Attention Hip Hop Heads...

[FroGG_NeaL 0]

 

 

First, I want to say that I know there aren't too many of us on this board.

 

I know many of you like some HipHop that's the Classic shit, Like Dre, Em, Pac, Big, DMC, PE, and the shit that is highly accessible to folks who don't nornally listen to Rap. You know, Common, Talib Kweli, Kanye West,

MF Doom, DangerMouse, The Wu, GZA, GhostFace... that type of shit.

 

 

But I wanted to start a thread to find out who all is a 'Head at this place.

 

 

Come here, let it be known.

 

 

Also, this thread can be like a " Hip-Hop Comments Which Don't Warrant A Thread" deal.

 

I'll have alot of time on my hands for the next few weeks, so I'll be putting madd shit in here;

Songs,

Videos,

Albums,

Reviews,

Artist spotlights; Especially lesser known, or just below the mainstream radar EmCees.

 

 

I'll post my own articles on certain things, along with articles that are required reading if you really want to get into Hip-hop, or just want to learn more.

 

 

Plus just all the everyday Hip hop News/ Gossip/ Bullshit.

 

 

Also, if anyone has any requests for Tracks, Music Videos, Albums, Reviews, an Artist Spotlight, or have a

Hip-Hop related question, then by all means, let me know.

 

I'll do my best to help ya out. Ask anything about anything to do with anything Hip-Hop, I'll hit you up with a response

 

 

Also, if anybody else feels like contributing, please do so.

 

 

Just please don't use this thread for pointless Rap/Hip-Hop bashing, or stupid arguements.

 

Go HERE, if you wanna talk a bunch of ignorant shit about Rap, there's plenty of fucking morons over there.

 

Hip-Hop is one of my major passions, and I'm always eager to learn new shit about it, and I love introducing artists to people.

 

Also, if anybody here is a BeatMaker, or EmCee, post up some of your shit.

 

I know there's a few dudes around here who put together some fucking vicious Mix-Tapes, most with some Rap mixed in.

 

If you have any Hip-Hop Blends or Mixes or Mix-Tapes or whatever the fuck that you've made, post 'em up too.

 

 

I'll be back in a few hours with some shit to get this thread started.

 

 

But, Yeah...

 

Peace

 

[FroGG_NeaL 0]

Artist Spotlight : Nas, Part One

 

“Illmatic: In The Beginning”

 

 

 

Interview From RAP PAGES (1993)

 

From just Before Nas’ Classic Debut, Illmatic Was Released:

 

 

Representing Queensbridge, New York, and the future of Hip-Hop, Nas is in his own state of mind.

 

Queensbridge’s own Nas represents more than meets the eye. No doubt, Nas represents New York. His deeply-etched rhymes live and breathe the tough East Coast city streets, injecting images of hyped-up corner cyphers on cold NYC nights. And Nas definitely represents the gifted select few born to wreck mics with absolute ease. Since being featured on Main Source’s "Live at the BBQ," Serch’s "Back to the Grill Again," and then releasing the single "Halftime" off the Zebrahead soundtrack, Nas has followed no other MC’s lead but his own. Nas’ rhyme style, flow, phrases, concepts, reflections and voice are all distinctly his. The only artist that he parallels is Rakim; they both have that air of mystery about them.

 

I have to admit that it’s Nas’ mysterious demeanor that made me apprehensive about interviewing him. You hardly ever see him out at parties or functions, and when I have, I’ve noticed his mode of operation. He is not unfriendly, but he is definitely far from outgoing. He is the epitome of someone on the low, always to himself, which makes people around him wonder what the phukk he is thinking or feeling. Listening to his album almost clues you in. His perceived passivism is a paradox, because his attitude is really one of true active observation. Couple his acute observational skills with an ability to command the English language, and you end up with brilliant lyrics. Mix that up with a powerful delivery that does justice to beats by Pete Rock, Premier, Large Professor, Q-Tip and L.E.S., and you end up with a classic debut album.

 

But more importantly, Nas represents Hip-Hop. He has the potential to push this music to another level, just as Rakim has done in his career. This young street disciple was raised on breakdancing, graffiti writing, park jams, DJ mix shows, beat-boxing ¬ the whole nine. Nurtured by a culture of heartfelt expression and blessed with a mastery of words, Nas’ vivid music embodies Hip-Hop’s positive energy. The massive buzz on Nas’ debut album, Illmatic, among those with their ear to the street reflects on both local and universal levels. It’s a true testament to the kinship of Hip-Hop when someone like Nas makes it. You can feel that desire to make it from both the mega-talented artist from around the way and the peops around him. Inevitably, the game’s about going for self, but at the same time never forgetting to give props where props are due ¬ to the family (blood or otherwise) and neighborhood (especially the projects) that raised you. That’s not just some "New York shit," because living the real life is universal.

 

Rap Pages: You’re no longer called Nasty Nas, just Nas. What’s the scientifics behind that?

NaS: I had crazy names. I’ve been MC Nas, Rapper Nas, Nasty Nas ¬all type of shit, so I’ll just leave it as Nas. Straight to the pidoint.

 

RP: The first time I heard you was in early ‘91 on "Live at the BBQ," then "Halftime" in ‘92. Now it’s almost three years later and the public is still awaiting your album. What’s been the hold up?

NaS: You know how that is. I didn’t even think I was gonna make [an album]‹I was gonna give up. I was trying to make them shits back in the days, phukking with Large Professor when Eric B was paying for studio time. It goes back to when we was in the lab doing shit when I was 15. That was ‘88 to ‘89. In ‘89 I was 16, and we had some raw shit. I was gonna come out through Eric B and them. I was young and wasn’t on top of shit, so I kind of faded from everybody. I missed out and lost contact. So later on I got back in touch with Large, and me and him started working hard. I had some demos for a year I was trying to shop and I was phukking with mad niggas, trying to get signed. Then Large got a chance to put out his album. I didn’t put mine out. He said, "Phukk it, just be on my shit," and that was on "Live at the BBQ." Boom. After that I was chillin’, cuz I thought I had caught enough wreck. I just wanted to have my clientele on the street. I met Serch one year later, and he thought I had a deal. And I’m like, "I don’t give a phukk. Just get me on wax and all respect due and good looking out." He pulled a couple of strings and got a nigga on. Boom, then [came the] "Back to the Grill" joint. Then I got signed to Columbia. I came to see you when you were A&R at Def Jam and you fronted on me and Œn shit. But you still my man.

 

RP: I remember that. It’s funny, cuz seeing you develop from "Live" to "Back" to "Halftime" to where you are now, you’ve definitely grown as an MC and as a personality too. In ‘91, when Akinyele, Kool G Rap and you came by my office, it seemed like on paper and on wax you were this quiet‹not shy, but to yourself‹almost mysterious character. I knew you would develop, but you weren’t there yet. At that point, I knew Russel [simmons] wouldn’t be interested. I was more looking out for you. I didn’t want to waste your time.

NaS: Like you said, I had to progress into me, into Nas. I was crazy young. I’m still the same person, but now I got a little knowledge, so I can handle my business.

 

RP: I’ve noticed you uphold a lot of mystery in your character. It seems like you’re on the mad DL‹you really don’t say much to people. You leave a lot to people’s imaginations to figure you out. Is there a reason for that?

NaS: That’s just me.

 

RP: You’ve never been the outgoing type?

NaS: Never. Only time I was outgoing was when I was whylin’ in high school. Running around the train hitting people in the face with a bunch of niggas. Like we couldn’t be stopped. That’s the wildest I ever got‹that’s part of growing up. But even back then I was to myself.

 

RP: Your pops was an accomplished jazz musician. What’s his name?

