Y. State of Mind,’ at the beginning when he says, ‘Straight out the dungeons of rap / Where fake niggas don’t make it back,’ then you hear him say, ‘I don’t know how to start this shit,’ ’cause he had just written it. He’s got the beat running in the studio, but he doesn’t know how he’s going to format how he’s going to convey it. So he’s going, ‘I don’t know how to start this shit,’ and I’m counting him in [to begin his verse]. One, two, three. And then you can hear him go, ‘Yo,’ and then he goes right into it." DJ Premier later discussed the unexpectedness of Nas's delivery during the recording, stating "He didn’t know how he was gonna come in, but he just started going because we were recording. I’m actually yelling, ‘We’re recording!’ and banging on the [vocal booth] window. ‘Come on, get ready!’ You hear him start the shit: Rappers…. And then everyone in the studio was like, ‘Oh, my God’, ’cause it was so unexpected. He was not ready. So we used that first verse. And that was when he was up and coming, his first album. So we was like, 'Yo, this guy is gonna be big.'"
. Nas, who was twenty years old when the album was released, realistically depicts the darker side of urbanity, creating highly detailed first-person narrative
s that deconstruct the troubling lives of inner city
teenagers. The symptoms of urban poverty are also addressed throughout the album, as well as nostalgic views of his environment's history, while the album's general lyrical theme alternates from moments of pain and pleasure to frustration and braggadocio. These narratives originate from Nas's own experiences in his hometown of Queensbridge, as the lyrics allude to the housing projects located in the Long Island City-section of Queens, New York. Critic Sam Chennault wrote, "Nas captures post-crack
N.Y.C. in all its ruinous glory ... [r]ealizing that drugs were both empowering and destructive, his lyrics alternately embrace and reject the idea of ghetto glamour".
An OhWord.com columnist described Nas as a "genius introvert who rose out of the rubble of Reaganomics
to bless the mic with a forward brand of introspective, redemptive street poetry". The columnist also wrote "[his] narration glorifies the emergent poetic self as the embodiment of an elevated creative state that is potentially attainable by most any ghetto
child ... [His] narrative voice swerves between personas that are cynical and optimistic, naïve and world-weary, enraged and serene, globally conscious and provincial ... a most worthy candidate to craft a palatable and subversive message for the rotten apple
's disenfranchised youth. He was young and observant enough to isolate and analyze the positively formative moments of a project childhood while unflinchingly documenting the tragedies". Richard Harrington of The Washington Post
described Nas's performance on the album as "balancing limitations and possibilities, distinguishing hurdles and springboards, and acknowledging his own growth from roughneck adolescent to a maturing adult who can respect and criticize the culture of violence that surrounds him. More importantly, he recognizes the older, deeper culture of familial community that is poverty and racism's first casualty".
elaborated on his lyricism and delivery throughout the album, stating "Nas' complex rhyme patterns
, clever word play
, and impressive vocab took the art [of rapping] to previously unprecedented heights. Building on the pioneering work of Kool G Rap
, Big Daddy Kane
, and Rakim
, tracks like 'Halftime' and the laid back 'One Time 4 Your Mind' demonstrated a [high] level of technical precision and rhetorical dexterity." Hill cites "Memory Lane (Sittin' in da Park)" as "an exemplar of flawless lyricism", while critic Steve Juon wrote that the lyrics of the album closer, "It Ain't Hard to Tell", are "just as quotable if not more-so than anything else on the LP - what album could end on a higher note than this?":
magazine noted that "the musical backdrops are razor sharp; hard beats but with melodic hooks and loops, atmospheric background piano, strings or muted trumpet, and samples ... A potent treat." One music critic wrote that "Illmatic is laced with some of the finest beats this side of In Control Volume 1". With regards to Illmatics production, music critic Ben Yew wrote "The production, accentuated by infectious organ loop[s], vocal sample[s], and synthesizer
-like pads in the background, places your mind in a cheerful, reminiscent, mood...A substantial reason for its phenomenal quality...can be attributed to..the most accomplished and consistently excellent music producers."
The intro, "Genesis", begins with an audio sample
of the "Subway Theme" by Grand Wizard Theodore
from the film Wild Style (1982), the first major hip hop motion picture. Nas made another ode to Wild Style, while shooting the music video for his single, "It Ain't Hard To Tell
", on the same stage as the finale scene for the film. Nas's debut, "Live at the Barbeque" is played in the background of "Genesis". The aural montage begins with the sound of an elevated train and an almost-inaudible voice rhyming beneath it. Over these sounds, a snatch of dialogue, two men arguing. According to music writer Mickey Hess, in the intro, "Nas tells us everything he wants us to known about him. The train is shorthand for New York; the barely discernible rap is, in fact, his "Live at the Barbeque" verse; and the dialogue comes from Wild Style, one of the earliest movies to focus on hip hop culture. Each of these is a point of genesis. New York for Nas as a person, 'Live at the Barbeque' for Nas the rapper, and Wild Style, symbolically at least, for hip hop itself. These are my roots, Nas was saying, and he proceeded to demonstrate exactly what those roots had yielded." Setting the general grimy, yet melodic, tone of the album, "N.Y. State of Mind" features a dark, jazzy piano sample by DJ Premier. It opens with high-pitched guitar notes looped from jazz and funk musician Donald Byrd
's "Flight Time" (1972), while the prominent groove of piano notes was sampled from the Joe Chambers composition "Mind Rain" (1978). The lyrics of "N.Y. State of Mind" have Nas recounting his participation in gang violence and philosophizing that "Life is parallel to Hell, but I must maintain", while his rapping spans over forty bars
. "N.Y. State of Mind" focuses on a mind state that a person obtains from living in Nas's impoverished environment in New York City. Critic Marc Hill of PopMatters
wrote that the song "provides as clear a depiction of ghetto life as a Gordon Parks
photograph or a Langston Hughes
poem."
In other songs on Illmatic, Nas celebrates life's pleasures and achievements, acknowledging violence as a feature of his socio-economic conditions rather than the focus of his life. "Life's a Bitch" contains a sample of The Gap Band's hit "Yearning for Your Love
" (1980), and has guest vocals from East New York-based rapper AZ
. It also features Nas's father, legendary jazz player Olu Dara
, playing trumpet as the music fades out. A columnist for OhWord.com wrote that Dara's contribution to the song provides a "beautifully wistful end to a track that feels drenched in the dying rays of a crimson sunset over the city." "The World Is Yours" provides a more optimistic narrative from Nas's viewpoint, as he cites political and spiritual leader Gandhi as an influence in its verse, in contrast to the previous Scarface
references of "N.Y. State of Mind". While citing "Life's a Bitch" as "possibly the saddest hip-hop song ever recorded", Rhapsody
's Sam Chennault wrote that "The World Is Yours" "finds optimism in the darkest urban crevices". "The World Is Yours" was named the seventh greatest rap song by About.com
. The nostalgic "Memory Lane (Sittin' in da Park)" contains a Reuben Wilson
sample managed by DJ Premier, which comprises the sound of a Hammond organ
, guitar, vocals and percussion, adding to the ghostly harmonies of "Memory Lane". Spence D. of IGN
stated that the song's lyrics evoke "the crossroads of Old School
and New School
."
"One Love
" is composed of a series of letters to incarcerated
friends, recounting mutual acquaintances and events that have occurred since the receiver's imprisonment, including unfaithful girlfriends, emotionally-tortured mothers and underdog loyalty. According to one writer, the phrase "one love" represents street loyalty in the song. After delivering "shout-outs to locked down comrades", Nas chastizes a youth who seems destined for prison in the final verse, "Shorty's laugh was cold blooded as he spoke so foul/Only twelve tryin to tell me that he liked my style ... Words of wisdom from Nas, try to rise up above/Keep a eye out for Jake, shorty-wop, one love" Produced by Q-Tip
, "One Love" samples the double bass and piano from the Heath Brothers
' "Smilin' Billy Suite Part II" (1975) and contains a drum break from Parliament
's "Come In Out the Rain" (1970), which add to the song's mystical and hypnotic soundscape. The song is followed by the battle rhyme
braggadocio
of "One Time 4 Your Mind
". With a similar vibe as "N.Y. State of Mind", the upbeat "Represent" has a serious tone, as exhibited in the opening lines of the first verse: "Straight up shit is real and any day could be your last in the jungle/get murdered on the humble, guns will blast and niggaz tumble" While the majority of the album consists of funk, soul and jazz samples, "Represent" contains a sample of "Thief of Baghdad" by organist Lee Erwin from the 1924 film of the same name
. Nas discusses his lifestyle in an environment where he "loves committin' sins" and "life ain't shit, but stress, fake niggas and crab stunts", while describing himself as "The brutalizer, crew de-sizer, accelerator/The type of nigga who be pissin' in your elevator". "It Ain't Hard to Tell
" is a braggadocio rap: "Vocals'll squeeze glock
s, MC's eavesdrop/Though they need not to sneak/My poetry's deep, I never fail/Nas's raps should be locked in a cell" It opens with guitars and synths of Michael Jackson
's "Human Nature
" (1983); the song's vocals are sampled for the intro and chorus sections, creating a swirling mix of horns and tweaked-out voices. Large Professor looped
in drum samples from Stanley Clarke
's "Slow Dance" (1978) and saxophone from Kool & the Gang
's "N.T." (1971).
, returned home from an overseas tour. The original cover was intended to have a picture of Nas holding Jesus Christ in a headlock, reflecting the religious imagery of Nas's rap on "Live at the Barbeque"; "When I was 12, I went to hell for snuffing Jesus". The accepted cover, designed by Aimee Macauley, features a photo of Nas as a child superimposed over a backdrop of a New York city block, taken by Danny Clinch
. In a 1994 interview, Nas discussed the concept behind the photo of him at age 7, stating "That was the year I started to acknowledge everything [around me]. That's the year everything set off. That's the year I started seeing the future for myself and doing what was right. The ghetto makes you think. The world is ours. I used to think I couldn't leave my projects. I used to think if I left, if anything happened to me, I thought it would be no justice or I would be just a dead slave or something. The projects used to be my world until I educated myself to see there's more out there."
XXL
magazine called the album cover a "high art photo concept for a rap album" and described the artwork as a "noisy, confusing streetscape looking through the housing projects and a young boy superimposed in the center of it all." The XXL columnist also compared the cover to that of rapper Lil Wayne
's sixth studio album Tha Carter III
(2008), stating that it also "reflects the reality of disenfranchised youth today." Music columnist Byron Crawford
later called the cover for Illmatic "one of the dopest album covers ever in hip-hop." On the song "Shark Niggas (Biters)" from his debut album Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...
(1995), rapper Raekwon
with Ghostface Killah
criticized the cover of The Notorious B.I.G's Ready to Die
(1994), which was released a few months after Illmatic, for featuring a picture of a baby with an afro
, implying that his cover had copied the idea from Nas. In a 2009 interview with XXL, Nas discussed the purpose behind the album artwork among other promotional efforts, stating "Really the record had to represent everything Nasir Jones is about from beginning to end, from my album cover to my videos. My record company had to beg me to stop filmin' music videos in the projects. No matter what the song was about I had 'em out there. That’s what it was all about for me, being that kid from the projects, being a poster child for that, that didn’t exist back then."
in the United States. The album also featured international distribution that same year in countries including France, the Netherlands, Canada and the United Kingdom. In its first week of release, Illmatic made its debut on the Billboard 200
albums chart at number 12, while selling 59,000 copies. In spite of this, initial record sales fell below expectations. The album's five radio singles failed to obtain considerable Billboard success, as each single did not gain significant charting on the Billboard Hot 100
. The lead single "Halftime" only charted on the Hot Rap Singles
chart at number 8, while "Life's a Bitch" did not chart at all. Though initial sales were low, the album was eventually certified gold
in sales by the Recording Industry Association of America
(RIAA) on January 17, 1996 after shipping 500,000 copies; the RIAA later certified Illmatic platinum on December 11, 2001, following shipments in excess of one million copies. In April 2002, the album was also certified gold by the Canadian Recording Industry Association
for shipments in excess of 50,000 copies in Canada.
s hailed it as a masterpiece. Entertainment Weekly
s Dimitri Ehrlich gave it an A- rating and commented that its "witty lyrics and gruffly gratifying beats" draw listeners into Nas's lifestyle with "poetic efficiency". Touré
of Rolling Stone
gave the album four out of five stars and praised Nas' "sharp articulation, finely detailed lyrics and a controlled tone reminiscent of Rakim
." Christopher John Farley
of Time
commended its themes concerning ghetto life and described the album as a "wake-up call to [Nas]'s listeners." Farley called Nas's rapping "dispassionate — like an anchorman relaying the day's grim news — but his lyrics sometimes reveal submerged emotion", while praising him for rendering and not glorifying "the rough world he comes from". Richard Harrington of The Washington Post
commended the album's "beats and textures" and praised Nas for "balancing limitations and possibilities, distinguishing hurdles and springboards, and acknowledging his own growth from roughneck adolescent to a maturing adult who can respect and criticize the culture of violence that surrounds him". USA Today
s James T. Jones IV gave the album three-and-a-half out of four stars and dubbed Nas' lyricism as "the most urgent poetry since Public Enemy's [...] His lyrics are deep and take several listenings to fully absorb [...] NAS feels 'blessed' to have reached age 20, but he portrays this bleak life honestly and with lyrical finesse - and without bashing women - unlike many so-called gangstas' shock-for-sales rantings".
However, Los Angeles Times
writer Heidi Siegmund viewed Nas's rapping as expressing "tired attitudes and posturing", while accusing East Coast-based hip hop critics of "an obvious attempt to wrestle hip-hop away from the West" through their acclaim of the album. In contrast, Chicago Tribune
writer Greg Kot
commented that Illmatic "establishes [Nas] as the king of East Coast hard-core". NME
called it "a stunner" and stated "Nas' upbringing oozes from every pore of the music. This is the true voice of where Nas comes from, set to 40 minutes of rhythmic perfection". The New York Times
noted that Nas "imbues his chronicle with humanity and humor, not just hardness [...] [He] reports violence without celebrating it, dwelling on the way life triumphs over grim circumstances rather than the other way around". Spin
s Charles Aaron described the album as "the most extensive tour of a housing project ever committed to CD" and commended Nas's narratives, stating "Illmatic pays serious mind to uncertain sources, to abstract anxiety, spiritual and otherwise [...] Nas searches for an inner calm to break down his left-field-corner crazy streak". Aaron found its sound complimentary to the themes and lauded its guest producers' contributions, stating "nudging him toward Rakim-like-rumination, they offer subdued, slightly downcast beats, which in hip hop today means jazz, primarily of the '70s keyboard-vibe variety". In his consumer guide for The Village Voice
, critic Robert Christgau
gave the album an honorable mention rating, indicating "an enjoyable effort consumers attuned to its overriding aesthetic or individual vision may well treasure".
Hip hop publication The Source
initially awarded Illmatic a five mic rating, a classic rating and prestigious achievement, given the magazine's influence in the hip hop community at the time. The magazine's columnist Shortie stated in the review of Illmatic, "I must maintain this is one of the best hip-hop albums I have ever heard. Word." Shortie also praised Nas's lyricism and thematic substance, stating "Lyrically, the whole shit is on point. No cliched metaphors, no gimmicks. Never too abstract, never superficial." Jon Shecter, co-founder of The Source, had received a copy of the album eight months before its scheduled release, after which he raved about it and soon lobbied for it to receive a five mic rating. This was somewhat controversial, since it was unheard of for a debuting artist to receive the coveted rating. Reginald Dennis, former music editor of the magazine and XXL
co-founder, elaborated on the rating, stating "Awarding records 5 mics – classic status – has always been, on some levels, troubling to me. I mean, we are not only saying that a particular piece of music is superior to everything that is out now, but it will be better than most things released in the future as well [...] I only gave one 5 under my watch and it went to Nas’s Illmatic." Dennis cited it as "the only time I ever broke the 'no 5' rule", and went on to state "I told Jon that we'd work all of that stuff out when it was time to review the album. But everyday, Jon was like, 'yo, this album is 5 mics — seriously, Reg, 5 mics!'
