So is this what the sequel to “Illmatic” was destined to sound like before Nas hit up Trackmasters?

[Shadow King]

It takes a Jay-Z stan to tell the truth.

Ya'll never make threads about his new shyt.

Obvisously I'm not talking about the discussions in the actual thread nor was a suggestion they don't have one.



Most of the talk outside of the albums threads is his old shyt.

Nas has one of those most intriguing/enigmatic/sought music vaults in hip-hop. There's near-infinite "What Ifs" and potential discoveries with him that outweigh his recent output.

 

[Piff Perkins]

What do jay z have to do with this thread. And it was nothing mafia about reasonable doubt

Anyway. It's a Friday night fellas. Holiday weekend. Go have fun brehs, watch football, get some hoes, whatever.

 

[Cladyclad]

Nas has one of those most intriguing/enigmatic/sought music vaults in hip-hop. There's near-infinite "What Ifs" and potential discoveries with him that outweigh his recent output.

thee most honest thing a Nas Stan has ever said

 

[Shadow King]

thee most honest thing a Nas Stan has ever said

What I said doesn't mean what you want it to mean though...

 

[Cladyclad]

What I said doesn't mean what you want it to mean though...

Oh it do lol

ain’t no fukking take backs

“thats your dumb down my audience“

y’all would rather talk about what if’s then 7 brand new albums

 

[Ziggiy]

I always wonder how Nas would be perceived if Illmatic never came out and It Was Written was his first album?

Then It Was Written would be Illmatic and I Am would be It Was Written.

Nas is just one of those people who was destined to be anointed right off the bat. If It Was Written had no precursor to compare it to then it would be universally looked at as top 5 all time great. Nas cadence and flow on IWW is twice as good as it was on Illmatic. Nas writing on IWW is somehow BETTER than it was on Illmatic. Throw in the developed Hook game, the big budget videos, and features from a red hot Lauryn Hill and Dr muthafukking Dre? Thats an EASY 5 Mics in The Source from Shorty.

 

[Cladyclad]

Then It Was Written would be Illmatic and I Am would be It Was Written.

Nas is just one of those people who was destined to be anointed right off the bat. If It Was Written had no precursor to compare it to then it would be universally looked at as top 5 all time great. Nas cadence and flow on IWW is twice as good as it was on Illmatic. Nas writing on IWW is somehow BETTER than it was on Illmatic. Throw in the developed Hook game, the big budget videos, and features from a red hot Lauryn Hill and Dr muthafukking Dre? Thats an EASY 5 Mics in The Source from Shorty.

The delusion with this album is mind boggling lol

 

[Shadow King]

Hate babble

 

[Cladyclad]

@Shadow King

 

[Shadow King]

More Haterade drenched buffoonery

 

[Aje]

If "On the Real" would've been an indicator for how It Was Written sounded, I would've loved that version, too.

I remember when I first heard this song - it was either in late '95 or early '96, I remember being like

 

[Mike Wins]

The delusion with this album is mind boggling lol

You seem upset the Vol. 2 anniversary thread flopped

Let's talk Vol. 2 for a minute. You say Nas stans is delusional about IWW but also say Vol. 2 this unassailable classic everyone keep going back to.

We all agree Jay been the bigger star with more crossover appeal since 1998. Vol. 2 sold around twice as many copies as IWW. So all that said, why's so many more people listening to IWW in 2023?

Last week's Spotify numbers

Kworb.net - All your music data needs in one place

A website that collects and analyzes music data from around the world. All of the charts, sales and streams, constantly updated.

kworb.net

Message 47446 daily plays
SD 19278
IGYP 5929
WDN 2907
TIIB 5889
NIC 4211
AA 16141
TS 2776
BGL 1563
Suspect 2171
Shootouts 3326
LNR 3869
IIRTW 125359
Total 249,701 plays a day, 1,747,907 a week

HID 438 daily plays
HKL 110710
IISD 776
NWNW 5519
MCH 4398
AWA 1599
COA 771
CIGA 33992
PC 542
RD 1279
ILT 1307
IA 1273
MAAT 20500
Total 183,104 a day, 1,281,728 a week

 

[New Jeruz Jewelz]

In hindsight we can look at the Marley thing and say wow how dumb was it to turn tracks into promos but it may not be fair. Nas was hot in 1995 obviously but he wasn't an A-list dude with plaques. Illmatic hadn't gone gold yet, none of the singles were certified yet, and the popularity was largely based in NY. It's not like when Marly worked with LL in 1990 for instance. The way I view it, he may have looked at Nas like some may have looked at Jeru, where you've got a hot track and a dope album but your producer is still handing out tracks as promos (10 Crack Commandments beat) because why not.

All that changed in 1996. I agree with those who have said the Trackmasters were perfect for Nas at the time. They've talked before about helping him learn how to write radio records, how to edit himself, etc. That's the shyt that helped him get bigger. Do I wish he could have gotten a RZA beat in 96, or another Premo beat at some point (which was unlikely due to the things @Ziggiy mentioned)? Sure of course. Hell it would have been cool if he had managed to still get a Marley track on there. But IWW is IWW and pretty tough to beat or improve, besides Black Girl Lost which it seems like was gonna be on there no matter what.

What’s with this Black Girl Lost hate? That song is my shyt…. Just wavey Queens shyt, especially if you were dealing with a few fast woman around that time

 

[phonthought3000]

Deja Vu was recorded after the Stoute link according to the Producer. They did two songs together, Deja Vu and a song called Black Velvet that I think got erased.

Wasn't Deja Vu originally recorded for the Clockers soundtrack but got cut. I remember the producer mentioning that. Also The Fugees record a track with Salaam Remi called Project Child also for that soundtrack but it got cut as well. Salaam spoke on it.

 

[phonthought3000]

One big what if I have from the IWW era is what if Big Stretch didn't get killed how much more heat would they would've came up with. Stretch produced arguably 2 of the top three tracks of the album