It Was Written tape version > It Was Written cd vesrion (tape version's the real classic)

[smokeurobinson]

having silent murder on it was a huge plus

Imagine Illmatic with the songs arranged different in the middle and "Halftime" only being on the Tape version and not the CD.

My CD version has silent murder

The fact they put it on the cd years later was wack. Kinda like when Universal put "How Come" at the end of Canibus' debut years later or how Wu Tang Forever the european version only has "Sunshower" as a bonus

 

[smokeurobinson]

It's bugged out
Years ago people were talking about that new nas track called star wars
I hadn't listened to it but had a dream about it
And in the dream he went at everybody
shytted on the whole game
shyt was amazing
He went to war with all the rap stars
I woke up and ran to the computer and threw it on
I was so disappointed that I never listened to it again

That beat tho.

 

[Doin2Much Williams]

The CD version is a classic as well. IWW was Nas's best album to me.

Is it an oxymoron to say...


IWW is my favorite Nas album...


... but it's not his best album.


Does that make sense?



.

 

[Farrinto]

Is it an oxymoron to say...


IWW is my favorite Nas album...


... but it's not his best album.


Does that make sense?



.

It makes sense but I didn't say that.

 

[Doin2Much Williams]

It makes sense but I didn't say that.

I know. LOL.


that was my opinion.


It Was Written is the only album i can still sit thought in its entirety TODAY. Replay value, deciphering punchlines that went over my head back in 9th grade and ultimately, appreciating the project now moreso in this contemporary climate cuz there is NO TYPE OF RAP being produced in this caliber.


The type of impact that If I Ruled The World to a 14 year old teenager that got his sisters Sony BoomBox hand me down... it was an unparalleled feeling (and plus, i was jacking off a whole lot in the summer of 96... i used to beat my shiit to that Il Nana cd insert like it was everybody's business).


I said it once before, and i'll say it again, 1996 was the best year in urban music (sound tracks, compilations, r&B, rap/hiphop...


The amount of cd's i copped that year and albums that are in my current disc changer's play list (that to me, to stand the test of time and still sound magnificent today) is what makes it a pinnacle year for me.


It Was Written being released on Columbia after the Fugee's immense breakthrough with The Score, and adding Lauren to IIRTW's chorus was just icing on the cake (not the mention, the TrackMasters lacing it and the video encapsulating the entire vibe that was New York City that summer, indescribable).


Tons of digression in this post...


But when i'm feeling down and out, i always reflect back on the time i had my sony discman and just popped in my favorite cd and mentally coast.



I guess IWW just so happened to have been released in one of the best years of my life.


The nastalgia is what makes it a great record to me.


.

 

[smokeurobinson]

... i used to beat my shiit to that Il Nana cd insert like it was


.

That "Broken Silence" insert was her best one tho. SMH @ those few times I snuck it out of my lil cousins cd case to handle my business.

 

[Farrinto]

I know. LOL.


that was my opinion.


It Was Written is the only album i can still sit thought in its entirety TODAY. Replay value, deciphering punchlines that went over my head back in 9th grade and ultimately, appreciating the project now moreso in this contemporary climate cuz there is NO TYPE OF RAP being produced in this caliber.


The type of impact that If I Ruled The World to a 14 year old teenager that got his sisters Sony BoomBox hand me down... it was an unparalleled feeling (and plus, i was jacking off a whole lot in the summer of 96... i used to beat my shiit to that Il Nana cd insert like it was everybody's business).


I said it once before, and i'll say it again, 1996 was the best year in urban music (sound tracks, compilations, r&B, rap/hiphop...


The amount of cd's i copped that year and albums that are in my current disc changer's play list (that to me, to stand the test of time and still sound magnificent today) is what makes it a pinnacle year for me.


It Was Written being released on Columbia after the Fugee's immense breakthrough with The Score, and adding Lauren to IIRTW's chorus was just icing on the cake (not the mention, the TrackMasters lacing it and the video encapsulating the entire vibe that was New York City that summer, indescribable).


Tons of digression in this post...


But when i'm feeling down and out, i always reflect back on the time i had my sony discman and just popped in my favorite cd and mentally coast.



I guess IWW just so happened to have been released in one of the best years of my life.


The nastalgia is what makes it a great record to me.


.

Classics were dropping left and right in '96, that was a damn good year in hip-hop. We're never going to see that again in hip-hop. Those Ill Na Na and Hard Core covers

 

[A.V.]

The nastalgia is what makes it a great record to me.

 

[iFightSeagullsForBread]

It Was Written....it's crazy how overlooked it is...Take it in Blood, I Gave You Power, Watch Dem nikkas,

nikkas thinkin shyt sweet, I carry big heat
Wavy hair chipped teeth, up in this bytch deep
Queens murder clicks meet, yellow tapes on black gates
Mediterranean, projects is like Kuwait
I escape into zones, that's irregular
Why debate on a phone, I'm solar cellular
Escobar 600, you just a crumb inside a world
Where the rich run it, curriculum of a mathologist
Deep throats, they try to swallow this
Anthropologists, dynasties of great knowledgists
I preserve in my dome, nikkas mics is full of silicone
Spot's blown, guerilla ice on this killer's life
I put my word on it
Now you can sleep on or rock or swerve on it
Nas is menage a trois' on Mount Aire lodges
We like a smooth fam', but rougher than El DeBarge's
Catchin charges, of marksmen, livin heartless
Grab a cartridge, cock my shyt on some Mobb shyt
We mobbin, puttin nikkas in mausoleums
From Queens cross the Throgs Neck, heads bop, I see 'em

Dat imagery, that time capsule technique, that bleak sense of apathy, that Queens New York accent when he says mausoleums...shyt is too good.

 

[Incogni' Rodney]

i agree on the tape version having better track arrangement.. i dont really feel that silent murder track tho. never thought the beat was all that, which is disappointing cause Big Stretch did it

 

[Woodwerkz]

The CD version is a classic as well. IWW was Nas's best album to me.

Remember the "it was written" notebook that came with it? I still got mine in a box at my mom's house. Shyt made me try to start writing raps.