Nas - Illmatic

Following the releases of an infamous appearance on Main Source's "Live at the Barbecue", and a fairly successful solo song on the Zebrahead soundtrack ("Halftime"), Queens MC Nasir Jones, who was at the time going by the name "Nasty Nas", which he thankfully later shortened to just Nas (imagine if you tried to get a hip-hop hater into the genre by showing them a song by someone with a name as stupid as "Nasty Nas" - it doesn't bear thinking about. It's almost as ridiculous as naming yourself, I don't know, "Mr. Cheeks". Oh, wait, there IS a rapper named Mr. Cheeks? The hell?), signed a deal with one of the biggest labels in the world, Columbia, and shortly after, this deal allowed him to get out a short and sweet project that the discerning rap fan now knows as Illmatic. And what a moment for the genre this was.

If you go to the popular website TheTopTens (yes, I know no-one uses it anymore, but you have to remember it was popular for quite a while), then the album at the top of the "best hip-hop albums of all time list" is Illmatic. Everyone who knows about music knows this album. It's massive. Despite having only just left the hood, having lived a life up to that point of squalor and violence, and despite handling the vocals on the project almost entirely by himself (there's only one featured rapper, AZ, who himself was even more unheard of than a rap album without skits at the time), Nas managed to put out an instant classic, one of the most important hip-hop records of all time, and a project that still garners masses of attention from hip-hop heads to this day. And it doesn't even have a Parental Advisory sticker (even though it probably should)!

A classic then, but is it as good as people say? Well, I'm sure that even if I say it's horrible, the millions of other praise-filled reviews on the web will convince you to listen to this, but whatever. I'm going to give ya my thoughts anyway.

1. The Genesis ("conceived" by Nas & Faith N. - pretentious, I know)

The album is already short, so why feel the need to put a glorified skit in there as well? Still, this ain't bad by any means. The sound of the train going past puts us in the mood Nas wanted, and the acknowledgement of his "Live at the Barbecue" verse was appreciated too. This does go on for a little too long though if you ask me.

2. N.Y. State Of Mind (prod. DJ Premier)

Easily Nas' most notorious song, which makes sense, as this track is absolutely incredible. The gritty synths teamed with the haunting piano loop easily makes for one of the best DJ Premier beats I've ever heard, and remember, this is the guy who produced the Gang Starr albums, and is generally a top 5 hip-hop producer of all time, so that's saying a lot. Meanwhile, Nas kicks some meaningful and slightly harrowing verses that describe life where he grew up (and where he was probably still living during the making of this album), and they easily go down as some of the best of all time. Nas shows himself to be an incredible poet and lyricist here, and technically this is one of the more impressive verses he ever wrote. It's probably a surprise to most people that this was never released as a single, despite there being five on this project in total. Absolutely classy way to start off the album.

3. Life's A Bitch (feat. AZ) (prod. L.E.S., co-prod. Nas)

Featuring the only rap verse by someone not named Nasir Jones, this is the second iconic hip-hop track in a row. I remember when I was first listening to this project, I found this to be one of the more dull songs presented, most likely due to the subdued beat, which I still think needs a lot more energy. However, the hook is truly incredible, and the AZ verse is a great way to open up the track - the lyricism is insane. I might have to give this one to Nas himself though, who starts things off on his part with some of his best bars: "I woke up early on my born day; I'm 20, it's a blessin', the essence of adolescence leaves my body, now I'm fresh and my physical frame is celebrated 'cause I made it, one quarter through life, some godly-like thing created". What a way to begin a verse. The trumpet outro from Nas' father Olu Dara was nice too. As I said, the beat isn't perfect, but pretty much everything else on here is.

4. The World Is Yours (prod. Pete Rock)

A classic. The piano beat on this one is wonderful, and the hook is just perfect, with the sampling and singing all working brilliantly. Nas' opening bars have lived in my head rent-free since I first heard them: "I sip the Dom P, watchin' Gandhi 'til I'm charged, then writin' in my book of rhymes, all the words past the margin". The rest of the verses are pretty much up to this standard as well. The amount of songs this has been sampled in is countless, but I'll name the two that stand out most to me: Jay-Z's "Dead Presidents", which obviously samples the "I'm out for dead presidents to represent me" line (well, that line from the unreleased, more explicit version of this song), and Busta Rhymes' "E.L.E. 2 Intro", a phenomenal song which sampled the "Whose world is this? It's mine, it's mine, it's mine" from the hook towards the end of the track. A classic that inspired two other classics? This deserves every bit of its legendary status.