, while writers have also acknowledged its redefining of the East Coast hip hop
musical milieu in the mid-1990s, resulting in a renewed focus on lyricism
and in the revival of the Queensbridge rap scene. John Bush of Allmusic cited Illmatic, along with another DJ Premier production, The Sun Rises in the East
(1994), as "one of the quintessential East Coast records". Jon Pareles of The New York Times cited Illmatic as a "milestone in trying to capture the 'street ghetto essence'". The album has been described by a number of writers and critics as "classic". In The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004), music journalist Chris Ryan gave the album five out of five stars and stated, "A portrait of an artist as a hood, loner, tortured soul, juvenile delinquent, and fledgling social critic, it still stands as one of rap's crowning achievements". Similar to The Sources initial sentiment, XXL later gave the album a classic "XXL" rating in a retrospective review. In 2002, Prefix Mags Matthew Gasteier re-examined Illmatic and its musical significance, stating:
Illmatic has been included in numerous publications' "best album" lists in disparate genres. Pitchfork Media
listed the album at number 33 on its list of the Top 100 Albums of the 1990s, and the publication's columnist Hartley Goldstein called the album "the meticulously crafted essence of everything that makes hip-hop music great; it's practically a sonic strand of the genre's DNA." It was listed as one of 33 hip hop/R&B
albums in Rolling Stones "Essential Recordings of the 90s". It was ranked number five in "The Critics Top 100 Black Music Albums of All Time" and number three in Hip Hop Connection
s "Top 100 Readers Poll". The album was also ranked number four in Vibes list of the Top 10 Rap Albums and number two on MTV
's list of The Greatest Hip Hop Albums of All Time. In 1998, it was selected as one of The Source's 100 Best Rap Albums. In 2003, Rolling Stone ranked Illmatic number 400 on its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
, along with twenty-six other hip hop albums. On March 30, 2004, Illmatic was remastered and re-released with a bonus disc of remixes and new material produced by Marley Marl and Large Professor, in commemoration of its tenth anniversary. Upon its 2004 re-release, Marc Hill of PopMatters
dubbed it "the greatest album of all time" and stated, "Ten years after its release, Illmatic stands not only as the best hip-hop album ever made, but also one of the greatest artistic productions of the twentieth century."
claimed that "Nas's heralded debut was an explosive, explicit rejection of the cultural assimilation
of most previous hip-hop." Along with the critical acclaim of the Wu-Tang Clan
's debut album Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
(1993) and the critical and commercial success of The Notorious B.I.G.
's debut Ready to Die
(1994), Illmatic was instrumental in restoring interest in the East Coast hip hop scene, while shifting the emphasis away from the melodious, synth
-driven, and funk
-induced West Coast
G-funk
, which dominated the charts for some time after Dr. Dre
's The Chronic
(1992). According to writer Mickey Hess, Illmatic was among those East Coast records that helped "create sparse, rough and rugged soundscapes that clearly differed from Dre's multi-layered melodies." As Allmusic's Steve Huey writes, "It helped spearhead the artistic renaissance of New York hip hop in the post-Chronic era, leading a return to street aesthetics."
David Drake of Stylus Magazine
wrote, "hip hop was on the come-up in '94. Everything that had been building in terms of production and rapping came to an apex in '94, the year that brought us both Notorious B.I.G.'s epic debut Ready to Die and Nas' trenchant street reflections on Illmatic...This was the critical point for the East Coast, a time when rappers from the New York area were releasing bucketloads of thrilling work". As Nas later recounted: "It felt amazing to be accepted by New York City in that way...at the time a lot of West Coast [hip-hop] was selling; East Coast wasn't selling as much, especially for a new artist. So back then you couldn't tell in the sales, but you could tell in the streets". The assembly of producers DJ Premier, Q-Tip, Pete Rock, and Large Professor also proved influential, as this style on a single project was unprecedented in hip hop music at the time, since most hip hop albums had been primarily the work of one dedicated production team. In an article on New York hip hop, one music writer later stated "Nas's Illmatic, widely considered one of the best albums in any genre made during the past two decades, is the first to draw together top hip hop producers in the recording industry. That formula, most successfully mined by the late Notorious B.I.G. (1997's Life After Death
), Puff Daddy (1997's No Way Out) and Jay-Z (1998's Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life
), is what most N.Y. prospects still use today."
, MC Shan
, Roxanne Shanté
, Queensbridge had been one of the most productive hip hop scenes in the country during the 1980s, yet it was otherwise stagnant during the early-1990s. According to Nas: "I was coming from the legacy of Marley Marl, MC Shan, Juice Crew
kind of vibe. Knowing these guys out in the neighborhood. At that time, the Queensbridge scene was dead. Dropping that album right there said a lot for me to carry on the legacy of the Queensbridge pioneers." In an April 2006 article, an XXL
columnist wrote of the history and impact of the Queensbridge hip hop scene, stating "At a time when you can buy screwed & chopped
albums at Circuit City in Brooklyn
, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that hip-hop was once a local phenomenon. More than just a voice of the ghetto, hip-hop at its best is the voice of specific blocks, capturing the distinct tone and timbre of an artist’s environment. Since the 1980s, New York City’s Queensbridge Housing Projects has been documented perhaps better than any other geographic location. Starting with super producer Marley Marl’s dominant Juice Crew in the ’80s all the way through ’90s mainstays like Nas, Cormega
and Capone
, the Bridge has produced the highest per-capita talent of any ’hood."
Following Illmatics release, Queensbridge returned to prominence after years of obscurity, with the ascendancy of the influential hardcore rap group, Mobb Deep
(who gained credibility due to their affiliation with Nas) and later with the emergence of the trend-setting duo, Capone-n-Noreaga
. Nas appeared on Mobb Deep's critically acclaimed studio album The Infamous
(1995). Furthermore, the album is credited with launching the career of the East New York-based rapper, AZ
. AZ, who gained instant exposure and underground credibility due to his appearance on "Life's a Bitch", became a frequent collaborator of Nas, who appeared on his debut album Doe or Die
(1995). Hip hop artist and childhood friend Havoc later reflected on Illmatic in a 2004 interview, stating "We used to always hear it [Illmatic] chillin' with Nas [in Queens]. What's funny about it was he was humble with it. I would listen to it and the songs were so ill, it made you wanna cry. He was just calm, like, 'How you like it?' We was hearing it piece by piece, so when it came out, it wasn't surprising to hear everybody's reaction. Everybody was going crazy. You could not walk through the 'hood without hearing Illmatic. It was on your brain."
-flow accompanied with a whimsical, often nonsensical lyrical delivery, and had been popularized by the Brooklyn
-based groups Das EFX
and The Fu-Schnickens
. The other was characterized by a slurred "lazy drawl" that sacrificed lyrical complexity for clarity and rhythm
ic cadence
, and was exemplified by West Coast hip hop emcees including Snoop Doggy Dogg
and Warren G
. However, Nas's rhythmically-immaculate verbal pace and intricate, multi-syllabic internal rhyme
patterns
on the album inspired several rappers to modify their rapping abilities — bringing a renewed focus on lyricism to hip hop during the time of its release. According to musicologist and pianist
Guthrie P. Ramsey of the University of Pennsylvania
, the album "set a benchmark for rappers in an artistic field consumed by constantly shifting notions of 'realness', authenticity, and artistic credibility." Music journalist Kelefa Sanneh
of The New York Times wrote of Illmatic, stating that Nas "perfected a dense, rat-a-tat rhyme style that built upon the legacy of 1980s pioneers like Rakim and Big Daddy Kane." Author and music writer Todd Boyd
wrote of Nas's unique lyricism, stating that his "poetic lyrics are some of the most poignant words ever to describe the postindustrial urban experience. His spoken-word like delivery and his vivid use of metaphor placed him at the top of the game in terms of overall skills as an MC and as a cultural commentator." Boyd also wrote of Illmatics initial impact on lyricism, stating "The baby-faced Nas was a young man blessed with an old spirit when Illmatic hit the streets and therefore his prescient words had that much more of an impact."
scene from the alternative hip hop
acts of the late-1980s and early-1990s. Recorded while East Coast hip hop was dominated by the jazz influences of such Native Tongues
-affiliates as A Tribe Called Quest
and De La Soul
, and the Afrocentric stylings of Brand Nubian
and X Clan, the album roughly delineates the end of golden age hip hop
(1988–1996) and the emergence of Mafioso rap, which flourished during the mid-1990s following the release of Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...
(1995). Yet as music journalist Adam Heimlich writes, "In 1994, there appeared likely to be more money (and definitely more cultural rewards) in working with Arrested Development
or Digable Planets
." Although the album contains strong elements of jazz rap
and alternative hip hop, Steve Huey credits Illmatic with marking "the beginning of a shift away from Native Tongues
-inspired alternative rap" towards future hardcore hip hop artists such as Raekwon
and Mobb Deep
. Furthermore, Adam Heimlich writes: "[Nas] came on the scene as hardcore
's golden child. Along with Wu-Tang Clan, Nas and Mobb Deep all but invented 90s New York rap, back when the notion of an 'East Coast gangsta' still meant Schoolly D
or Kool G. Rap. Those three ... designed the manner and style in which New York artists would address what Snoop
and Dre
had made rap's hottest topics: drugs and violence."
pers, SunN.Y. and Reef The Lost Cauze, Talib Kweli
, Lupe Fiasco
, and Saigon
, the producers Just Blaze
and Alchemist
, as well as the platinum-selling rappers Eminem
and The Game
, who makes references to the album on his debut, The Documentary
. In his collaboration with Nas, "Hustlers", The Game made another ode towards Illmatic: "1995, eleven years from the day/I'm in the record shop with choices to make/Illmatic on the top shelf, The Chronic
on the left, homie/Wanna cop both but only got a twenty on me/So fuck it, I stole both, spent the twenty on a dub-sack/Ripped the package of Illmatic and bumped that/For my niggas it was too complex when Nas rhymed/I was the only Compton nigga with a New York State of Mind
". Underground hip hop artist Fashawn
released his mixtape Ode to Illmatic to "pay homage, ’cause Illmatic was one of them kinda albums that really impacted my life”.
Lyrics from Illmatic have also been sampled by other rappers, including Big L
's "Ebonics" (which samples "It Ain't Hard to Tell"), Miilkbone's "Keep It Real" (which samples "Life's a Bitch"), Real Live's "Real Live Shit" (which samples "It Ain't Hard to Tell"), and most notably, Blu & Exile's "In Remembrance" (which samples "The World Is Yours" and "One Love") and Jay-Z
's "Rap Game/Crack Game
" (which samples "Represent") and "Dead Presidents II" (which samples "The World Is Yours"). Common
's critically acclaimed album Be (2005) has been said to have been molded after Illmatic. On XXL
s website, Illmatic was featured in a list of acclaimed hip hop albums, compiled by Clipse
. Malice, a member of the hip hop duo, claimed: "Illmatic captured the whole New York state of mind for me. It embraced everything I knew New York to be. The album had 10 songs, all of them flawless. Me and my homies got great memories of rolling around listening to that, huslin', smokin', chillin'. That embodied everything that was right with hip-hop. That CD never came out my deck."
Illmatic, despite all of them outselling his debut. Against this standard, they are often critically deemed as mediocre follow-ups. After manager Steve Stoute
convinced Nas to aim his efforts in a more commercial direction for his follow-up album It Was Written
(1996), he enlisted the production team Trackmasters, who were known for their mainstream work at the time. Despite receiving criticism for a stylistic change to gangsta, mafiaso
themes and materialistic subject matter, the album proved to be a commercial success, selling over 3 million copies. However, it received mixed reviews, and general consensus was that it failed to live up to the classic status of Illmatic. Many fans of Illmatic labeled Nas's subsequent efforts as 'selling out
', due to his crossover sensibilities (e.g. his participation with the hip hop group The Firm) and his radio-friendly hits aimed at the pop charts, such as "If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)
" (1996) and "Hate Me Now
" (1999).
When he released his third and fourth studio albums, I Am… and Nastradamus
(1999), which underwent editing due to bootlegging of the recording sessions, many fans and critics feared that his career was deteriorating, as both albums received further criticism for their commercially-oriented sound. Reflecting this widespread perception in the hip hop community and adding to his ongoing feud with Nas
at the time, Jay-Z mocked him in the song "Takeover
" (2001) for having a "one hot album [Illmatic] every ten year average". Nas, however, made something of a comeback with his fifth album Stillmatic
(2001) and the acclaimed follow-up God's Son
(2002), as well as The Lost Tapes
(2002), a compilation of previously unreleased tracks from the I Am… and Nastradamus sessions. Afterwards, his subsequent albums tended to receive more positive reviews, including Street's Disciple
(2004) and his untitled ninth album
(2008). Nevertheless, most fans have regarded Illmatic as his definitive album.
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
of American rapper Nas
Nas
Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones, who performs under the name Nas , formerly Nasty Nas, is an American rapper and actor. He is regarded as one of the most important figures in hip hop and one of the most skilled and influential rappers of all-time...
, released April 19, 1994, on Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
. Following his signing to Columbia with the help of MC Serch
MC Serch
MC Serch is a Jewish-American hip hop MC and former member of 3rd Bass.-Biography:Serch grew up in Far Rockaway, Queens, attending Far Rockaway High School, and graduated from Music & Art High School...
, recording sessions for the album took place during 1992 to 1993 at Chung King Studios
Chung King Studios
Chung King Recording Studios, formerly known as The Chung King House Of Metal, is a New York City recording studio founded by John King with financial backing of the Etches brothers and engineer expertise of Steve Ett became a site of many classic punk and hip hop recordings...
, D&D Recording
D&D Studios
D&D Studios is a hip hop recording studio located in New York City on the west side of 37th street, New York City, with artists such as The Notorious B.I.G., Nas, Jay-Z, Jeru The Damaja, KRS-ONE, and Black Moon counted amongst its patrons....
, Battery Studios, and Unique Recording Studios
Unique Recording Studios
Unique Recording Studios was a technologically innovative five room recording studio operating in New York City during the years 1978 to 2004. The business got off the ground as a rehearsal studio with a Tascam 8 track recorder in 1978, but soon expanded to 16, and then 24 tracks with the first...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Its production was handled by Nas, Large Professor
Large Professor
Large Professor , also known as Large Pro and Xtra P, is a New York City-based hip hop record producer and emcee. He is also best known as a founding member of the influential underground hip hop group Main Source, and as a frequent collaborator with Nas...
, Pete Rock
Pete Rock
Peter Phillips , better known by his stage name Pete Rock, is an American record producer, DJ and rapper. He rose to prominence in the early 1990s as one half of the critically acclaimed group Pete Rock & CL Smooth...
, Q-Tip
Q-Tip (rapper)
Kamaal Ibn John Fareed , better known by his stage name Q-Tip, is an American hip hop artist, producer, singer, and actor from St. Albans, Queens, New York, part of the critically acclaimed group A Tribe Called Quest...
, L.E.S.
L.E.S. (producer)
Leshan David Lewis, better known as L.E.S., is a hip hop producer commonly associated with Nas. His first production credit was for Nas' popular song "Life's a Bitch" from the Illmatic album in 1994. He soon produced a single, "Sugar Hill", for AZ's album Doe Or Die...
, and DJ Premier
DJ Premier
Christopher Edward Martin , better known by his stage name DJ Premier , is an American record producer and DJ, and was the instrumental half of the hip hop duo Gang Starr, together with emcee Guru...
. Stylistically a hardcore hip hop
Hardcore hip hop
Hardcore hip hop, also referred to as hardcore rap, is a sub-genre of hip hop music that developed through the East Coast hip hop scene in the 1980s. Pioneered by such artists as Schoolly D, Spoonie Gee, Boogie Down Productions, and Kool G Rap, it is generally characterized by anger, aggression and...
album, Illmatic features Nas's multi-syllabic internal rhyme
Internal rhyme
In poetry, internal rhyme, or middle rhyme, is rhyme that occurs in a single line of verse.Internal rhyme occurs in the middle of a line, as exemplified by Coleridge, "In mist or cloud, on mast or shroud" or "Whiles all the night through fog-smoke white," in "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner." ...
patterns
Rhyme scheme
A rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhyme between lines of a poem or song. It is usually referred to by using letters to indicate which lines rhyme. In other words, it is the pattern of end rhymes or lines...
expressing inner city
Inner city
The inner city is the central area of a major city or metropolis. In the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Ireland, the term is often applied to the lower-income residential districts in the city centre and nearby areas...
lyrical themes and narratives based on his native Queensbridge, New York
Queensbridge, Queens
Queensbridge Houses is the largest public housing development in North America. It is located in Long Island City in Queens, and opened in 1939. The 3,142-unit complex is owned by the New York City Housing Authority. The complex is located in Community Board 1...
.
Upon its release, the album debuted at number 12 on the U.S. Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
chart, selling 59,000 copies in its first week. However, its initial sales fell below expectations and its five singles failed to achieve significant chart success. While it experienced initial low sales, Illmatic received positive reviews from most music critics upon its release and earned praise for its lyrical content, production, and Nas's lyricism. On January 17, 1996, the album was certified gold
RIAA certification
In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...
by the Recording Industry Association of America
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
, and in 2001, it earned platinum certification after shipments of one million copies in the United States.
Since its initial reception, the album has been recognized by writers and music critics as a landmark album in East Coast hip hop
East Coast hip hop
East Coast hip hop is a regional subgenre of hip hop music that originated in New York City, USA during the 1970s. Hip hop is recognized to have originated and evolved first in the East Coast...
