Illmatic

Age187

So, a lot of people were talking about how they liked It was written better than Illmatic, so I figured I'd cover Illmatic.

In 1994, gangsta rap had firmly established its grip on mainstream hip hop. The b-boy freestyle raps of Rakim, A Tribe Called Quest, and CL Smooth, among others, was dying out. Rap music was knee-deep in gangsta mentality and materialism, and that mentality only sinking deeper into the genre. The music also started to change - specifically, the emphasis moved from the rhythm of the vocals (the flow), to the beats and hooks.

Illmatic was released right at the end of that transition, and you can hear it in the music. In a lot of ways, Illmatic is the perfect bridge between those two eras. It's the last great 90's freestyle album - the focus is clearly on how Nas approaches the music, not so much the music itself. But thematically, Illmatic was a 90's gangsta album through and through: Nas was mainly concerned with money, drugs, prison and the struggle to get ahead. It's easy to see how the diferrent creative influences in hip hop affected Nas' musical mindset, and Illmatic is the perfect bridge between two completely separate eras in rap music.

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Tha Killer

Age187 wrote: »

So, a lot of people were talking about how they liked It was written better than Illmatic, so I figured I'd cover Illmatic.



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Though this album needs no introduction to even the most inexperienced of Hip-Hop heads, your review was a pretty good, albeit concise, summary of not only the album itself, but it's significance in the musical climate of that time period.


Keep doin' ya thing man....

Age187

Thanks for the shoutout!

Swiffness!

3/10, the new Waka Flocka tape is better

shtoopid

Swiffness! wrote: »

3/10, the new Waka Flocka tape is better

haha..........

dalyricalbandit

Swiffness! wrote: »

3/10, the new Waka Flocka tape is better

..........

da hardest out

nigga u supposed to sell ya crack not smoke it clown

Trillip Brooks

Swiffness! wrote: »

3/10, the new Waka Flocka tape is better

lmao. this nigga got to be playin

jc100

Swiffness! wrote: »

3/10, the new Waka Flocka tape is better

LMAO! Damn...

Justin Kane

Really there's no comparison to "Illmatic". The album as a classic in that era. An album that every rapper had. One of the first album to get 5 mics. Only one I can think that can compare is "Ready to Die". As far as superior I really don't see any album that's superior to it. But equal to it maybe.

Lex!

illmatic is a classic but i think it was written went above and beyond it creativly

but am not saying it was written was better to be it was illmatic that evovled into something more beautiful
illmatic is a perfect album tho

Raizah Blade

Illmatic was and always be the ish! It was written was tight too though!

andthencameSHA

i was more into stillmatic

Raizah Blade

andthencameSHA wrote: »

i was more into stillmatic

I only liked Stillmatic till One Mic!

narv

smokeing, high as a cloud. when i jam my music it's loud.
louder then earthquake, the ground shake scrape the plates
as i pull out, i holdin it down for the usa. olympic on the m.i.c
oringinated from suc, wreck for the hip hop, i got ryhmes that body rock.

nineties

illmatic is nas' best album. it's not even debatable.

narv

Notches

The most overrated album in hiphop history, seriously. It's good but not better then RD or MATW.

SecondChanceBro

nineties wrote: »

illmatic is nas' best album. it's not even debatable.

^^^ This, classics like Illmatic and Reasonable Doubt are albums that must be put in context. You had to be listening to those albums at the time to fully appreciate them, you had to be living that life to fully appreciate them. Sometimes it is hard to go back and listen to a great artist first album and give it a fair one, if you started listening to them a few CD's in to their catalog especially when the artist has continued to show growth and make great music.

supYo

people always forget to mention streets deciple...unique sound, nas best rhymin since a while for me...great album with some fucked up tracks still

abgoT

Top 3 of all time.

luke1733

I know and read what u had to say about Illmatic, but I'm glad people finally giving It was written it's due, because when it came out I remember people saying nothing but "it ain't as good as Illmatic." People respected Nas with due respect, but they weren't giving that album the respect it deserved.

luke1733

I think both albums were perfect and classics. Illmatic was like Thriller and It Was Written was like Bad. It was written was in my early high school days and it took me deep into the narrative of stories and life like cinema slash reality of life. Illmatic was ridiculously perfect but I wanted more; when I got It was written it was filling with dessert. That cd is what made him my favorite rapper. I say all that to say, there was a time It was written was not getting as much respect as Illmatic. Maybe that's just the way we southern folk interpreted the two cd's. I don't really know the love he was receiving up north

luke1733

yup

luke1733

On another note, it's only cause of nas and early hip hop fans that were determined to keep buying his stuff that he still around and finally, damn near 15 years later truly getting the international respect and hip-hop status he deserved. I say it like that, because he's overdue man; and if it wasn't for Ether I don't know if his career would have risen as much as it did. I woulda still been buying his cd's and others too, but he'd probably be like ghostface. Ghostface is great and damn great, but Nas is on another level and he was close to being out the main game like ghost. It's probably cause he's so low key and his concerts and all that great and he doesn't really promote his own stuff, but talent wise he almost got knocked out and I'm glad he didn't

A$AP

3/10, the new Waka Flocka tape is better

Kill Yourself