Nas
ILLMATIC
In 1994 Nas released his debut album titled "Illmatic", at the age of 19. Over 20 years later the album stands as an iconic hip hop landmark showcasing the pinnacle of how great rap can be. The album is considered to be a classic with timeless replay value, solidifying Nas as a legend within the rap scene and often being mentioned as the greatest of all time. Nasir Jones, was born on the 14th of September 1973, in Queens New York. Nas is often reffered to as your favourite rappers, favourtie rapper and is commonly known for his high profile beef with Jay Z (Video). Queensbridge houses is the largest projects in America, which was referred to by Nas as, "a six-block maze clotted with 7000 plus trying to survive". This is where Nas was raised and without it there would be no Illmatic as this album aimed to represent life of the average kid growing up in Queensbridge (Video).
The cover art feautres a picture of Nas, with Queensbridge in the background. The album is 10 tracks long, and features some of the hottest producers from New York at the time such as; Dj Premier, Large Professor, Pete Rock, Q-tip, L.E.S. Nas hopped on each track with impeccable lyrics, ultra smooth flow and stand out, distinctive voice, making him sound untouchable. As of 2014, Illmatic has sold over 1.5 million albums, likely due to the album being flawless as it recieved 5 mics from the source magazine. However, there are some tracks which stand out more than others such as; "N.Y. State of Mind", "Life's a B-tch", "The World Is Yours", "Memory Lane (Sittin' in da Park)", and "It Ain't Hard to Tell".
N.Y. State of Mind
As far as intro tracks go there are few as iconic as this. The producer DJ premier samples a haunting piano of DJ Joe Chambers "Mind Rain". Throughout his lyrics he talks about what he experinced growing up in the streets, such as selling drugs and gun violence (Audio). Later on in the verse he paints a picture summarising the menaltiy of the kids from his area with the lyrics "But just a ni--a, walking with his finger on the trigger/make enough figures till my pockets get bigger". Nas told Rolling Stone: [N.Y. State of Mind] I'm about eighteen when I'm saying that rhyme. I was a very young cat talking about it like a Vietnam veteran, talking like I've been through it all. During the making of the song, Nas amazingly recorded his first verse in one take, as DJ Premier via Complex stated: If you listen to "N.Y. State of mind" you'll hear him going, "I don't know how to start this shit", because he literally just wrote it. My favourite lyric from this song is, "I never sleep, 'cause sleep is the cousin of death".
The World Is Yours
This track was released as a single and is one of the most memorable songs in hip-hop history (Audio). The song title pays homage to Scarface (Tony Montana makes the phrase his motto after seeing it on a blimp (Video)). The song is timeless as it's flawlessly crafted from the jazzy production, to the lyrics, to the delivery and flow. One of my favourite lyrics from this song is "I'm out for dead presidents to represent me". This meaning he has giving up on hoping for a president that will represent the ghetto on a national stage, but instead he hopes he has 'dead presidents' meaning money (as dead presidents faces usually feature on dollar bills) to represent his status and wealth. Another lyric I enjoy from this song is "dwellin' in the Rotten Apple, you get tackled/or caught by the devil's lasso, sh-t is a hassle". For this, Nas flips nickname for New York, the Big Apple. With the lyrics "you get tackled" meaning caught by the police with a gun and arrested, or getting caught by gangsters without a gun and getting killed. The lyric "caught by the devil's lasso" meaning being a criminal.
It Ain't Hard To Tell
This is the final track on the album and is perceived by the public as his first single (Audio). The smooth Michael Jackson sample was enough for Nas to pen three remarkable verses that would cement him in listener's minds for years to come, with lyrics like, "Hit the Earth like a comet, invasion/Nas is like the Afrocentric Asain, half-man, half-amazing". As "Illmatic" drew to a close, it was hard to deny what you'd just heard. Years later, Nas breaks down the lyrics of the song "It Ain't Hard to Tell" with Harvard Poetry Professor, Elisa New (Video). My favourite lyric from this song is, "I drink Moet with Medusa, give her shotguns in Hell/From the spliff that I lift and inhale; it ain't hard to tell". Medusa is a Greek myth, who would turn people to stone with her gaze, however, Nas is implying that he is so bad, he would look her directly in the eye and get her "stoned" by giving her blowing weed smoke through his pipe to her mouth (shotguns). There's also a play on homophones: in hell and inhale.
No other album has better reflected the sound of New York, 1994. The fusion of both rap and jazz, had been experimented with before, but rarely with such subtlety. That's why 19 years on, Get On Down is re-issuing a box set with a vinyl, gold CD, and an ersatz cherry wood case featuring a 48-page book with The Source article that originally crowned him. A classic album is supposed to change or define its time. "Illmatic" did both.
Videos
Illmatic: The greatest rap album ever - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rKJ-ayJXIM
Illmatic Album: The 20th Anniversary Classic - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2Z3BWg6GZo
Discover Classic Samples Used On Nas 'Illmatic' - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iF0KjW9a1Ts
Great read!
ReplyDeleteInteresting #goodmusicfridays
ReplyDeleteFantastic read
ReplyDelete