NaS: Olu Dara. My whole name is Nasir Bin Olu Dara Jones. Nasir is Arabic. It means "helper and protector." Bin means "son of." Jones is the slave part. Niggas weren’t trying to say my name back in the days. When we used to tag up on trains and high places, we’d climb up‹I didn’t want to write Nasir, you couldn’t even say it‹I’d just write Nas or Kid Wave. I wanted to write riddles and rhymes and make it mean something, but niggas would say we didn’t have time for that. But, yeah, [my pops] got a little busy. He bust my head. Miles Davis wrote something about him in his book. My pops used to bring me up to the studio. This is when they had no belief in rap. They didn’t even understand it. Just like when we was breakdancing, they didn’t understand. But it’s gonna stay in effect.

 

RP: You used to breakdance yourself?

NaS: I used to pop. I was Kid Wave. I was down with Breakin’ In Action. We had the shirts, white gloves and hats that said B.I.A. My man Will used to do the windmills.

 

RP: It seems like on your LP, conceptually, Nas represents a lot of different stories. You have entire songs that are thematically metaphorical. Before, you just did metaphors in one verse on your posse cuts, but now there’s an outgrowth.

NaS: I knew what I had to do if I was gonna rhyme on a "Symphony" jam. The only way to catch somebody’s attention is to say the right shit. That’s how you gotta get off on posse cuts. But when you get a chance to put a whole album together with a format, a nigga isn’t gonna want to sit down and listen to some ill shit all day. He wants to get some mental gain. Like reading a book, he wants to put the tape in and feel it. Before, I knew I had to come off real quick on the mic. But now it’s more like letting my shit flow. Now people are ready to focus in on me. But I wouldn’t have had a chance to do that if I didn’t come off before.

 

RP: What is your process of writing?

NaS: I used to tape off the radio. Play it the next day, all day, then for the whole month straight. After the month was up, I’d feel it and write a whole bunch of songs. Then I taped again and [i would do] the same cycle. I tape other people’s songs‹Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Shan, Shante, Kool Moe Dee, LL, Run-DMC‹and I build off them.

 

RP: Is that where you draw most of your inspiration?

NaS: I listen to their style. I’m not trying to sound like anybody, but I’m hearing while they’re teaching‹everybody’s teaching each other. There are mad different flows, and then you get your own. You see how everyone rides the beat, and then you see how you ride it. You put your whole heart into it.

 

RP: Who would you say your favorite or most influential MC’s?

NaS: First, I think New Edition made me want to come out. I seen them and was like, "Phukk them niggas‹I want to get on and be a star." I heard Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde talking about "Magic Potion’ and said, "That shit is clever." Run-DMC was ill. Shan. Marley Marl used to do jams in the park. And Biz performed; Shante too. We didn’t know who the phukk Biz was, and he came out doing the beatbox. It was fat. Marley on the tables, right there. You didn’t pay nothing. At the end of it, somebody’s ass was out. But that’s how it was. It was butter, cuz we all had shows. If you was a little muthaphukka who didn’t know shit about rap, but they said there was a show in the park, you were there, so now you gonna know something. The foundation was right there.

 

RP: Who out there now would you give stats to for being progressive?

NaS: I like just about all of them right now.

 

RP: Any MC’s that you don’t like?

NaS: Nah. [He winks at me] I just won’t even listen to them. Or my people’s won’t even play them, so they might as well not even exist to me if they’re crazy wack.

 

RP: You came up to the Stretch Armstrong Show that I host on WKCR and rhymed off the top of your head. You surprised me.

NaS: What I did with y’all was good for me. I haven’t done that in a while, but your show is for real. I put mad niggas in my projects up on the show.

 

RP: It seems like there are a lot of meaningful things that you write about. What is your motivation?

NaS: I write the shit that I’m going through and what I see niggas go through. Just what’s in me. It’s rap. When you look back in the days when niggas was rhyming, what made them grab the mic and start talking ill shit? Check Wild Style the movie‹that’s the Bible. They just expressing themselves. Young Africans and Latinos trapped in a cell of hell, screaming and telling somebody, "We still surviving out here and I’m doing my thing and nobody’s stopping me, but I’m gonna do it my way." If I’m writing a letter to my man in jail and he’s writing me back, and shit is stressing me cuz he’s doing hard time and he’s mad at the world, and I’m like, "Damn, I wish he was home so we could be chilling," I’m thinking about that, so I might as well put it in a song. Everybody rhymes about smoking weed 24-7, so I’ll try to not even phukk with that. But it’s in my lyrics cuz it’s part of my life, but it’s not the focus though. The focus is universal. There are so many things to rhyme about. There’s not one particular thing, like it’s gotta be guns and shooting niggas and smoking weed. I just rap.

 

RP: You haven’t confined yourself to a gimmick or one theme. Nas is like a whole...

NaS: Life. It’s life and death.

 

RP: Some of your close friends have passed. How do you perceive death and the afterlife?

NaS: X. Unknown. X equals unknown. I can’t even build on that, that shit is deep. A nigga been with you all your life, since you was young. I grew up in my man’s Will crib. He used to have a big speaker. He’d play records like "White Lines’‹that bass line, he’d slow it up and we’d rhyme. He’d cut it up. We used to listen to Awesome Two, Chuck Chillout on 98.7, Mr. Magic on BLS, all the old-school shit. As we heard rappers come out and progress, in our little world we was making tapes for only us to listen to. As years went by, we had like little albums, so we were progressing right along with them. Will was my DJ, but he used to rhyme. He used to do everyone’s style you hear now. He used to bug and rhyme like B-Real, start whylin’ like Onyx, then slow it up like Rakim. He had crazy styles off the top of his head. I was the one who would sit down and write, so it took me longer to come up with shit, but we were making tapes. You grow up, we slinging, making a little bit of cash, just the average shit. He got locked up, then he came home and then he was blowing up and shit. I had these pictures of how shit would be when he grew up. How shit would fall into place. The cipher is incomplete now, cuz my man is gone. Even though he’s under, I’m still standing‹that’s understanding. Now I go to his crib and his moms is there, and I just feel him. Something that he left there. I look at his clothes, his equipment, his turntables, and I can feel him. So it’s still there. I’m gonna represent and keep it real.

 

RP: Do you subscribe to any religion?

NaS: Nah. It’s good to do research and study what the ancient Muslims or the ancient Christians were about and how the religion came about. Even if you’re not a Five Percenter, it’s good to look at the lessons and see how they tried to educate each other. I studied lessons. I have knowledge of self. I don’t have no religion, but I studied my Black African History. I read up on Asian and Oriental spiritual rituals. They all similar. Right here in America, it’s all about living and doing the right thing. Do the right thing, and that’s righteous right there.

 

RP: What motivated you to do all that reading? Were you in school, or did someone guide you?

NaS: My man Jah Eddie was crazy smart. Everyone knew him in the projects as being a baby genius. He was doing crazy good in school and he hung out and drank beer and smoked weed. He always had a book on him, and had a bag of fruits to give us. Always came around giving us lectures, and niggas would be like, "Go ahead with the bullshit, Jah." But he was a cool nigga and he understood and we used to laugh. He used to catch me on the solo tip and just drop it on me. Show me a book if I didn’t believe his accuracy. He put me onto a few books. At one time, I was getting real Afrocentric, real into self. At that time, I dropped out of school. I wasn’t doing shit. I didn’t want to be dumb, so [i was like], I’m gonna learn something while these other niggas is whylin’. If I’m not in school, I’m gonna be DL reading shit. Helping out my dome.

 

RP: You make a lot of references to religious figures. Do you have animosity towards them, or what’s your motivation behind that?

