Illmatic
Studio album by Nas
Released	April 19 1994 (U.S.)
Recorded	Power Play Studios, New York; 1992-1993
Genre	East Coast hip hop
Length	39:43
Label	Columbia Records
Producer	MC Serch (exec.), Pete Rock, L.E.S., Q-Tip, DJ Premier, Large Professor
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link RapReviews.com link Amazon link Rolling Stone link The Source link XXL Magazine
Nas chronology
– Illmatic (1994) It Was Written (1996)

Illmatic is the debut album by rapper Nas, released on April 19 1994 through Columbia Records. Featuring production from Large Professor (of 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 several critics,^[1] and is today one of the most celebrated and influential albums in hip hop history.^[2]

The release of Illmatic redefined the musical milieu of East Coast hip hop in the mid-1990s, resulting in a renewed focus on lyricism and in the revival of the Queensbridge rap scene, which had been latent after a period of prominence during the 1980s.^{[citation needed]} In spite of this, the initial record sales of Illmatic fell below expectations.^[3]

On December 11 2001, Illmatic was certified Platinum by the RIAA, and as of that month it was selling 3,000 copies a week in the U.S.^[4] A remastered commemorative edition of Illmatic was issued by Columbia for the album's tenth anniversary in 2004, with a bonus disc of four remixes and two previously unreleased tracks.

Background

Conception

The origins of Illmatic lie in Nas' ties with Large Professor. At fifteen, Nas met the seventeen-year old producer from Flushing, Queens, and was introduced to Main Source, a hip hop group of which Large Professor was a member. Nas made his recorded debut with Main Source, recording a verse on "Live at the Barbeque," from Main Source's 1991 LP Breaking Atoms. Nas would later make his solo debut in 1992 on the single "Halftime" from MC Serch's soundtrack for the film Zebrahead. The single added to the buzz surrounding Nas, earning him comparisons to Rakim,^[3] an influential trendsetter during the golden age of hip hop.

Despite the substantial buzz this collaboration generated for Nas in the underground scene, the rapper struggled to gain a record contract, and was rejected by major rap labels such as Cold Chillin' Records and Def Jam Recordings.

Meanwhile, the group 3rd Bass had dissolved, and MC Serch, a former member of the group, began working on a solo project. In mid-1992, Nas was approached by Serch. At the suggestion of producer T-Ray, Serch collaborated with Nas for "Back to the Grill," the lead single for Serch's solo album, Return of the Product. At the recording session of this song, Serch discovered that Nas did not have a recording contract and, as a result, he contacted Faith Newman, an A&R executive at Sony Music Entertainment. As Serch later recounted,

Recording sessions

Nas in Queensbridge during the making of Illmatic

Once Serch assumed the role of executive producer for Nas’ upcoming debut album, he attempted to connect Nas with various producers. Based on what they had already heard, numerous New York-based producers were eager to work with him and eventually entered the Power House Studios with Nas. Among these producers was DJ Premier.

Serch later noted the chemistry between Nas and DJ Premier, recounting that "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."^[5] While Serch contacted DJ Premier, Large Professor contacted Pete Rock to collaborate with Nas on a song that would ultimately be entitled "The World Is Yours." Shortly afterwards, New York producers Q-Tip and L.E.S. also gained the opportunity to work with Nas. Nas’ father, Olu Dara, also contributed to the album. His trumpet solo and rapper AZ's vocals were mixed with Nas' rapping in "Life's A Bitch." Throughout the recording, expectations for Illmatic were high, as shown by a quote from AZ:

In an early promotional interview, Nas claimed that the name "Illmatic" (meaning "beyond ill" or "the ultimate") was a reference to his incarcerated Queensbridge friend, Illmatic Ice.^[6] With the majority of the album recorded, DJ Premier contributed one last song to the album before its completion. With the recording work over, the finished album was released on April 19, 1994. The album cover features a picture of Nas as a child, taken just after his father, musician Olu Dara had returned home from an overseas tour.^[3] The original album cover concept was to feature Nas holding Jesus Christ in a headlock.^[3] The cover of The Notorious B.I.G's Ready to Die (released a few months after Illmatic) was criticized by Raekwon & Ghostface Killah, on Raekwon's 1995 debut Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, for featuring a picture of a baby with an afro, implying that his cover was a mockery of Nas'.

