It Was Written >>> Illmatic; Nas Best Album

[Illin Degenerate]

i never could get down with street dreams, the reworking of sweet dreams comes off as wack to me. nas is coming ehhh. lazy good all around album, but song to song didnt come together as perfectly as illmatic with beats, lyrics, and hooks.

suspect would have been better off no hook than that garbage.

 

[LiIZaneFan1978]

fucc is u laughin at slut

 

[Urbanmiracle]

i never could get down with street dreams, the reworking of sweet dreams comes off as wack to me. nas is coming ehhh. lazy good all around album, but song to song didnt come together as perfectly as illmatic with beats, lyrics, and hooks.

suspect would have been better off no hook than that garbage.

Street dreams is ill man. The 3rd verse is just.......

Growin up
Project struck
Looking for luck dreamin
Scoopin the large nikkas beamin
Check what I'm seein
Cars, ghetto stars pushin ill Europeans
Geein
Heard about those old timers ODin
Young early 80s
Throwing rocks at the crazy lady
Worshiping every word those rope rockin nikkas gave me
The streets raised me up
Giving a fukk
I thought Jordan's and a gold chain was living it up

 

[MMM]

It Was Written is a soulless piece of work where Nas dumbed down for his audience and adopted the trend that other more authentic street emcees were using.


Conceptually:
The Esco persona stunted Nas' growth as an emcee and confused his fanbase to the point where Nas wouldnt recover for 5+ years. NY wouldnt recover from their flagship artist selling out until Mos and Talib brought back real hip hop with the Rawkus movement.

Edit: NY still hasnt recovered

Sonically:
The switch from Primo and Large Pro to the glossy trackmasters production and the inclusion of Dre on Nas is Coming killed off NY homegrown production and pushed NY's grittier boom bap sound to the background.

dumbed down

its one of the most lyrical albums ever

 

[TMillzy]

don't mind him. He just a product of this DVD showing rappers with guns era of rap.


It's hard to choose. I mean Illmatic reps a certain time and era. It marks the time when rap had to step its game up. When mc had to come from the gut and soul with their music. You couldn't be a follower or corny. The beats paint a picture of where Nas was coming from: NYC in the 80s and 90s straight after crack came out. Nas was a poet who witness the ills and beauty of his surroundings in Queensbridge.


IWW takes that same poet and places him in the realms of success. Now he doesn't talk about the poverty and the ghetto drama. It's Armani and taking over the world. It's those same people I repped on my first joint mad I made it out. Take It In Blood, Watch Dem nikkas, Street Dreams, The Message and Suspect all touch on it.

I go with Illmatic.

Summed it up nicely. I guess i prefer the successful nas. I prefer sucessful BiG over raw BIG which is why i like Life After Death over RTD

 

[L. Deezy]

dumbed down

its one of the most lyrical albums ever

right! Im glad somebody else said this too.

 

[MMM]

also suspect is classic

no way is it a weak song

that being said I think illmatic is better but nothing wrong with thinking iww is better

 

[semicko82]

Illmatic and It was Written may be the best one-two punch in a hip hop catalouge.

 

[Consigliere]

dumbed down

its one of the most lyrical albums ever

Where did I mention lyrically dumbing down?

I swear to Allah everything is lyrics and low reading comp with these internet characters.

Nas CONCEPTUALLY dumbed down on this album. The idea of switching lanes to become a Mafioso drug kingpin was far from a bold or enlightening move in '95.

I find it funny that a growing majority of Nas fans' favorite album from Nas is the one where he sounds the most like BIG & Jay-Z.

 

[Bolzmark]

No.

 

[HendriX]

Lol at dumbing down..jay got yall clowns believing everything. Nas outdid himself on IWW, dude claimed his throne and did it with so much style. He gave us a dope commercial hit with If I Ruled the World, a classic "I'm back" joint in the The Message, a sick concept track in I Gave U Power, a dope ass posse track in "Affirmative Action", a lyrical masterpiece in Take it in Blood, etc..Few people have reached that level of rapping in hip hop history. If you dony respect IWW you a fukkin lame!