NaS: Me and my man Bo‹he’s locked up right now, one love, kid, if you read this magazine‹we used to read books on mysticism, real eerie type of shit. We used to play jokes on niggas when we were little, like put an egg on top of a refrigerator and tell 'em if the egg moves he got to get out the house as soon as possible. Reading up on ill witchcraft shit‹it was bugged. We used to scare niggas and tell them fake stories. In junior high school, kids would bang on the lunchroom table and rhyme. When it was our turn, we used to say shit like, "Jesus came/He asked my name/I pulled out some roach spray and a lighter and burst a flame in his face/Then I chopped him in the face" and niggas used to say, "What’s wrong with y’all?" We’d tell them we the devils, take our middle finger and chase them. Me and Bo used to write that deep shit, taking it one step further, but not dwelling on it too hard. I didn’t feel there was that much wrong with it. I know his name wasn’t Jesus Christ. There’s more science to it than what we see in the Bible. You gotta do mad research to be accurate, cuz there are lies in books. If you are really praising, you’d find out who he really was and then praise him for what he did. You can’t just accept what you hear readily. Before somebody tells me not to talk about Jesus, they should find out who he really was. I know that at times went on, people added little pieces, omitted others to the Bible, so it’s not completely accurate. I could say, "I went to hell for snuffing Jesus." Phukk that, what has he done for me? I’m out here in Queensbridge. Jesus ain’t coming to Queensbridge. If he is, he’s not Jesus Christ, he’s something more powerful and much deeper than that. That’s all.

 

RP: Where do you see your future going? Do you want to produce, bring other people out?

NaS: I want to be the first Black President. The President of the world. Somebody’s gonna have to take me out. I’m not gonna reveal my secrets. I’m-a just rhyme‹be the rapping President. Be up on a chair telling mad poems all day till I get old. Even if I don’t have a record deal, and they stop putting records out, and they don’t put nothing on the radio and said "Phukk rap" and drop me, I’ll still be rhyming. I’ll just bring it back to the essence in the parks, where the real niggas survive, and clown that shit where niggas want to be different and talk bullshit when they wouldn’t go to the park cuz they scared. I’ll be there, 29 years old."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ILLMATIC ARTICLE:

 

LIVE YOUNG, DIE PRETTY

 

By: Hua Hsu

 

Hip-hop is a culture obsessed with heroes, and whether they are the result of manufacturing or earnest hard work, they are rarely as immovable as they think. A culture whose music and approach assume a short attention span necessarily treats its stars the same way, and the debate about hip-hop's truly untouchable names would be a relatively short one. The days of Nas' undisputed spot atop that dawg-pile may be long gone, but he will always have his place in the discussion, not simply as a gifted lyricist, but as a prodigy. Nas came into our world fully formed, first as a snot-nosed upstart who nonchalantly bragged that he "went to hell for snuffing Jesus" back when he was twelve, then as a twenty-year-old counting stacks with his partner AZ on "The Genesis," the weightily-named introduction to his debut, Illmatic. There are no moments of vulnerability on the album, no rags to put the riches of today in proper perspective. He arrives as a manchild in a broken land: a man because there is no childishness or uncertainty in his pose but a child because it is so obviously and precisely a pose and, as with many who inherit a precocious brain but a plain heart, he relies more on instinct and response than emotional certainty, conviction or stability. It was as though the questions one wrestles in youth (idealism, material, morality, "the future")-the mortal world-didn't matter, for Nas arrived immortal. As such, Illmatic is fearless, shocking and literally unbelievable. There was a brazenness to Nas' "understandable smooth," Yeah-I-said-it delivery, a cool absence of thought or hope (maybe both), and whether he was indeed the journal or the journalist, there were few images as crisp and brags as cold as his. I never sleep, cause sleep is the cousin of death. Cause I'm as ill as a convict who kills for phone time. I rap in front of more ni**az than on the slave ships. On "One Love," his description of an over-anxious, would-be young thug from around the way-"Shorty's laugh was cold-blooded as he spoke so foul/Only twelve trying to tell me that he liked my style/Then I rose, wiping the blunt's ash from my clothes/Then froze, only to blow the herb smoke through my nose"-wasn't just a dope rap lyric; it was an amazing piece of writing, regardless of age. Through it all, Nas himself seems to seek very little in the exchange. If he is to be believed, he was already very rich, and though he would later try and refashion himself as a martyr-in-progress, on Illmatic he seemed too young and jaded to care much about any end, because in the end, nothing happens. Life's a bitch, as his song goes, but then what? Do you find redemption in ether? Philosophy? Do you pray for a merciful God? No. Life's a bitch and then you die, and the only thing Nas seems to believe in is the grace of falling. Religion clearly doesn't matter ("Cause yeah, we were beginners in the hood as five-percenters/But somethin' must of got in us cause all of us turned to sinners" from AZ's verse on "Life's a Bitch") and when Nas boasts that he "loves committin' sins" ("Represent"), you almost believe him. Almost because there's still something behind Nas' eternally negative, harum-scarum worldview-not fear, but a dim consciousness of his own status as immortal. It is the belief that, though we may not live to see tomorrow, someone will. And, with history as our witness, we better seem pretty fucking fly to them. On Illmatic, Nas cared less about his place in God's eyes than his place in history, and history alone provided young Nas with a sense of salvation; a sense that the depravity surrounding him would one day be enshrined as the conditions for his genius. The album, like the man himself, excels because it is obsessed with the bright, fawning legacy that trails faithfully behind. He says as much on "Nas is Like," a song he wrote during the Illmatic sessions: "But what's it all worth? Can't take it with you under this Earth/Rich men died and tried, but none of it worked/They just rob your grave, I'd rather be alive and paid/Before my number's called, history's made." There's something alluring and inevitably unsatisfying about seeing someone so nihilistic go about life, especially at such a young age. You can say you want to (or will) die before you get old, but those words feel cheap and flat when you live just cautious enough to survive well into your late-20s and early-30s. When you grow up against the anti-philosophy you lay out in the dim idealism of youth, you go from old school to old fool, and somewhere along the way, old Nas realized that he wanted redemption. He thought he would find it by earning the plaques and sales that he rightfully deserved, refashioning himself as a pretty thug and then again as the champion for the masses, finding solidarity with lesser cliques (Bravehearts, Murder Inc.) and beefing with Jay-Z, the man who took the best parts of Nas' blueprint and gave it both corporate and heartfelt dimensions. But nothing worked, and these muted expressions of fear only served to make Illmatic seem that much more unbelievable. As a kid, Nas didn't fear God; he just thought he was better, and he wanted people to know that tomorrow. Unfortunately that next day came, and the boy who was ahead of his time grew into a man forever captive to it.

 

 

 

Illmatic Interview:

 

The Source Issue #55;April 1994

 

“The Second Coming”

 

By Jon Shecter

 

In hip-hop, as in life, perfection is hard to come by. When a rapper makes a full-length album, he bares his mind, his soul and his skills for the world to digest. Usually, we hip-hop fans can find parts of that whole that speak to us--a thumping track here, an ill verse there, this or that sequence of cuts. But every so often--and it has become more and more fare as this music develops--unique talent and a powerful creative vision combine to create utter potency.

The term "hip-hop classic" is not one we at The Source take lightly, but Nas is no lightweight. A product of the infamous Queensbridge Housing Projects, this is an MC injecting intelligence, creativity and soul back into hip-hop. Nas captures poetic images so intense they force you to take heed, then once you're in his grasp he takes your mind deep into the essence of surviving, maintaining and dealing with life in a vicious society. His debut album, Illmatic, brings together the cream of the crop In hip-hop production--Large Professor, DJ Premier, Pete Rock and Q-Tip-for an all-star excursion that lends new meaning to the phrase "looking for the perfect beat."

Nas got his rep with an ill voice and shocking religious imagery: "When I was 12, I went to hell for snuffing Jesus…I'm waving automatic guns at nuns…" The original idea for his album cover was to depict Nas holding Christ in a headlock. But his talent lies much deeper than mere shock value. Like the legendary Rakim, Nas is a true poet and a true MC. The lyrics themselves are technical masterpieces, full of layered rhythms and meanings, and his delivery is deft, changing cadence and flow like a musical instrument. He has the attention to detail of Slick Rick, the urban realness of Kool G Rap and the vocal presence of Big Daddy Kane. But don't get me wrong, Nas (real name: Nasir, or "helper and protector") is a complete original. With a mere 20 years on this Earth, Nas has already raised the stakes in the hip-hop game, putting New York back on the cutting edge where it belongs. This is the story of the building of a hip-hop classic.