. It contributed to the regional scene's artistic renaissance in New York, while marking an influential, stylistic change in hip hop at the time. Its influence on subsequent hip hop artists has been attributed to the album's production and Nas's rapping. Several writers have cited Illmatic as one of the quintessential hip hop recordings and one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time. In 2003, the album was ranked number 400 on Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time
The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is the title of a 2003 special issue of American magazine Rolling Stone, and a related book published in 2005.Related news articles:...
.
Background
Rapping
Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
and enlisted his best friend and neighbor, Queensbridge, Queens
Queensbridge, Queens
Queensbridge Houses is the largest public housing development in North America. It is located in Long Island City in Queens, and opened in 1939. The 3,142-unit complex is owned by the New York City Housing Authority. The complex is located in Community Board 1...
-native Willy "Ill Will
Ill Will Records
Ill Will Records was an American vanity record label founded by Nasir "Nas" Jones. The label was named after Willie Graham, Nas' childhood neighbor and best friend, was shot dead on May 23, 1992 when both were teenagers...
" Graham, as his DJ
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
. Nas first went by the nickname "Kid Wave" before adopting his more commonly known alias of "Nasty Nas". At fifteen, he met producer Large Professor
Large Professor
Large Professor , also known as Large Pro and Xtra P, is a New York City-based hip hop record producer and emcee. He is also best known as a founding member of the influential underground hip hop group Main Source, and as a frequent collaborator with Nas...
from Flushing, Queens
Flushing, Queens
Flushing, founded in 1645, is a neighborhood in the north central part of the City of New York borough of Queens, east of Manhattan.Flushing was one of the first Dutch settlements on Long Island. Today, it is one of the largest and most diverse neighborhoods in New York City...
, and was introduced to Main Source
Main Source
Main Source was an innovative, acclaimed Toronto and New York-based hip hop group comprising Toronto natives Sir Scratch, K-Cut, and Queens native Large Professor...
, a hip hop group of which Large Professor was a member. Nas made his recorded debut with them, recording the opening verse on "Live at the Barbeque", from Main Source's 1991 debut album Breaking Atoms
Breaking Atoms
Breaking Atoms is the debut album of American hip hop group Main Source, released July 23, 1991 on Wild Pitch Records. Production for was handled by the group and took place during 1990 to 1991 at Homeboy Studio, Power Play Studios, and Libra Digital in New York City...
, which gained a cult following
Cult following
A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a specific area of pop culture. A film, book, band, or video game, among other things, will be said to have a cult following when it has a small but very passionate fan base...
after its release. Nas subsequently made his solo debut on his 1992 single "Halftime" for the soundtrack to the 1992 film Zebrahead
Zebrahead (film)
Zebrahead is a 1992 drama film, directed by Anthony Drazan and starring Michael Rapaport and N'Bushe Wright. Set in Detroit, Michigan, the film is about an interracial romance between a white man and a black woman and the resulting tensions among the characters...
. The single added to the buzz surrounding Nas, earning him comparisons to influential golden age rapper Rakim
Rakim
William Michael Griffin Jr. , known by his stage names Rakim , Rakim Allah, R.A.K.I.M., and The Master, is an American rapper. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential and most skilled emcees of all time. Eric B...
. Despite the substantial buzz for Nas in the underground scene, he struggled to obtain an offer for a recording contract, and was rejected by major rap labels such as Cold Chillin'
Cold Chillin' Records
Cold Chillin' Records was a record label that released some important music in the golden age of hip hop from the late 1980s to the early 1990s. A producer-and-crew label founded by manager Tyrone Williams and run by Len Fichtelberg Cold Chillin' Records was a record label that released some...
and Def Jam Recordings
Def Jam Recordings
Def Jam Recordings is an American record label, focused primarily on hip hop and urban music, owned by Universal Music Group, and operates as a part of The Island Def Jam Motown Music Group...
. Nas and DJ "Ill Will" Graham continued to work together, but their partnership was cut short when Graham was murdered by a gunman in Queensbridge on May 23, 1992, while his brother had also been shot, and survived, that night. Nas has cited that moment as a "wake-up call" for him.
In mid 1992, MC Serch
MC Serch
MC Serch is a Jewish-American hip hop MC and former member of 3rd Bass.-Biography:Serch grew up in Far Rockaway, Queens, attending Far Rockaway High School, and graduated from Music & Art High School...
, whose group 3rd Bass
3rd Bass
3rd Bass was an American hip-hop group that rose to fame in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and was notable for being one of the first successful interracial hip-hop groups.-Career:...
had dissolved, began working on a solo project and approached Nas. At the suggestion of producer T-Ray, Serch collaborated with Nas for "Back to the Grill", the lead single for Serch's 1992 solo debut album Return of the Product
Return of the Product
Return Of The Product is the solo debut album of American hip hop rapper MC Serch, released August 25, 1992 on Def Jam Recordings, after Serch had made two full-length albums with the group 3rd Bass. It was for the most part commercially ignored and only reached number 103 on the Billboard 200,...
. At the recording session for the song, Serch discovered that Nas did not have a recording contract and subsequently contacted Faith Newman, an A&R
A&R
Artists and repertoire is the division of a record label that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists. It also acts as a liaison between artists and the record label.- Finding talent :...
executive at Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation....
. As Serch recounted, "Nas was in a position where his demo had been sittin' around, 'Live at the Barbeque' was already a classic, and he was just tryin' to find a decent deal ... So when he gave me his demo, I shopped it around. I took it to Russell
Russell Simmons
-External links:** * * * * * * from the US Holocaust Memorial Museum* *...
first, Russell said it sounded like G Rap
Kool G Rap
Nathaniel Thomas Wilson , better known by his stage names Kool G Rap , Kool G. Rap, and Giancana , is an American rapper, from the Corona neighborhood of Queens, New York. He began his career in the mid-1980s as one half of the group Kool G Rap & DJ Polo and as a member of the Juice Crew...
, he wasn't wit' it. So I took it to Faith. Faith loved it, she said she'd been looking for Nas for a year and a half. They wouldn't let me leave the office without a deal on the table." Once MC Serch assumed the role of executive producer for Nas' debut project, he attempted to connect Nas with various producers. Based on his buzz at the time, numerous New York-based producers were eager to work with him and went to Power House Studios with Nas. Among those producers was DJ Premier
DJ Premier
Christopher Edward Martin , better known by his stage name DJ Premier , is an American record producer and DJ, and was the instrumental half of the hip hop duo Gang Starr, together with emcee Guru...
, recognized at the time for his raw, aggressive production
Hip hop production
Hip hop production is the creation of hip hop music. Though the term encompasses all aspects of hip hop music, it's most commonly used to refer to the instrumental, non-lyrical aspects of hip hop. This means that hip hop producers are the instrumentalists involved in a work...
with jazz-based samples and heavy scratching
Scratching
Scratching is a DJ or turntablist technique used to produce distinctive sounds by moving a vinyl record back and forth on a turntable while optionally manipulating the crossfader on a DJ mixer. While scratching is most commonly associated with hip hop music, since the late 1980s, it has been used...
, and for his work with rapper Guru
Guru (rapper)
Keith Edward Elam , better known by his stage name Guru, was an American emcee and member of the hip-hop duo Gang Starr, along with DJ Premier. He was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts...
as a part of hip hop duo Gang Starr
Gang Starr
Gang Starr was an influential East Coast hip hop duo that consisted of the late MC Guru and DJ/producer DJ Premier. Their style combined elements of New York jazz and hip hop.-Background:...
. After his production on Lord Finesse
Lord Finesse
Lord Finesse is a Hip hop artist and producer, hailing from The Bronx, New York, best known as the leader of the D.I.T.C. rap crew.- Career :...
& DJ Mike Smooth's Funky Technician
Funky Technician
Funky Technician is the debut album of American hip hop artists Lord Finesse and DJ Mike Smooth, released in 1990 on Wild Pitch Records. Production was handled by Smooth, former label-mate DJ Premier, and future Diggin' in the Crates Crew-members Diamond D and Showbiz. In 1998, the album was...
(1990) and Jeru the Damaja
Jeru the Damaja
Kendrick Jeru Davis, known as Jeru the Damaja is an American rapper and recording artist who has worked extensively with Guru and DJ Premier of Gang Starr, whom he has known since high school.-Biography:...
's The Sun Rises in the East
The Sun Rises in the East
The Sun Rises in the East is the debut album of American hip hop rapper Jeru the Damaja, released May 24, 1994 on PayDay Records. Production on the album was handled by legendary hip hop producer DJ Premier. The album features fellow Gang Starr Foundation member Afu-Ra...
(1994), Premier began recording exclusively at D&D Studios
D&D Studios
D&D Studios is a hip hop recording studio located in New York City on the west side of 37th street, New York City, with artists such as The Notorious B.I.G., Nas, Jay-Z, Jeru The Damaja, KRS-ONE, and Black Moon counted amongst its patrons....
in New York City before working with Nas on Illmatic.
Recording
Prior to recording, DJ Premier had listened to Nas's debut single, later stating "When I heard 'Half Time', that was some next shit to me. That's just as classic to me as 'Eric B For PresidentEric B. Is President
"Eric B. Is President" is the debut single released by hip-hop duo Eric B. & Rakim. The single has become one of the most memorable songs in hip hop, and Rakim's opening salvo of "I came in the door/I said it before" is one of rap's most oft-quoted lines...
' and 'The Bridge
The Bridge Wars
The Bridge Wars was a hip hop rivalry during the mid-to-late 1980s and early 1990s, that arose from a dispute over the true birthplace of hip hop music and retaliation over the rejecting of a record for airplay. The Bridge Wars originally involved The South Bronx's Boogie Down Productions, led by...
'. It just had that type of effect. As simple as it is, all of the elements are there. So from that point, after Serch approached me about doing some cuts, it was automatic. You'd be stupid to pass that up even if it wasn't payin' no money." Serch later noted the chemistry between Nas and DJ Premier, recounting that "Primo and Nas, they could have been separated at birth. It wasn't a situation where his beats fit their rhymes, they fit each other." While Serch contacted DJ Premier, Large Professor contacted Pete Rock
Pete Rock
Peter Phillips , better known by his stage name Pete Rock, is an American record producer, DJ and rapper. He rose to prominence in the early 1990s as one half of the critically acclaimed group Pete Rock & CL Smooth...
to collaborate with Nas on a song that would ultimately be entitled "The World Is Yours". Shortly afterwards, New York producers Q-Tip
Q-Tip (rapper)
Kamaal Ibn John Fareed , better known by his stage name Q-Tip, is an American hip hop artist, producer, singer, and actor from St. Albans, Queens, New York, part of the critically acclaimed group A Tribe Called Quest...
and L.E.S. also gained the opportunity to work with Nas. Nas's father, Olu Dara
Olu Dara
Olu Dara Jones is an American cornetist, guitarist and singer.-History:...
, also contributed to the album. His cornet solo and rapper AZ
AZ (rapper)
Anthony Cruz , better known as AZ is a Grammy-nominated American rapper of Dominican & African American descent. He is known for being a long time and frequent rhyme partner of Nas, and also a member of hip-hop group The Firm alongside Nas, Foxy Brown, Cormega and Nature.In a countdown of the 10...
's vocals were mixed with Nas's rapping in "Life's a Bitch". Throughout the recording, expectations for Illmatic were high, as AZ later stated "I got on Nas' album and did the 'Life's a Bitch' song, but even then I thought I was terrible on it, to be honest. But once people started hearing that and liking it, that's what built my confidence. I thought, 'OK, I can probably do this.' That record was everything. To be the only person featured on Illmatic when Nas is considered one of the top men in New York at that time, one of the freshest new artists, that was big." During the sessions for Illmatic, Nas composed the song "Nas Is Like
Nas Is Like
"Nas Is Like" is the first single from Nas' third album I Am.... The song is the sixth collaboration between Nas and producer DJ Premier. It was critically well received as it was a change from the more commercial and pop-oriented singles from It Was Written and Nas, Foxy Brown, AZ, and Nature...
", which would later appear as a single from his third studio album I Am… (1999).
Concerning the recording of the album's opening song "N.Y. State of Mind", producer DJ Premier later stated "Nas — he’s one of our saviors now. When we did ‘N.Y. State of Mind,’ at the beginning when he says, ‘Straight out the dungeons of rap / Where fake niggas don’t make it back,’ then you hear him say, ‘I don’t know how to start this shit,’ ’cause he had just written it. He’s got the beat running in the studio, but he doesn’t know how he’s going to format how he’s going to convey it. So he’s going, ‘I don’t know how to start this shit,’ and I’m counting him in [to begin his verse]. One, two, three. And then you can hear him go, ‘Yo,’ and then he goes right into it." DJ Premier later discussed the unexpectedness of Nas's delivery during the recording, stating "He didn’t know how he was gonna come in, but he just started going because we were recording. I’m actually yelling, ‘We’re recording!’ and banging on the [vocal booth] window. ‘Come on, get ready!’ You hear him start the shit: Rappers…. And then everyone in the studio was like, ‘Oh, my God’, ’cause it was so unexpected. He was not ready. So we used that first verse. And that was when he was up and coming, his first album. So we was like, 'Yo, this guy is gonna be big.'"
Context
Illmatic contains discerning treatment of its subject matter: gang rivalries, desolation, and the ravages of urban povertyPoverty
Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...
. Nas, who was twenty years old when the album was released, realistically depicts the darker side of urbanity, creating highly detailed first-person narrative
First-person narrative
First-person point of view is a narrative mode where a story is narrated by one character at a time, speaking for and about themselves. First-person narrative may be singular, plural or multiple as well as being an authoritative, reliable or deceptive "voice" and represents point of view in the...
s that deconstruct the troubling lives of inner city
Inner city
The inner city is the central area of a major city or metropolis. In the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Ireland, the term is often applied to the lower-income residential districts in the city centre and nearby areas...
teenagers. The symptoms of urban poverty are also addressed throughout the album, as well as nostalgic views of his environment's history, while the album's general lyrical theme alternates from moments of pain and pleasure to frustration and braggadocio. These narratives originate from Nas's own experiences in his hometown of Queensbridge, as the lyrics allude to the housing projects located in the Long Island City-section of Queens, New York. Critic Sam Chennault wrote, "Nas captures post-crack
Crack Epidemic
The United States crack epidemic refers to the surge of crack houses and crack cocaine use in major cities in the United States between 1984 and 1990...
N.Y.C. in all its ruinous glory ... [r]ealizing that drugs were both empowering and destructive, his lyrics alternately embrace and reject the idea of ghetto glamour".
An OhWord.com columnist described Nas as a "genius introvert who rose out of the rubble of Reaganomics
Reaganomics
Reaganomics refers to the economic policies promoted by the U.S. President Ronald Reagan during the 1980s, also known as supply-side economics and called trickle-down economics, particularly by critics...
to bless the mic with a forward brand of introspective, redemptive street poetry". The columnist also wrote "[his] narration glorifies the emergent poetic self as the embodiment of an elevated creative state that is potentially attainable by most any ghetto
Ghetto
A ghetto is a section of a city predominantly occupied by a group who live there, especially because of social, economic, or legal issues.The term was originally used in Venice to describe the area where Jews were compelled to live. The term now refers to an overcrowded urban area often associated...
child ... [His] narrative voice swerves between personas that are cynical and optimistic, naïve and world-weary, enraged and serene, globally conscious and provincial ... a most worthy candidate to craft a palatable and subversive message for the rotten apple
Big Apple
"The Big Apple" is a nickname for New York City. It was first popularized in the 1920s by John J. Fitz Gerald, a sports writer for the New York Morning Telegraph...
's disenfranchised youth. He was young and observant enough to isolate and analyze the positively formative moments of a project childhood while unflinchingly documenting the tragedies". Richard Harrington of The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
described Nas's performance on the album as "balancing limitations and possibilities, distinguishing hurdles and springboards, and acknowledging his own growth from roughneck adolescent to a maturing adult who can respect and criticize the culture of violence that surrounds him. More importantly, he recognizes the older, deeper culture of familial community that is poverty and racism's first casualty".
Lyricism
Along with its powerful narratives of inner-city life and social condition, Illmatic has been noted by music writers for Nas's unique style of delivery and lyrical substance. According to Steve Juon of RapReviews.com, Nas "illustrates the Queensbridge trife life of his , while at the same time providing hope that there is something greater than money, guns and drugs." Music critic Marc Lamont Hill of PopMattersPopMatters
PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...
elaborated on his lyricism and delivery throughout the album, stating "Nas' complex rhyme patterns
Rhyme scheme
A rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhyme between lines of a poem or song. It is usually referred to by using letters to indicate which lines rhyme. In other words, it is the pattern of end rhymes or lines...
, clever word play
Word play
Word play or wordplay is a literary technique in which the words that are used become the main subject of the work, primarily for the purpose of intended effect or amusement...
, and impressive vocab took the art [of rapping] to previously unprecedented heights. Building on the pioneering work of Kool G Rap
Kool G Rap
Nathaniel Thomas Wilson , better known by his stage names Kool G Rap , Kool G. Rap, and Giancana , is an American rapper, from the Corona neighborhood of Queens, New York. He began his career in the mid-1980s as one half of the group Kool G Rap & DJ Polo and as a member of the Juice Crew...
