Hip-Hop Blasphemy: It Was Written Is Better Than Illmatic (Episode 2)

[Inspect Her Deck]

All of em was influenced by G Rap but check it. Nas was the only one directly linked to G Rap who was doin it so I always felt it was unfair to target him and give everyone else a pass. G Rap helped Nas get his record deal. Nas was featured on G Rap's single in 95. Before IWW. Noone had a problem with none of it. nikkas shoulda known the direction IWW was going in considering all the features n everything he was doing the year prior. And still. I feel like IWW offered far more versatility than OBFCL etc etc. Not sayin it was better. Just sayin it wasn't some straight up bite. Didn't really even fully follow the footsteps. It was what Nas was turning into if nikkas was paying attention and didn't skip over the entire 95.

yeah you're referring to Fast Life

but that's all part of his transition breh...as in to my point, he knew he wanted to head in a more commercially viable direction so he planned it out after Illmatic

his features in 95 culminated into the 96 release of an album of that calibre

Nas put his own flavour on it no doubt

 

[Inspect Her Deck]

Watch Dem nikkas is perhaps the best song on there

unpopular opinion

 

[spliz]

And the fact that Lost Tapes had a lot of material left off I Am is telling. Since he was able to release it later under the same label means he prolly scrapped them on his own than used them later to fulfill his contract to Columbia

Lost Tapes was I Am for the most part. Reason it got scrapped was because I Am got heavily bootlegged. So he had to switch the album up and he took songs off. Nastradamus was really supposed to be I Am leftovers but Nas decided to just half ass record and finish it as a whole new album and that's why it was received poorly. I Am wouldve been amazing had it was released as intended.

 

[spliz]

yeah you're referring to Fast Life

but that's all part of his transition breh...as in to my point, he knew he wanted to head in a more commercially viable direction so he planned it out after Illmatic

his features in 95 culminated into the 96 release of an album of that calibre

Nas put his own flavour on it no doubt

Yea of course I'm talking bout Fast Life. Didn't really feel I needed to list the name of the track cause it's a classic I figured it went without saying. lol.

 

[Inspect Her Deck]

Yea of course I'm talking bout Fast Life. Didn't really feel I needed to list the name of the track cause it's a classic I figured it went without saying. lol.

And just remembered he featured on AZ's Doe or Die album a couple of times in 95

Rap was trending towards that kinda music anyway

 

[Broke Wave]

unpopular opinion

Some of the best Nas verses on there though I don't even that's up for discussion

 

[Piff Perkins]

I notice a few younger people prefer IWW and it makes sense - I get why they prefer the mafioso lyricism and more modern production. But for me? It's not up for debate, Illmatic is a perfect album. IWW has at least two bad tracks on it. Nas Is Coming is corny as fukk and Black Girl Lost...nope.

 

[BmoreGorilla]

Lost Tapes was I Am for the most part. Reason it got scrapped was because I Am got heavily bootlegged. So he had to switch the album up and he took songs off. Nastradamus was really supposed to be I Am leftovers but Nas decided to just half ass record and finish it as a whole new album and that's why it was received poorly. I Am wouldve been amazing had it was released as intended.

That's true. I Am was bootlegged like a mug

 

[Inspect Her Deck]

Some of the best Nas verses on there though I don't even that's up for discussion

Most definitely

My criticism of that track is more the beat. Likewise with Nas is coming.

 

[spliz]

That's true. I Am was bootlegged like a mug

I think that shyt went like Gold bootleg on some crazy shyt. It was def hundreds of thousands. Nas was pissed.

 

[BmoreGorilla]

And just remembered he featured on AZ's Doe or Die album a couple of times in 95

Rap was trending towards that kinda music anyway

That's true. Illmatic came out at the end of a different era it seems like. RTD changed everything on the East Coast

 

[SirBiatch]

I notice a few younger people prefer IWW and it makes sense - I get why they prefer the mafioso lyricism and more modern production.

It's not surprising. They prefer pop/gloss. And IWW is certainly the poppier side of Nas. It has nothing to do with the production. The production on Illmatic holds up way better than IWW.

 

[Billy Ocean]

nobody denying the quality of Nas' lyrics throughout the album

but the songs themselves are nothing to write home about...and Nas is Coming sounds super outta place with that wack ass Dre beat


Nas is not at fault for any of his subpar album work....as usual his ear for beats and his album crafting skills on the whole leave a lot to be desired. His mic skills have always been A1.

You really gotta be the biggest Nas hater on this board. It must eat you up every second of your life that Nas has a better discography than O'Shea.

Illmatic is a beautiful piece of work but IWW is probably my favorite Nas album. Conceptually and lyrically superior than Illmatic and the production was beautiful and varied. Only throwaway on the album imo is Nas Is Coming.

Both albums are certified classic. And in my circles it's not "blasphemous " to like IWW more than Illmatic.

 

[spliz]

And just remembered he featured on AZ's Doe or Die album a couple of times in 95

Rap was trending towards that kinda music anyway

Bro. he called himself Esco on The Infamous. He was on Fast Life. He was on Mo Money Mo Murda.. Gimme Yours. Verbal Intercourse. and the list goes on. and these was all what people was considering classic verse. He was killin shyt. He then releases IWW. Next thing u know people get dumb and act like the album went in the direction it did out of nowhere. I'm like. There's no way people followed his career thru out 95 and was shocked by IWW. Literally no way. On top of that. It wasn't just that rap was going in that direction. Nas was one of the main ones pushing it in that direction. lol. So he wasn't even following a trend. He was one of the people creating it.

 

[BmoreGorilla]

I think that shyt went like Gold bootleg on some crazy shyt. It was def hundreds of thousands. Nas was pissed.

Everybody around the way had that and the Murda Muzik bootleg