 

NAS: The first time I heard rap was in my projects. In the park, outside, summertime thing, when I was crazy young. They had them old disco records and shit, cuttin' that shit up. I witnessed all that shit, the beginning, you kno'm sayin'? Mad niggas, Private Stocks, blunts, fights, music. The first time I grabbed the mic was at my man Will's house--bless the dead. He lived right upstairs from me on the sixth floor, I was on the fifth. So I used to go up his crib and shit, in the morning, when his moms go to work. He used to hook his shit up, speakers and shit. We used to rhyme on "White Lines" and that old shit. Then later on, he bought equipment, like turntables, fader, we was makin' tapes like that.

First month of ninth grade, that was my last month. School ain't shit, the teachers is full of shit, the whole system is bullshit, to me. I'm in there riffin' with the teachers, dissin' the teachers. I mean, I wanted to finish school, I didn't want to drop out of school, I wanted to finish school and do something. I was drawin’ and shit, I wanted to do that, or write a movie, some ill shit. I used to write all type of shit when I was young, I thought I was blessed. But they crushed that type of shit, they crushed that in my head. I dropped out of school, start to smoke weed, that's what that was all about. I seen the other life, you kno'm sayin'? That's when we used to be runnin' around on the trains, beatin' people up, robbin' niggas and shit, on Queens Plaza, catchin' foreigners, Hindus, take their money. Young shit, wilin', drinkin' Old'Gold, you know? Me, Will, a whole bunch a niggas from my projects. That's when I did all that dumb shit, all

Them years.

I was just writin' on the down low. I ain’t never tell niggas too much about it, 'cause for what? If I wanna rhyme one day, then they'll hear me. I just told my mans, 'cause we had a crew back in like '86, the Devastatin' Seven. They knew I could rhyme, but after them days, when the crew died out, I was just writin' on the dolo tip.

I met Large Professor in '89. And he was doin' shit for Eric B and them niggas, Rakim, G Rap and them. I met him 'cause I wanted to do a demo and shit with my own money. I was like, let me do a demo for myself, not even to shop. I ain't know what shopping was, I just wanted to do a tape for me. My man Melquan hooked me up with Large, and he had managed to get me in Power Play during the time he was workin' down there, in '89.

 

LARGE PROFESSOR: All along since even before "Live At The BBQ" , I was trying be on Nas' side in this game. You know, I was tryin' to tell him, "Yo, if you want the ill shit, go to these certain people." I was hooking him up with these people so it wouldn't be some formal shit where the record company sets it up.

 

NAS: That nigga Akinyele was callin' my crib, "Yo, Nas, man, what you doin' man? Let's go, you gotta get your shit on." And me and him used to meet up, and we was goin' all over shoppin' my shit. That's the weakest part, shoppin' your shit, tryin' to find niggas who trust you, believe in you and like your shit. I knew niggas couldn't fuck with me in certain ways, I knew I had the potential to do my thing. But shit wasn't happenin' for me. I was like, kinda givin' up.

We went down there to Serch, when he was in the studio, and he was like, "Get on this joint!" So I kicked a rhyme I had right there, and "Back to The Grill" put a nigga on, gave a nigga a little leeway again. Right there, Serch like, "Who you signed wit'?" I'm like, "Ain't nobody fuckin' wit me, man." So he was like, "Let's do this!"

 

MC SERCH, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Nas was in a position where his demo had been sittin' around, "Live At The BBQ" was already a classic, and he was just tryin' to find a decent deal. And I think Nas didn't know who to trust, and it seemed that no one was teaching him the ropes. 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.

 

DJ PREMIER: Everybody that really know hip-hop will always remember that record "Live at The BBQ." Just hearing how his flow was on that record let me know that he was destined to be out here to last for a while. When I heard "Half Time," that was some next shit to me. That's just as classic to me as "Eric B For President" 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.

When it comes to beats, Nas is super picky. It's many times when I gave him tracks, and he'd call the next day and say, "Yo, I can't get with that." But it don't bother me 'cause I told him, "I want you to be happy, it's your record." There was many times when he liked a track, and then he was like, "Naa, I want to change it." I'd go back in there and change it, which is what happened to "Represent."

 

MC SERCH: Nas was very picky--no lie, we went through at least 65, 70 beats on this album to find the ten that made the album. The most enjoyable sessions for me were the Primo sessions. I mean, 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.

 

NAS: Then Large introduced me to Q-Tip, and he played some exotic shit. I was like yeah, he understand where I'm comin' from. I mean, everybody could make a rhyme about bein' a ill nigga with a ill, rough, rugged beat. But I like to take a nigga to another part of this shit, you kno'm sayin'? Get away from all that mass hysteria goin' around in the projects. That's how my music was, that's how the vibe was. When you chillin', not buggin' out like a little wild adolescent. I mean, when you mature over all of this, when you got a little common sense in the game--I try to make songs like that.

 

Q-TIP: Large Professor told me that Nas had wanted to work with me, so one night he brought Nas and Akinyele by my crib. I played him a couple beats, and he just said, "That's it right there." Later that night, he called and told me the concept for "One Love."

 

NAS: My man Will was up north--bless the dead. He used to write me, call my crib collect, or I write him. All my peeps got locked up, my brother too. I never got locked up. I was in jail one time, in a cell, a little ass cell, 'cause a dumb ass, stupid punk cop wanna tell me I can't smoke weed in my own projects! My whole projects is on probation, man. And that's all they talk about, is who they seen in there, who they left in there, who they was chillin' with, who they had beef with, who was makin' noise and how they tryin' to survive now that they home.

The Bridge is the biggest projects in the whole country--and that's a fact, you can look it up. Stars is bom out there. We got some NBA players from out there and the whole shit. Queensbridge added a lot to hip-hop--we just put more science into the whole chemistry. Marley Marl was on some ill shit back then. MC Shan, "The Bridge," that's the anthem right there.

So when I was a kid, I just stayed in the projects, that shit is like a city. I ain't never go nowhere. Everybody's mentality revolves around the projects, just trying to survive. Everybody gotta eat, you know what I mean? It's just the attitude out there, it's just life. You can't be no sucker.

L.E.S.: I live in Queensbridge--been around for a long time--used to run with Shan and Marley back in the days. I knew it was just a matter of time before a brother would look out. Being that he had all these big name producers on his album, I felt kinda good that Nas picked me to do something. I was never really presenting shit to Nas though, and he ain't really come to me for a beat. We was just in the crib chillin', playin' shit, you know, going through shit, and he was like, "Yo, that's it." What we was really doing was trying to put something together for an interlude, but Nas was just feeling it. The kid AZ, who's on , was there at the time, so he felt it when Nas felt it, and it was all right on time.

 

NAS: Large took me down to Pete Rock's basement years ago, back when Pete was DJing on Marley Marl's show. When we went to the studio , he laid the beat down to "The World Is Yours," but he had to break out. And me and my man stayed, I laid one verse down, my man made up the chorus, sung it. Then the next session we had to finish it, Pete Rock came, he checked it out, he was like…he felt that he could sing it better.

 

DJ PREMIER: After I heard brothers like Q-Tip and Pete Rock's joints, I was like, "Oh shit, I gotta go back to the lab." Them niggas represented with they shit. When we did "Memory Lane" towards the very end, he said he wanted something that was way different from the other stuff they did. Q-Tip's track kinda set a new tone for the album, along with "The World Is Yours" and "Memory Lane." Not anybody could rhyme to that. Most MCs would probably reminisce about situations like he did, but the way he did it is the way the niggas like to hear it, and we the hardest ones to please.