, Big Daddy Kane
Big Daddy Kane
Antonio Hardy better known by his stage name Big Daddy Kane, is an American rapper who started his career in 1986 as a member of the rap group the Juice Crew. He is widely considered to be one of the most influential and skilled MC's in Hip Hop...
, and Rakim
Rakim
William Michael Griffin Jr. , known by his stage names Rakim , Rakim Allah, R.A.K.I.M., and The Master, is an American rapper. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential and most skilled emcees of all time. Eric B...
, tracks like 'Halftime' and the laid back 'One Time 4 Your Mind' demonstrated a [high] level of technical precision and rhetorical dexterity." Hill cites "Memory Lane (Sittin' in da Park)" as "an exemplar of flawless lyricism", while critic Steve Juon wrote that the lyrics of the album closer, "It Ain't Hard to Tell", are "just as quotable if not more-so than anything else on the LP - what album could end on a higher note than this?":
Production
Illmatic also garnered praise for its production. DJ Premier's production on the album has been noted by critics for his minimalist style, which featured simple loops over heavy beats. The majority of the album consists of vintage funk, soul, and jazz samples. According to critics, the album's four major producers (Large Professor, DJ Premier, Pete Rock, and Q-Tip) extensively contributed to the cohesive atmospheric aesthetic that permeated the album, while still retaining each's individual, trademark sound. QQ (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...
magazine noted that "the musical backdrops are razor sharp; hard beats but with melodic hooks and loops, atmospheric background piano, strings or muted trumpet, and samples ... A potent treat." One music critic wrote that "Illmatic is laced with some of the finest beats this side of In Control Volume 1". With regards to Illmatics production, music critic Ben Yew wrote "The production, accentuated by infectious organ loop[s], vocal sample[s], and synthesizer
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
-like pads in the background, places your mind in a cheerful, reminiscent, mood...A substantial reason for its phenomenal quality...can be attributed to..the most accomplished and consistently excellent music producers."
Content
The intro, "Genesis", begins with an audio sample
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
of the "Subway Theme" by Grand Wizard Theodore
Grand Wizard Theodore
Grand Wizzard Theodore , is an American hip hop DJ. He is widely credited as the inventor of scratching.Born Theodore Livingston in Bronx, New York, his brother, Mean Gene, was Theodore's mentor, and began teaching him DJing before Theodore was even a teen...
from the film Wild Style (1982), the first major hip hop motion picture. Nas made another ode to Wild Style, while shooting the music video for his single, "It Ain't Hard To Tell
It Ain't Hard to Tell
"It Ain't Hard to Tell" is Nas' second single and last track from his debut album Illmatic. Produced by Large Professor, the song samples Michael Jackson's 1983 hit single "Human Nature", "N.T." by Kool & the Gang, "Why Can't People Be Colors Too?" by The Whatnauts, "Long Red" by Mountain & "Slow...
", on the same stage as the finale scene for the film. Nas's debut, "Live at the Barbeque" is played in the background of "Genesis". The aural montage begins with the sound of an elevated train and an almost-inaudible voice rhyming beneath it. Over these sounds, a snatch of dialogue, two men arguing. According to music writer Mickey Hess, in the intro, "Nas tells us everything he wants us to known about him. The train is shorthand for New York; the barely discernible rap is, in fact, his "Live at the Barbeque" verse; and the dialogue comes from Wild Style, one of the earliest movies to focus on hip hop culture. Each of these is a point of genesis. New York for Nas as a person, 'Live at the Barbeque' for Nas the rapper, and Wild Style, symbolically at least, for hip hop itself. These are my roots, Nas was saying, and he proceeded to demonstrate exactly what those roots had yielded." Setting the general grimy, yet melodic, tone of the album, "N.Y. State of Mind" features a dark, jazzy piano sample by DJ Premier. It opens with high-pitched guitar notes looped from jazz and funk musician Donald Byrd
Donald Byrd
Donaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture Byrd II, is an American jazz and rhythm and blues trumpeter. A sideman for many other jazz musicians of his generation, Byrd is best known as one of the only bebop jazz musicians who successfully pioneered the funk and soul genres while simultaneously remaining a...
's "Flight Time" (1972), while the prominent groove of piano notes was sampled from the Joe Chambers composition "Mind Rain" (1978). The lyrics of "N.Y. State of Mind" have Nas recounting his participation in gang violence and philosophizing that "Life is parallel to Hell, but I must maintain", while his rapping spans over forty bars
Bar (music)
In musical notation, a bar is a segment of time defined by a given number of beats of a given duration. Typically, a piece consists of several bars of the same length, and in modern musical notation the number of beats in each bar is specified at the beginning of the score by the top number of a...
. "N.Y. State of Mind" focuses on a mind state that a person obtains from living in Nas's impoverished environment in New York City. Critic Marc Hill of PopMatters
PopMatters
PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...
wrote that the song "provides as clear a depiction of ghetto life as a Gordon Parks
Gordon Parks
Gordon Roger Alexander Buchanan Parks was a groundbreaking American photographer, musician, poet, novelist, journalist, activist and film director...
photograph or a Langston Hughes
Langston Hughes
James Mercer Langston Hughes was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist. He was one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form jazz poetry. Hughes is best known for his work during the Harlem Renaissance...
poem."
In other songs on Illmatic, Nas celebrates life's pleasures and achievements, acknowledging violence as a feature of his socio-economic conditions rather than the focus of his life. "Life's a Bitch" contains a sample of The Gap Band's hit "Yearning for Your Love
Yearning for Your Love
"Yearning for Your Love" is a quiet storm ballad recorded and released by The Gap Band on Mercury Records. The single was the third release off the Tulsa, Oklahoma-based group's fifth album, The Gap Band III...
" (1980), and has guest vocals from East New York-based rapper AZ
AZ (rapper)
Anthony Cruz , better known as AZ is a Grammy-nominated American rapper of Dominican & African American descent. He is known for being a long time and frequent rhyme partner of Nas, and also a member of hip-hop group The Firm alongside Nas, Foxy Brown, Cormega and Nature.In a countdown of the 10...
. It also features Nas's father, legendary jazz player Olu Dara
Olu Dara
Olu Dara Jones is an American cornetist, guitarist and singer.-History:...
, playing trumpet as the music fades out. A columnist for OhWord.com wrote that Dara's contribution to the song provides a "beautifully wistful end to a track that feels drenched in the dying rays of a crimson sunset over the city." "The World Is Yours" provides a more optimistic narrative from Nas's viewpoint, as he cites political and spiritual leader Gandhi as an influence in its verse, in contrast to the previous Scarface
Scarface (1983 film)
Scarface is a 1983 American epic crime drama movie directed by Brian De Palma, written by Oliver Stone, produced by Martin Bregman and starring Al Pacino as Tony Montana...
references of "N.Y. State of Mind". While citing "Life's a Bitch" as "possibly the saddest hip-hop song ever recorded", Rhapsody
Rhapsody (online music service)
Rhapsody is an online music store subscription service, launched in December 2001, and available in the United States only. On April 6, 2010, Rhapsody officially declared its independence from RealNetworks. Downloaded files come with restrictions on their use, enforced by Helix, Rhapsody's version...
's Sam Chennault wrote that "The World Is Yours" "finds optimism in the darkest urban crevices". "The World Is Yours" was named the seventh greatest rap song by About.com
About.com
About.com is an online source for original information and advice. It is written in English, and is aimed primarily at North Americans. It is owned by The New York Times Company....
. The nostalgic "Memory Lane (Sittin' in da Park)" contains a Reuben Wilson
Reuben Wilson
Reuben Wilson is a jazz organist. He performs soul jazz and acid jazz, and is best known for his title track "Got To Get Your Own"He was born in Mounds, Oklahoma and his family moved to Pasadena when he was 5....
sample managed by DJ Premier, which comprises the sound of a Hammond organ
Hammond organ
The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to churches as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s it became a standard keyboard...
, guitar, vocals and percussion, adding to the ghostly harmonies of "Memory Lane". Spence D. of IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
stated that the song's lyrics evoke "the crossroads of Old School
Old school hip hop
Old school hip hop describes the earliest commercially recorded hip hop music , and the music in the period preceding it from which it was directly descended . Old school hip hop is said to end around 1983 or 1984 with the emergence of Run–D.M.C., the first new school hip hop group...
and New School
New school hip hop
The new school of hip hop was a movement in hip hop music starting 1983–84 with the early records of Run-D.M.C. and LL Cool J. Like the hip hop preceding it, it came predominately from New York City. The new school was initially characterized in form by drum machine led minimalism, often tinged...
."
"One Love
One Love (Nas song)
"One Love" is a song by American hip hop rapper Nas, released October 25, 1994 on Columbia Records. It was issued as the fifth and final radio single in promotion of his debut studio album Illmatic . The song was produced by Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest, who also contributed vocals for the chorus...
" is composed of a series of letters to incarcerated
Incarceration
Incarceration is the detention of a person in prison, typically as punishment for a crime .People are most commonly incarcerated upon suspicion or conviction of committing a crime, and different jurisdictions have differing laws governing the function of incarceration within a larger system of...
friends, recounting mutual acquaintances and events that have occurred since the receiver's imprisonment, including unfaithful girlfriends, emotionally-tortured mothers and underdog loyalty. According to one writer, the phrase "one love" represents street loyalty in the song. After delivering "shout-outs to locked down comrades", Nas chastizes a youth who seems destined for prison in the final verse, "Shorty's laugh was cold blooded as he spoke so foul/Only twelve tryin to tell me that he liked my style ... Words of wisdom from Nas, try to rise up above/Keep a eye out for Jake, shorty-wop, one love" Produced by Q-Tip
Q-Tip (rapper)
Kamaal Ibn John Fareed , better known by his stage name Q-Tip, is an American hip hop artist, producer, singer, and actor from St. Albans, Queens, New York, part of the critically acclaimed group A Tribe Called Quest...
, "One Love" samples the double bass and piano from the Heath Brothers
Heath Brothers
The Heath Brothers was an American jazz group, formed in 1975 by the brothers Jimmy , Percy , and Albert "Tootie" Heath ; and pianist Stanley Cowell in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Tony Purrone and Jimmy's son Mtume joined the group later...
' "Smilin' Billy Suite Part II" (1975) and contains a drum break from Parliament
Parliament (band)
Parliament was a funk band most prominent during the 1970s. It and its sister act Funkadelic, both led by George Clinton, began the funk music culture of that decade.-History:...
's "Come In Out the Rain" (1970), which add to the song's mystical and hypnotic soundscape. The song is followed by the battle rhyme
Freestyle rap
Freestyle rap commonly refers to rap lyrics which are improvised through a acapella or with instrumental beats, i.e. performed with no previously composed lyrics, or "off the top of the head"...
braggadocio
Boasting
Boasting is the act of making an ostentatious speech. It is considered a vice by such major religious groups as Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism...
of "One Time 4 Your Mind
One Time 4 Your Mind
"One Time 4 Your Mind" is the eighth song on Nas' debut album Illmatic. It is produced by Large Professor who provides the song with a mellow beat and a deep bassline. The song's melody samples "Walter L" by Gary Burton. Nas raps two verses on the song and contributes to the call and response...
". With a similar vibe as "N.Y. State of Mind", the upbeat "Represent" has a serious tone, as exhibited in the opening lines of the first verse: "Straight up shit is real and any day could be your last in the jungle/get murdered on the humble, guns will blast and niggaz tumble" While the majority of the album consists of funk, soul and jazz samples, "Represent" contains a sample of "Thief of Baghdad" by organist Lee Erwin from the 1924 film of the same name
The Thief of Bagdad (1924 film)
The Thief of Bagdad is a 1924 American swashbuckler film directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Douglas Fairbanks. Freely adapted from One Thousand and One Nights, it tells the story of a thief who falls in love with the daughter of the Caliph of Bagdad...
. Nas discusses his lifestyle in an environment where he "loves committin' sins" and "life ain't shit, but stress, fake niggas and crab stunts", while describing himself as "The brutalizer, crew de-sizer, accelerator/The type of nigga who be pissin' in your elevator". "It Ain't Hard to Tell
It Ain't Hard to Tell
"It Ain't Hard to Tell" is Nas' second single and last track from his debut album Illmatic. Produced by Large Professor, the song samples Michael Jackson's 1983 hit single "Human Nature", "N.T." by Kool & the Gang, "Why Can't People Be Colors Too?" by The Whatnauts, "Long Red" by Mountain & "Slow...
" is a braggadocio rap: "Vocals'll squeeze glock
Glock
Glock Ges.m.b.H. is a weapons manufacturer headquartered in Deutsch-Wagram, Austria, named after its founder, Gaston Glock...
s, MC's eavesdrop/Though they need not to sneak/My poetry's deep, I never fail/Nas's raps should be locked in a cell" It opens with guitars and synths of Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
's "Human Nature
Human Nature (Michael Jackson song)
"Human Nature" is a song by American recording artist Michael Jackson. It was written and composed by Steve Porcaro and John Bettis, and produced by Quincy Jones. It is the fifth single from the singer's sixth solo album, Thriller . Initially, Porcaro had recorded a rough demo of the song on a...
" (1983); the song's vocals are sampled for the intro and chorus sections, creating a swirling mix of horns and tweaked-out voices. Large Professor looped
Music loop
In electroacoustic music, a loop is a repeating section of sound material. Short sections of material can be repeated to create ostinato patterns...
in drum samples from Stanley Clarke
Stanley Clarke
Stanley Clarke is an American jazz musician and composer known for his innovative and influential work on double bass and electric bass guitar as well as for his numerous film and television scores...
's "Slow Dance" (1978) and saxophone from Kool & the Gang
Kool & the Gang
Kool & the Gang are an American jazz, R&B, soul, and funk group, originally formed as the Jazziacs in Jersey City, New Jersey in 1964.They went through several musical phases during the course of their recording career, starting out with a purist jazz sound, then becoming practitioners of R&B and...
's "N.T." (1971).
Artwork
In an early promotional interview, Nas claimed that the name "Illmatic" (meaning "beyond ill" or "the ultimate") was a reference to his incarcerated Queensbridge friend, Illmatic Ice. Nas later described the title name as "supreme ill. It's as ill as ill gets. That shit is a science of everything ill." The album cover features a picture of Nas as a child, which was taken after his father, musician Olu DaraOlu Dara
Olu Dara Jones is an American cornetist, guitarist and singer.-History:...
, returned home from an overseas tour. The original cover was intended to have a picture of Nas holding Jesus Christ in a headlock, reflecting the religious imagery of Nas's rap on "Live at the Barbeque"; "When I was 12, I went to hell for snuffing Jesus". The accepted cover, designed by Aimee Macauley, features a photo of Nas as a child superimposed over a backdrop of a New York city block, taken by Danny Clinch
Danny Clinch
Danny Clinch is a photographer and film director who was born in Toms River, New Jersey in 1964. He graduated from Toms River High School East in 1982 and after attending Ocean County College, he attended the New England School of Photography, a two-year institution located in Boston, MA.Clinch...
. In a 1994 interview, Nas discussed the concept behind the photo of him at age 7, stating "That was the year I started to acknowledge everything [around me]. That's the year everything set off. That's the year I started seeing the future for myself and doing what was right. The ghetto makes you think. The world is ours. I used to think I couldn't leave my projects. I used to think if I left, if anything happened to me, I thought it would be no justice or I would be just a dead slave or something. The projects used to be my world until I educated myself to see there's more out there."
XXL
XXL (magazine)
XXL is a Hip-Hop magazine, published by Harris Publications.In 1997, XXL was founded by former Source staffers as well as other Harris Publication employees, who wanted to create their own magazine about the hip-hop music and culture using the model developed by the founders of The Source...
magazine called the album cover a "high art photo concept for a rap album" and described the artwork as a "noisy, confusing streetscape looking through the housing projects and a young boy superimposed in the center of it all." The XXL columnist also compared the cover to that of rapper Lil Wayne
Lil Wayne
Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr. , better known by his stage name Lil Wayne, is an American rapper. At the age of nine, Lil Wayne joined Cash Money Records as the youngest member of the label, and half of the duo, The B.G.'z, with B.G.. In 1997, Lil Wayne joined the group Hot Boys, which also included...
's sixth studio album Tha Carter III
Tha Carter III
Tha Carter III is the sixth studio album by American rapper Lil Wayne, released June 10, 2008 on Cash Money Records. It follows a long string of mixtape releases and guest appearances on other hip hop and R&B artists records, helping to increase his exposure in the mainstream...