Music

Content

Part of the reason for Illmatic's acclaim was the discerning treatment of its subject matter: gang rivalries, desolation, and the ravages of urban poverty. Nas, who was nineteen years old when the album was recorded, realistically depicts the darker side of urbanity, creating highly detailed first person narratives that deconstruct the troubling lives of inner city teenagers. According to one columnist:

The intro, "Genesis", starts with an audio sample of Wild Style (1982), the first major 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" is played in the background of "Genesis". On "One Love," Nas assumes the role of a man who writes a series of passionate letters to a friend in prison, recounting several mutual acquaintances and the events that have occurred since the receiver's imprisonment. And in "N.Y. State of Mind," Nas recounts his participation in gang violence, and philosophizes that "Life is parallel to Hell, but I must maintain." The song focuses on a mind state that one can only truly have if they are raised in New York City. In other songs, Nas celebrates life's pleasures and achievements, acknowledging violence as a feature of his socio-economic conditions rather than the focus of his life. For instance, in "Life's a Bitch," Nas, waking up, rejoices in life:

I woke up early on my born day, I'm twenty years of blessin
The essence of adolescence leaves my body now I'm fresh and
My physical frame is celebrating cause I made it
One quarter through life some God-ly like thing created

The New York Times 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."^[8] And Time magazine praised the "submerged emotion" on Illmatic, calling the album a "wake-up call to [Nas]'s listeners.".^[8]

Lyrics

In addition to its powerful narratives, Illmatic also gained acclaim for its lyrical substance. As Marc Lamont Hill of PopMatters writes: "Nas' complex rhyme patterns, clever word play, and impressive vocab took the art [of rapping] 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 [high] level of technical precision and rhetorical dexterity…" Hill cites "Memory Lane" as "an exemplar of Nas' 'flawless lyricism'":^[9]

I rap for listeners, blunt heads, fly ladies and prisoners
Henessey holders and old school niggas, then I be dissin a
Unofficial that smoke woolie thai
I dropped out of Cooley High, gassed up by a cokehead cutie pie
Jungle survivor, fuck who's the liver
My man put the battery in my back, a difference from Energizer
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 blunts make me see him drop in my weed smoke

Production

Illmatic also gained praise for its production. According to critics, the album's four major producers (Large Professor, DJ Premier, Pete Rock, and Q-Tip) extensively contributed to the cohesive atmospheric aesthetic that permeated the album, while still retaining each's individual, trademark sound. Q magazine noted that "the musical backdrops [of Illmatic] are razor sharp; hard beats but with melodic hooks and loops, atmospheric background piano, strings or muted trumpet, and samples ... A potent treat."^[10] With regards to Illmatic's production, one columnist wrote: "The production, accentuated by infectious organ loop[s], vocal sample[s], and synthesizer-like pads in the background, places your mind in a cheerful, reminiscent, mood...A substantial reason for its phenomenal quality...can be attributed to..the most accomplished and consistently excellent music producers."^[11]

Critical recognition

Illmatic is famous for receiving the first 5 mics rating from The Source.

Although some criticized the album for its brevity (it contained only nine songs and one skit; unusual for a hip hop album) the general reaction to Illmatic was overwhelmingly positive—garnering notable praise from several media outlets. 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 distinction 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." Illmatic was voted #5 in "The Critics Top 100 Black Music Albums of All Time"^[12] and #3 in the Hip-Hop Connection Magazine’s Top 100 Readers Poll. Illmatic also was ranked #4 in Vibe magazine's "Top 10 Rap Albums", and #2 in MTV's list of "The Greatest Hip Hop Albums of All Time."^[13]

Illmatic was the first rap album to be awarded with 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.^[3] This was somewhat controversial, since it was unheard of for a debuting artist to receive such a coveted rating. Reginald C. Dennis, former music editor of the magazine and co-founder of XXL, stated:

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:

Along with the critical acclaim of The Wu-Tang Clan's Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) and the critical and 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 away from the melodious, synth-driven, and funk-induced West Coast G-funk^[1] (which dominated the charts for some time following the release of Dr. Dre's The Chronic). As All Music Guide'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."^[16]

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..."^[17] As Nas later recounted: "It felt amazing to be accepted by New York City in that way...at the time a lot of West Coast [hip-hop] was selling; East Coast wasn't selling as much, especially for a new artist. So back then you couldn't tell in the sales, but you could tell in the streets".^[18]

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.^[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, and had been popularized by the Brooklyn-based groups Das EFX and The Fu-Schnickens. The other form was characterized by a slurred "lazy drawl" that sacrificed lyrical complexity for clarity and rhythmic cadence, and was exemplified by popular West Coast hip hop artists such as Snoop Doggy Dogg. However, Illmatic's rhythmically-immaculate verbal pace and intricate, multi-syllabic internal rhyme patterns, inspired several rappers to modify their rapping abilities — bringing a renewed focus on lyricism to hip hop.^[3][6] 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."^[19]

Production

The assembly of producers DJ Premier, Q-Tip, Pete Rock, and Large Professor on a single project was unprecedented in hip hop music, since most rap albums had been primarily the work of one dedicated hip hop production team.^[3] According to one columnist: "Nas' Illmatic, widely considered one of the best albums in any genre made during the past two decades, is the first to draw together top hip hop producers in the recording industry. ^[20]

Revival of the Queensbridge rap scene

Illmatic is also credited with reviving the Queensbridge rap scene.^[3] Once home to prestigious pioneers 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. According to Nas: "I was coming from the legacy of Marley Marl, MC Shan, Juice Crew kind of vibe. Knowing these guys out in the neighborhood. At that time, the Queensbridge scene was dead. Dropping that album right there said a lot for me to carry on the legacy of the Queensbridge pioneers."^[18] Following Illmatic's release, 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.^[3] Furthermore, the album is credited with launching the career of the Brooklyn-based rapper, AZ. AZ, who gained instant exposure and underground credibility due to his appearance on "Life's A Bitch," would later go on to become a frequent collaborator of Nas.