 

NAS: I knew that I could take this shit right here and put it in niggas' heads and have them listening to me. This is my hustle right now, this rap shit. When I'm bored, stressed out, no money, no bitch, no fuckin' nothing, no friends, I'm by myself, I'm like damn. Or I might be fucked up in the game--my man get killed, or my man get robbed. Now we gotta go over here and do what we gotta do with them. Shit like that gets stressful, and you can blow your whole fuckin' melon thinkin' the shit, buggin' out. You could just go outside and just bust somebody--you know, that's how a lot of shit happens, stressful shit. When I was young, I was writin' rhymes like three songs a day like it wasn't shit. Now I don't hardly write no fuckin' rhymes, shit is different now. When I'm bored, and I'm thinkin' about all the shit that's going on, I get back to my old hobby. I just start writin' things down in a poetic form, you kno'm sayin'? My little talent on the side. My whole thing is this: me gettin' established in this game, and then get my moms right, so then my brother could be all right. I'ma be all right regardless. My pops? That nigga broke out when I was like six. But we always stayed in touch, he a cool nigga. He played the horn on "Life's a Bitch," at the end of that shit he played the trumpet. He played jazz and shit.

 

FAITH NEWMAN, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Nas has an old soul, you kinda get the feeling he's been around before in the way he observes life. His mind is always kind of operating at a very mystical level. The people who are the most respected producers in hip-hop have a certain sense of awe when it comes to him. I have never, in all the 15 years that I've been listening to rap, ever heard anybody express something so vividly and perfectly as Nas. He doesn't have to shout to be heard. It's so effortless. You listen to his music, you get this mental picture of where he's coming from. It's not gratuitously violent or sexist, it's just real. It's touching too.

 

NAS: This was '92, in May, May 23rd. Outside on my block, on Vernon and shit. We was throwin' a party the next day, and everybody had to give up money to contribute to a party for us. We was gonna bring the speakers out, have a cookout and everything. This dumb bitch was runnin' her mouth and shit, and Will was drunk, so he did whatever, I think he snuffed her or something. And then she wanted to call some niggas on the down low out here and gas them up. Corny niggas, they came out here. Came to my projects and just started wettin'. They seen Will, they was like, "What's up?" They wet Will up, shot him in the back, then they shot my brother in the leg. He layin' down there, dumb-ass police lookin' at him, ain't doin' shit. And then we see an ambulance come, cool, we jump in a cab. We get to the hospital, Astoria General. We get in there and we chillin' like "Yeah, I hope he all right." Then 15 minutes later they just gettin' him in there! So now we dissin' 'em. Then like an hour later they come and tell us he ain't make it. And then them bitch ass niggas got locked up the next day, snitched on each other, scared like bitches. Still, it ain't over until it's over.

 

Q-TIP: Nas ain't got no gimmick to his style, you gotta sit and decipher what he says. He got a little Old School in him too, but his shit is just raw. Aside from the shit that he writes, his voice is what's so ill about him. His voice is just butter.

 

NAS: I used to read lessons, Actual facts, Solar facts. I read books on African history. I used to read books on Egyptian times and shit, how they had shit locked down back in the days. And motherfuckers from all over the world was comin' to Egypt to learn, that was college for the world. Back in the breakdancin', Zulu Nation, ballbreakin' days, there was this kid, this God, that was enlightenin' all of us that we was God. So we took heed to him, and then I took it upon myself to seek more knowledge, and that's how I started leamin' lessons and shit like that.

My moms used to make me and my brother go to church, when we was little kids. I used to look at them like jokes, screaming around like fuckin' clowns. I'm like, if you wanna get technical, Mr. Preacher Man, let's go all the way back to the origin of all of that. You gonna sit here and talk about Jesus Christ and do this. We wasn't even up on it until Black people came to America.

 

MC SERCH: If you trace hip-hop, every three or four years there's a group that breaks the mold. Nas is the new heart of what hardcore hip-hop is going to be about. Besides being the most prolific artist I've ever heard in my life, he is pound for pound, note for note, word for word the best MC I ever heard in my life.

 

NAS: This feels like a big project that's gonna affect the world, that's what it feels like we're working on. We in here on the down low, confidential, FBI type shit, doing something for the world. That's how it feels, that's what it is. For all the ones that think it's all about some ruff shit, talkin' about guns all the time, but no science behind it, we gonna bring it to them like this. We got some rap for that ass.

 

 

 

Interview About Illmatic:

 

By: Shaheem Reid, with additional reporting by Sway Calloway and Curtis Waller

 

As acclaimed as Nas is for the tempest of verbiage he's unleashed over the last decade, he'll forever be remembered primarily for just one word: Illmatic.

 

Meaning "beyond ill" or "the ultimate" and named after his incarcerated Queensbridge friend Illmatic Ice, Nas' first LP birthed his career and rebirthed an emphasis on lyrical concentration amongst his peers. Back in May of 1994, a little more than a month after his album was released, Nas made his debut on "Yo! MTV Raps." Conversing with seasoned hip-hop vet Fab Five Freddy (the TV-show politicking would lead to Fab directing Nas' "One Love" video), the cameras captured a shy, 20-year-old wunderkind who was still green when it came to doing interviews. That, however, was the beauty of Nas — he didn't know how to front.

 

Nas: I'm straight outta the Queensbridge projects. I been around for a little while. Enough to see how it gets down in the street. I seen the jams [in my projects]. I used to hear the beats out the window. [When I went downstairs] my moms used to make me come inside. At a certain age I was able to go to the jams and see how it goes down. From that time on, I was at every jam out there. That kinda got me into this hip-hop music thing.

 

I been writing rhymes since I was 9 years old. I used to believe in it, but nobody around me believed in it. Nobody thought it would blow to where it is today. I'm dedicated to this music. It's straight from the heart, straight from the thoughts of what's going on in a young black man's mind. There are so many paths you can walk through. I walked through the one that blessed me, the one that gave me a chance to put my voice on wax and voice the anger, the hate and love.

 

When I write, whatever the outcome is, so be it. I write for a lot of brothers that don't write rhymes. I voice their words for them. I see a lot of us is fallin' down in the system. It's out there to get us. It's a lot of us making moves too, going to college, doing the right thing, but some of us are getting money on the streets. I think we all have the same focus, though — to be successful in the long run. I put that in a poetic form. [The process] starts straight from boredom, doing the down-low hobby thing. I be zoning too. I'll be playing hip-hop records I taped off the radio. The new sound is what's encouraging me. To hear a new rapper's flow, to hear a new style of beat, it encourages me to come up with something new myself. I hear it and I incorporate it into me a little bit and find my sound.

 

At one point it seemed that a lot of rap coming from New York was kinda weak. The West Coast is definitely making their mark. Since years back, a lot of West Coast rappers been trying to get in [the game] with the New York type of flavor. But [now] they found their true sound and blew it up and made hip-hop bigger to what it's supposed to be. But it's definitely some more New York acts coming back representing.

 

It was my dream to make an album. Lyrically I knew I could do my job. I also needed the right beats. That's something I wanted to represent. I was definitely on a mission, making sure I had the right people that worked on the album. Large Professor, I knew him from out in Queens. He introduced me to each producer on my album individually. It was live, because each one of them knew what they wanted to hear when they heard me rhyme. I didn't have to explain nothing to them, it was there. I started [production on the album] with Large Professor, then with DJ Premier to do "N.Y. State of Mind." Premo also did "Memory Lane" and "Represent." That's the thing in New York, representin'. A lot of rappers fell off and went to singing and all that. A lot of us say, "represent" to remind ourselves that we can't fall, and have to stay on the right track.

 

[The picture on my album cover] is me when I was 7 years old. 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.

 

 

 

 

 

Article About Illmatic:

 

On Broadway, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) remains as hot as August concrete and Doggystyle as cold as ice - meaning that Dre and Snoop will not be returning as the Man. But the race ain't over, as a horde of major albums have recently been released or are slated for the last half of '94: Ice Cube and Dr. Dre's Helter Skelter, Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth's The Main Ingredients, Coolio's It Takes a Thief and Shyheim's AKA the Rugged Child, as well as albums from Smif n' Wessun, Redman, 2Pac, the Lady of Rage, the Method Man, Rakim and a solo album by A Tribe Called Quest's Phife. But they'll all be chasing the MC with a street buzz so loud it's threatening to silence the Death Row bass thump on Broadway: Nas.