(2008), stating that it also "reflects the reality of disenfranchised youth today." Music columnist Byron Crawford
Byron Crawford
Byron Crawford , also known by the nickname Bol, is a blogger based in St. Louis, Missouri who writes ByronCrawford.com and wrote a daily online column for XXL magazine for 5 years. In February, 2008 XXL readers voted that Crawford was the site's best blogger by a margin of over sixteen percent...
later called the cover for Illmatic "one of the dopest album covers ever in hip-hop." On the song "Shark Niggas (Biters)" from his debut album Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...
Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...
Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... is the solo debut album of American rapper and Wu-Tang Clan member Raekwon, released August 1, 1995, on Loud Records in the United States...
(1995), rapper Raekwon
Raekwon
Corey Woods , better known by the stage name Raekwon, is an American rapper and a member of the Wu-Tang Clan. He released his solo debut, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... in 1995, and has since recorded four solo albums, as well as work with Wu-Tang and an extensive amount of guest contributions with...
with Ghostface Killah
Ghostface Killah
Dennis Coles , better known by his stage name Ghostface Killah, is an American rapper and prominent member of the Wu-Tang Clan. After the group achieved breakthrough success in the aftermath of Enter the Wu-Tang , the members went on to pursue solo careers to varying levels of success...
criticized the cover of The Notorious B.I.G's Ready to Die
Ready to Die
Ready to Die is the debut album of American rapper The Notorious B.I.G., released September 13, 1994 on Bad Boy Records. The first release on the label, it features production by record producer and Bad Boy founder Sean "Puffy" Combs, Easy Mo Bee, Chucky Thompson, DJ Premier, and Lord Finesse,...
(1994), which was released a few months after Illmatic, for featuring a picture of a baby with an afro
Afro
Afro, sometimes shortened to fro and also known as a "natural", is a hairstyle worn naturally by people with lengthy kinky hair texture or specifically styled in such a fashion by individuals with naturally curly or straight hair...
, implying that his cover had copied the idea from Nas. In a 2009 interview with XXL, Nas discussed the purpose behind the album artwork among other promotional efforts, stating "Really the record had to represent everything Nasir Jones is about from beginning to end, from my album cover to my videos. My record company had to beg me to stop filmin' music videos in the projects. No matter what the song was about I had 'em out there. That’s what it was all about for me, being that kid from the projects, being a poster child for that, that didn’t exist back then."
Commercial performance
Illmatic was released on April 19, 1994 through Columbia RecordsColumbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
in the United States. The album also featured international distribution that same year in countries including France, the Netherlands, Canada and the United Kingdom. In its first week of release, Illmatic made its debut on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
albums chart at number 12, while selling 59,000 copies. In spite of this, initial record sales fell below expectations. The album's five radio singles failed to obtain considerable Billboard success, as each single did not gain significant charting on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
. The lead single "Halftime" only charted on the Hot Rap Singles
Hot Rap Tracks
Rap Songs is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States. It lists the 25 most popular hip-hop/rap songs, calculated weekly by airplay on rhythmic and urban radio stations and sales in hip hop-focused or exclusive markets. From 1989 through 2001, it was based on how much the single...
chart at number 8, while "Life's a Bitch" did not chart at all. Though initial sales were low, the album was eventually certified gold
RIAA certification
In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...
in sales by the Recording Industry Association of America
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
(RIAA) on January 17, 1996 after shipping 500,000 copies; the RIAA later certified Illmatic platinum on December 11, 2001, following shipments in excess of one million copies. In April 2002, the album was also certified gold by the Canadian Recording Industry Association
Canadian Recording Industry Association
Music Canada is a Toronto-based, non-profit trade organization that was founded 9 April 1963 to represent the interests of companies that record, artists, manufacture, production, promotion and distribution of music in Canada...
for shipments in excess of 50,000 copies in Canada.
Critical response
Upon its release, Illmatic received overwhelmingly positive reviews, as several music criticMusic criticism
See also Music journalism for reporting on classical and popular music in the media.The Oxford Companion to Music defines music criticism as 'the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres'. In this...
s hailed it as a masterpiece. Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
s Dimitri Ehrlich gave it an A- rating and commented that its "witty lyrics and gruffly gratifying beats" draw listeners into Nas's lifestyle with "poetic efficiency". Touré
Touré
Touré is an American novelist, essayist, music journalist, cultural critic, and television personality based in New York City. He is the host of Fuse's Hiphop Shop and On The Record...
of Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
gave the album four out of five stars and praised Nas' "sharp articulation, finely detailed lyrics and a controlled tone reminiscent of Rakim
Rakim
William Michael Griffin Jr. , known by his stage names Rakim , Rakim Allah, R.A.K.I.M., and The Master, is an American rapper. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential and most skilled emcees of all time. Eric B...
." Christopher John Farley
Christopher John Farley
For the late comedian and SNL actor, see Chris Farley.Christopher John Farley is a Jamaican-born American journalist, columnist, and author.-Early life and education:...
of Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
commended its themes concerning ghetto life and described the album as a "wake-up call to [Nas]'s listeners." Farley called Nas's rapping "dispassionate — like an anchorman relaying the day's grim news — but his lyrics sometimes reveal submerged emotion", while praising him for rendering and not glorifying "the rough world he comes from". Richard Harrington of The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
commended the album's "beats and textures" and praised Nas for "balancing limitations and possibilities, distinguishing hurdles and springboards, and acknowledging his own growth from roughneck adolescent to a maturing adult who can respect and criticize the culture of violence that surrounds him". USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
s James T. Jones IV gave the album three-and-a-half out of four stars and dubbed Nas' lyricism as "the most urgent poetry since Public Enemy's [...] His lyrics are deep and take several listenings to fully absorb [...] NAS feels 'blessed' to have reached age 20, but he portrays this bleak life honestly and with lyrical finesse - and without bashing women - unlike many so-called gangstas' shock-for-sales rantings".
However, Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
writer Heidi Siegmund viewed Nas's rapping as expressing "tired attitudes and posturing", while accusing East Coast-based hip hop critics of "an obvious attempt to wrestle hip-hop away from the West" through their acclaim of the album. In contrast, Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
writer Greg Kot
Greg Kot
Greg Kot is an American writer and journalist. Since 1990, Kot has been the music critic at the Chicago Tribune, where he has covered popular music and reported on music-related social, political and business issues...
commented that Illmatic "establishes [Nas] as the king of East Coast hard-core". NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
called it "a stunner" and stated "Nas' upbringing oozes from every pore of the music. This is the true voice of where Nas comes from, set to 40 minutes of rhythmic perfection". The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
noted that Nas "imbues his chronicle with humanity and humor, not just hardness [...] [He] reports violence without celebrating it, dwelling on the way life triumphs over grim circumstances rather than the other way around". Spin
Spin (magazine)
Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...
s Charles Aaron described the album as "the most extensive tour of a housing project ever committed to CD" and commended Nas's narratives, stating "Illmatic pays serious mind to uncertain sources, to abstract anxiety, spiritual and otherwise [...] Nas searches for an inner calm to break down his left-field-corner crazy streak". Aaron found its sound complimentary to the themes and lauded its guest producers' contributions, stating "nudging him toward Rakim-like-rumination, they offer subdued, slightly downcast beats, which in hip hop today means jazz, primarily of the '70s keyboard-vibe variety". In his consumer guide for The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
, critic Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau is an American essayist, music journalist, and self-proclaimed "Dean of American Rock Critics".One of the earliest professional rock critics, Christgau is known for his terse capsule reviews, published since 1969 in his Consumer Guide columns...
gave the album an honorable mention rating, indicating "an enjoyable effort consumers attuned to its overriding aesthetic or individual vision may well treasure".
Hip hop publication The Source
The Source (magazine)
The Source is a United States-based, monthly full-color magazine covering hip-hop music, politics, and culture, founded in 1988. It is the world's second longest running rap periodical, behind United Kingdom-based publication Hip Hop Connection. The Source was founded as a newsletter in 1988...
initially awarded Illmatic a five mic rating, a classic rating and prestigious achievement, given the magazine's influence in the hip hop community at the time. The magazine's columnist Shortie stated in the review of Illmatic, "I must maintain this is one of the best hip-hop albums I have ever heard. Word." Shortie also praised Nas's lyricism and thematic substance, stating "Lyrically, the whole shit is on point. No cliched metaphors, no gimmicks. Never too abstract, never superficial." Jon Shecter, co-founder of The Source, had received a copy of the album eight months before its scheduled release, after which he raved about it and soon lobbied for it to receive a five mic rating. This was somewhat controversial, since it was unheard of for a debuting artist to receive the coveted rating. Reginald Dennis, former music editor of the magazine and XXL
XXL (magazine)
XXL is a Hip-Hop magazine, published by Harris Publications.In 1997, XXL was founded by former Source staffers as well as other Harris Publication employees, who wanted to create their own magazine about the hip-hop music and culture using the model developed by the founders of The Source...
co-founder, elaborated on the rating, stating "Awarding records 5 mics – classic status – has always been, on some levels, troubling to me. I mean, we are not only saying that a particular piece of music is superior to everything that is out now, but it will be better than most things released in the future as well [...] I only gave one 5 under my watch and it went to Nas’s Illmatic." Dennis cited it as "the only time I ever broke the 'no 5' rule", and went on to state "I told Jon that we'd work all of that stuff out when it was time to review the album. But everyday, Jon was like, 'yo, this album is 5 mics — seriously, Reg, 5 mics!'
Retrospect
Since its initial reception, Illmatic has been viewed by music writers as one of the quintessential hip hop recordings of the 1990s, while its rankings near the top of many publications' "best album" lists in disparate genres have given it a reputation as one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time. The album has also been recognized by writers and music critics as one of the most celebrated and influential albums in hip hop historyHip Hop History
Hip Hop History is a collaboration album by Master P and his son, Romeo. It includes guest performances by Tank, Lil Boosie, Playa, Bblak, Mizz Kitty, Young V and Marques Houston. The album has sold 32,000 worldwide-Track listing:...
, while writers have also acknowledged its redefining of the East Coast hip hop
East Coast hip hop
East Coast hip hop is a regional subgenre of hip hop music that originated in New York City, USA during the 1970s. Hip hop is recognized to have originated and evolved first in the East Coast...
musical milieu in the mid-1990s, resulting in a renewed focus on lyricism
Lyrics
Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...
and in the revival of the Queensbridge rap scene. John Bush of Allmusic cited Illmatic, along with another DJ Premier production, The Sun Rises in the East
The Sun Rises in the East
The Sun Rises in the East is the debut album of American hip hop rapper Jeru the Damaja, released May 24, 1994 on PayDay Records. Production on the album was handled by legendary hip hop producer DJ Premier. The album features fellow Gang Starr Foundation member Afu-Ra...
(1994), as "one of the quintessential East Coast records". Jon Pareles of The New York Times cited Illmatic as a "milestone in trying to capture the 'street ghetto essence'". The album has been described by a number of writers and critics as "classic". In The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004), music journalist Chris Ryan gave the album five out of five stars and stated, "A portrait of an artist as a hood, loner, tortured soul, juvenile delinquent, and fledgling social critic, it still stands as one of rap's crowning achievements". Similar to The Sources initial sentiment, XXL later gave the album a classic "XXL" rating in a retrospective review. In 2002, Prefix Mags Matthew Gasteier re-examined Illmatic and its musical significance, stating:
Illmatic has been included in numerous publications' "best album" lists in disparate genres. Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
listed the album at number 33 on its list of the Top 100 Albums of the 1990s, and the publication's columnist Hartley Goldstein called the album "the meticulously crafted essence of everything that makes hip-hop music great; it's practically a sonic strand of the genre's DNA." It was listed as one of 33 hip hop/R&B
Contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...
albums in Rolling Stones "Essential Recordings of the 90s". It was ranked number five in "The Critics Top 100 Black Music Albums of All Time" and number three in Hip Hop Connection
Hip Hop Connection
Hip Hop Connection is the longest running monthly periodical devoted entirely to hip hop culture. HHC has earned international recognition and was described by Chuck D as "the best magazine in the world".-History:...
s "Top 100 Readers Poll". The album was also ranked number four in Vibes list of the Top 10 Rap Albums and number two on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
's list of The Greatest Hip Hop Albums of All Time. In 1998, it was selected as one of The Source's 100 Best Rap Albums. In 2003, Rolling Stone ranked Illmatic number 400 on its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is the title of a 2003 special issue of American magazine Rolling Stone, and a related book published in 2005.Related news articles:...
, along with twenty-six other hip hop albums. On March 30, 2004, Illmatic was remastered and re-released with a bonus disc of remixes and new material produced by Marley Marl and Large Professor, in commemoration of its tenth anniversary. Upon its 2004 re-release, Marc Hill of PopMatters
PopMatters
PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...
dubbed it "the greatest album of all time" and stated, "Ten years after its release, Illmatic stands not only as the best hip-hop album ever made, but also one of the greatest artistic productions of the twentieth century."
East Coast hip hop
Illmatic has been noted as one of the most influential hip hop albums of the mid-1990s, and hip hop pundits have considered it an archetypal East Coast hip hop album. Columnist Adam Heimlich of the New York PressNew York Press
New York Press was a free alternative weekly in New York City, that was published from 1988 to 2011. During its lifetime, it was the main competitor to the Village Voice...
claimed that "Nas's heralded debut was an explosive, explicit rejection of the cultural assimilation
Cultural assimilation
Cultural assimilation is a socio-political response to demographic multi-ethnicity that supports or promotes the assimilation of ethnic minorities into the dominant culture. The term assimilation is often used with regard to immigrants and various ethnic groups who have settled in a new land. New...
of most previous hip-hop." Along with the critical acclaim of the Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
The Wu-Tang Clan is a hip-hop group from Staten Island that consists of RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and the late Ol' Dirty Bastard. They are frequently joined by fellow childhood friend Cappadonna, a quasi member of the group...
's debut album Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
Enter the Wu-Tang is the debut album of American hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan, released November 9, 1993, on Loud Records and distributed through RCA Records. Recording sessions for the album took place during 1992 to 1993 at Firehouse Studio in New York City, and it was mastered at The Hit Factory...
(1993) and the critical and commercial success of The Notorious B.I.G.
The Notorious B.I.G.
Christopher George Latore Wallace , best known as The Notorious B.I.G., was an American rapper. He was also known as Biggie Smalls , Big Poppa, and The Black Frank White .Wallace was raised in the Brooklyn borough...
's debut Ready to Die
Ready to Die
Ready to Die is the debut album of American rapper The Notorious B.I.G., released September 13, 1994 on Bad Boy Records. The first release on the label, it features production by record producer and Bad Boy founder Sean "Puffy" Combs, Easy Mo Bee, Chucky Thompson, DJ Premier, and Lord Finesse,...
(1994), Illmatic was instrumental in restoring interest in the East Coast hip hop scene, while shifting the emphasis away from the melodious, synth
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
-driven, and funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
-induced West Coast
West Coast hip hop
West Coast hip hop is a hip hop music subgenre that encompasses any artists or music that originates in the westernmost region of the United States, as opposed to East Coast hip hop, based originally in New York alone...
G-funk
G-funk
G-funk, or Gangsta-funk, is a sub-genre of hip hop music that emerged from Westcoast gangsta rap in the early 1990s. G-funk incorporates multi-layered and melodic synthesizers, slow hypnotic grooves, a deep bass, background female vocals, the extensive sampling of P-funk tunes, and a high-pitched...
, which dominated the charts for some time after Dr. Dre
Dr. Dre
Andre Romelle Young , primarily known by his stage name Dr. Dre, is an American record producer, rapper, record executive, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is the founder and current CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and a former co-owner and artist of Death Row Records...
's The Chronic
The Chronic
The Chronic is the solo debut album of American hip hop artist Dr. Dre, released December 15, 1992, on his own record label Death Row Records, and distributed by Priority Records. Recording sessions for the album took place in June 1992 at Death Row Studios in Los Angeles and at Bernie Grundman...
(1992). According to writer Mickey Hess, Illmatic was among those East Coast records that helped "create sparse, rough and rugged soundscapes that clearly differed from Dre's multi-layered melodies." As Allmusic's Steve Huey writes, "It helped spearhead the artistic renaissance of New York hip hop in the post-Chronic era, leading a return to street aesthetics."
David Drake of Stylus Magazine
Stylus Magazine
Stylus Magazine was an online music and film magazine launched in 2002. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, a number of different podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog....
wrote, "hip hop was on the come-up in '94. Everything that had been building in terms of production and rapping came to an apex in '94, the year that brought us both Notorious B.I.G.'s epic debut Ready to Die and Nas' trenchant street reflections on Illmatic...This was the critical point for the East Coast, a time when rappers from the New York area were releasing bucketloads of thrilling work". As Nas later recounted: "It felt amazing to be accepted by New York City in that way...at the time a lot of West Coast [hip-hop] was selling; East Coast wasn't selling as much, especially for a new artist. So back then you couldn't tell in the sales, but you could tell in the streets". The assembly of producers DJ Premier, Q-Tip, Pete Rock, and Large Professor also proved influential, as this style on a single project was unprecedented in hip hop music at the time, since most hip hop albums had been primarily the work of one dedicated production team. In an article on New York hip hop, one music writer later stated "Nas's Illmatic, widely considered one of the best albums in any genre made during the past two decades, is the first to draw together top hip hop producers in the recording industry. That formula, most successfully mined by the late Notorious B.I.G. (1997's Life After Death
Life After Death
Life After Death is the second and final studio album by American rapper The Notorious B.I.G., released March 25, 1997 on Bad Boy Records. A double album, it was released posthumously following his death on March 9, 1997 and serves as his final studio album...