5. Halftime (prod. The Large Professor)

The aforementioned song from the Zebrahead soundtrack, that a lot of people probably don't know was originally released back in 1992, two years before this album came out. This was the only solo song Nas put out while using the title "Nasty Nas", and it definitely stands out as less lyrically impressive compared to the first three songs. This is still good, though, despite the rather homophobic lines that appear towards the end of the second verse, and the sampling in the hook sounds good. Also, I think it was a rather genius move to include the song "Halftime" directly halfway through the album. That's that shit I really like.

6. Memory Lane (Sittin' In Da Park) (prod. DJ Premier)

Definitely the most underrated song here, this track is GREAT. The beat is quite powerful, almost reminding me of something Common might rhyme over (which, come to think of it, was something I also thought with "The World Is Yours", which sounds like "Resurrection" - this track sounds a bit like "ThisIsMe" in my opinion), and Nas' reminiscent rhymes are pretty interesting (if not deviating too much from the previous tracks). Also, this is, in my opinion, one of the finest examples of record scratching on a song ever. DJ Premier really is a God.

7. One Love (prod. Q-Tip)

Now, I know I might rile a few people up with this one, but I personally am not the greatest fan of this song. The Q-Tip hook is dull, and this beat just... doesn't work, and was utilised better on Redman's "Sooperman Luva 3" two years later, which makes this track seem even worse. I will concede that the verses on here are some of the most impressive and interesting on the whole project, but I can't get past the weak (in my opinion, at least) beat and hook. This song was later sampled for the much better "Real Nigga Quotes" by Common, though, so there's that at least. Still not feelin' this too much though (I'm sorry, OK?).

8. One Time 4 Your Mind (prod. The Large Professor)

Generally considered the weakest song on here, and I can see why, but I still really enjoy this one. This track is pretty slow, and can even get frustrating at points, but Large Professor's beat is hard, and Grand Wizard's hook is dope as well, and infectious. This is probably the least impressive song here lyrically, but it's still pretty underrated anyway.

9. Represent (prod. DJ Premier)

Definitely one of my favourites here. The beat is hard as hell, and Nas' verses are the braggiest and most aggressive on this whole project - imagine if this track went on for 10 minutes like some kind of cypher: that would have been dope. A refreshing moment, as the one thing this album was missing so far was that bit of aggression and ego from Nas - I'm not kidding: boasts 'n' bullshit is one of my favourite topics in rap if done correctly. This track is also notable for being sampled in Jay-Z's "Rap Game/Crack Game" (the line "somehow the rap game reminds me of the crack game", as you could probably work out), which was the second time Jay did that, and that in turn was a bit of fuel to the inferno in the Jay-Z/Nas beef (which will be covered on here at some point, don't you worry). This song is incredible.

10. It Ain't Hard To Tell (prod. The Large Professor)

Included in the book 1001 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die, and although there are cuts on here that deserve that accolade more, this track is still really good (although not as good as the later track "Nas Is Like", which used multiple samples from this track for the hook). The Michael Jackson sample is fun, and this is definitely one of the more quotable tracks on the project: "Nas is like the afrocentric Asian: half-man, half-amazing", "so analyse me, surprise me, but can't magmatize me" and "Nas' raps should be locked in a cell - it ain't hard to tell" are some of my favourites. Pretty damned impressive way to close things off.

This album was re-released with bonus tracks in 2004, and then again in 2014, but I think I'll wait for another post to cover those.

To give the answer everyone wanted and expected, uhh, yeah, Illmatic is a classic. It's not perfect, as there are a couple of tracks in the second half that I wasn't feeling so much (such as "One Love"), but overall, this album is one of the best lyrical displays of all time. The beats (besides the ones on "Life's a Bitch" and "One Love") are all absolutely INCREDIBLE, and the subject matter is cohesive, yet not repetitive - in other words, the perfect balance. Nas keeps me easily entertained throughout this project, and (spoiler alert) sounds better than he ever would again on this album. We'll have to wait and see for whether or not this is his best work, but for now, it's safe to say that this is a classic project. For those who are still reading, that didn't throw their phone out of the bus window in disgust at my take on "One Love" - thanks for tuning in! And to those that haven't heard this, make sure you do quickly. This is an excellent album, believe me.

Best Tracks: N.Y. State Of Mind, The World Is Yours, Memory Lane (Sittin' In Da Park), Represent, It Ain't Hard To Tell

Worst Tracks: One Love