The humming began once the hottest producers in New York - DJ Premier, Pete Rock, the Large Professor, Q-Tip, L.E.S. - completed their parts on Illmatic, and Nas stepped to their tracks (many smooth and mellow, a few hard and biting, all mid- to low-tempo) and vaulted himself into the elite group of MCs. Not because of an ultrabutter flow and boldly distinctive voice like Q-Tip or Slick Rick but because of sharp articulation, finely detailed lyrics and a controlled tone reminiscent of Rakim. Those sounds and Nas' no-nonsense urban tales pair Ill's every beautiful moment with its harsh antithesis. From "One Love," Nas' letter to homies in jail - "So, stay civilized/Time flies/Though, incarcerated, your mind dies/I hate it when your moms cries/It kinda makes me wanna murder" - to the end of "Life's a Bitch," when his father, Olu Dara, steps in over the beat with a muted trumpet, searching for the tone with which Nas expressed the futility of his life, it's all like a rose stretching up between cracks in the sidewalk, calling attention to its beauty, calling attention to the lack of it everywhere else.

But to assume that the ghetto in him - Queensbridge projects, Queens, N.Y. - makes him great is to get way too wrapped up in hip-hop's realness debate. No matter how rough you had it and how authentically you portray it, it'll be MC skills - the distinctiveness of your voice, the adeptness of your rhythm and flow, the quality of your lyrics - that will ultimately determine if you move the crowd.

The Wu crew opened a door for Nas, reminding Broadway how good New York-style beats and lyrics - as opposed to West Coast sinister funk and slow, gangsta rhymes - could be. Illmatic will probably be Broadway's album of the year, not for the real life behind its dedication to 13 dead homies but for the work on the CD. If an MC's history were really more important than his skills, then anyone from the projects would be able to rhyme like Nas, and Nas would be no different from any bum riding down Broadway.

 

 

 

 

Illmatic Review:

 

Nas - Illmatic - Columbia Records

 

RapReviews :

 

"Back to the Lab" Series

 

Reviewed by: Steve 'Flash' Juon

 

One verse - that's all it took for the rapper known as Nasty Nas to get more heads open than Emeril Lagasse at a clam bake. "Live at the Barbeque" by Main Source was the first taste, and on this all-star rap collabo' newcomer Nas' verse outshined all the other MC's put together:

"Street's disciple, my raps are trifle

I shoot slugs from my brain just like a rifle

Stampede the stage, I leave the microphone split

Play Mr. Tuffy while I'm on some Pretty Tone shit

Verbal assassin, my architect pleases

When I was twelve, I went to hell for snuffin Jesus"

Coast to coast, no matter what style of rap you were into, Nas was the rapper who was anticipated most. Cameo appearances and a song on the "Zebrahead" soundtrack only whet the public's appetite, and by the time "Illmatic" appeared in 1994 heads were hungrier than a starving pitbull. Even the album's cover generated curiosity - instead of the man we thought we knew, a photo of Nas as a young child was superimposed over a backdrop of a gritty New York city block. It's as if Nas was trying to send a message before you even took off the shrinkwrap - this is the birth of a brand new era in rap.

If the excitement wasn't already ratcheted up to the highest degree, "The Genesis" took it even higher. Some people knew the score when they heard this intro, and other people were left scratching their heads. Sampling from the movie "Wild Style" and mixing it with the aforementioned "Barbeque" though was just Nas' way of letting us know it was ON. This was to be an album steeped in the rich traditions of hip-hop history, mixed with the most advanced verbal styles and fat beats that could be put on wax. And if it couldn't be set off any more right already, the DJ Premier produced "N.Y. State of Mind" was designed to knock you right off your feet. Primo's knack for finding the illest piano loops and matching them to pounding beats was perfected in this track, and paired with a Rakim sample on the chorus that provided the mental link for an analogy most rap heads had already made by now: Nas was the NEW Rakim on the block. If you're not already familiar with this song, peep a small but vintage section of the rugged third verse:

"I got so many rhymes I don't think I'm too sane

Life is parallel to Hell but I must maintain

and be prosperous, though we live dangerous

cops could just arrest me, blamin us, we're held like hostages

It's only right that I was born to use mics

and the stuff that I write, is even tougher than dice

I'm takin rappers to a new plateau, through rap slow

My rhymin is a vitamin, Hell without a capsule

The smooth criminal on beat breaks

Never put me in your box if your shit eats tapes"

What follows is the song that for better or worse gave AZ the Visualiza his record deal. While over the years AZ has kicked a plethora of raps that ranged from "aight" to "nothing impressive", his verse on the smoothed out L.E.S. produced "Life's a Bitch" made AZ to Nas what Nas was to Rakim in most people's eyes. Peep the ill linguistics he dropped in his first (and best ever) verse:

"Visualizin the realism of life and actuality

Fuck who's the baddest a person's status depends on salary

And my mentality is, money orientated

I'm destined to live the dream for all my peeps who never made it

cause yeah, we were beginners in the hood as five percenters

But somethin must of got in us cause all of us turned to sinners

Now some, restin in peace and some are sittin in San Quentin

Others such as myself are tryin to carry on tradition"

The track features a verse by Nas that is just as excellent, and as an added bonus, Nasir's father Olu Dara (a legendary jazz player) blows on the trumpet as the music fades out. Obviously, musical talent runs in the family, but Nas is not done impressing us with his debut album yet - he's just begun. The Pete Rock produced track "The World is Yours" is one gem among many on this LP, but it shines just as brightly if not moreso than the rest of them. Nas' returns to the piano breaks here, but where Primo's stark sample painted a picture of a gritty landscape over a pulsing beat, Pete Rock's lush groove wraps around you like a warm blanket on a cold winter night. The instrumental alone would be legendary, but once again Nas proves why the hype surrounding his rap debut was well-earned:

"I'm the young city bandit, hold myself down singlehanded

For murder raps, I kick my thoughts alone, get remanded

Born alone, die alone, no crew to keep my crown or throne

I'm deep by sound alone, caved inside in a thousand miles from home

I need a new nigga, for this black cloud to follow

Cause while it's over me it's too dark to see tomorrow

Trying to maintain, I flip, fill the clip to the tip

Picturin my peeps, now the income make my heartbeat skip

And I'm amped up, they locked the champ up, even my brain's in handcuffs"

It's almost as if Nas had stabbed himself with a quill pen and written his lyrics in blood; because the emotion pours all over his words and delivery. Who in their bleakest hour hasn't wished they had crew who had their back, or that someone else could shoulder the burden of their sorrows? Even though his brain was in handcuffs, Nas obviously broke the chains and escaped to a mental freedom where rap rhyming was his liberator. He proves this again on the Large Professor produced "Halftime" and then one ups it with the Primo laced follow-up "Memory Lane":

"Poetry, that's a part of me, retardedly bop

I drop the ancient manifested hip-hop, straight off the block

I reminisce on park jams, my man was shot for his sheep coat

Childhood lesson make me see him drop in my weed smoke

It's real, grew up in trife life, did times or white lines

The hype vice, murderous nighttimes, and knife fights invite crimes

Chill on the block with Cog-nac, hold strap

with my peeps that's into drug money, market into rap

No sign of the beast in the blue Chrysler, I guess that means peace

For niggaz no sheisty vice to just snipe ya

Start off the dice-rollin mats for craps to cee-lo

With sidebets, I roll a deuce, nothin below (Peace God!)