), Puff Daddy (1997's No Way Out) and Jay-Z (1998's Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life
Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life
Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life is the third studio album by American rapper Jay-Z, released on September 29, 1998, on Roc-A-Fella Records in the United States. The album propelled Jay-Z into superstar status and cemented him as a household name in the post Biggie/Tupac era of hip hop. This album also...
), is what most N.Y. prospects still use today."
Queensbridge
Illmatic is also credited with reviving the Queensbridge rap scene. Once home to prestigious pioneers such as Marley MarlMarley Marl
Marlon Williams , better known as Marley Marl, is an American DJ and record producer, who is considered one of the most important and influential hip-hop producers in the history of hip hop.-Biography:...
, MC Shan
MC Shan
MC Shan is an American rapper. He is perhaps best known for collaborating with Snow in "Informer", an international number one hit single.-Biography:...
, Roxanne Shanté
Roxanne Shanté
Roxanne Shanté is an American hip-hop pioneer. Born and raised in the Queensbridge Projects, Shanté first gained attention through the Roxanne Wars and her association with the Juice Crew....
, Queensbridge had been one of the most productive hip hop scenes in the country during the 1980s, yet it was otherwise stagnant during the early-1990s. According to Nas: "I was coming from the legacy of Marley Marl, MC Shan, Juice Crew
Juice Crew
The Juice Crew was a hip hop collective of largely Queensbridge-based artists in the mid- to late-1980s. Founded by producer Marley Marl and radio DJ Mr. Magic and housed by Tyrone William's Cold Chillin' Records, the Juice Crew would introduce New School artists Big Daddy Kane, Biz Markie,...
kind of vibe. Knowing these guys out in the neighborhood. At that time, the Queensbridge scene was dead. Dropping that album right there said a lot for me to carry on the legacy of the Queensbridge pioneers." In an April 2006 article, an XXL
XXL (magazine)
XXL is a Hip-Hop magazine, published by Harris Publications.In 1997, XXL was founded by former Source staffers as well as other Harris Publication employees, who wanted to create their own magazine about the hip-hop music and culture using the model developed by the founders of The Source...
columnist wrote of the history and impact of the Queensbridge hip hop scene, stating "At a time when you can buy screwed & chopped
Chopped and screwed
Chopped and screwed refers to a technique of remixing hip hop music which developed in the Houston hip hop scene in the 1990s...
albums at Circuit City in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that hip-hop was once a local phenomenon. More than just a voice of the ghetto, hip-hop at its best is the voice of specific blocks, capturing the distinct tone and timbre of an artist’s environment. Since the 1980s, New York City’s Queensbridge Housing Projects has been documented perhaps better than any other geographic location. Starting with super producer Marley Marl’s dominant Juice Crew in the ’80s all the way through ’90s mainstays like Nas, Cormega
Cormega
Cory Mckay , better known as Cormega, is an American emcee best known for his vivid and poignant narratives about inner-city life.- Early life :...
and Capone
Capone
Kiam Akasi Holley better known as Capone, is an American rapper of the hardcore hip hop duo Capone-N-Noreaga, who hails from the Queensbridge houses in Queens, New York. He is also of Haitian descent....
, the Bridge has produced the highest per-capita talent of any ’hood."
Following Illmatics release, Queensbridge returned to prominence after years of obscurity, with the ascendancy of the influential hardcore rap group, Mobb Deep
Mobb Deep
Mobb Deep is an American hip hop duo from Queensbridge, Queens, New York, U.S., that consists of Havoc and Prodigy. The duo is "one of the most critically acclaimed hardcore East Coast hip-hop groups." The group is best known for its dark, hardcore delivery, as exemplified by the single "Shook Ones...
(who gained credibility due to their affiliation with Nas) and later with the emergence of the trend-setting duo, Capone-n-Noreaga
Capone-N-Noreaga
Capone-N-Noreaga was an American hip hop duo that consisted of Capone and Noreaga.-History:In 1996 the duo signed with Penalty Records; it also appeared in The Source magazine's Unsigned Hype column...
. Nas appeared on Mobb Deep's critically acclaimed studio album The Infamous
The Infamous
Upon its release, The Infamous earned critical acclaim and was widely considered to be a cornerstone album of New York hardcore rap. Rolling Stone magazine originally rated the album 3½ out of 5 stars, and called it "a darkly nihilistic masterpiece". It, however, gave it a 5 out of 5 star rating in...
(1995). Furthermore, the album is credited with launching the career of the East New York-based rapper, AZ
AZ (rapper)
Anthony Cruz , better known as AZ is a Grammy-nominated American rapper of Dominican & African American descent. He is known for being a long time and frequent rhyme partner of Nas, and also a member of hip-hop group The Firm alongside Nas, Foxy Brown, Cormega and Nature.In a countdown of the 10...
. AZ, who gained instant exposure and underground credibility due to his appearance on "Life's a Bitch", became a frequent collaborator of Nas, who appeared on his debut album Doe or Die
Doe or Die
Doe or Die is the debut studio album by rapper AZ, released October 10, 1995 on EMI Records. The album features guest appearances by artists such as Nas and Miss Jones, and production from Pete Rock, L.E.S., and Buckwild, among others....
(1995). Hip hop artist and childhood friend Havoc later reflected on Illmatic in a 2004 interview, stating "We used to always hear it [Illmatic] chillin' with Nas [in Queens]. What's funny about it was he was humble with it. I would listen to it and the songs were so ill, it made you wanna cry. He was just calm, like, 'How you like it?' We was hearing it piece by piece, so when it came out, it wasn't surprising to hear everybody's reaction. Everybody was going crazy. You could not walk through the 'hood without hearing Illmatic. It was on your brain."
Lyricism
Despite its initial low sales, Illmatic made a profound impact on the burgeoning hip hop underground circuit, and marked a major stylistic change in hip hop music by introducing a new standard of lyricism. Before the album's release, hip hop lyricism was mostly defined by two popular forms. One was characterized by a fast-paced raggaRagga
-Origins:Ragga originated in Jamaica during the 1980s, at the same time that electronic dance music's popularity was increasing globally. One of the reasons for ragga's swift propagation is that it is generally easier and less expensive to produce than reggae performed on traditional musical...
-flow accompanied with a whimsical, often nonsensical lyrical delivery, and had been popularized by the Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
-based groups Das EFX
Das EFX
Das EFX is an American hip hop duo. It consists of emcees Skoob and Dray...
and The Fu-Schnickens
Fu-Schnickens
Fu-Schnickens was an American hip-hop trio. Similar to Das EFX for their cartoonish lyrics and near-constant allusions to pop culture staples, they were the first Hip Hop artists to rap in backwards fashion. The Fu-Schnickens' popularity was brief but significant in hip hop history...
. The other was characterized by a slurred "lazy drawl" that sacrificed lyrical complexity for clarity and rhythm
Rhythm
Rhythm may be generally defined as a "movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions." This general meaning of regular recurrence or pattern in time may be applied to a wide variety of cyclical natural phenomena having a periodicity or...
ic cadence
Cadence (music)
In Western musical theory, a cadence is, "a melodic or harmonic configuration that creates a sense of repose or resolution [finality or pause]." A harmonic cadence is a progression of two chords that concludes a phrase, section, or piece of music...
, and was exemplified by West Coast hip hop emcees including Snoop Doggy Dogg
Snoop Dogg
Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr. , better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Snoop is best known as a rapper in the West Coast hip hop scene, and for being one of Dr. Dre's most notable protégés. Snoop Dogg was a Crip gang member while in high school...
and Warren G
Warren G
Warren G , is an American West Coast rapper and hip hop producer. He is also Dr. Dre's half-brother.His biggest hit is the song "Regulate" with Nate Dogg released in 1994...
. However, Nas's rhythmically-immaculate verbal pace and intricate, multi-syllabic internal rhyme
Internal rhyme
In poetry, internal rhyme, or middle rhyme, is rhyme that occurs in a single line of verse.Internal rhyme occurs in the middle of a line, as exemplified by Coleridge, "In mist or cloud, on mast or shroud" or "Whiles all the night through fog-smoke white," in "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner." ...
patterns
Rhyme scheme
A rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhyme between lines of a poem or song. It is usually referred to by using letters to indicate which lines rhyme. In other words, it is the pattern of end rhymes or lines...
on the album inspired several rappers to modify their rapping abilities — bringing a renewed focus on lyricism to hip hop during the time of its release. According to musicologist and pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
Guthrie P. Ramsey of the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
, the album "set a benchmark for rappers in an artistic field consumed by constantly shifting notions of 'realness', authenticity, and artistic credibility." Music journalist Kelefa Sanneh
Kelefa Sanneh
Kelefa T. Sanneh is an American journalist and music critic. From 2000 to 2008, he wrote for the New York Times, covering the rock 'n' roll, hip-hop, and pop music scenes...
of The New York Times wrote of Illmatic, stating that Nas "perfected a dense, rat-a-tat rhyme style that built upon the legacy of 1980s pioneers like Rakim and Big Daddy Kane." Author and music writer Todd Boyd
Todd Boyd
Dr. Todd Boyd, American academic, is the Katherine and Frank Price Endowed Chair for the Study of Race and Popular Culture and Professor of Critical Studies in the USC School of Cinematic Arts. Boyd is an author, media commentator, producer and consultant...
wrote of Nas's unique lyricism, stating that his "poetic lyrics are some of the most poignant words ever to describe the postindustrial urban experience. His spoken-word like delivery and his vivid use of metaphor placed him at the top of the game in terms of overall skills as an MC and as a cultural commentator." Boyd also wrote of Illmatics initial impact on lyricism, stating "The baby-faced Nas was a young man blessed with an old spirit when Illmatic hit the streets and therefore his prescient words had that much more of an impact."
Decline of alternative hip hop
Illmatic was one of the earliest phenomena in East Coast hip hop music that distinguished the burgeoning hardcore hip hopHardcore hip hop
Hardcore hip hop, also referred to as hardcore rap, is a sub-genre of hip hop music that developed through the East Coast hip hop scene in the 1980s. Pioneered by such artists as Schoolly D, Spoonie Gee, Boogie Down Productions, and Kool G Rap, it is generally characterized by anger, aggression and...
scene from the alternative hip hop
Alternative hip hop
Alternative hip hop is a sub-genre of hip hop music. Allmusic defines it as follows: -Origin:...
acts of the late-1980s and early-1990s. Recorded while East Coast hip hop was dominated by the jazz influences of such Native Tongues
Native tongues
Native Tongues is a book by the linguist Charles Berlitz.It is a list of words in different languages, etymology and questions with speculations far and wide about words....
-affiliates as A Tribe Called Quest
A Tribe Called Quest
A Tribe Called Quest is an American hip hop group, formed in 1985, and is composed of rapper/producer Q-Tip , rapper Phife Dawg , and DJ/producer Ali Shaheed Muhammad. A fourth member, rapper Jarobi White, left the group after their first album but rejoined in 2006...
and De La Soul
De La Soul
De La Soul is an American hip hop trio formed in 1987 on Long Island, New York. The band is best known for their eclectic sampling, quirky lyrics, and their contributions to the evolution of the jazz rap and alternative hip hop subgenres...
, and the Afrocentric stylings of Brand Nubian
Brand Nubian
Brand Nubian is an American hip hop group from New Rochelle, New York, consisting of three MC's: Grand Puba , Sadat X and Lord Jamar , and two DJs: DJ Alamo and DJ Sincere...
and X Clan, the album roughly delineates the end of golden age hip hop
Golden age hip hop
Hip hop's "golden age" is a name given to a period in mainstream hip hop—usually cited as being a period varying in time frames during the 1980s and 1990s said to be characterized by its diversity, quality, innovation and influence. There were strong themes of Afrocentricity and political...
(1988–1996) and the emergence of Mafioso rap, which flourished during the mid-1990s following the release of Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...
Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...
Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... is the solo debut album of American rapper and Wu-Tang Clan member Raekwon, released August 1, 1995, on Loud Records in the United States...
(1995). Yet as music journalist Adam Heimlich writes, "In 1994, there appeared likely to be more money (and definitely more cultural rewards) in working with Arrested Development
Arrested Development (hip hop group)
Arrested Development is an American alternative hip hop group, founded by Speech and Headliner as a positive, Afrocentric alternative to the gangsta rap popular in the early 1990s.-History:...
or Digable Planets
Digable Planets
Digable Planets is an American alternative hip hop trio based in New York City, composed of Ishmael "Butterfly" Butler , Mary Ann "Ladybug Mecca" Vieira and Craig "Doodlebug" Irving . They released their debut album Reachin' in 1993, and their follow-up album Blowout Comb in 1994...
." Although the album contains strong elements of jazz rap
Jazz rap
Jazz rap is a sub-genre of hip hop which incorporates jazz influences, developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The lyrics are often based on political consciousness, Afrocentricity, and general positivism...
and alternative hip hop, Steve Huey credits Illmatic with marking "the beginning of a shift away from Native Tongues
Native tongues
Native Tongues is a book by the linguist Charles Berlitz.It is a list of words in different languages, etymology and questions with speculations far and wide about words....
-inspired alternative rap" towards future hardcore hip hop artists such as Raekwon
Raekwon
Corey Woods , better known by the stage name Raekwon, is an American rapper and a member of the Wu-Tang Clan. He released his solo debut, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... in 1995, and has since recorded four solo albums, as well as work with Wu-Tang and an extensive amount of guest contributions with...
and Mobb Deep
Mobb Deep
Mobb Deep is an American hip hop duo from Queensbridge, Queens, New York, U.S., that consists of Havoc and Prodigy. The duo is "one of the most critically acclaimed hardcore East Coast hip-hop groups." The group is best known for its dark, hardcore delivery, as exemplified by the single "Shook Ones...
. Furthermore, Adam Heimlich writes: "[Nas] came on the scene as hardcore
Hardcore hip hop
Hardcore hip hop, also referred to as hardcore rap, is a sub-genre of hip hop music that developed through the East Coast hip hop scene in the 1980s. Pioneered by such artists as Schoolly D, Spoonie Gee, Boogie Down Productions, and Kool G Rap, it is generally characterized by anger, aggression and...
's golden child. Along with Wu-Tang Clan, Nas and Mobb Deep all but invented 90s New York rap, back when the notion of an 'East Coast gangsta' still meant Schoolly D
Schoolly D
Jesse B. Weaver Jr. , better known by the stage name Schoolly D, is an American rapper from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.- Career :...
or Kool G. Rap. Those three ... designed the manner and style in which New York artists would address what Snoop
Snoop Dogg
Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr. , better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Snoop is best known as a rapper in the West Coast hip hop scene, and for being one of Dr. Dre's most notable protégés. Snoop Dogg was a Crip gang member while in high school...
and Dre
Dr. Dre
Andre Romelle Young , primarily known by his stage name Dr. Dre, is an American record producer, rapper, record executive, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is the founder and current CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and a former co-owner and artist of Death Row Records...
had made rap's hottest topics: drugs and violence."
Hip hop artists
Many respected mainstream and underground rappers have acknowledged Illmatics influence. These wide range of artists include the battle rapBattle Rap
Battle rap is a type of rapping that includes a lot of braggadocio content "combined with put-downs, insults, and disses against real or imaginary opponents"...
pers, SunN.Y. and Reef The Lost Cauze, Talib Kweli
Talib Kweli
Talib Kweli Greene , better known as Talib Kweli, is an American hip-hop artist and poet from Brooklyn, New York. His first name in Arabic means "student" or "seeker" ; his in Swahili means "true"...
, Lupe Fiasco
Lupe Fiasco
Wasalu Muhammad Jaco , better known by his stage name Lupe Fiasco , is an American rapper, record producer, and entrepreneur. As an entrepreneur, Lupe is the CEO of 1st and 15th Entertainment. He rose to fame in 2006 following the success of his critically acclaimed debut album, Lupe Fiasco's Food...
, and Saigon
Saigon (rapper)
Brian Daniel Carenard, better known by his stage name Saigon, is an American rapper and occasional actor.Saigon is currently signed to Suburban Noize Records and Just Blaze's Fort Knocks Entertainment record label. After years of delay due to former record label interference, his album The Greatest...
