Illmatic
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Illmatic is the debut hip hop album by Nas, released on April 19, 1994 (see 1994 in music) on Columbia Records. Featuring production from Large Professor (of The Main Source), Pete Rock (of Pete Rock & CL Smooth), Q-Tip (of A Tribe Called Quest) and DJ Premier (of Gang Starr), as well as a guest appearance from AZ, Illmatic was immediately hailed as a masterpiece by critics, and is today regarded as one of the most celebrated and most influential albums in hip hop history.
Overview
With songs such as "Memory Lane" and "N.Y. State of Mind" (both of which were produced by DJ Premier), "The World Is Yours" (produced by Pete Rock), and "It Ain't Hard To Tell" (which samples Michael Jackson's "Human Nature"), Illmatic attracted a significant amount of attention within the hip hop community and caused an instant sensation within hip hop's underground circuit. The assembly of producers DJ Premier, Q-Tip, Pete Rock, and Large Professor on one single project was unprecedented in hip hop music, since most rap albums were primarily the work of one dedicated hip hop production team.
"We used to always hear it chillin' with Nas," claimed fellow rapper Havoc (of Mobb Deep), recalling Illmatic while it was still in production, "...I would listen to it and the songs were so ill, it made you wanna cry...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"[1]. In addition, Nas was hailed as the second coming of Rakim (the influential trendsetter of the golden age of hip hop during the late-1980s). In spite of all this, the album's relatively modest record sales fell below expectations, due to extensive bootlegging. A remastered commemorative edition of Illmatic was issued by Columbia for the album's tenth anniversary in 2004, with a bonus disc of remixes and previously unreleased tracks.
The Music
Part of the reason for Illmatic's acclaim was the diversity of its subject matter, which revolved around nihilistic descriptions of urban warfare, desolation, and the ravages of inner city poverty. Throughout the album, Nas constructs highly detailed first person narratives that portray desperation and distress. For instance, on the song entitled "One Love", Nas assumes the role of a man who writes a series of deep letters to a friend in prison, which recount several people both men knew from the projects and what has changed during the time since the receiver's imprisonment. Nas, however, celebrates life’s pleasures and achievements —acknowledging violence as a feature of his environment rather than the focus of his life. While some songs such as "N.Y. State of Mind" depict the misfortunes that accompany street life, others such as "Life's a Bitch", celebrate the plethora of life's opportunities and accomplishments:
- 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 God-ly like thing created [2]
The New York Times, for instance, 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." Time Magazine praised the "submerged emotion" on Illmatic calling it a "wake-up call to his listeners."
In addition to its powerful narratives, Illmatic gained acclaim for its lyrical substance. As Marc L. Hill of PopMatters writes, "Nas's complex rhyme patterns, clever wordplay, and impressive vocab took the art 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 level of technical precision and rhetorical dexterity..." Hill cites "Memory Lane" as an exemplar of Nas' "flawless lyricism":
- ...Sentence begins indented, with formality
- My duration's infinite, money-wise or physiology
- Poetry, that's a part of me, retardedly bop
- I drop the anciently manifested hip-hop, straight off the block
- I reminisce on park jams, my man was shot for his sheep coat
- Chocolate blessing make me see him drop in my weed smoke [3]
Illmatic gained equal praise for its production. According to critics, Large Professor, DJ Premier, Pete Rock, and Q-Tip (each producer retaining his individual, trademark sound) contributed to the cohesive atmospheric aesthetic that permeated the album. Q Magazine noted that, "...the musical backdrops [of Illmatic] are razor sharp; hard bears but with melodic hooks and loops, atmospheric background piano, strings or muted trumpet, and samples...A potent treat."
Critical recognition
Atlhough some criticized the album for its brevity (it contained one skit and only nine songs), Illmatic garnered notable praise from all quarters upon its release. Publications ranging from the The Source to NME have since recognized it as one of the quintessential hip hop recordings of the 1990s. The album holds the distiction of being one of the few hip hop albums to be included in the Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. It was one of just sixteen hip hop albums to be included in Pitchfork Media’s "Best Albums Of The 90s Redux list" and was listed as one of thirty-three hip hop/R&B albums included in Rolling Stone’s "Essential Recordings of the 90s". In addition, Illmatic was voted #3 in the Hip-Hop Connection Magazine’s Top 100 Readers Poll, and was the highest ranked hip hop album of Rate Your Music’s "All-Time Top 500 Albums", coming in at #37 after compiling the data base’s user ratings and reviews in December 31, 2003 (in a similar survey conducted in 2005, the album later rose to #28). Illmatic also ranked #4 in Vibe Magazine’s "Top 10 Rap Albums" and was ranked #2 in MTV’s list of "The Greatest Hip Hop Albums Of All Time" (Eric B & Rakim's Paid in Full was placed as number one).
