Reverb Archives: Illmatic - Nas

Introduction

Nas’ journey to legendary status began here with debut album ‘Illmatic’, which would go on to be one of Hip Hop’s most influential bodies of work, ever.

If you never knew why Nas is in your favourite rappers’ top 5, this 10-track masterpiece is probably the first reason why.

The Background

I was born in London bang in the middle of the 90’s, so obviously I was way too young to really appreciate the depth and beauty of hip hop as a kid.

This meant most of my knowledge of music spanned only as far as whatever I heard on the radio - and of course, whatever was on MTV.

Sadly, that was all the commercial type sh*t.

Hip hop was just at its dawn of becoming the biggest genre of music globally, and networks like MTV were at the forefront of that shift: particularly over that period during the late 90’s/early 2000s.

Luckily, by that time I was just about old enough to catch on to music, so 6 year old me took in everything the radio and MTV gave to me.

That’s really how I found out about Nas.

Not so much cause he was really on those networks a lot, but more because Jay Z definitely was. And that competition between the two Kings of New York was what put me on.

First Impressions

Now I must admit, in those years as a yungin’, all I knew about Nas growing up were the few songs he put out that enjoyed mainstream commercial success. Those were songs like:

• Hate Me Now (the collab with Diddy - I mean ‘Love’, way back when we called him ‘Puff Daddy’)

• You Owe Me (ft uncle Ginuwine)

• I Can

Understandably, those tracks never really did it for me because like most commercially successful hip hop songs in that era, it wasn’t exactly a stellar exhibition of lyricism or storytelling. Off that, I just couldn’t exactly see how Nas was meant to be Hov’s arch-rival. So basically, 6-year old me really just thought “yeah, Nas? He aight”.

But hold that thought just a moment. Fast forward a couple years to 2016. I’m all grown up, well versed in music across the board from Jazz to Reggae, plus now I’m starting to see the connections between different genres of music, and how they’ve influenced hip hop.

Thanks to listening to producers like Dilla, 9th and Yé, my ears got trained to spot samples in new hip hop songs, trace them back to older hip hop songs, and sometimes even to the jazz/funk originals that they really came from. Yet still I know nothing about one of the greatest rappers of all time.

Introducing Nasty Nas

That’s when I listened, to Illmatic.

See the thing is this, if like me; all you knew about Nas was those songs that had commercial success, then you’d have had no clue how gully Nas is.

Maybe that’s why today I think Illmatic is so great, cause I wasn’t even remotely expecting or prepared for the level of skill that Nas came with on it.

His Flow, 10/10. Rhyme schemes, 10/10. Wordplay, 11/10.

The Overview

Illmatic is literally Golden Age hip hop perfected. On the first track ‘NY State of Mind’ he paints such a vivid picture of the tough streets of Queensbridge, but somehow makes it sound like the kinda place you wish you could say you lived at. That backdrop is maintained across the whole album, comparable to the themes seen on ‘The Infamous’ by Mobb Deep. In contrast however, Nas’ debut album just came across so much smoother.

It’s no doubt Nas was knee deep in the street life and you could hear every bit of that in his verses; but there was also more in between the lines. Beyond proving himself as a fire MC, you could tell he had a more soulful, conscious side to him. Something genuinely inspiring about his energy and lyrics, that told you that both he, and you would be great.

That almost Messionic persona shines through perfectly on the track titled "The world is yours". To prove how influential Nas would become, his lyrics on this song became the sample for ‘Dead Presidents’ which is to this day, is one of the best rap songs Jay Z has ever released. If we keep it 8 more than 92, probably every rapper and their mum made their own version of that song when they first came out, making Nas’ impact on the game solidified for good.

With production from Q-Tip & just one feature (from NY legend AZ), Illmatic remains one of rap’s finest debuts, and its a must listen for every true fan of hip hop. If you’ve heard the much more recent collab with Swizz Beats on ‘Echo’, then you know that Nas also remains one of the coldest in Hip Hop, even to this day.

Classic album. Legend rapper. Respect Nas.

“Time is Illmatic”

— Nas