Peace God -- now the shit is explained

I'm takin niggaz on a trip straight through memory lane"

Trying to find flaws in Nas' verses on this album is an exercise in supreme futility. On song after song, he illustrates the Queensbridge trife life of his existance, while at the same time providing hope that there is something greater than money, guns and drugs. "One Love" meshes these influences together, with Nas providing shout-outs to locked down comrades over a plucky Q-Tip beat and then in the final verse chastizing a little shorty headed down the same road to jail:

"I took the L when he passed it, this little bastard

keeps me blasted, he starts talkin mad shit

I had to school him, told him don't let niggaz fool him

cause when the pistol blows the one that's murder be the cool one

Tough luck when niggaz are struck, families fucked up

Could've cought your man, but didn't look when you bucked up

Mistakes happen, so take heed, never bust off at the crowd

Catch him solo, make the right man bleed

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"

Closing out this short but incredibly powerful album are three straight certified bangers: the somber and slow-rolling "One Time 4 Your Mind" by Large Professor, "Represent" by DJ Premier, and the closer "It Ain't Hard to Tell" with yet another incredible Large Professor beat - proving the fact that these two linked up through "Live at the Barbeque" was no fluke. In fact, the verses Nas spits on this jazzy version of "Human Nature" by Michael Jackson are just as quotable if not more-so than anything else on the LP - what album could end on a higher note than this?

"Nas, I analyze, drop a jew-el, inhale from the L

School a fool well, you feel it like braille

It ain't hard to tell, I kick a skill like Shaquille holds a pill

Vocabulary spills I'm +Ill+

plus +Matic+, I freak beats slam it like Iron Shiek

Jam like a tech with correct techniques

So analyze me, surprise me, but can't magmatize me

Scannin while you're plannin ways to sabotage me

I leave em froze like her-on in your nose

Nas'll rock well, it ain't hard to tell"

Over the years, many people have debated about the merits of this album. Some have claimed the singular purity of this album was a fluke, and the dissapointment of the two Nas albums that followed (which were both more commercially successful and less ruggedly hip-hop oriented) proved this forty minute long album wasn't worthy of being called an all-time great. Others have said Nas was the poet of destiny from the start, and the only thing the albums that follow prove is that he was led astray by his record label in their efforts to make him more commercially marketable. Whether you choose to believe, this album was as much a watershed moment in hip-hop as Run-D.M.C's self-titled debut, Public Enemy's "It Takes a Nation of Millions" or N.W.A.'s "Straight Outta Compton." In a single album, on a single day, the release of "Illmatic" encapsulated everything right about rap and everything that it's detractors and critics got wrong. Far from glorifying the violence of the streets or celebrating the excess of conspicuous consumption, Nas presented what could only be called pure poetry set to some of the all-time most bangin' tracks ever made. The picture the words paint is powerful - the pain of existance overcome by the triumph of the human spirit. Listening will free your mind and set your soul free.

Music Vibes: 10 of 10 Lyric Vibes: 10 of 10 TOTAL Vibes: 10 of 10

 

 

Illmatic Review

 

 

Nas - Illmatic - Columbia Records

 

 

In 1994, the old school was fading fast, every gangsta under the Cali sun was cruising into megastardom, and the new school style of East Coast lyricism was beginning to bloom. No other album bridged the gap between the new and old schools quite like "Illmatic" by Nas, an album so monumental its title is now a commonly used word in the hip hop lexicon.

 

This no-frills 10-track LP showcases a person holding wisdom far beyond his years, whose reaction to a harsh ghetto environment is to look out with a cool perspective and an open mind, whose lyrics convey perfectly the community focused aura and uncrushable optimism of the projects.

 

' NY State Of Mind' is the opening cut, and it's all there. DJ Premier's clean, menacing rhythm and crisp piano loop. The exquisite rhymes - "Inhale deep like the words of my breath, I never sleep, cause sleep is the cousin of death, I lay puzzle as I backtrack to earlier times, nothing's equivalent to the New York state of mind." A moment to savour is before Nas sets the whole thing going with his first verse, when he mutters "I don't know how to start this shit." It's like he knows...

 

The aura of 'NY State Of Mind', the straight reflection of the NY street mentality onto a rhyme book, is echoed repeatedly throughout the album. The way in which Nas drops invaluable knowledge while discreetly observing the goings on of the ghetto is masterful. 'The World Is Yours' revitalises with its upbeat rhymes and cool Pete Rock production, 'Memory Lane' soothes with its slum philosophy, and 'Represent' mirrors the energetic, happy aspects of NY with its head-nodding Primo beat.

 

Of course, nothing was a more significant symbol of the old school than a simple step up to the mic to spit for the fuck of it. Nas acknowledges this to the fullest, the majority of tracks here are just straight, raw, unadulterated urban street flows. The term "street flow" has been stamped on many poor raps since the dawn of time, but never before has the whole idea been done quite as well as on this album. These rhymes, straight out a QB street corner cypher, form the basis of 'Halftime', 'One Time For Your Mind', and the classic single 'It Ain't Hard To Tell'. Both 'Halftime' and 'One Time For Your Mind' are wonderful, and demonstrate the extent to which Nas could hold it down and destroy any cat on the mic back in his heyday. But 'It Ain't Hard To Tell' is something special. The Large Professor (a very dope producer who sadly hasn't achieved as much fame as his "Illmatic" counterparts Pete Rock, Q-Tip and Premier) creatively samples Michael Jackson's 'Human Nature' with devastating effect, creating a track backdrop which stays raw, ill and powerful whilst maintaining a dignified, chilled approach. Nas blesses the track with some of his finest ever lyrics...

 

"Hit the Earth like a comet invasion,

Nas is like the Afrocentric Asian, half-man half-amazin,

C ause in my physical, I can express through song,

D elete stress like Motrin then extend strong,

I drank Moet with Medusa and give her shotguns in hell,

F rom the spliff that I lift and inhale, it ain't hard to tell."

 

These fun, upbeat battle tracks are the epitome of dopeness, but they don't overshadow the album's two crown jewels. 'Life's A Bitch' and 'One Love'. These two tracks, singularly and together as a part of the album, symbolise perfectly the attitude, hope and optimism of the NY hood. 'Life's A Bitch' is by a hair's breadth the better of the two. Featuring the only proper guest appearance, by AZ The Visualiza, it's a timeless classic. It goes straight from the brief intro into one of the finest verses, in my opinion, of all time. With no warning, AZ bursts into action, spits a tremendous stream of words and redefines the concept of flow, as the lyrics rush over the beat distributing knowledge on a par with anything you'll ever hear. It's just so, so good.

 

"Visualizin the realism of life and actuality, f

F uck who's the baddest a person's status depends on salary,

A nd my mentality is money orientated,

I'm destined to live the dream for all my peeps who never made it...

Keepin' the schwepervesence street ghetto essence inside us,

C ause it provides us with the proper insight to guide us".

 

It needs to be heard to believed. And he doesn't even manage to embarass Nas's verse...

 

"I switched my motto -- instead of sayin fuck tomorrow,

T hat buck that bought a bottle could've struck the lotto...

I woke up early on my born day, I'm twenty years of blessing,

The essence of adolescent leaves my body now I'm fresh in,

My physical frame is celebrated cause I made it,

One quarter through life some Godly like thing created".

 

(Continued in next post)

[FroGG_NeaL 0]

The two MCs are kept apart by AZ's hook - "Life's a bitch and then you die; that's why we get high, cause you never know when you're gonna go" - which says so much with so little. The Nas / LES production is simple but effective in the atmosphere it creates behind the vocals.

 

Nas' lyrics on 'One Love' form the basis of a letter to one of his boys in rhyme form. The whole thing's quotable, but some parts stand out.

"Sometimes I sit back with a buddha sack

M ind's in another world thinking how can we exist through the facts

Written in school text books, bibles, et cetera

Fuck a school lecture, the lies get me vexed-er

So I be ghost from my projects

I take my pen and pad for the week

and hittin nails while I'm sleepin

A two day stay, you may say I need the time alone

to relax my dome, no phone, left the 9 at home"

 

It's melancholic without being hopeless, it's optimistic while staying wise. The top drawer xylophone-laden Q-Tip production is very much like the entire album- blissfully simple, but yet sharp and potent.

 

Don't wait for, or expect, Nas to make another LP which is anything like "Illmatic", because he won't. No one will.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Illmatic Review:

 

In the mid-1970's a new type of music was conceived when a DJ called Kool Herc discovered that the instrumental sections of funk and soul records could be mixed together to form a continuous beat. New York block parties followed in which Herc's innovative new sound was premiered to mass approval. From this inauspicious birth, the hip-hop genre has grown to become the biggest-selling form of music in the United States. Yet, throughout its history, no album has since surpassed a debut, 9-song collection released by a young emcee from Queens in 1993. The rapper was Nas and the album is 'Illmatic'.