, the producers Just Blaze
Just Blaze
Justin Smith, better known as Just Blaze, is an American hip hop music producer from Paterson, New Jersey. Blaze is also the CEO of Fort Knocks Entertainment. He is most well known for producing Jay-Z songs on the albums The Blueprint, The Blueprint 2, and The Black Album. He is also known for...
and Alchemist
The Alchemist (producer)
Alan Daniel Maman , better known as The Alchemist, is an American hip hop producer, DJ and rapper. He hails from Beverly Hills, California...
, as well as the platinum-selling rappers Eminem
Eminem
Marshall Bruce Mathers III , better known by his stage name Eminem or his alter ego Slim Shady, is an American rapper, record producer, songwriter and actor. Eminem's popularity brought his group project, D12, to mainstream recognition...
and The Game
The Game (rapper)
Jayceon Terrell Taylor , better known by his stage name Game, formerly The Game, is an American rapper and actor. As a member of G-Unit, he rose to fame in 2005 with the success of his debut album, The Documentary, which earned him two Grammy Award nominations...
, who makes references to the album on his debut, The Documentary
The Documentary
The Documentary is the debut studio album by West Coast rapper Game, released on January 18, 2005, through Aftermath Entertainment, G-Unit Records and Interscope Records. After recovering from a shooting in late 2001, The Game pursued a rap career and was discovered by Dr. Dre who signed him to his...
. In his collaboration with Nas, "Hustlers", The Game made another ode towards Illmatic: "1995, eleven years from the day/I'm in the record shop with choices to make/Illmatic on the top shelf, The Chronic
The Chronic
The Chronic is the solo debut album of American hip hop artist Dr. Dre, released December 15, 1992, on his own record label Death Row Records, and distributed by Priority Records. Recording sessions for the album took place in June 1992 at Death Row Studios in Los Angeles and at Bernie Grundman...
on the left, homie/Wanna cop both but only got a twenty on me/So fuck it, I stole both, spent the twenty on a dub-sack/Ripped the package of Illmatic and bumped that/For my niggas it was too complex when Nas rhymed/I was the only Compton nigga with a New York State of Mind
N.Y. State of Mind
"N.Y. State of Mind" is the second track and first song track from Nas' debut album Illmatic. Production is by DJ Premier who samples two jazz songs for the track's beat: "Mind Rain" by Joe Chambers and "Flight Time" by Donald Byrd. Premier additionally scratches vocals from Eric B. & Rakim's...
". Underground hip hop artist Fashawn
Fashawn
Santiago Leyva , better known as Fashawn or Fash is an American Rapper from Fresno, California. He is best known for his debut album, Boy Meets World, which was produced entirely by one half of Emanon, Exile...
released his mixtape Ode to Illmatic to "pay homage, ’cause Illmatic was one of them kinda albums that really impacted my life”.
Lyrics from Illmatic have also been sampled by other rappers, including Big L
Big L (rapper)
Lamont Coleman , better known by his stage name Big L, was an American rapper. Coleman was born and raised in Harlem, New York, where he started his rap career with Three the Hard Way. He founded the group Children of the Corn and was a member of the Diggin' in the Crates Crew before pursuing a...
's "Ebonics" (which samples "It Ain't Hard to Tell"), Miilkbone's "Keep It Real" (which samples "Life's a Bitch"), Real Live's "Real Live Shit" (which samples "It Ain't Hard to Tell"), and most notably, Blu & Exile's "In Remembrance" (which samples "The World Is Yours" and "One Love") and Jay-Z
Jay-Z
Shawn Corey Carter , better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America, having a net worth of over $450 million as of 2010...
's "Rap Game/Crack Game
In My Lifetime, Vol. 1
In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 is the second studio album by American rapper Jay-Z, released November 4, 1997 on Roc-A-Fella Records. Despite mixed criticism towards its more mainstream-oriented sound and lyrical substance, the album debuted at number 3 on the U.S...
" (which samples "Represent") and "Dead Presidents II" (which samples "The World Is Yours"). Common
Common (rapper)
Lonnie Rashid Lynn, Jr. , better known by his stage name Common , is an American hip-hop artist and actor....
's critically acclaimed album Be (2005) has been said to have been molded after Illmatic. On XXL
XXL (magazine)
XXL is a Hip-Hop magazine, published by Harris Publications.In 1997, XXL was founded by former Source staffers as well as other Harris Publication employees, who wanted to create their own magazine about the hip-hop music and culture using the model developed by the founders of The Source...
s website, Illmatic was featured in a list of acclaimed hip hop albums, compiled by Clipse
Clipse
Clipse is a Virginia Beach, Virginia-based hip hop duo. Formed in 1992 by brothers Malice and Pusha T , the group is heavily affiliated with production team The Neptunes and signed to Star Trak Entertainment.- Exclusive Audio Footage :The Thornton brothers were born in The Bronx, New...
. Malice, a member of the hip hop duo, claimed: "Illmatic captured the whole New York state of mind for me. It embraced everything I knew New York to be. The album had 10 songs, all of them flawless. Me and my homies got great memories of rolling around listening to that, huslin', smokin', chillin'. That embodied everything that was right with hip-hop. That CD never came out my deck."
Subsequent work by Nas
While Illmatics success helped Nas's infant career immeasurably, hip hop aficionados have cited it as his inextricable "gift and curse". Due to the critical fame of his debut, Nas's subsequent studio albums have been weighed againstSophomore slump
A sophomore slump or sophomore jinx refers to an instance in which a second, or sophomore, effort fails to live up to the standards of the first effort...
Illmatic, despite all of them outselling his debut. Against this standard, they are often critically deemed as mediocre follow-ups. After manager Steve Stoute
Steve Stoute
Steve Stoute is an author, entrepreneur, advertising executive and American record executive and artist manager.-Music Executive:From 1990 to 1999, Stoute was an executive at several leading labels in the music industry...
convinced Nas to aim his efforts in a more commercial direction for his follow-up album It Was Written
It Was Written
It Was Written is the second studio album by American rapper Nas, released July 2, 1996 on Columbia Records in the United States. Following the moderate sales success of his acclaimed debut album, Illmatic , Nas chose to focus his efforts in a more mainstream direction...
(1996), he enlisted the production team Trackmasters, who were known for their mainstream work at the time. Despite receiving criticism for a stylistic change to gangsta, mafiaso
Gangsta rap
Gangsta Rap is a subgenre of hip hop music that evolved from hardcore hip hop and purports to reflect urban crime and the violent lifestyles of inner-city youths. Lyrics in gangsta rap have varied from accurate reflections to fictionalized accounts. Gangsta is a non-rhotic pronunciation of the word...
themes and materialistic subject matter, the album proved to be a commercial success, selling over 3 million copies. However, it received mixed reviews, and general consensus was that it failed to live up to the classic status of Illmatic. Many fans of Illmatic labeled Nas's subsequent efforts as 'selling out
Selling out
"Selling out" is the compromising of integrity, morality, or principles in exchange for money or "success" . It is commonly associated with attempts to tailor material to a mainstream audience...
', due to his crossover sensibilities (e.g. his participation with the hip hop group The Firm) and his radio-friendly hits aimed at the pop charts, such as "If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)
If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)
"If I Ruled the World " is a 1996 hit hip hop single by Nas featuring Lauryn Hill of The Fugees. It is based on the 1985 hit of the same name by rapper Kurtis Blow and samples the beat of "Friends" by Whodini. The single was Nas's first Top 20 R&B hit, and was also nominated for a 1997 Grammy Award...
" (1996) and "Hate Me Now
Hate Me Now
"Hate Me Now" is a 1999 hip hop single by rapper Nas featuring Puff Daddy. The backbeat is inspired by, and contains some samples from, Carl Orff's Carmina Burana.-Controversy:...
" (1999).
When he released his third and fourth studio albums, I Am… and Nastradamus
Nastradamus
Nastradamus is the fourth studio album by American rapper Nas, released November 23, 1999 on Columbia Records in the United States. It was originally scheduled to be released as a follow-up album composed of material from recording sessions for his third album, I Am… on October 26, 1999...
(1999), which underwent editing due to bootlegging of the recording sessions, many fans and critics feared that his career was deteriorating, as both albums received further criticism for their commercially-oriented sound. Reflecting this widespread perception in the hip hop community and adding to his ongoing feud with Nas
Jay-Z vs. Nas feud
The Jay-Z–Nas feud was a hip hop rivalry during the early-2000s and one of the most high-profile feuds in the history of hip hop music. It was characterized by comments between Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter and Nasir "Nas" Jones from 2001 until resolved in 2005...
at the time, Jay-Z mocked him in the song "Takeover
Takeover (song)
"Takeover" is a track recorded by Jay-Z for his 2001 album The Blueprint. The song is a diss track aimed at rappers Nas and Prodigy of Mobb Deep.-Background:...
" (2001) for having a "one hot album [Illmatic] every ten year average". Nas, however, made something of a comeback with his fifth album Stillmatic
Stillmatic
Stillmatic received generally positive reviews from most music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 69, based on 12 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews"...
(2001) and the acclaimed follow-up God's Son
God's Son
God's Son is the sixth studio album by American rapper Nas, released December 13, 2002 on Columbia-imprint Ill Will Records. Production for the album took place during 2001 to 2002 and was handled by several hip hop producers, including Salaam Remi, Chucky Thompson, Ron Browz, and The Alchemist...
(2002), as well as The Lost Tapes
The Lost Tapes
The Lost Tapes is a compilation album by American rapper Nas, released September 23, 2002, on Ill Will Records and Columbia Records. It follows his artistic comeback in 2001, which led to his record label's release of the album...
(2002), a compilation of previously unreleased tracks from the I Am… and Nastradamus sessions. Afterwards, his subsequent albums tended to receive more positive reviews, including Street's Disciple
Street's Disciple
Street's Disciple is the seventh studio album by American rapper Nas, released November 30, 2004 on Columbia Records in the United States. It is a double album entitled after one of his rhymes from "Live at the Barbeque" by Main Source, which was the song marking his musical debut...
(2004) and his untitled ninth album
Untitled Nas album
The untitled ninth studio album by American rapper Nas was released by Def Jam Recordings and Columbia Records on July 15, 2008 in the United States, with earlier dates in some other countries. Its original title—Nigger—was changed due to controversy surrounding the racial epithet...
(2008). Nevertheless, most fans have regarded Illmatic as his definitive album.
Track listing
| # | Title | Performer(s) | Producer(s) | Samples | Recorded | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Genesis" |
|
Main Source Main Source was an innovative, acclaimed Toronto and New York-based hip hop group comprising Toronto natives Sir Scratch, K-Cut, and Queens native Large Professor... |
1993 | 1:45 | |
| 2 | "N.Y. State of Mind N.Y. State of Mind "N.Y. State of Mind" is the second track and first song track from Nas' debut album Illmatic. Production is by DJ Premier who samples two jazz songs for the track's beat: "Mind Rain" by Joe Chambers and "Flight Time" by Donald Byrd. Premier additionally scratches vocals from Eric B. & Rakim's... " |
|
DJ Premier DJ Premier Christopher Edward Martin , better known by his stage name DJ Premier , is an American record producer and DJ, and was the instrumental half of the hip hop duo Gang Starr, together with emcee Guru... |
Kool & the Gang Kool & the Gang are an American jazz, R&B, soul, and funk group, originally formed as the Jazziacs in Jersey City, New Jersey in 1964.They went through several musical phases during the course of their recording career, starting out with a purist jazz sound, then becoming practitioners of R&B and... Donald Byrd Donaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture Byrd II, is an American jazz and rhythm and blues trumpeter. A sideman for many other jazz musicians of his generation, Byrd is best known as one of the only bebop jazz musicians who successfully pioneered the funk and soul genres while simultaneously remaining a... Joe Chambers Joe Chambers is an American jazz drummer, pianist, vibraphonist and composer. He attended the Philadelphia Conservatory for one year. In the 1960s and 70s Chambers gigged with many high-profile artists such as Eric Dolphy, Charles Mingus, Lou Donaldson, Chick Corea, Freddie Hubbard, Jimmy Giuffre... Eric B. & Rakim Eric B. & Rakim were a hip-hop duo composed of DJ Eric Barrier and MC Rakim .Hailing from Long Island, New York, the pair are generally considered by hip hop enthusiasts to be one of the most influential and innovative groups in the genre... Main Source Main Source was an innovative, acclaimed Toronto and New York-based hip hop group comprising Toronto natives Sir Scratch, K-Cut, and Queens native Large Professor... |
1992 | 4:54 |
| 3 | "Life's a Bitch" |
|
L.E.S. L.E.S. (producer) Leshan David Lewis, better known as L.E.S., is a hip hop producer commonly associated with Nas. His first production credit was for Nas' popular song "Life's a Bitch" from the Illmatic album in 1994. He soon produced a single, "Sugar Hill", for AZ's album Doe Or Die... , Nas (co.) |
Grover Washington, Jr. Grover Washington, Jr. was an American jazz-funk / soul-jazz saxophonist. Along with George Benson, John Klemmer, David Sanborn, Bob James, Chuck Mangione, Herb Alpert, and Spyro Gyra, he is considered by many to be one of the founders of the smooth jazz genre.He wrote some of his material and... |
1993 | 3:30 |
| 4 | "The World Is Yours" |
Pete Rock Peter Phillips , better known by his stage name Pete Rock, is an American record producer, DJ and rapper. He rose to prominence in the early 1990s as one half of the critically acclaimed group Pete Rock & CL Smooth... |
Pete Rock Pete Rock Peter Phillips , better known by his stage name Pete Rock, is an American record producer, DJ and rapper. He rose to prominence in the early 1990s as one half of the critically acclaimed group Pete Rock & CL Smooth... |
Ahmad Jamal Ahmad Jamal is an innovative and influential American jazz pianist, composer, and educator. According to Stanley Crouch, Jamal is second in importance in the development of jazz after 1945 only to Charlie Parker... T La Rock Clarence "Terry" Ronnie Keaton , known by the stage name T La Rock, is an American old-school emcee best known for his collaboration with Def Jam Recordings co-founder Rick Rubin and the 1984 single "It's Yours." He disappeared from the hip hop scene after a traumatic brain injury in 1994, but as... |
1992 | 4:50 |
| 5 | "Halftime" |
|
Large Professor Large Professor Large Professor , also known as Large Pro and Xtra P, is a New York City-based hip hop record producer and emcee. He is also best known as a founding member of the influential underground hip hop group Main Source, and as a frequent collaborator with Nas... |
Hair (musical) Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical is a rock musical with a book and lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni and music by Galt MacDermot. A product of the hippie counter-culture and sexual revolution of the 1960s, several of its songs became anthems of the anti-Vietnam War peace movement... Japanese cast original soundtrack |
1992 | 4:20 |
| 6 | "Memory Lane (Sittin' in da Park)" |
|
DJ Premier DJ Premier Christopher Edward Martin , better known by his stage name DJ Premier , is an American record producer and DJ, and was the instrumental half of the hip hop duo Gang Starr, together with emcee Guru... |
Reuben Wilson Reuben Wilson is a jazz organist. He performs soul jazz and acid jazz, and is best known for his title track "Got To Get Your Own"He was born in Mounds, Oklahoma and his family moved to Pasadena when he was 5.... Biz Markie Marcel Theo Hall better known by his stage name, Biz Markie, is an American rapper, beatboxer, DJ, comedian, singer, reality television personality, and commercial spokesperson. He is best known for his single "Just a Friend", an American Top 10 hit in 1989... Craig G Craig G is an American rapper. He is known as one of the members of hip hop producer Marley Marl's Cold Chillin' Records group the Juice Crew.... Lee Dorsey Lee Dorsey was an African American pop/R&B singer during the 1960s. Much of his work was produced by Allen Toussaint with instrumental backing provided by the Meters.-Career:... |
1992 | 4:08 |
| 7 | "One Love One Love (Nas song) "One Love" is a song by American hip hop rapper Nas, released October 25, 1994 on Columbia Records. It was issued as the fifth and final radio single in promotion of his debut studio album Illmatic . The song was produced by Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest, who also contributed vocals for the chorus... " |
Q-Tip (rapper) Kamaal Ibn John Fareed , better known by his stage name Q-Tip, is an American hip hop artist, producer, singer, and actor from St. Albans, Queens, New York, part of the critically acclaimed group A Tribe Called Quest... |
Q-Tip Q-Tip (rapper) Kamaal Ibn John Fareed , better known by his stage name Q-Tip, is an American hip hop artist, producer, singer, and actor from St. Albans, Queens, New York, part of the critically acclaimed group A Tribe Called Quest... |
Clyde McPhatter Clyde McPhatter was an American R&B singer, perhaps the most widely imitated R&B singer of the 1950s and 1960s, making him a key figure in the shaping of doo-wop and R&B. He is best known for his solo hit "A Lover's Question"... Parliament (band) Parliament was a funk band most prominent during the 1970s. It and its sister act Funkadelic, both led by George Clinton, began the funk music culture of that decade.-History:... Whodini Whodini is a hip hop group that was formed in 1981. The Brooklyn, New York-based trio consisted of vocalist and main lyricist Jalil Hutchins; co-vocalist John Fletcher, aka Ecstasy ; and turntable artist DJ Drew Carter, aka Grandmaster Dee.-Early years:Whodini was among the first hip-hop groups to... |