In fact, Illmatic was among the first rap albums to receive the 5 mics (out of 5) rating from The Source, a prestigious achievement given the magazine’s influence within the hip hop community at the time[4]. This was somewhat controversial, since it was unheard of for an debuting artist to receive such a coveted rating. “Awarding records 5 mics – classic status – has always been, on some levels, troubling to me.” claims the former music editor of the magazine and co-founder of XXL, Reginald C. Dennis, “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. It was the only time I ever broke the 'no 5' rule. Jon Shecter [co-founder of The Source] had gotten his hands on the album like eight months before it was scheduled to drop...Jon didn’t let the tape out of his sight. Not only that, but he constantly raved about it. Everyday. He played it in the office about a million times and very early on began to lobby for this record to receive 5 mics...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!'”[5]
Significance
East Coast hip hop
Illmatic represents one of the most influential hip hop albums of the mid-1990s, and is considered by hip hop pundits as one of the archetypal albums of East Coast hip hop. Adam Heimlich of The New York Press claimed that, "Nas’ heralded debut was an explosive, explicit rejection of the cultural assimilation of most previous hiphop. It foreshadowed rap’s repudiation of all American values other than material. . .This was like N.W.A.’s mentality with De La Soul’s imagination and Rakim’s godly flow, and to Nas’ teenage peers. . .it was a culmination...Illmatic was the first great album...on which credible street stories are told in first person. Its beats pump invisible, practically intravenous scenery, fleshing out the psychological unmentionables of the narrator’s violent tales. Literary, disciplined New York hiphop entered a world foreign to liberal humanism or even rationalism. Hiphop was never anything but ghetto will-to-power, the thinking went, and Nas’ was pure."[6]
Along with the critical acclaim of The Wu-Tang Clan’s Enter the Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers and the commercial success of the Notorious B.I.G.’s Ready to Die, Illmatic was instrumental in restoring interest into the East Coast hip hop scene, while shifting the emphasis from the melodious, synth-driven, and funk-induced West Coast G-funk[7][8] (which held a monopoly on the mainstream hip hop audience's attention and dominated the charts for some time following the release of Dr. Dre's The Chronic). 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." [9] 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...”[10].
Effects on lyricism
Despite its disappointing sales figures, 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 that made much of the competing music seem dated by comparison[11]. Prior to the album’s release, hip hop lyricism was mostly defined by two popular forms. One was characterized by a fast-paced Ragga-flow accompanied with a whimsical, often nonsensical lyrical delivery (a trendy style that was popularized by the Brooklyn-based groups Das EFX and The Fu-Schnickens), while the other was characterized by a slurred “lazy drawl” that sacrificed lyrical complexity for clarity and rhythmic cadence (a style that was then common among several West Coast hip hop artists, particularly Snoop Doggy Dogg). However, due to its rhythmically-immaculate verbal pace, as well as its intricately-woven and multi-syllabic internal rhyme patterns, Illmatic inspired several rappers to modify their rapping abilities[12] —bringing a renewed focus on lyricism to hip hop[13][14]. According to musicologist and pianist, Guthrie P. Ramsey, of the University of Pennsylvania, “It set a benchmark for rappers in an artistic field consumed by constantly shifting notions of ‘realness’, authenticity, and artistic credibility”.
Decline of Alternative hip hop & Rise of Mafioso Rap
Illmatic was one of the earliest phenomena in East Coast hip hop music that distinguished the rising hardcore rappers, from the popular Alternative hip hop acts of the early-1990s. Recorded while East Coast hip hop was dominated by the jazziness of A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul, and the Afro-centric stylings of Afu Ra, Brand Nubian, and Jeru the Damaja, the album roughly delineates the border of Golden age hip hop (1986–1993) and the emergence of the Mafioso Rap phenomenon, which flourished during the mid-1990s following the release of Only Built 4 Cuban Linx and The Infamous (see 1995 in music). Although the album contains strong elements of Jazz rap and Alternative hip hop (as examplified by such songs as “The World is Yours”, “Life’s a Bitch”, and "Memory Lane"), 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.
Prior to Illmatic, popular Gangsta rap was largely an aggressive and self-centered style of narrative, which relied on promoting oneself with countless references to smoking marijuana, sexcapades, and gang affiliation. Eschewing these traits, Illmatic incorporated several elements characteristic of what would later be known as Mafioso rap: frequent references to famous crime figures (i.e. "of pain I'm like Scarface"...."and lamp like Capone"), fictitious tales of luxury (i.e. "Be havin dreams that I'ma gangster – drinkin Moets, holdin Tecs"..."When I dress, it's never nuttin less than Guess") and detailed accounts of violence told in first-person. Furthermore, Adam Heimlich writes: "he [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."