Decline of alternative hip hop

Illmatic was one of the earliest phenomena in East Coast hip hop music that distinguished the burgeoning hardcore rap scene from the alternative hip hop acts of the early-1990s. Recorded while East Coast hip hop was still dominated by the jazz influences of A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul, and the Afrocentric stylings of Brand Nubian and X Clan, the album roughly delineates the end of the golden age of hip hop (1989 – 1996) and the emergence of Mafioso rap, which flourished during the mid-1990s following the release of Only Built 4 Cuban Linx (see 1995 in music). Yet as Adam Heimlich writes: "In 1994, there appeared likely to be more money (and definitely more cultural rewards) in working with Arrested Development or Digable Planets."^[15] Although the album contains strong elements of jazz rap and alternative hip hop, Steve Huey credits Illmatic with marking "the beginning of a shift away from Native Tongues-inspired alternative rap,"^[16] towards future hardcore hip hop artists such as Raekwon and Mobb Deep. Furthermore, Adam Heimlich writes: "[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."^[15]

Hip hop artists

Today, several respected mainstream and underground rappers within the hip hop community have acknowledged the huge influence Illmatic had on them, making numerous references towards it. These wide range of artists include the battle rappers, SunN.Y.^[21] and Reef The Lost Cauze,^[22] Talib Kweli, Lupe Fiasco and Saigon, the popular producers Just Blaze and Alchemist, as well as the platinum-selling rappers Eminem (who adopted a similar lyrical approach on his album, Infinite) and The Game, who makes several references to the album on his debut, The Documentary. In his collaboration with Nas, "Hustlers", The Game made another ode towards Illmatic:

Nineteen ninety five, eleven years from the day
I'm in the record shop with choices to make
Illmatic on the top shelf, The Chronic on the left, homie
Wanna cop both but only got a twenty on me
So fuck it, I stole both, spent the twenty on a dub-sack
Ripped the package of Illmatic and bumped that
For my niggas it was too complex when Nas rhymed
I was the only Compton nigga with a New York State of Mind

On XXL's website, Illmatic was featured in a list of acclaimed hip hop albums, compiled by Clipse. Malice, a member of the hip hop duo, claimed: "Illmatic captured the whole New York state of mind for me. It embraced everything I knew New York to be. The album had 10 songs, all of them flawless. Me and my homies got great memories of rolling around listening to that, huslin’, smokin’, chillin’. That embodied everything that was right with hip-hop. That CD never came out my deck.” ^[23]

Lyrics from Illmatic have also been sampled by other rappers on numerous occasions, including Big L's "Ebonics" (which samples "It Ain't Hard to Tell"), Milkbone's "Keep It Real" (which samples "Life's a Bitch"), Real Live's "Real Live Shit" (which samples "It Ain't Hard to Tell"), and most notably, Blu & Exile's "In Remembrance" (which samples "The World Is Yours" and "One Love") and Jay-Z's "Rap Game/Crack Game" (which samples "Represent") and "Dead Presidents II" (which samples "The World is Yours"). In fact, Common’s critically acclaimed album, Be, has been said to have been molded after Illmatic.^[24][25][26]

Later Nas albums

While the critical success of Illmatic helped Nas' infant career immeasurably, hip-hop aficionados have cited it as his inextricable "gift and curse."^[9] Due to the widespread critical fame of his debut, Nas' subsequent albums have all been weighed against Illmatic. Against this standard, they are often critically deemed as mediocre follow-ups.^[9] For instance, while Nas' second album, It Was Written, received favorable reviews, it is generally agreed that it failed to live up to the classic status of Illmatic. In addition, many fans of Illmatic went on to label Nas' subsequent efforts as 'selling out', due to his crossover sensibilities (e.g. his participation with the hip-hop supergroup The Firm) and his radio-friendly hits aimed at the pop charts, such as "If I Ruled The World (Imagine That)" and "Hate Me Now". By the time Nas released I Am... and Nastradamus in 1999, many feared that his career was deteriorating, 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 something of a comeback with his 2001 Stillmatic, and his subsequent albums have tended to receive more positive reviews as well. Nevertheless, most fans still regard Illmatic as his definitive album.^[9]

Track listing

Sample information is retrieved from The-Breaks.com.^[27]

In 2004, a 10th Anniversary Edition of Illmatic was released, which contained a second disc of bonus songs:

Notes

Further reading

External links

• Illmatic at MusicBrainz

Reviews

• "Nas's Illmatic: A look at a hip hop masterpiece, ten years removed" — By Matthew Gasteier
• Retro "QB" Classic: Nas - Illmatic — By George Hagan
• Throwback Classic: Nas - Illmatic — By Michael Ivey