 

[Mike Statik]

It Was Written is a soulless piece of work where Nas dumbed down for his audience and adopted the trend that other more authentic street emcees were using.


Conceptually:
The Esco persona stunted Nas' growth as an emcee and confused his fanbase to the point where Nas wouldnt recover for 5+ years. NY wouldnt recover from their flagship artist selling out until Mos and Talib brought back real hip hop with the Rawkus movement.

Edit: NY still hasnt recovered

Sonically:
The switch from Primo and Large Pro to the glossy trackmasters production and the inclusion of Dre on Nas is Coming killed off NY homegrown production and pushed NY's grittier boom bap sound to the background.

what was dumbed down about IWW... if i ruled the world???

he had no story tellin tracks like I Gave You Power (which is one of if not the GOAT storytelling track)... Illmatic was just verses... IWW had songs and Nas was in his prime...


IWW >>> Illmatic all day every day

 

[TMillzy]

Lol at dumbing down..jay got yall clowns believing everything. Nas outdid himself on IWW, dude claimed his throne and did it with so much style. He gave us a dope commercial hit with If I Ruled the World, a classic "I'm back" joint in the The Message, a sick concept track in I Gave U Power, a dope ass posse track in "Affirmative Action", a lyrical masterpiece in Take it in Blood, etc..Few people have reached that level of rapping in hip hop history. If you dony respect IWW you a fukkin lame!

Pretty much. It has everything an album needs. Commercial appeal, street songs, lyrics, production, etc. Complete album.

 

[Nintendough]

@LilZaneFan1978 I can't even make my intended comment on the thread now.

 

[feelosofer]

Where did I mention lyrically dumbing down?

I swear to Allah everything is lyrics and low reading comp with these internet characters.

Nas CONCEPTUALLY dumbed down on this album. The idea of switching lanes to become a Mafioso drug kingpin was far from a bold or enlightening move in '95.

I find it funny that a growing majority of Nas fans' favorite album from Nas is the one where he sounds the most like BIG & Jay-Z.

It Was Written is a soulless piece of work where Nas dumbed down for his audience and adopted the trend that other more authentic street emcees were using.


Conceptually:
The Esco persona stunted Nas' growth as an emcee and confused his fanbase to the point where Nas wouldnt recover for 5+ years. NY wouldnt recover from their flagship artist selling out until Mos and Talib brought back real hip hop with the Rawkus movement.

Edit: NY still hasnt recovered

Sonically:
The switch from Primo and Large Pro to the glossy trackmasters production and the inclusion of Dre on Nas is Coming killed off NY homegrown production and pushed NY's grittier boom bap sound to the background.

I do agree with your criticisms to some extent, except the Boom Bap era was starting to go out of style in 96 and I would attribute it more to the rise of Puff and Bad Boy than IWW though Nas fell into line with the tropes of that era. But it wasn't going to last forever especially with the West Coast being commercially dominant for 5 years prior, but the Twilight of the Boom Bap era was beautiful nonetheless.

I always considered Escobar to be a different side of Nas and ultimately necessary to his growth as an artist. Had Nas dropped Illmatic part two, it might have bricked and he would've been Showbiz and AG status (in terms of critical acclaim but no real commercial success). Furthermore making him hit rock bottom in terms of commercialism (Nastradamus) and having his Pheonix rise from the ashes (Stillmatic) was a key in making him the artist he is today, very few rappers have had success at a young age, failure and success again in one career span.

But also keep in mind the vast majority of these posters are under 30. I think IWW was a case of a very/good album being elevated to classic status due to the fact that this generation has few albums of the caliber to call their own, so they lowered the criteria somewhat, because I'll tell you this, next to no one called this album a classic in '96.