Influence on hip hop artists
Today, several respected mainstream and underground rappers within the hip hop community have since acknowledged the huge influence Illmatic had on them, making numerous references towards it. These wide range of artists include the battle rappers, SunN.Y. and Reef, the critically-acclaimed rappers, Canibus, Talib Kweli, and Common, the popular producers Just Blaze and Alchemist, as well as the multi platinum-selling megastars, Game (who makes several references to the album on his debut, The Documentary) and Eminem [15] (who adopted a similar lyrical approach on his album, Infinite). Lyrics from Illmatic have also been interpolated by other rappers on numerous occasions, including Big L's "Ebonics" (which samples "It Ain't Hard to Tell", and is featured on The Big Picture) and most notably, Jay-Z’s "Dead Presidents II" (which samples Large Professor's remix of "The World is Yours", and was later referenced in the song "Takeover" during the heated Nas vs. Jay-Z feud). In fact, Common’s critically acclaimed album, Be, has said to have been molded after Illmatic[16].
The Revival of the Queensbridge rap scene
Illmatic is also credited with foreshadowing the revival of the Queensbridge rap scene. Once home to prestigious pionners such as Marley Marl, 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. Following Illmatic's release however, 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. Furthermore, the album is credited with launching the career of the critically acclaimed rapper, AZ, who gained instant exposure and underground credibility due to his appearance on "Life's A Bitch", and went on to become a frequent collaborator of Nas.
Future Nas albums
While the critical success of Illmatic helped Nas’s infant career immeasurably, hip-hop fans have since cited it as his inextricable "gift and curse ". Due to the widespread critical fame of his debut, Nas’s subsequent albums (particularly his sophomore release, It Was Written) have all been unduly weighed against Illmatic, and thus, deemed as mediocre follow-ups by critics[17]. For instance, while Nas's sophomore album, It Was Written, received favorable reviews, it is generally agreed that it failed to live up to the classic status of Illmatic. In additon, fans of Illmatic went on to label Nas’s subsequent efforts as 'selling out', due to his commercial ventures (i.e. his participation with the hip-hop supergroup, The Firm) and his radio-friendly hits aimed at the pop charts (i.e. "If I Ruled The World (Imagine That)" and "Hate Me Now"). By the time Nas released I Am... and Nastradamus in 1999, many feared he was in the process of falling off, as both albums received further criticism for their commercially-oriented sound (the latter, Nastradamus, was especially maligned by critics). Reflecting this widespread perception in the hip-hop community, Jay-Z mocked Nas in "Takeover" for having a "...one hot album [Illmatic] every ten year average". Nas, however, made a significant comeback with the aptly-titled Stillmatic, and his subsequent albums received positive reviews as well. Nevertheless, most fans still regard Illmatic as his definitive album.
Trivia
- The intro, "Genesis", starts with a audio sample of Wild Style (1982), the first 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' famous debut appearance, "Live at the Barbeque" (see Breaking Atoms), is played in the background of "Genesis".
- The original album cover concept was to feature Nas holding Jesus Christ in a headlock
- On Nas' song "Last Real Nigga Alive" featured on his album, God's Son, Nas claims that New York rappers Raekwon and Ghostface Killah were at odds with The Notorious B.I.G.. Specifically, he explains that the track "Shark Niggas (Biters)" from Only Built 4 Cuban Linx has Ghostface denouncing The Notorious B.I.G. for supposedly stealing Nas' album cover idea. Illmatic famously has a picture of a young Nas on the album cover, and likewise Notorious B.I.G's Ready to Die, released a few months after Illmatic, features a picture of a baby with an afro.
- The album cover features a picture of Nas as a child, taken just after his father had returned home from playing concerts overseas.
