Illmatic
Zander's review
I’ve heard the first half of Illmatic many more times than the second. That’s not because the second half is bad, but for a long time I’d only heard side 1. And it’s a pretty stacked side 1. NY State of Mind is epic. Life’s a B is also good. And The World is Yours is probably my favorite.
The second half had evaded me for a long time. And it’s a shame it did because it’s just as good. Halftime is good. I really like the Rhodes sample on Memory Lane. The drum sound on One Love is awesome. As well as that sample on One Love.
This is still the only Nas album I have heard. The highlights for me are definitely the sampling and the bass playing. I do like Nas’ flow too.
It seems to me that the goal of this album is to highlight the rapping first and foremost. And fair enough! Nas is a rapper! But I do prefer other 90s rap/hip hop that highlights the sample and music more so. That’s just my preference. Tupac for example. Maybe what I mean to say is that Illmatic is just straight rapping. No choruses really. I know you could argue there are. But not traditional song structure.
Many songs on Illmatic vamp on the same sample for minutes while Nas unleashes his lyrics over the beat. But I prefer a slightly different style of 90s hip hop. I do still greatly appreciate this album though. And recognize its significance.
By the numbers
Track by track
▶ plays a 30-second preview- 01The Genesis1:45
- 02N.Y. State of Mind4:54
- 03Life's a Bitch (feat. AZ & Olu Dara)3:31
- 04The World Is Yours4:50
- 05Halftime4:21
- 06Memory Lane (Sittin' in da Park)4:08
- 07One Love (feat. Q-Tip)5:26
- 08One Time 4 Your Mind3:19
- 09Represent4:13
- 10It Ain't Hard to Tell3:23
About the record
Illmatic is the debut studio album by the American rapper Nas, released on April 19, 1994, through Columbia Records. After signing with the label with the help of MC Serch, Nas recorded the album in 1992 and 1993 at Chung King Studios, D&D Recording, Battery Studios, and Unique Recording Studios in New York City. The album's production was handled by DJ Premier, Large Professor, Pete Rock, Q-Tip, L.E.S., and Nas himself. Styled as a hardcore hip-hop album, Illmatic features multi-syllabic internal rhymes and inner-city narratives based on Nas's experiences growing up in the Queensbridge Houses in Queens, New York. He started writing lyrics for the album when he was 16 years old.
Summary from Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.