1992 | 5:25 |
| 8 | "One Time 4 Your Mind One Time 4 Your Mind "One Time 4 Your Mind" is the eighth song on Nas' debut album Illmatic. It is produced by Large Professor who provides the song with a mellow beat and a deep bassline. The song's melody samples "Walter L" by Gary Burton. Nas raps two verses on the song and contributes to the call and response... " |
|
Large Professor Large Professor Large Professor , also known as Large Pro and Xtra P, is a New York City-based hip hop record producer and emcee. He is also best known as a founding member of the influential underground hip hop group Main Source, and as a frequent collaborator with Nas... |
Gary Burton Gary Burton is an American jazz vibraphonist.A true original on the vibraphone, Burton developed a pianistic style of four-mallet technique as an alternative to the usual two-mallets. This approach caused Burton to be heralded as an innovator and his sound and technique are widely imitated... |
1992 | 3:18 |
| 9 | "Represent" |
|
DJ Premier DJ Premier Christopher Edward Martin , better known by his stage name DJ Premier , is an American record producer and DJ, and was the instrumental half of the hip hop duo Gang Starr, together with emcee Guru... |
Lee Erwin Lee Erwin was a television writer from the 1950s to the 1970s. Erwin wrote for Mr. & Mrs. North, The Millionaire, Have Gun, Will Travel, The New Adventures of Charlie Chan and many other 1950s and 1960s TV shows... |
1993 | 4:12 |
| 10 | "It Ain't Hard to Tell It Ain't Hard to Tell "It Ain't Hard to Tell" is Nas' second single and last track from his debut album Illmatic. Produced by Large Professor, the song samples Michael Jackson's 1983 hit single "Human Nature", "N.T." by Kool & the Gang, "Why Can't People Be Colors Too?" by The Whatnauts, "Long Red" by Mountain & "Slow... " |
|
Large Professor Large Professor Large Professor , also known as Large Pro and Xtra P, is a New York City-based hip hop record producer and emcee. He is also best known as a founding member of the influential underground hip hop group Main Source, and as a frequent collaborator with Nas... |
Human Nature (Michael Jackson song) "Human Nature" is a song by American recording artist Michael Jackson. It was written and composed by Steve Porcaro and John Bettis, and produced by Quincy Jones. It is the fifth single from the singer's sixth solo album, Thriller . Initially, Porcaro had recorded a rough demo of the song on a... " by Michael Jackson Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records... Kool & the Gang Kool & the Gang are an American jazz, R&B, soul, and funk group, originally formed as the Jazziacs in Jersey City, New Jersey in 1964.They went through several musical phases during the course of their recording career, starting out with a purist jazz sound, then becoming practitioners of R&B and... Mountain (band) Mountain is an American hard rock band that formed in Long Island, New York in 1969. Originally comprising vocalist and guitarist Leslie West, bassist Felix Pappalardi and drummer N. D. Smart, the band broke up in 1972 before reuniting in 1974 and remaining active until today... Stanley Clarke Stanley Clarke is an American jazz musician and composer known for his innovative and influential work on double bass and electric bass guitar as well as for his numerous film and television scores... |
1992 | 3:22 |
2004 edition bonus tracks
In 2004, a 10th Anniversary Edition of Illmatic contained a second disc of additional songs.| # | Title | Producer(s) | Samples | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Life's a Bitch" (Remix) (feat. AZ AZ (rapper) Anthony Cruz , better known as AZ is a Grammy-nominated American rapper of Dominican & African American descent. He is known for being a long time and frequent rhyme partner of Nas, and also a member of hip-hop group The Firm alongside Nas, Foxy Brown, Cormega and Nature.In a countdown of the 10... ) |
Rockwilder Rockwilder Rockwilder is an American hip hop and R&B record producer, rapper, and R&B Singer. A long term friend of Def Jam rapper Redman, Rockwilder got his start producing for East Coast Hip Hop artists in the mid 1990s. In 1999 Rockwilder produced Method Man & Redman's hit single "Da Rockwilder"... |
|
3:00 |
| 2 | "The World Is Yours" (Remix) | Vibesmen |
Kenny Rankin Kenny Rankin was an American pop and jazz singer and songwriter, originally from the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City, New York.-Biography:... |
3:56 |
| 3 | "One Love" (Remix) | Nick Fury |
Deniece Williams June Deniece Chandler known by her stage name Deniece Williams is an American Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter and record producer who achieved success in the 1970s and 1980s... |
5:09 |
| 4 | "It Ain't Hard to Tell" (Remix) | Nick Fury |
Biz Markie Marcel Theo Hall better known by his stage name, Biz Markie, is an American rapper, beatboxer, DJ, comedian, singer, reality television personality, and commercial spokesperson. He is best known for his single "Just a Friend", an American Top 10 hit in 1989... |
3:26 |
| 5 | "On the Real" | Marley Marl Marley Marl Marlon Williams , better known as Marley Marl, is an American DJ and record producer, who is considered one of the most important and influential hip-hop producers in the history of hip hop.-Biography:... |
The Soul Children The Soul Children was an American vocal group who recorded soul music for Stax Records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. They had three top ten hits on the Billboard R&B chart – "The Sweeter He Is" , "Hearsay" , and "I'll Be The Other Woman" – all of which crossed over to the Hot... One Love (Nas song) "One Love" is a song by American hip hop rapper Nas, released October 25, 1994 on Columbia Records. It was issued as the fifth and final radio single in promotion of his debut studio album Illmatic . The song was produced by Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest, who also contributed vocals for the chorus... " by Nas |
3:26 |
| 6 | "Star Wars" | Large Professor Large Professor Large Professor , also known as Large Pro and Xtra P, is a New York City-based hip hop record producer and emcee. He is also best known as a founding member of the influential underground hip hop group Main Source, and as a frequent collaborator with Nas... |
David Axelrod (musician) David Axelrod is an American composer, arranger and producer, working in several musical genres.-Biography:... John Williams John Towner Williams is an American composer, conductor, and pianist. In a career spanning almost six decades, he has composed some of the most recognizable film scores in the history of motion pictures, including the Star Wars saga, Jaws, Superman, the Indiana Jones films, E.T... Steve Miller Band The Steve Miller Band is an American rock band formed in 1967 in San Francisco, California. The band is managed by Steve Miller on guitar and lead vocals, and is known for a string of mid-1970s hit singles that are staples of the classic rock radio format.-History:In 1965, Steve Miller and... |
4:08 |
Personnel
- NasNasNasir bin Olu Dara Jones, who performs under the name Nas , formerly Nasty Nas, is an American rapper and actor. He is regarded as one of the most important figures in hip hop and one of the most skilled and influential rappers of all-time...
– vocalsRappingRapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
, co-producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music... - AZAZ (rapper)Anthony Cruz , better known as AZ is a Grammy-nominated American rapper of Dominican & African American descent. He is known for being a long time and frequent rhyme partner of Nas, and also a member of hip-hop group The Firm alongside Nas, Foxy Brown, Cormega and Nature.In a countdown of the 10...
– vocals - Olu DaraOlu DaraOlu Dara Jones is an American cornetist, guitarist and singer.-History:...
– trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air... - Q-Tip – vocals
- Pete RockPete RockPeter Phillips , better known by his stage name Pete Rock, is an American record producer, DJ and rapper. He rose to prominence in the early 1990s as one half of the critically acclaimed group Pete Rock & CL Smooth...
– vocals - DJ PremierDJ PremierChristopher Edward Martin , better known by his stage name DJ Premier , is an American record producer and DJ, and was the instrumental half of the hip hop duo Gang Starr, together with emcee Guru...
– producer - Diego Garrido – engineer, mixingAudio mixing (recorded music)In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
- Jack Hersca – assistant engineer
- Large ProfessorLarge ProfessorLarge Professor , also known as Large Pro and Xtra P, is a New York City-based hip hop record producer and emcee. He is also best known as a founding member of the influential underground hip hop group Main Source, and as a frequent collaborator with Nas...
– producer - Tim "The Funky Red" Lathem – engineer
- L.E.S.L.E.S. (producer)Leshan David Lewis, better known as L.E.S., is a hip hop producer commonly associated with Nas. His first production credit was for Nas' popular song "Life's a Bitch" from the Illmatic album in 1994. He soon produced a single, "Sugar Hill", for AZ's album Doe Or Die...
– producer - MC SerchMC SerchMC Serch is a Jewish-American hip hop MC and former member of 3rd Bass.-Biography:Serch grew up in Far Rockaway, Queens, attending Far Rockaway High School, and graduated from Music & Art High School...
– executive producerExecutive producerAn executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
- Anton "Sample This" Pushansky – engineer
- Q-Tip – producer
- Kevin Reynolds – engineer
- Pete Rock – producer
- Eddie Sancho – engineer
- Jamey Staub – engineer
- Louis Tineo – assistant engineer
- Jason Vogel – engineer
- Stan Wallace – engineer
- Aimee Macauley – art director
- Danny ClinchDanny ClinchDanny Clinch is a photographer and film director who was born in Toms River, New Jersey in 1964. He graduated from Toms River High School East in 1982 and after attending Ocean County College, he attended the New England School of Photography, a two-year institution located in Boston, MA.Clinch...
– photography
Album
| Charts (1994) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard 200 | 12 |
| U.S. Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums | 2 |
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak positions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
Hot R&B Singles Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,... |
Hot Rap Tracks | Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales Hot Dance Singles Sales Hot Dance Singles Sales is a chart released weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States, established in 1985. It measures the sale of commercially released singles that deal with dance music and remixes... |
|||
| 1993 | "Halftime" | — | — | 8 | — | |
| 1994 | "It Ain't Hard to Tell" | 91 | 57 | 13 | 3 | |
| "The World Is Yours" | 114 | 67 | 27 | 6 | ||
| "Life's a Bitch" | — | — | — | — | ||
| "One Love" | — | 106 | 24 | 6 | ||
| "—" denotes a release that did not chart. | ||||||
Certifications
| Country | Certifications (sales thresholds) |
Shipments |
|---|---|---|
| United States (RIAA) | Platinum | 1,000,000 |
| Canada (CRIA) Canadian Recording Industry Association Music Canada is a Toronto-based, non-profit trade organization that was founded 9 April 1963 to represent the interests of companies that record, artists, manufacture, production, promotion and distribution of music in Canada... |
Gold | 50,000 |
Accolades
The information regarding accolades attributed to Illmatic is adapted from AcclaimedMusic.net.| Publication | Country | Accolade | Year | Rank | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| About.com About.com About.com is an online source for original information and advice. It is written in English, and is aimed primarily at North Americans. It is owned by The New York Times Company.... |
United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
100 Greatest Hip-Hop Albums | 2008 | 1 | ||
| Best Rap Albums of 1994 | 2008 | 1 | ||||
| 10 Essential Hip-Hop Albums | 2008 | 1 | ||||
| Blender Blender (magazine) Blender was an American music magazine that billed itself as "the ultimate guide to music and more". It was also known for sometimes steamy pictorials of celebrities.... |
500 CDs You Must Own Before You Die | 2003 | * | |||
| ego trip Ego trip (magazine) ego trip was the name of a hip hop magazine started in New York City in 1994. It lasted four years and 13 issues and distinguished itself based on its irreverence and defiant attitude, eventually adopting the tagline, "the arrogant voice of musical truth."-Description:The roots of the publication... |
Hip Hop's 25 Greatest Albums by Year 1980-98 | 1999 | 1 | |||
| Ink Blot | Albums of the 90s | 2002 | 11 | |||
| MTV MTV MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs.... |
The Greatest Hip Hop Albums of All Time | 2005 | 2 | |||
| Music Underwater | Top 100 Albums 1990-2003 | 2004 | 45 | |||
| Pitchfork Media Pitchfork Media Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock... |
Top 100 Favorite Records of the 1990s | 2003 | 33 | |||
| Robert Dimery | 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die is a musical reference book edited by Robert Dimery, first published in 2005. The most recent edition consists of a list of albums released between 1955 and 2010, part of a series from Quintessence Editions Ltd... |
2006 | * | |||
| Rolling Stone Rolling Stone Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J... |
The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is the title of a 2003 special issue of American magazine Rolling Stone, and a related book published in 2005.Related news articles:... |
2003 | 400 | |||
| The Essential Recordings of the 90s | 1999 | * | ||||
| The Source The Source (magazine) The Source is a United States-based, monthly full-color magazine covering hip-hop music, politics, and culture, founded in 1988. It is the world's second longest running rap periodical, behind United Kingdom-based publication Hip Hop Connection. The Source was founded as a newsletter in 1988... |
100 Best Rap Albums | 1998 | * | |||
| The Critics Top 100 Black Music Albums of All Time | 2006 | 5 | ||||
| Spin Spin (magazine) Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard... |
Top 100 Albums of the Last 20 Years | 2005 | 17 | |||
| Stylus Stylus Magazine Stylus Magazine was an online music and film magazine launched in 2002. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, a number of different podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog.... |
Top 101-200 Albums of All time | 2004 | 143 | |||
| Tom Moon | 1000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die 1000 Recordings To Hear Before You Die 1,000 Recordings To Hear Before You Die is a musical reference book written by Tom Moon, published in 2008.It consists of a list of recordings, mostly albums, arranged alphabetically by artist or composer, starting with ABBA's Gold and concluding with ZZ Top's Tres Hombres... |
2008 | * | |||
| Vibe | 51 Albums representing a Generation, a Sound and a Movement | 2004 | * | |||
| Top 10 Rap Albums | 2002 | 4 | ||||
| Village Voice | Albums of the Year | 2000 | 33 | |||
| Hip Hop Connection Hip Hop Connection Hip Hop Connection is the longest running monthly periodical devoted entirely to hip hop culture. HHC has earned international recognition and was described by Chuck D as "the best magazine in the world".-History:... |
United Kingdom United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages... |
Top 100 Readers Poll | 2003 | 3 | ||
| Mojo Mojo (magazine) MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music... |
Mojo 1000, the Ultimate CD Buyers Guide | 2001 | * | |||
| NME NME The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles... |
Albums of the Year | 1994 | 33 | |||
| The New Nation | Top 100 Albums by Black Artists | 2004 | 5 | |||
| Select | Albums of the Year | 1994 | 18 | |||
| The 100 Best Albums of the 90s | 1996 | 99 | ||||
| Juice | Australia Australia Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area... |
The 100 (+34) Greatest Albums of the 90s | 1999 | 101 | ||
| Exclaim! Exclaim! Exclaim! is a monthly Canadian music magazine that features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with special focus on Canadian and cutting-edge artists... |
Canada Canada Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean... |
100 Records That Rocked 100 Issues | 2000 | * | ||
| Les Inrockuptibles Les Inrockuptibles Les Inrockuptibles is a French cultural magazine. Started as a monthly magazine in 1986, it became weekly in 1995. The name is a play on "Les Incorruptibles", the French title of the American television series The Untouchables... |
France France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... |
50 Years of Rock'n'Roll | 2004 | * | ||
| Spex Spex (magazine) Spex is a prominent German rock and pop culture magazine located in Berlin, Germany. Besides music news, Spex also covers literature, cinema, fashion and contemporary social trends... |
Germany Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate... |
Albums of the Year | 1994 | 9 | ||
| Juice Juice (magazine) Juice is a well known German hip hop magazine and the biggest of its kind in Europe. In every issue readers find interviews with rappers and record reviews... |
The Hundred Most Influential Rap Albums Ever | 2002 | 4 | |||
| OOR | Netherlands Netherlands The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders... |
Albums of the Year | 1994 | 42 | ||
| VPRO VPRO The VPRO was established in the Netherlands in 1926 as a religious broadcasting organization. Falling under the Protestant pillar, it represented the Liberal Protestant current... |
299 Nominations of the Best Album of All Time | 2006 | * | |||
| The Movement | New Zealand New Zealand New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga... |
The 101 Best Albums of the 90s | 2004 | 51 | ||
| Dance de Lux | Spain Spain Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula... |
The 25 Best Hip-Hop Records | 2001 | 25 | ||
| Rock de Lux | The 150 Best Albums from the 90s | 2000 | 134 | |||
| Pop | Sweden Sweden Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund.... |
Albums of the Year | 1994 | 9 | ||
| (*) designates lists that are unordered. | ||||||
External links
- Illmatic at DiscogsDiscogsDiscogs, short for discographies, is a website and database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. The Discogs servers, currently hosted under the domain name discogs.com, are owned by Zink Media, Inc., and are...
- RapReviews "Back to the Lab" series: Illmatic — by Steve Juon
- Retro "QB" Classic: Illmatic — by George Hagan
- Throwback Classic: Illmatic — by Michael Ivey