Clocking in at just under 40 minutes, Illmatic contains not one weak track and epitomises the belief that, musically, less is more. Upon release, it was bestowed with the coveted '5 mic' rating from the Sorce magazine (the hip hop equivalent of 5 stars in 'Q') and the album justifies such a recommendation at every turn. After the mood-setting intro 'Genesis', which borrows a sample from seminal hip hop movie 'Wild Style', Nas opens with the dazzling 'New York State of Mind'. This song, coupled with the album as a whole, illustrates Nas' immense gifts as a ghetto lyricist. His knack of capturing the atmosphere of his youth with a memorable couplet or poetic description is all but peerless. In 'New York State of Mind', Nas details his crime and drug infested neighbourhood where "each block is like a maze full of black rats trapped" and concludes with the lines "never sleep, ‘cause sleep is the cousin of death/ Beyond the walls of intelligence, life is defined/ I think of crime when I'm in a New York state of mind".

The following song, 'Life's a bitch' contains the albums only guest appearance. The use of too many fluffed contributions from outside artists has traditionally been a scourge of hip-hop albums. However, AZ's verse here is a definite exception. His stellar performance only adds to the song and his words still impress today- "Visualizin' the realism of life and actuality/ Fuck who's the baddest, a person's status depends on salary/ And my mentality is money orientated/ I'm destined to live the dream for all my peeps who never made it". The mellow, piano-driven 'The World is Yours" sees more of Nas' sometimes bleak, yet always compelling lyricism ("I need a new nigga for this black cloud to follow/ cus while it’s over me it’s too dark to see tomorrow") while 'Halftime' is raw hip hop, a sparse, heavy beat forming the backbone to Nas' measured rapping.

One of the reasons for this album’s success is the consistent brilliance of the production on display. The legendary DJ Premier of Gangstarr composes the beats to a third of the 9 songs, while equally notable beat smiths such as Pete Rock, Large Professor and Q-Tip all weigh in with stellar contributions. The mood created borrows from the traditional African-American heritage of jazz and soul while, at the same time, always staying true to the street formula that is synonymous with New York hip hop.

When confronted with albums of such consistency and brilliance as this one, choosing a lone 'best' song is always going to be a matter of personal preference. For me, 'Memory Lane' is the absolute summit of an album filled with peaks. The DJ Premier-produced beat is hauntingly melodic while Nas' flow is controlled as ever, as he promises to stay "true in the game as long as blood is blue in my veins". Following such an impeccable song with one of a similar standard is a feat rarely achieved in contemporary music but Nas manages it with 'One Love'. 'One Love' is an introspective letter of support to Nas' incarcerated friends informing them of the latest developments in their neighbourhood and urging them to stay strong until their release.

'One Time 4 Your Mind' is often regarded as the weakest song of the album but its funky overtones would make it a standout on lesser collections. 'Represent', the penultimate track, adheres to the album's simple but oh-so-effective formula of quality rapping over a great beat. 'It Ain't Hard To Tell' closes the record in suitably majestic fashion. This song takes a sample from Michael Jackson's 'Human Nature' and transforms it almost beyond recognition. As the CD whirs to a stop it truly 'ain't hard' to tell that you've just heard something special, something which I, personally, regard as my favourite LP of all time.

It is a measure of Illmatic's reputation that every album Nas has released since then (including his most recent effort, ‘stillmatic’) has been blighted by unfair comparisons to the real deal. In a recent 'diss' song directed at Nas, Jay-Z attacked and discredited every aspect of the Queens rappers' career, yet still couldn't bring himself to deny that Illmatic was "a hot album". Such an admission from a bitter arch-rival in the New York rap game highlights the significance of Nas' achievement and suggests that Illmatic's godlike status within the hip hop community is assured for generations to come.

Rating: 10/10

 

 

Illmatic Review:

 

 

Retro "QB" Classic: Nas - Illmatic; Columbia Records 1994

In every genre of music, there are records that have been branded with the gold standard of excellence by critics and fans alike. Just to clarify here, gold standard here does not connote the charts terminology of 500,000 records sold, but instead, the true overall quality of a body of music. Some examples of gold standard albums: In Jazz, the seminal 1958 recordings, Kind of Blue and Sketches of Spain by the Miles Davis sextet; in soul and r&b, the 1971 social-awakening album, What's Going On by Marvin Gaye; in alt-rock, the 2000 RadioHead release Kid A that influenced the direction of rock music the world over. In Hip-Hop, there are a handful of albums that deserve to be branded with this gold standard status, and one of the most important has to be the 1994 debut album Illmatic by Nasir Nasty Nas Jones.

[ill' - afflicted with a sickness of lyrical superiority. 'matic - a consistent, repetitive occurrence.]

The Illmatic album, constructed from scratch by a hungry super emcee from the NYC Queensbridge Projects, and a handful of equally talented producers is a perfect example of a straight-up hip-hop album. No impurities, no filler, just potent lyrics, knockin' beats and original, creative concepts. The Sauce, a publication that once stood as the vanguard of hip-hop journalism, still has the audacity to call itself the "Hip-Hop Bible." If there is any entity worthy of such a laudable moniker, it would probably be Nas's Illmatic album. Here's why:

The Emcee: Nasty Nas in '94 was the dopest emcee in the game, and Illmatic proved that point over and over again. The lyrics were supreme and thought-provoking (check out the songs "NY State of Mind" and "The World is Yours"), the flow was flawless (refer to "Represent" & "It Ain't Hard to Tell"), the wordplay was uncanny (take a toke of some trees, listen to the song "Memory Lane" and see whether your finger doesn't automatically adhere itself to the rewind button), and creativity took center stage (check out "One Love," where Nasir's rhyme is delivered in the form of a letter to his homie caught up in the penitentiary). Nasty Nas at that time had that untouchable "Lee Majors" flow; he was the six million dollar man of rap, precision engineered to disintegrate any mc on sight.

The Beats: The sonic textures on the album were furnished by the best cats out at the time. Pete Rock (Soul Brother #1), DJ Premier (Gangstarr), Kamaal The Abstract (aka Q-Tip), Large Professor (Main Source), newcomer L.E.S. and some horn riffs were even contributed by Nasir's pops, Olu Dara on the song "Life's a beeyatch." With the caliber of producers just listed, an emcee would have to try extra hard to put out some lame-ass music. Every producer came to the table with their A-game. Primo was especially lethal on the boards with the dope beats he dropped for "Represent" and "NY State of Mind." Pete Rock also deserves very honorable mention for the addictive head-nodder he contributed for the timeless classic "The World Is Yours."

In a recent conversation overheard between a veteran DJ and a hip-hop journalist, the DJ mentioned that the recent vying for the "King of New York" throne between Jay-Z and Nas reminded him of the late eighties and early nineties crown competition between Rakim and Big Daddy Kane. The DJ went on to say that Rakim was similar to Nas in the way they both dropped that metaphysical type flow, and Hova and Kane were alikes in the way they both had the flossing game down to a science. Yes, history definitely repeats itself, but the Illmatic album was one of those joints that blazed its own path, and created its own yardstick for other albums to try and aspire to. The Illmatic album was released almost a decade ago, but the music on it sounds just as fresh now as it did back then.

Nuff respect to all the real rap headz. Queensbridge represent.

 

This concludes the "Illmatic" chapter, next I'll do "It Was Written" and work my way through Nas' entire catalogue.

[Big Ol' Smitty 0]

How long before this becomes the "OAO Czech Acts Like an Old Curmudgeon Thread"?

[dh86 0]

(subcribes to thread) good u are giving props to the best rapper of all time

[Jorge Gorgeous 0]

This is a great idea. Subscribing.

[Annabelle 0]

tell me about spank rock.