- The song "The World is Yours" appears in the critically-acclaimed motion picture, Antwone Fisher, as well as the soundtrack to the popular video game, Tony Hawk's Underground
Track listing
| # | Title | Songwriters | Producer(s) | Samples/Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Genesis" |
| ||
| 2 | "N.Y. State of Mind" | Nasir Jones Chris Martin |
DJ Premier |
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| 3 | "Life's a Bitch" | Anthony Cruz Olu Dara Nasir Jones O. Scott R. Wilson |
L.E.S. |
|
| 4 | "The World is Yours" | Nasir Jones Pete Phillips |
Pete Rock |
|
| 5 | "Halftime" | G. Byrd Nasir Jones W.P. Mitchell |
Large Professor |
|
| 6 | "Memory Lane (Sittin' in da Park)" | P. Barsella Nasir Jones Chris Martin Reuben Wilson |
DJ Premier |
|
| 7 | "One Love" | Johnathan Davis Nasir Jones J. Heath |
Q-Tip |
|
| 8 | "One Time 4 Your Mind" | Nasir Jones W.P. Mitchell |
Large Professor |
|
| 9 | "Represent" | Nasir Jones Chris Martin |
DJ Premier | |
| 10 | "It Ain't Hard To Tell" | Nasir Jones W.P. Mitchell |
Large Professor |
|
Personnel
- Nas - Vocals, Producer
- MC Serch - Executive Producer
- Olu Dara - Trumpet
- DJ Premier - Producer
- Diego Garrido - Engineer, Mixing
- Large Professor - Producer
- Tim "The Funky Red" Lathem - Engineer
- Q-Tip - Producer
- Kevin Reynolds - Engineer
- Pete Rock - Producer
- Eddie Sancho - Engineer
- Jamey Staub - Engineer
- Jason Vogel - Engineer
- Stan Wallace - Engineer
- Louis Tineo - Assistant Engineer
- Aimee MacAuley - Design
- Jack Hersca - Assistant Engineer
- Danny Clinch - Photography
- L.E.S. - Producer
- Anton "Sample This" Pushansky - Engineer
- AZ - Vocals
Singles history
| Title | Information |
|---|---|
| Illmatic |
|
| "Half Time" |
|
| "It Ain't Hard to Tell" |
|
| "The World is Yours" |
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| "One Love" |
|
Chart positions
| Name | Chart (1994-1995) | Peak position |
|---|---|---|
| Illmatic | U.S. Billboard 200 | 12 |
| Illmatic | U.S. Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums | 2 |
| "Half Time" | U.S. Billlboard Hot Rap Tracks | 8 |
| "It Ain't Hard to Tell" | U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 91 |
| "It Ain't Hard to Tell" | U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks | 57 |
| "It Ain't Hard to Tell" | U.S. Billlboard Hot Rap Tracks | 13 |
| "The World is Yours" | U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks | 67 |
| "The World is Yours" | U.S. Billlboard Hot Rap Tracks | 13 |
| "One Love" | U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks | 6 |
| "One Love" | U.S. Billlboard Hot Rap Tracks | 24 |
Accolades
| Publication | Country | Accolade | Year | Rank | |
| Blender Magazine | USA | 500 CDs You Must Own Before You Die | * | ||
| Ego Trip Magazine | USA | Hip Hop's 25 Greatest Albums by Year 1980-98 | 1999 | #1 | |
| Exclaim! Magazine | Canada | 100 Records That Rocked 100 Issues | * | ||
| Hip Hop Connection Magazine | United Kingdom | Top 100 Readers Poll | #3 | ||
| Ink Blot | USA | Albums of the 90s | 2002 | #11 | |
| Juice | Australia | The 100 (+34) Greatest Albums of the 90s | 1999 | #101 | |
| Juice | Germany | The Hundred Most Influential Rap Albums Ever | 2002 | #4 | |
| Les Inrockuptibles | France | 50 Years of Rock'n'Roll | 2004 | * | |
| MTV | USA | The Greatest Hip Hop Albums Of All Time | 2004 | #2 | |
| Music Underwater | USA | Top 100 Albums 1990-2003 | 2004 | #45 | |
| Pitchfork Media | USA | Top 100 Favorite Records of the 1990s | 2003 | #33 | |
| Rock de Lux | Spain | The 150 Best Albums from the 90s | 2000 | #134 | |
| Rate Your Music | USA | All-Time Top 500 Albums | 2003 | #37 | |
| Rate Your Music | USA | All-Time Top 500 Albums | 2005 | #28 | |
| Rolling Stone | USA | List of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time | 2003 | #400 | |
| Rolling Stone | USA | The Essential Recordings of the 90s | 1999 | * | |
| Select Magazine | USA | The 100 Best Albums of the 90s | * | ||
| Spin Magazine | USA | Top 100 Albums of the Last 20 Years | 2005 | #17 | |
| Stylus Magazine | USA | Top 101-200 Albums of All time | 2004 | #143 | |
| The Movement | New Zealand | The 101 Best Albums of the 90s | 2004 | #51 | |
| The Source | USA | 100 Best Rap Albums | * | ||
| Vibe Magazine | USA | 51 Albums representing a Generation, a Sound and a Movement | * | ||
| Vibe Magazine | USA | Top 10 Rap Albums | #4 | ||
( * ) designates lists which are unordered
External links
- "Nas' Illmatic: A look at a hip hop masterpiece, ten years removed" By Matthew Gasteier
- "The Second Coming" By Jon Shecter
- Retro "QB" Classic: Nas - Illmatic By George Hagan
- Throwback Classic: Nas - Illmatic By Michael Ivey
Lyrics links
- from The Original Hip-Hop Lyrics Archive (OHHLA) - includes most other Nas lyrics, including remixes and cameos, as well as lyrics of many other rappers.